Yesterday , I was at a business that is going to survive the recession without fail.
And any business that wants a crash course of how to not just survive, but thrive and thrash the competition, needs to understand what the people in this business evidently know.
Their business is growing. Literally.
They are a local nursery.
It was Sunday afternoon, overcast and raining. While on the way to the supermarket, my wife suddenly had shpilkas to do something about planting ground cover in our front yard. We detoured to the nursery.
Despite the lousy weather, the parking lot had a few cars in it.
We walked onto the grounds. There were customers browsing the plants. There were employees scurrying about.
We walked to the little shed that houses the office and retail store.
There wasn't a moment's hesitation.
SEVERAL SMILING, ENERGIZED EMPLOYEES WERE READY FOR US
"Hey there, what can we do for you?"
"We need to talk about ground cover."
"Well then, June here is the person you need to talk to!"
And June, a young and very pregnant 20-something, came around from behind the desk, bright and smiling.
"So, what's up?"
We explained: top of a ridge at 8,000 feet, south facing, lots of sun, very dry, lousy soil, lots of deer and moose.
She took us outside and showed us various options, explained exactly how each would behave, and was able to answer every question knowledgeably--including some with the preface, "Well, I have this in my yard, and..."
We quizzed her on grass as an option.
SHE SAID, "YOU'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT A LAWN, ARE YOU?"
We said, emphatically, no.
Nobody lives where we live and ever expects to have anything resembling a lawn.
She said, "I think Orchard Grass, but hold on. Let me get my book."
She went away for a couple minutes.
We saw her walking around the place with a book open, and eventually wandered back to us.
"Yeah, Orchard Grass would work. It's not native, but it's everywhere, and it's really hearty, and it's viable above 8,000 feet." And she took us to a little man-made stream where grass was growing along the banks. We discussed the tall grass, the possibilities, and how the deer might even keep it trimmed for us.
During this entire adventure, a couple of things were striking.
One, there was no doubt that this young mother-to-be absolutely knew her stuff and enjoyed sharing it.
And two, the woman who runs the place kept appearing around the lot.
EACH TIME SHE APPEARED, SHE HAD A SPRING IN HER STEP AND AN ENORMOUS SMILE ON HER FACE
I never spoke to her, but knew immediately that if I did, she would be a pleasure.
We decided on our plants, as well as our grass seed--which came packaged in a little green-gingham paper bag with a handwritten label stapled to it.
While my wife handled the transaction, I went back to the parking lot to get the truck. We apparently needed a truckload of soil pep, which they were going to scoop into the bed with a frontloader.
When I got to the parking lot, it was packed. During the 20 minutes or so we'd been there, every available space had been taken--despite the rainy, overcast day.
I drove the truck around to the side of the nursery where the soil pep was waiting. (For the uninitiated, soil pep is a kind of decomposed bark mulch that looks a lot like chunky dirt.) The guy driving the frontloader filled the bed of the truck with a single scoop, then shoveled the remnants up off the driveway into the bed. By this time, my wife had shown up. The fellow, who couldn't have been nicer, asked about what we had going. We told him.
"How you going to water that?"
"Hose."
"That's tough. Have you considered drip irrigation?"
We proceeded to have a discussion about how to install drip irrigation, and the benefits thereof in a drought-prone area. He also talked about how durable it is. "I have a tree farm, and we run it through there, and we're always digging up trees and stepping on it, and it handles it just fine."
APPARENTLY THIS WAS ANOTHER OF THE OWNERS
He couldn't have been more happy to be out here, in the rain, on a Sunday afternoon, running heavy equipment, shoveling mulch and talking to customers.
We thanked him and headed away with our truckload of decomposing bark.
On the way home, we realized we needed a wheelbarrow. We stopped by a friend's house to borrow one.
"What's that in your truck?"
"Soil pep."
"Wow. What'd THAT cost you?"
"About forty bucks."
"Really? I just bought this open bag at Home Depot for ten."
She indicated a bag on her porch, 25 of which easily would have fit in the bed of the truck-at several times the price. Apparently, she didn't get such a deal on that open bag.
THIS IS MARKETING IN ACTION AT THE MOST BASIC LEVEL
This is how word-of-mouth advertising is generated, and what all other advertising must reflect.
Last week, we'd talked about a Lasik surgeon who loves what she does and loves her patients--all of which informs her brand and her success.
This week, we couldn't be more low-tech and less critical than vision correction--yet we have the exact same dynamic at work.
We have a business run by people who love what they do and love sharing it with their customers.
Anyone can go to Home Depot and be assured of what they'll get: it's largely a help-yourself, big-box experience without much personality.
But at a small, independently operated company that specializes in one thing and is committed to sharing the love--you never know what you're going to get.
But you do know, it's going to be worth getting.
| As always, |
Blaine Parker
Your Short, Fat Creative Director in
Park City
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