Order, please A big reason our industry is focusing on sustainability is the idea that the green industry should lead the green movement. But how do we lead? And how do we know what's important and what's mere flotsam in the flood of research? The answer? Simplify the issue. Sadly, simplifying isn't easy. Retailers are being bombarded with just as many messages as consumers. But if you don't make sustainable gardening easy to grasp, you won't connect with customers on the issue. Without a trustworthy alternative, they'll turn to Home Depot and Wal-Mart, who have both installed eco-friendly programs and labeling. I'd hate to lose this issue to mass merchants, wouldn't you? Time for committees It's said that if you want to ruin a program, turn it over to a committee. Committees get a bad rap from the blowhards who try to dominate every meeting, and from reaching decisions that try to placate everyone and end up offending everyone. But there's a reason committees are still so popular, and that's because they usually work. Chalet in Chicago has created committees with real power peopled with employees. It finds that this system ensures that no one is working on important issues in isolation. Employees who are working daily with customers provide a reality check to the decisions made. This kind of committee strikes me as ideal for garden centers to decide on their sustainability program. With so much information to sift through, it's only fair to share the burden of research and brainstorming. Here are topics you and your employees need to discuss: 1. What does sustainability mean to our store? 2. How can we operate in a more sustainable way, both in the short term and the long term? 3. What are customers most likely to be confused about on this issue? 4. What is the most important message we need to give our customers on this issue? Customers want to simplify, too Take a look at how the public is reacting to food. There are so many dire warnings about food from overseas and disease lurking in even healthy foods like spinach, that it seems the best answer is to simplify food. And perhaps the best way to simplify is to grow it yourself or eat whole foods (no more prepackaged dinners). Since trust is low, customers want to take control. Confusing messages about gardening have been bombarding them for years now. If a drought hits, they hear that plants are greedy culprits to be starved. Many plants long popular with home gardeners are now considered invasive. Fair or not, the message that consumers are hearing on pesticides is unconsciously linked to all the reports they've heard over the years about diseases and birth defects that previously accepted chemicals have caused. So how can you soothe fears and make your store the trusted local vendor for safe gardening? Read, surf the Internet and talk with peers and employees as much as you can. Then decide on a simple message to give customers that you can back up. Send this article to a friend Enter your e-mail address: Enter your friend's e-mail address: Click the image below to send: © 2008 Branch-Smith Publishing