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- Keith and Shannon discuss Garden Supply Company's emphasis on customer service and a variety of services outside the garden center.
- They tier their services according to customers' specific needs, from landscape consultation to DIY advice.
- Garden Supply offers expert plant advice for DIY customers to help them select the best plants for their gardens.
- Professional landscape consultations are available to help customers make informed decisions about their property investments.
- The company offers a one, two tree program for customers who prefer on-site advice for specific areas of their property.
- Garden Supply's delivery fees are reasonable and include a flat fee for truckload deliveries or one or two trees.
- The company employs knowledgeable and experienced gardeners who care for the plants, ensuring customers receive healthy plants.
- Additional services include repotting, insect problem evaluation, bee and pollinator classes, and bonsai consultations.
- Customers can bring in pictures and measurements to get advice from experienced gardeners, especially during slower times to avoid waiting.
- Garden Supply's gardeners have diverse backgrounds, including small business owners and avid gardeners with extensive knowledge and experience.
Creators & Guests
What is In The Garden?
In the Garden with Keith Ramsey is a podcast aimed at helping you grow and maintain a beautiful and healthy garden and landscape.
Each podcast will focus on a new specific topic. Check back every two weeks for the latest episode!
[00:00:00]
[00:00:17] Good morning, Keith at garden supply company. Shannon's here with me today. And we were going to talk about garden supply was built on. Providing good customer service, but also providing services, like outside of the garden center. And we've really expanded that into a number of different things.
[00:00:34] It's a huge value to our customer. And then it's also, it makes it a lot more interesting for us. Absolutely. I love that we tier our services as well. For our customers so that, some people, like you had mentioned previously Uh, some people don't want a huge landscape overhaul.
[00:00:52] But the way we offer these other programs, it really helps. Narrow it down to the niche of each customer's needs. Yep. So from the. From, just coming in and getting great plan advice. If you're a do it yourself, customer, and you want. You want want good ideas.
[00:01:09] There's lots and lots of plants that I would buy. And, or I would sell somebody one of, but I wouldn't sell them 10 of 'em. They're going to grow On uniform or. Or there. Good chance, 20% of them don't make it through the first year. If you stick one in and it does really well, it's an amazing plant and it's worth having, but if you don't get that advice and you go, into a box store or you go into a garden center and you just try to do it on your own.
[00:01:33] I think it's a huge fail, in a lot of cases. Or it's a big landscaping. Scaping as an investment, it's it adds to the property value of your home. And so there's. To get that PR professional advice is so important. And we offer that landscape consultation. Yeah. So from a landscape consultation at like 2 65. It's a lost leader type of scenario for us because by the time our guys schedule something and get out there. Spend spend 45 minutes or an hour on site. And then come back and do the planning and do the plant selection. SketchUp pictures is what we usually do. We'll take pictures instead of.
[00:02:08] Doing a landscape plan. Like people think of. Yeah, blueprint are big, huge paper drawing. People usually just don't understand. Visual aspect that we do with their pictures of their home. So you've got a picture. You got a picture of one side of your house and you were sketching in scribbling and almost the
[00:02:28] The plants that are going to fill it, fill that space. But coming up with good, just rock solid Bulletproof plants that, that are gonna make it. One thing I love about it too, is that they can get a consultation for their whole entire yard, but break it down into, by budget or by areas of importance. Sure. So it can be a longterm project without spending the money on a consult every time.
[00:02:49] Exactly. And or if it's, if they've got if they know. You know what they're going to spend in the next year or so. Do the front yard and then come back and revisit the backyard. And then we can always grab pictures and then have those.
[00:03:02] For four follow-up things. So that, it's a nice thing, but you get the right plant in the right place. And then, from the consultation, some people go out and do it themselves. You. They'll pick up the plants or we deliver the plants to them. Our delivery fees are really reasonable and they're a, it's a flat fee to get, a truckload of plants to your house or one or two trees.
[00:03:24] It really makes sense. Absolutely. The other thing that they look at that a gardener can't necessarily provide, which I think is should be a deciding factor for people when they're choosing which way to go. Is the drainage. The true son. Yep. Because when those, when spring comes. And all those deciduous trees leaf out.
[00:03:46] That's going to add a lot of summer shade. Sure. And not only that, but hardscaping. Figuring out the drainage and figuring out traffic patterns. Walkways or patios and outdoor living spaces. I think, really makes a space usable. Yeah. And then from consults to our one, two tree.
[00:04:04] Program. That jumps from 2 65 to 60. Right. And you're scheduling an appointment with somebody. It's similar to the advice you get for free in the garden center, but it's. But if somebody that's gonna, that's gonna dedicate 45 minutes to you. You've got a scheduled time. You come in, you bring your pictures in
[00:04:22] And then they're going to walk you through and they're going to, they're going to do a very similar thing. That we do onsite. So if you've got a front planning or a mailbox or an area around a patio that's been installed. It's something that we can work through really easy in that scenario.
[00:04:37] Absolutely. And the idea of an appointment might sound funny for a garden center, but what people might not realize is how busy we are. And you might, if you just show up, you might have to wait. An hour to talk to somebody, ideally not, but yeah. On a busy day, on a busy day. It can get like that. Yeah.
[00:04:55] And we probably have we've got, 70, 75 employees, right? Not all gardeners. Not all not all, we've got people, loaders and people at the register and stuff, but we've gotten probably more gardeners than most garden centers you would go to. And it's.
[00:05:09] And it's the difference between a box store. And a garden center box door. The people are really skilled at unloading plants, watering plants, maybe plant care, but don't really have quite the depth of knowledge that you're going to get at a garden center and, or the depth of plants or inventory. So it's such a value, if you're listening to this and you're not in our market or your.
[00:05:32] Now on the other side of Raleigh, I always joke that if you don't get help, from us, get help from somebody. It's okay. I go into a box store. And I see these teenagers watering plants and they're drowning them. The difference with our plants is that they're cared for by gardeners. Yeah.
[00:05:50] Which makes such a world of difference. Yeah. You're getting a healthy plants. I think a lot of times people think that plants need water and. And we'll have customers that, just water and water plants need water, or they need about an inch of water a week. And, if.
[00:06:02] And if, and, without that knowledge, people tend to over-water right. We've got Yeah, other services that we provide or we, repotting services and we do it on them. On. One by one basis. As people bring it in, depending on the size of the plant and the pot.
[00:06:15] It's a minimal fee plus soil. But we do that all the time evaluating insect problems. You can always bring in leaves cuttings, put them in a bag. So you're not spreading the disease or the insect to our plants, but bring them in. We can evaluate them. We can make recommendations as far as.
[00:06:32] Your own care at home. Different things you can do. And then Jason with Bond's eyes. Yup. And then the whole, we've got Jason and Bond's eyes and Jason and B's. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Roger Montague, doing he, he does paid classes. For homeschool people and homeschool kids. And he does.
[00:06:51] All different types of workshops, right? And it's all about bee and pollinator classes. And then Jason does consultations onsite, as far as a report of or wiring or showing somebody how to style a Bonzai, a little personal class. While you're working on your own jury.
[00:07:07] Or pick up a pot and pick up a tree and he'll show you how to, get up, get it planted and get it potted. So it's a nice intro to Bonzai. Absolutely. Just jumping back real quick. If somebody doesn't want to sign up for the $65 one, two tree program, they can bring pictures and.
[00:07:24] Measurements in. And talk to a Gardner it's best. To do it during the week or the week. Yeah. So you don't have to wait as long. Or early on a Sunday on a Saturday morning. I Saturday mornings tend to be slow enough that we've got plenty of help on Saturday morning. That they can come in and get a project started.
[00:07:40] Yeah. I tell people all the time, our gardeners are so talented. They don't have to work. Even though I've made some rapport with them, they don't have to work just with me that any of our gardeners. Sure. So talented and have their own. Yeah. We've got, Bob used to have own a garden.
[00:07:56] Bob is great. I own a garden center. And Massachusetts and Jay ran a florist with his wife for years. We've got. We've got small business owners that have come retired to our area that are working with us. Absolutely. Sandy I've known most of my life. In Carrie and she she's an avid gardener.
[00:08:14] Just really knowledgeable experience with our own gardens. Really teaches us so much. Yeah. Deidre dude. She is, she was an avid gardener. And when she started and she's, she's her not her depth of knowledge is huge. And she could probably teach you how to shoot too.
[00:08:29] And then she came from. Oh, yeah. That's top secret. Yeah. Yep. Absolutely. I think it was witness protection program or something.
[00:08:41] And then Harry and Catherine with the chemicals and sure. Essentials. Yeah. Huge depth of knowledge on insect or disease or lawn. Lawn care and that kind of stuff. All of that's free and that's all, that's what we're there for is just to provide that service. And there, there is no cost for it at all.
[00:08:56] And, I have to plug house plants, John Audrey, Katie Bethany, myself. We're one of us is almost always there. Yep. We'd love teaching people about houseplants. And then finally my best friend, Danny. She is crushing it over in design. Yeah. And what other custom services. She just pulls the whole store together.
[00:09:18] If it wasn't for her, I it just wouldn't, it wouldn't be the same place. And. She's difficult to deal with. Personally. I mean for either of us. I think that the rest of the people that she comes across fine. It just fine. Yep. And, but boys, can she pull a wreath together and does fo floral's not my jam because I love live house plants so much. Sure. But she just does a killer job on those wreaths, especially like for the holidays coming up with the ranch.
[00:09:46] Just even a hammer.
[00:09:48] Yup. I think everybody just needs to come in and check it out now and definitely just take advantage of the people that we have.