Interesting article from The Ellison Chair in International Horticulture, titled, "Get Ready for the Future." It talks about some of the things many of us grew up with, that are quickly being replaced with newer way's and things. This stuff is fascinating. Sure, some of it's scary like the loss of privacy, which we have discussed here before. Still, there is nothing we can do about the changes except adapt, and look on in wonder as the world changes faster, and faster.
Groupon and "OsechiGate"
It's funny how quickly things can turn for a company these days. We have been talking about Groupon, the onlinecoupon service that is "sweeping" the nation, and world. I was unaware it existed outside the U.S., yet a commenter at this blog points us to Japan and "OsechiGate". What is OsechiGate? According to Fast Company.com, "sales for Groupon and other daily deals sites in Japan are hurting following an incident we'll call 'OsechiGate'--a bad food deal involving osechi, a decadent Japanese New Year's dish. Despite Groupon founder Andrew Mason's video apology to the people of Japan a few weeks ago, Groupon sales dropped 14% over the last month, according to Coupon-Jp(PDF), a consumer research firm in Japan." Follow this link to see what was offered through the Groupon, and what was actually delivered. Why doesn't this surprise me? The Fasctcompany.com article even tries to see the light at the end of the tunnel with, "some pundits thought the event might actually be a publicity boon for Groupon, under the any-press-is-good-press theory, says SocialTimes. But Coupon-jp's report suggests otherwise. Even Groupon clones have been hurting in the wake of the incident."
I have had some tell me that in the right circumstance Groupon is useful for small garden centers. Moving merchandise that isn't selling as fast as they like, end of the season stuff, discontinued items, etc. I'll stick with what we said before about Groupon. If you want to be associated with the type of merchandising that took place in Japan or what happened recently with FTD on Valentines day then by all means use Groupon. Some will say that the quick apology from Groupon's founder after each event shows Groupon get's it when it comes to companies admitting mistakes. Well how often are we going to be hearing apologies about deals gone wrong?
When this kind of stuff happens people start to wonder where to go if everyone is trying to rip you off. According to some, retailers are basically crooks that mark their stuff up only to turn around and put it on sale, and still make a profit. With that kind of publicity what's a small business to do? Many businesses are scared and feel the only way to be noticed is through these coupon deals. Instead try connecting with your customers! Quit listening to the social media experts and PR people who tell us that Groupon or paid Tweets are the way to gain fans. We want to shop at stores where we know the people running the store, and trust them. The only way to gain those kind of fans is through honesty in advertising. Sure there are plenty of people who love Groupon and sites like that, and there are also plenty of people who like to shop at the box stores. Sometimes trying to change their minds is just not worth it. Better to focus on people who's values and needs more closely align with ours. Let those people spread the word to their friends. That's social media in a nutshell.
That big "SALE" sign in your window is just BS!
Looks like FTD and Groupon have had a huge Valentines day faux pas. According to Techcrunch.com, "Groupon offered users throughout the U.S. a $20 off coupon for Valentines Day flowers from FTD. People who bought the coupon had to use a special URL to purchase the flowers. And then they were shown a regular price for the flowers of $50 before the $20 coupon. Which is fine except that the regular FTD site shows a price of $40 for the same item, meaning Groupon users only really got $10 off, not $20." What caught my attention with the Techcrunch.com article was the authors idea that, "I assume that 'sale!' signs in retail businesses are usually just BS. The stores keep normal prices higher than they should be so they can offer customers a faux discount. Whether it’s always true or just often true doesn’t matter. People don’t really get all that excited about signs that say 'HUGE SALE 50% OFF' or whatever. We’re desensitized to it." While I agree that most people don't get excited about half-off anymore, the idea that retail stores keep their prices high so we can offer customers discounts is absurd. Yet I have heard this before from people who don't know what it means to run a small retail store. We have an image problem. The Techcrunch.com article finishes with this, "for Groupon to continue to grow they need to get more big national advertisers, and those advertisers need to not be screwing around with customer trust. The Gap campaign was well handled. This FTD 'deal' wasn’t. Sour deals like this hurt Groupon’s brand, because burned customers won’t be so eager to check out the new daily deals. They’ll just assume it’s a scam, and ignore it all. Just like those HUGE SALE! signs in the window at your favorite retail store."
The author of the article say's Groupon needs big national advertisers that won't screw around with customer trust. Say what? If the author of this article is a customer of yours, he thinks your overpricing your merchandise just so you can offer a HUGE SALE. He also thinks big companies care more about customer trust? Why get involved in Groupon if the people you are going to attract with it are like the author of this article? Where is the long term relationship building?
I have written about Groupon before. Why would a garden center would want to get involved with a business model that devalues the plants, and other gardening goods we sell? My market is not the guy who authored the Techcrunch.com article who thinks we are overpriced unless we mark stuff down by half. Why would I want to focus my attention on someone who believes only large companies care about customer trust. A guy who believes that, "just assume it’s a scam, and ignore it all. Just like those HUGE SALE! signs in the window at your favorite retail store."
Crazy low prices on selected merchandise, that has to have a laundry list of qualifications and restrictions to prevent customer mis-understanding, is not for me. My predication is Groupon is going to wish they sold out to Google when they had a chance.
"Promoted" Tweet's are just more advertising
Started to receive what's called "promoted Tweets" in my Twitter feed. The first one was from Wal-mart, then from Valley Crest Tree Company. Being a horticultural company Valley Crest got my attention. Why have they chosen this route? Twitter works because you receive Tweets from people or business you have chosen to receive them from. When you start to receive Tweets from businesses you have not connected with the Tweets become advertising. Sometimes it's advertising that your glad to receive, but more often it's just more noise. Why do businesses insist on "yelling" at you in The Village Square?
Right now the paid "promoted Tweets" are few and far between. What happens when these things start to fill up your feed between stuff you actually want to read? That's what makes these promoted Tweets so weird. Do these companies just assume that we want to receive stuff they feel is important? The last Tweet I received from Valley Crest took me here, to see Gabriel Aubry wearing a Valley Crest baseball hat. I had to look up to see who Gabriel Aubry was, (he is a male model).
I Tweeted Valley Crest about this and they Tweeted back, "Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We're new to Twitter and still learning. We wish your business success in social media!" The most important concept about social media and business is it's permission based. The people who receive your updates have chosen to receive them. When you "push" your message onto my time line you have crossed over the boundary. Your Tweet is now just more advertising.
It's fascinating to watch companies jumping on the social media bandwagon. Some get it, and others seem to think it's just another medium to push their message. If your thinking of using social media the most successful businesses seem to be the ones that take an interest in maintaining the "social" aspect of the medium. Social media works best when everyone agrees to want to receive the message. That's why you get to choose who you "friend" on Facebook, or who's Tweet you receive, or who's e-mail newsletter lands in your in-box. It's called permission based advertising. The recipients give you permission to send them information. If Twitter starts to get filled with "promoted ads" it will soon fall out of favor and people will move on to the next social media platform.
Join other forward thinking nursery people
We have hit over 180 members of our IGC&N (Independent Garden Center & Nurseries)Facebook Page.
This is a closed group open by invitation only. You must own or work for an independent garden center or Nursery, and have a personal Facebook page to get in. This group is not designed to compete with nursery associations, or other trade groups. You can belong to them, and be in our group too.
The main criteria for joining is an interest in using new media and in taking yourself and business to a new level. Nowhere have I seen a more free flow of information than in this group. Never in over thirty years of being in the nursery business have so many fellow nursery people been so willing to share their stories of success and failing's. Each day there is something you can take away and use in your business and life. Got a question? Ask and within a few minutes there are answers from some of the most forward and innovative nursery people from around the world.
If your interested in joining send me a Facebook friend request with a note mentioning the group, and we will get you in. New to social media? Nothing will get you up to speed like joining this group. We are learning to use the Facebook medium together. Sure you can listen to talks and presentations about how to do social media, but there is nothing like just jumping in, and learning with others. Go to my Facebook page to get started.
"Got Bulbs?"
A post at Garden Rant today pointed me to an article at Garden Center Magazine titled, "Branding Company looks to re-vitalize bulb market". According to the article, "Brand revitalization agency, Woodbine, has been selected by a group of 17 flower bulb trading companies to develop and execute a marketing campaign to invigorate consumer
demand for flowering bulbs throughout North America." According to Woodbine "North America accounts for 30% of worldwide flower bulb demand, indicating a growth opportunity here. In 2008, a North American market study undertaken by Knowledge Networks, Inc. identified opportunities to increase demand among current bulb gardeners, while introducing bulbs to a whole new generation of potential gardeners."
As we have talked about before bulb sales have taken a nosedive in the last decade. As people choose to fill their time with other activities, bulbs which require planting before the spring season has arrived, have gotten left behind. To remedy this Anthos, the Royal Trade Association for Nursery Stock and Flower Bulbs headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands has decided to throw some money at the problem. They have committed to a three year, $1.9 million campaign. According to Peter Mitchell, Woodbine President & CEO, "we believe our campaign has the potential to do for the flower bulb industry what ‘Got Milk‘ has done for the milk industry".
Remember the "Got Milk" Campaign from 1993? It was a $23 million a year campaign that is credited with, " greatly increasing milk sales in California though not nationwide." These bulb companies are going to spend 1/12 of what the Milk advisory board did back in the 90's, yet Woodbine say's it will have the potential of doing the same thing "Got Milk" did 25 years ago. Remember the "Got Milk" campaign only increased sales in California, so Woodbine has it's work cut out for it to do the same thing for bulbs.
It's amazing that we are still pointing at an ad campaign from the last millennium, a time before The Internet and social media existed, as the way forward. It would be nice to think we can change people's behavior with a ad campaign, and bulb sales will increase. Not sure if bulb sales will increase with this ad campaign, but it does show that there is still money to be made with bulbs. Just not the way most of us expect.
Read the comments for the article by Garden Center Magazine for a clue as to what the problem really is with bulbs.
Groupon is not for my small business.
What's the deal with Groupon? You would think it's the be all and end all in coupon deals. From what I understand the concept is quite simple. If your a business you give Groupon half the money from the coupon deal, effectively loosing or making no money on the deal item. In exchange a lot of traffic flow comes from people who have bought your merchandise for half it's price. The supposed up tick for the merchant is you get a lot of people who may have never walked through your doors before. Maybe, just maybe they will like what they see and buy other things that you can make a little money on. The other hope is they will be so astounded by your store they can't wait to come back without coupons, and buy your stuff at the regular price. How is this any different than the old days when you would run an ad in the paper offering crazy low prices on loss leaders? I realize it has the modern twist of being on The Internet, and so many people have to buy the coupons before they kick in. One reviewer at sitejabber.com say's she loves it and, "if it's a restaurant you frequent, you may want to buy more than one and use it on different visits. double check the expiration date, it's usually good for about a year, but they vary depending on each deal." This lady already frequents the restaurant, so she is not a new customer. Imagine owning that restaurant and seeing her come in with her half priced coupons. "Yea, another meal served at no profit. Wonder how many more coupons she has?" Another person who love's Groupon say's, "just got back from White Water Raftng at half the cost the others in our boat paid." I wonder if he told the others on the raft what a great deal he got? I wonder who the rafting company owner want's to have come back on the rafting trip next time? Likely the people who paid full price and supported the business so it can stay in business. I love this one, "I've gotten 50% off The Melting Pot (still my favorite, I hope that coupon comes around again soon), a super cheap massage, and tickets to a wine tasting. Another time, I was just about to buy a membership to my local yoga studio, when I got a Groupon offering 60% off to that very same studio! I spent $45 instead of $108." I am sure the yogo studio is jumping for joy with the realization that you we're going to join at full price, but are now joining at half. Another reviewer say's, "so far I have bought and used 3 groupons: One for a chemical peel facial that was fantastic and half price. One for cupcakes that were expensive but got to try them cause of groupon. I would not rush out for the cupcakes again, but they were better than I have made so far." I am sure the cupcake maker is thrilled you came into their store to get half priced cupcakes you'll never buy again.
As a customer I can certainly see where paying less than half the price for something is exciting. I just wonder why businesses still think this is the way to long term customers? One reviewer say's, "legit merchants that have confidence in the value of what they are doing... cut their profit because they are optimistic you will like and be back!" Why don't those same merchants have confidence you will be back because they sell great stuff at a reasonable price all the time? They're only legit because they need a half price deal to get you into their store the first place?
My aversion to Groupon is not from the customers standpoint.If you get a deal to go to that garden center and get $50 off of $100 in merchandise then great! If your that garden center what is it about your store that requires that you give away stuff to get customers? These same customers would never have walked in just because you have really great stuff and charge a reasonable price for it?
I have always been a contrarian when it comes to the current fad. It would seem the majority of users like Groupon, and for some businesses it seems to work for them. Here is an article from Inc.com on Groupon. Loved this high rated comment, "Make no mistake, Groupon works for Groupon first and foremost. And it works for customers. What it doesn't work profitabily for is small business! Most tales of success are anecdotal, built on 'hope' at how a brand is able to attract new customers...You want more customers? Of course you do! Find out why the ones shopping with you don't come back first, fix that, reward them and you'll really make your small business work." What a novel idea!
Gardening virtually
Have you ever played Myst? How about Riven? My knowledge of these two graphic video games likely ages me. I am not a gamer. I received one or the other from my sister years ago. These games are not like Farmville, which is so prevalent on Facebook. Farmville is cartoonish, while games like Riven are as real looking as a computer generated game can be. While at the ANLA Management Clinic a week ago I had the opportunity to sit down with Steve Cissel of 10-20 media, and watch a preview of a new gardening game they have come up with. The still unnamed game has a "world" along the lines of Riven. In this virtual world birds fly in and out of view, water laps onto a shore, and various events can be programed to happen at different times in the game. In this new un-named game the object is to grow to maturity various plants.
So there you are in this virtual world trying to grow a real, or made up tree. Maybe it's a cross between an apple and a loquat, an apquat. You nurture your apquat by watering, feeding, controlling pests, etc. When the apquat fruits you are rewarded with "gold coins" or other reward. Success, you can grow stuff virtually. So far it's just a game, and the connection to our garden center business is zero.
Being from an age group that doesn't automatically "get it" when it comes to games I had to have Steve explain why he was showing this idea at the ANLA Clinic? How does growing a apquat to maturity and fruit benefit the local garden center? When you successfully "grow" something in this virtual game you are rewarded. How the reward is paid out has not been determined yet. You take your reward to the locally owned garden center where you receive your prize! Guess what? You get a free, or reduced priced real plant or other garden center item.
That's when I had my AH AH moment! Someone, maybe a young person who has no experience gardening plays the game and learns that plants need water to grow. To thrive they need fertilizer, which can be applied to the virtual plant. Put too much on the plant dies. Put on the right amount it grows. Oh, oh, mildew has arrived and covers the leaves. You learn that organic fungicide is the answer, or perhaps moving the plant to a sunnier location might help. Now the plant thrives and you get a reward! Only to "cash in" the reward involves going down to that place called a garden center. Normally that might be intimidating to the new gardener, but you have learned from playing the game that the "garden center" is the friendly place with answers to your questions. You have also learned from playing the game you need fertilizer, and mildew control. Now you enter this real garden center armed with enough knowledge to keep from feeling "foolish", and ready to grow a real plant.
They key to the game for garden retail is the reward, which brings in newbie gardeners to the garden shop. Some may play the game, win a reward and never cash it in at the garden center. That's o.k., because others will wan't to cash in, and try their hands at real gardening. "If I can do this stuff virtually, maybe I can for real". After all, you won a real thing, which needs other real things to keep it growing. I can see all sorts of opportunities for interaction with the local garden center. Imagine a virtual "Golden Gecko Garden Center" that exists in the game. It's the "magical place" where you go to hear from the "plant wizards" and buy the "potions" needed for keeping that virtual garden growing, and thriving. After all, you want to win another prize.
From what I understand the game is slated for release sometime this summer. It could be a fantastic way to interest newbie gardeners in gardening. So much these days is done virtually, and if we can at least get some interest in that world, we might be able to get some interest in our "real" world of gardening. Keep an eye on this!
On the way to work
I drive across The American River in Coloma/Lotus everyday. 
Thought I would take a picture this morning as we we're crossing the bridge. This is the half way point on my daily 12 mile drive to work. This area is about 40 miles to the east of Sacramento. During the summer the river is crowded with rafter's. The rivers origin is the high Sierra, and end's up in draining into the Sacramento River. Empire Creek which passes through the nursery feeds this river.
You'll read it here first
Over at Today's Garden Center there is a post about the troubles at Monrovia. It's stuff we have already talked about. The comments are interesting and not to sympathetic of Monrovia. What caught my eye was this comment by anonymous, "several good points have been made in the above comments but no one has mentioned that its not only Monrovia who has been spinning this sob story to all of us independents. All of the major industry magazines have ran the story of Monrovia but all they say is, All of the independents should increase their orders to help this poor company. I would have really liked someone to write something closer representing the views of the majority of people in the industry, (or what I consider to be the majority from what I have read on discussion boards such as this)and asked the question of why we should buy more from them or at least a little more questioning of Monrovia's motives." Hey anonymous, there is a RSS button in the right sidebar of this blog. It looks like the one in this post. Hit that button and follow the instructions. You'll receive this blog in your what ever form of media you choose, every time a new post comes out. The reason you may want to do that is we have been talking about the Monrovia issue since the infamous letter came out. Been having an honest discussion about the events ever since.
Don't miss out on the news before it becomes news.
A micro-nursery craze?
Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 70's one of my favorite beers was one known as Anchor Steam. It was so different than the run of the mill beer like Bud and Coors. Rich, dark, and robust I had no idea that the Anchor Brewing Co. was the first micro-brewery. They would be the first in what would be a Renaissance of the brewing art's in America. Over the last three decades the micro-brewery craze has grown. It has changed many peoples idea of what a good beer is, as well as created a mystic around the idea of Micro business. Small, efficient, all about quality, and run by a small crew, these micro-breweries are an example of what might happen with the nursery trade. Recently we have decreased the size of our outside area at the garden center to better reflect the change in our customers habits. More vegetables, flowers, and perennials, and less in landscaping shrubs and trees. We no longer need the extra acreage, and wanted to shrink the frame to fit the picture. So it was interesting to hear a speaker (can't remember who it was)at the ANLA Management Clinic say that most nurseries carried too much inventory for current conditions. They should reduce the inventory and move what the do carry more frequently. Create a higher profit per square foot is what he said.This get's me to thinking that what happened with the beer industry is what will happen with the garden center trade.You'll end up with the massive operations like Home Depot (Budwiser) and Lowes (Coors), and Wal Mart (Schlitz), and the rest of us small garden centers (Micro-breweries). We should covet the underdog role and rebuild our smaller businesses along the lines of what the micro-breweries did. Micro-breweries have tasting bars, someone to explain the differences in beer types, some form of entertainment on weekends, high quality product, and an independent spirit.
So rather than worrying about what the big boys are up to we should be quietly working away at bringing back the craftsmanship that was the nursery trade of old. Selling a higher quality product at a reasonable price. Creating an atmosphere of experimentation, and wild eyed enthusiasm for what we are building. Allowing that there is a place for the big boys and what they sell, but that's not us. Teaching the younger people how to build and create their own futures in horticulture. Really just getting back our mojo and actually promoting the fact that we are micro-nurseries. Soon the kind of people we want for customers will search us out just as beer aficionado's will search out their favorite micro-breweries. Sounds kind of exciting if I do say so myself. Cheers!
Social Media is the New Village Square
While at the ANLA Clinic in Louisville a thought occurred to me. The younger generation get's social media and seem's wired to be involved. It's guy's and gals in my age group (go ahead and guess) that may feel a bit overwhelmed. Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, You Tube, etc. Which one do I use? Do I need all of them? Is one better than the other? I just don't know what to say? I am not suppose to sell or advertise on there? Why am I doing this? Maybe it would help to think of social media as the modern day version of the village square.We use to meet on Main St., or the village square and talk with our neighbors, and fellow business people. Well, the village square in most communities no longer exists. People hang inside and don't get out to socialize in person much. Yes, it's a shame. There are lot's of things that are gone, and we are poorer for it. It's just they way it is and wishing it wasn't won't do any good.
Social media is the electronic village square. What do I talk about? Whatever you would have said to the butcher, baker, or candlestick maker in the old village square. People want to connect, not be sold a bill of goods. Pick one of the social media platforms and work with it for awhile. Like Twitter? Stick with it for a time, and if you decide to try another platform you will feel more comfortable. You don't have to do all of them at first. You wouldn't go running into the village square and start yelling at the top of your lungs at everyone. Start slow and get known by the other villagers. Ask how their day is going. Ask that bakery when they are making more of those delicious muffins. Mention the stuff your grandkids are doing. Just don't go running through the village square yelling about your "buy 2 get the third free" sale. Nobody like's to be yelled at. By just getting to know people you show you care about the community. They know your the "village nursery person". When the time comes for them to get gardening stuff they will remember you, and the fact that you weren't always trying to sell them something.
I'm back from the ANLA Management Clinic
Wow, what a great time I had at the clinic. It was fantastic to meet many of the people I have only known from the virtual world. So much happened my head is spinning. There is much to discuss, but it's going to take some time for me to get all my thoughts together. Since this was the first time I had gone, there was nothing for me to relate it to. I asked lot's of people who told me the clinic had dramatically changed from prior years. The ANLA took a look around and realized the world had changed, and they felt it was time for them to change.That was the theme of the clinic, Managing Change. Here is the problem, you cannot manage change, you can only manage your response to change. Change happens no matter what we do. The question is, how quickly can you change? The ANLA (American Nursery & Landscpe Association) is a huge association. It's like the battleship of nursery associations. When it's time to make a turn it takes a bit to get the big ship turned around. These day's what we need is to be more like a PT boat. Small and turning on a dime. Things change so quickly these days if you don't move quickly someone else will. The ANLA asked me to give some reports about my experience at the clinic. I intend to honor their request, because I respect the people who asked me to attend. They would not have asked me to go if they wanted a watered down, don't offend anyone type of report. I have no axes to grind with The Association, and they we're gracious hosts. As a matter of fact I came away with a new respect for the organization and the people behind it. The organization finds itself in a new world and desperately want's to help it's membership to adjust and prosper in this new world.
The problem is the time to have talked about this new medium was five years ago (the links at that old post don't work anymore). We waited until the economy tanked and nurseries are dropping like flies before we realized it was a viable medium. Oh well, that's the past and it looks like some in The Association have seen the light. I want to thank Kellee Magee who was the person at the ANLA who reached out, and took a chance on inviting me. One would imagine she and some others in The Association saw that the old ways were not working, and bold action was need to keep our trade relevant in the publics mind. Not sure when I'll do the posting, but over the upcoming days and weeks I hope to touch on some of the stuff I saw at the clinic. That's what the asked me to do. Somethings I saw there don't sit well with me. I also saw stuff that indicates The Association may be "getting it". There was also stuff that "blew me away" in a positive way! Can't wait to tell you.
Monrovia, Home Depot, and pay at scan.
I forgot to mention in the last post something important. Bob Smiland, Chief Of Sales and Marketing told me that Monrovia Nursery will not operate with pay at scan. Home Depot and the rest will have to pay upfront, or with some type of dating. I think it's important, as many small retailers find the whole pay at scan process distasteful.
A discussion with Bob Smiland, head of sales and marketing for Monrovia Nurseries
I meet with Bob Smiland, who is the Chief Sales & Marketing Officer for Monrovia Nurseries. Bob was nice enough to sit down with me today, and chat about some of the rumors flying around Monrovia. If you remember, Monrovia sent a letter to all of their retail customers asking them to book and additional $20 million dollars in spring bookings. This was on top of the spring bookings the retailers had already placed. If the retail customers could not come up with the additional money the bank asked for, then the bank wanted Monrovia to move more plants through the box store chain. Bob say's that they did not meet their goal of raising an additional $20 million dollars. You will see Monrovia plants in the box stores. They will be in plain black containers, delivered by independent trucking companies. They will not use their own branded Monrovia trucks. Bob tell's me that the box stores will not receive any discounts above what any independent garden center would receive. Naturally, with the volume the box stores do they will likely receive the maximum discount, but no more than what would be offered to their best independent customers. Bob also say's that none of the exclusive varieties that Monrovia grows will be sold at the box stores. It's clear that Monrovia never thought they would find themselves in this situation, and it does pain them. They grew just too many plants a few years ago when the world was their oyster. With the downturn in the economy, they found themselves with too many plants. By opening up the distribution channels to the box stores, they hope to reduce the amount of stock on the ground. Bob also mentioned they have reduced their production substantially this past and current year.
We had been doing business with Monrovia for well over 20 years, and always felt they we're a top notch nursery supplier. I think, and Bob agrees that Monrovia was a company that had a lot of pride, bordering on invincibility when it came to what was possible in years past. No one is immune to the giddy feeling that enveloped the nursery trades a few years ago. An attitude of anything is possible, and no one is going to tell us how to run our company prevailed. It must be painful to be told what to do by the bank, but these are the days we live in. Situations none of us would have ever thought possible a few years ago have now come to fruition.
One area Bob say's he would like to address was the poor outreach Monrovia has had over this event. We talked here at this blog on how Monrovia had already hired Mike Trebbing, who is their box store specialist, before they sent out the letter. It left a sour taste in many of their customers mouths, and he said the company should have done things differently. My guess is Monrovia is an old school company. They assumed when they sent the letter to their customers the confidentiality they requested in the letter would be honored. The nature of the new world is there are no secrets anymore, and once the letter was leaked by a industry blog, the cat was out of the bag.
Bob reads this blog, and mentioned he is also given updates by staff. So comment's made at this blog are noticed and read at Monrovia, which is a good thing. I invited Bob to comment here next time. Perhaps in the past they should have addressed the comments or post's that have appeared here before. Like a lot of companies that are here at the ANLA Clinic, they are use to doing things they way they had always been done in the past. Press release goes out, give interview to trade publications, stir, and wait. Like we have said before, that doesn't fly in this new world. One person banging away at their computer in their pajama's at home, can potentially have as much impact as traditional media had in the past. Perhaps we will see a new interactive Monrovia in the future.