“I’m here to pick up for Katie.”
*Confusion and bag rustling ensues.*
“I’m Katie. Do you have any questions about the order?”
“Yeah – why’d you order through GrubHub?”
It was POURING rain, I mean, I had to CHANGE MY PANTS when I got home rain, I couldn’t see because I was wearing a mask and my glasses were foggy, I was hungry, I had to get to work, and I just wanted my bagel. Instead. . .
WhY DId yOU do iT THAT WAY?!?
I mean, does it matter? There are several reasons I did it that way, one being that I had a GrubHub credit and there was a GrubHub ad up top when I searched for the shop and I have a payment saved with GrubHub, so when I’m trying to order at a stoplight and I have 30 seconds to do it, I’m gonna go with the saved payment version because I couldn’t figure out how to order on their website in 30 seconds.
WhY DId yOU do iT THAT WAY?!?
I couldn’t figure out how to order directly from them in 30 seconds.
WhY DId yOU do iT THAT WAY?!?
Because I didn’t know any better.
Helping People Know Better
I was just at a phenomenal event, the Digging In Gathering. I spoke to the group about marketing, led an art workshop, and got to hang around with them for all kinds of fun and inspiring activities. They are an amazing group of business owners bursting with creativity, drive, passion, business acumen, and smarts. I could not love them more.
One thing that came up a lot is the difficulty of getting clients to water their plants.
It’s a biggie. If you plant a $300 container garden, or maybe 6 of those at the same house, you want the person who lives there to water it. We discussed customer communication, the number of touch points it takes to get people to hear and act upon your message, and how communication is not actually just you saying things, but also the way the person listening to you processes, understands, and acts upon what you say (or write).
To get someone to water their plants, you might have to communicate the information and the urgency in several ways, using different angles and different delivery methods.
The Funny Way
Here’s a clever way that Gretchen and Mary, owners of The Windowbox Gardener, used their Instastories to teach their customers how to make mums last longer (hint: it involves watering them).
(Note: I added their logo as a watermark to each of their images, because while I’d love you to use this idea, I’d love you to make your own story images. They did not post with their logo.)
Two things about QR codes:
1. People might not know how to use them, so tell them how to do it. You can copy and pasted my bolded text from above if you are delivering a piece of paper with a QR code, or say it if you are at a conference and using QR codes. (One of my other newsletters dives deeper into this concept. It is also about lobster.)
2. How do you make a QR code? I made you a handy 2.5 minute video that explains just how to do it! Watch the video now.
Other ways to communicate important info:
- Tags
- Stickers
- Jingles (Pop pop fizz fizz oh what a relief it is.)
- Videos
- Emails
- Social posts
- Graphics
- Post cards
- Swag
- Jokes
- Memes
Do you have a particularly effective method of communicating? Write back and share it with me and I’ll share it with everyone for you!
Ecommerce Mastery Series – Let’s Do it Again!
We had SUCH a great time last winter diving deep into the world of Ecommerce to help horticulture businesses be successful that we’re doing it again! Kickoff is October 28, 2021, and the classes are much closer together this time so you can wrap it all up and be ready for Spring! There are three individual sessions and you may attend one, two, or all three!
Session 1 is all about how to think about Ecommerce and plan so that you’re successful.
Session 2 is called “Curbside Pickup Powerup” but is really about ecommerce fulfillment and data management.
Session 3 is all about marketing for ecommerce, which is different than marketing for brick & mortar businesses.
In the MIDDLE of one of my Cultivate ’21 sessions, a kind attendee stood up and said, “Her Ecommerce Mastery Series was AMAZING.” (If that was you, please reply and say hi)
Another happy comment from an attendee: “Thank you for all of the wonderful templates and documentation you shared for us to copy and use. Those alone were worth the price!”
Handy Links
How to Make a Screencast Video
How to Install and Use LastPass to manage your passwords (and take them everywhere via nifty phone app)
What’s it built with?
Do you ever visit a website and wonder how they built it? Is it on Shopify or WordPress? How did they make that form? This will tell you!
Did you know there is a thing called Live Illustration to map conferences? Like the court illustrator but for mind maps? I was today years old when I learned about it from Sharon Thompsonowak, the new-ish Director of the Fellows Program at Longwood Gardens. Check it out!
Screencast Browser Extension Links
Vidyard Extension (What I use)
Loom
How verbally creative are you? Here’s a nifty quiz!
I’m in this picture and I don’t like it.jpg – No, seriously, this is a great podcast episode about what it means to be a business founder and how to move from strategic thinking to deliverables and back again. This episode is also amazing and not what you’d think it’d be about.
A moment of AHHHHHHHH
I’ve done a lot of things and been a lot of places but the Digging In Gathering is up there on the list of best experiences I’ve ever had. I’ll be implementing things I learned there in all sorts of corners of my business.
Relocation is one lesson I learned. After our morning sessions we caravanned along the Blue Ridge Parkway to this overlook for a picnic lunch. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? We were all given boxed lunches and blankets and we spread out. I went to work on this picture while the participants talked business. Whatcha wanna bet they clearly remember what they talked about and learned in that place BECAUSE OF THE PLACE?
Thank you, Andrea, and thank you Digging In members, for letting me crash your party. I’ll never stop talking about it.
Customer communication: achieved.
PS: If we’re not connected in LinkedIn, click here to connect!
PPS: Need help with hiring, email marketing, finding a web developer, etc. etc.? Schedule a free 15 minute discovery call here.
PPPS: Want a professional container garden designer? Find one here.
