ANLA Knowledge Center

Pull Up A Chair: Chicago

Pull Up a Chair brings together retailers and experts from around the country to talk about the secrets behind their success and the challenges that keep them up at night. This tradeshow after-hours conversation lets you pull up a chair to the couch or on the rooftop deck to get the inside scoop on their experiences.

This inaugural series of episodes was filmed onsite in Chicago. Watch for new episodes with new casts coming soon to a city near you: wherever there are interesting green industry conversations going on, we’ll be ready to help you Pull Up a Chair...

EPISODE GUIDE

Reward your customer. Reward your bottom line.
Pull Up a Chair brings together retailers and experts from around the country to talk about the secrets behind their success and the challenges that keep them up at night. We kick off with Mark, Christina and Michael chatting about customer loyalty programs. Are they worth the investment? Do loyalty programs really work? And how the heck do you set one up? So pull up a chair and listen in on how these folks are using customer loyalty programs to profile customers, develop offers and program benefits, and how they measure success.

POS ROI: Measuring Bottom Line Benefits Mark, Christina and Michael talk with Kip about how they measure the return they receive from their investment in a POS system. Is it really more than just an electronic bean counter? Join the conversation while Michael shares how his POS system helps him compete, Mark talks about bottom line ROI on system upgrades, and Christina shares how her POS drives specific buying, pricing and product mix decisions.

To POS or Not to POS…That Is the Question Part 1
The POS system Stephanie bought after purchasing her garden center just isn’t cutting it anymore. How should she go about making the single biggest capital investment she may ever make? Michael shares his experience upgrading to a new system and Bill advises on asking the right questions to make sure your purchase fits your business’ unique needs.

To POS or Not to POS…That Is the Question Part 2
Michael, Stephanie and Bill continue their conversation with a look at how expensive employee mistakes at the register can be. (Hint: Michael thinks the savings have paid for his POS system!) Stephanie worries about the burden of converting to a new system and Michael and Bill offer some real world advice on how to manage the transition.

Social Media: A Lot of Questions...Not Many Answers
Social media: everyone is talking about it, but does it really make sense for your business? And, if so, what should you invest your time and energy doing? Michael, Christina and Mark share some surprising insights on whether or not to involve your staff and how to use Facebook when hiring new staff.

Email Newsletters: Who, What, When?
E-newsletters are dramatically changing garden center communications making them faster, cheaper and content rich. However, endless possibilities make the questions more complex: what do you write, how often do you send them and who should receive them? Christina, Mark and Michael discuss sourcing content, segmenting customers and the fine line between marketing and content communications.