Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable & Farm Market EXPO Michigan Greenhouse Growers EXPO

December 6-8, 2011

DeVos Place Convention Center, Grand Rapids, MI

Achieving Success in A New Economy: Ten Tips to Top – Notch Performance for Greenhouse Retailers

Where: Grand Gallery (main level) Room C

Moderator: Thomas Dudek, Senior Greenhouse Educator, MSU Extension

9:00 am Achieving Success in a New Economy: In this tough economy, even the mediocre

business is threatened with extinction. These 10 tips can help your business create and

sustain a differentiable advantage in the marketplace. Learn what adaptable businesses

do to stay at the cutting edge of innovation and profitable performance.

Bridget Behe, Horticulture Dept., MSU

9:50 am Session Ends

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Bridget  K. Behe, Ph.D.

Professor, Dept. of Horticulture

Michigan State University

Quality of Life1. Economic benefits

a. beautificationb. job creationc. reduced health care costs

2. Environmental benefitsa.  carbon sequestrationb.  attract wildlife, biodiversityc.  energy saving

3. Well‐being benefitsa. concentration and memoryb. accelerates healingc. therapeutic effects 

Three Key Strategies for Competing in Business

Operational Excellence

Customer intimacyProduct leadership

Treacy & Wiersema’s Value Disciplines

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The one number you need to grow.December 2003 HBR had an article that was simplistic and valuable (The One Number You Need to Grow, Harvard Business Review, 81[12]:46‐54). 

Q i     k   H  lik l        Question to ask:  How likely are you to recommend us to a friend?

Use a 10‐point scale for the recommendation to a friend, where 9= “extremely likely” to recommend, and 0= was “not at all likely to recommend.” 

Ask for a recommendation! Customers who responded with 8 or 9 are Promoters.

People with a 6 or 7 are Passively Satisfied, because while they were happy, they weren’t as willing to put their own y g preputation on the line and recommend the business to a friend or colleague.

The Detractors responded with a 5 or less. 

Your target is 3 Promoters : 4 Detractors.

5.  What are our financial metrics? What do we know about the finances?

Who knows about the finances?

Upper management?

l Key employees?

No one?

What does our financial dashboard look like? 

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Do you have a smart phone?

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May 2011 online study of U.S. residents only, n= 1686

First Break All The Rulesby Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman Do I know what is expected of me at work? Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right? At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best everyday? In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for doing 

good work? Does my supervisor or someone at work seem to care about me as a 

person? Is there someone at work who encourages my development? At work, do my opinions seem to count? Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel my job is 

important? Are my co‐workers committed to doing quality work? Do I have a best friend at work? In the last six months, has someone at work talked to me about my 

progress?  This last year, have I had the opportunity at work to learn and grow

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9.  Train your people Everyone has the potential to train and everyone has the ability 

and responsibility to learn. 

Whether it is a weekly meeting or regular time set aside each week, training should not be relegated to the slow times.

Employees should take turns at training others about some key  Employees should take turns at training others about some key aspect of their job.  From answering the telephone to submitting a request for vacation or what to do in the event of a fire – we can all use a refresher about how to act. 

Use different methods of teaching during training; don’t just ‘show and tell.’  You can practice, role play, take turns completing steps, or have employees give it a try.  Depending on what the training session involves, there are lots of ways to teach others how to do aspects of your job. 

It wasn’t the restrooms or the floors;It was the shopping experience that frustrated and challenged customers. They had problems or needs, and often weren’t sure what to buy to solve the problem. “We found that we had been hiring people who were more comfortable with their backs, rather than their bellies, to the aisle.”

10.  How can we partner with suppliers or customers? We can’t think “win/lose” but must think “win/win.”

Reflecting on core competencies and considering your “new” definition of value, how or where can you partner?partner?

Perhaps it is in leveraging dollars for collaborative advertising.

Perhaps it is in leveraging labor to help you both understand a trend, situation, or work on a solution.

Perhaps it is in leveraging resources to lighten the load of both.