Training season for new and returning garden center employees is here! With the busiest season of the year quickly approaching, start the season off strong with training on the must-have best practices for successful retail team members

Customer education, visual merchandising, and how to meet customer expectations are few of the common training needs for retail teams. Let us help you gear up for spring with a Back2Basics course on retail best practices for your team.

Who should attend?

• New retail team members in need of training
• Existing retail team members to sharpen their skills
• Retail leaders or owners looking for tools to train their team

What will you get out of your registration?

• Training or a refresher on best practices and key knowledge for garden center employees
• Ideas to further develop your training programs
• Access to well-respected experts to answer your questions
• AmericanHort members receive access to the recording that can be used as a training tool throughout the season

This Back2Basics course is available FREE to AmericanHort members and $99 for non-members.

Check Out What Our Expert Speakers Are Covering:

PART ONE
The Three Critical C’s of Retail
John Kennedy; BoomerWrangle, LLC

Developing a retail experience that not only serves the customer at the “magical moment” they enter, but throughout the entire customer experience and beyond, is key to driving your foot traffic. But more importantly, was it good enough to have them return and refer?

Let us help you navigate the choppy waters of the customer experience and the new customer expectations of a world-class retail experience.

Topics covered include:

• The price, experience, and convenience economies your customer is looking for in 2023… and beyond.
• The three critical C’s of effective retailing for any service-related industry
• The five “Moments of Magic” that must be in place to ensure a seamless retail experience and how to create them with each customer

Meet John Kennedy
Coach, Strategist, and Author; BoomerWrangle, LLC

Over the last 25 years, John Kennedy has presented to nearly 500,000 audience members worldwide delivering a dramatic and sustainable impact on scores of companies and associations within the green and agritourism industry. His client list includes Sheridan Nurseries, Pick Seed Canada, Everde Growers, The Garden Center Group, and over 100 state associations, landscapers, growers, farms, nurseries, and garden centers throughout North America.

He specializes in delivering an exceptional customer experience, strategic planning, effective teamwork, leadership development, and creating sales and service cultures within the horticulture and agritourism industry.

PART TWO
I Purchased This Amazing Plant. Now What?
Broch Martindale; Corteva Agriscience

Your customer is excited to purchase a new plant for their home or landscape but what happens if the customer fails? Keep customers coming back for more and avoid them getting discouraged by getting your customers set up for success from the beginning and help them recognize warning signs.

Topics covered include:

• Strategies and ideas to set your customers up for success before they leave the store
• The process of finding the right solution for the customer’s potential plant issue with their new purchase
• Engaging with customers for continued success and the many options you have to keep them coming back

Meet Broch Martindale

National Nursery and Greenhouse Strategic Account Manager; Corteva AgriScience

Broch Martindale found his passion for plants and the green industry growing up in the family greenhouse business. Broch studied greenhouse production at The Ohio State University and returned home to the family business before searching for his next challenge. When he joined Dow AgroSciences, which is now Corteva, 9 years ago, Broch focused his work on IPM and greenhouse technology. He recently took on the role of National Greenhouse and Nursery Strategic Account Manager for Corteva and is back to working with the industry and growers he loves so much.

In Broch’s free time he and his wife Jenifer own and operate a 4-acre specialty cut flower farm just outside Indianapolis.

PART THREE
Visual Merchandising 101: Understanding the Basics to Train Your Team
Joe Baer; ZenGenius Inc.

Visual Merchandising is the art and science of arranging and displaying your products and services to entice customers, create a positive brand image, and maximize your sales. How products are displayed and presented to your customers impacts how they value the products, the brand, and ultimately their decision to purchase a product or walk away.

Learn the best visual merchandising practices and techniques to train your team and engage your customers from CEO of ZenGenius and visual merchandising expert, Joe Baer.

Topics to be covered include:

• Strategies and principals of visual merchandising basics
• Strong examples of compelling displays, and why they work
• Techniques to implement in your employee training program

Meet Joe Baer

Co-Founder, CEO and Creative Director; ZenGenius Inc.

Joe Baer is the Co-Founder, CEO, and Creative Director of ZenGenius, Inc., which provides Visual Merchandising, Special Events and Creative Direction. His career encompasses over thirty years of experience working with many of the top retailers. His passion, drive and enthusiasm for visual merchandising and amazing retail experiences leads him to motivate and energize audiences around the world. He is well known for leading the annual Iron Merchant Challenge at IRDC to celebrate visual merchandising as an important aspect of retail design. Joe created ZenGenius with a vision to bring the knowledge of Visual Merchandising to the world and provide a unique type of creative support to retailers and businesses. ZenGenius is celebrating 22 years of creative genius!