The Devil’s in the Display
Pump and filter products for the pond present special challenges. Above and beyond the most obvious challenge of the space they require, remains the fact that these products aren’t particularly attractive on their own. Most look like large, unshapely black cylinders or squares, and few have colorful graphics on the boxes designed to hold them.
Showing the products in action is a far more successful marketing strategy than simply displaying them in your pond product section.
“The easiest thing is that you have to have a display pond. Just having the stuff sit on the shelf, they’re not going to get it,” said Gared Bell, product developer for St. Charles, Ill.-based Aquascape Inc. “They physically have to see it in order to see the benefits of it.”
Targeted seminars also help pond keepers see how easy it can be to install new or retrofit their existing ponds with state-of-the-art equipment.
“We have seminars where we build ponds, streams or even just installing a skimmer,” said Jina Mentzer, office manager of Creative Water Gardens in Garland, Texas. “We have a lot of customers that have older ponds that don’t have skimmers. We show how easy it can be put on.”
Fully outfitted display ponds that showcase your pump and filter products show consumers what is possible with the right investment. It allows them to see the various combinations open to them – to touch and feel what the products can do. Placing cheaper setups beside high-end equipment makes the up-sell easy.
Bell recommends displaying high-end equipment next to models with all the trimmings. He said it shows people the difference between a setup that requires them to climb into or reach into a pre-formed pond for maintenance, versus a lower-maintenance setup.
A qualified staff member familiar with every product feature completes the display, making recommendations, as appropriate, depending on the special needs of each individual customer.
“It’s important that the people who are trying to sell them know a lot about skimmers and falls and has actually, hands on, put them in,” Mentzer said. “You can’t explain how to put one in if you’ve never done it before.” <HOME>
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