Hosting a Successful Retail Build-A-Pond Day

Tips for a Successful Event
Are you leery of taking the plunge into the water gardening category? You know it’s an emerging trend in the green industry but need to make sure you’ll be successful with pond products. The best way to generate interest in water gardening at your retail location is to install a beautiful water garden in a prominent location. Garden centers across the nation are finding that a Retail Build-A-Pond Day is an exciting, educational, and economical way to obtain a display pond. Installing your pond becomes a store event that customers and employees alike can roll up their sleeves and experience firsthand.

If you’ve never installed a pond and could use professional help, seek out a certified pond con- tractor to help with your Build-A-Pond Day. In exchange for his/her services, refer do-it-for-me customers to the installer. Once you’ve reached an agreement with a certified installer, choose a date and advertise the event. Customers can register to grab a shovel and get some hands-on experience before installing their own backyard pond. Some may simply choose to watch and take notes. Make sure your staff is in attendance so they’ll become knowledgeable with pond installation and can help customers in the future.

Get the Word Out
You want a good turn-out for this unique event, so be sure to market effectively. Staff can wear “Ask Me About Our BAP Day” buttons or tee-shirts weeks in advance. Post signs at the cash register and throughout your garden center. Send press releases to your local paper. Cost-effective flyers can be stuffed into bags during checkout. Don’t overlook the opportunity to invite the local newspaper, radio or television stations out for the day of the pond-build. They can interview attendees and broadcast the event, inviting others to stop by your garden center to see what the buzz is about.

Planning Makes Perfect
In addition to effective marketing, you need to plan efficiently. If you’re working with a local pond installer, see if he’ll take care of ordering the rock and supplying tools like shovels and wheelbarrows. Make sure someone calls the city for any necessary permits. And don’t forget to contact a utility service to mark underground cables. If the contractor takes care of the installation details, you can focus on making the day exciting for attendees and anyone who happens to stop in the store that day. Provide refreshments (lots of water) and seating areas for those who simply want to watch. Some garden centers include lunch for attendees.

Most retailers charge $30 to $60 per person for the event. It’s best to keep a registration list and have attendees pre-register. Be sure they provide contact information so you can send them re- minders via email, phone, or direct mail. Call registrants one week in advance to confirm their attendance. Some retailers allow attendees to subtract the price of registration off the purchase of a pond kit within a designated timeframe.

Make sure you have product on hand to sell during and after the event. Place pond kits and other water gardening-related products near the location of the pond build. Include water treatments, fish food, aquatic plants and more. Customers are likely to make a purchase if product is readily available and within eyesight.

Start your Build-A-Pond event in the morning so you’ll get the majority of the digging and con- struction completed by noon. When you break for lunch, fill the pond with water. Once the pond is filled and everyone’s finished eating, start building the waterfall and plant the surrounding landscape. You’ll want to highlight your live goods as you work on beautifying the pond’s edge. Invite customers to help spread mulch and tuck aquatic plants into place.

Add a Little Creativity
Although installing a pond can be tough work, you can make the event fun and memorable. Terra Greenhouse in Canada had fish races at their Retail Build-A-Pond Day. Other retailers offer a free pond kit to the customer who arrives in the wackiest costume. Throughout the day, ask trivia questions like “What is the oldest recorded age of a koi?” Give a small prize to the person guessing closest to the correct answer, which happens to be 225 years old (the fish died in 1988 in Japan).

When the installation is complete, take a group picture of participants around the pond. Remind attendees of any specials you might be offering. Some retailers give promotional gifts to attendees such as colorful tee-shirts or hats with the store’s logo, address and phone number printed on them. You can also offer a free consultation to anyone that buys a pond kit as a result of the Retail Build-A-Pond Day. You want to continue enthusiasm for water features after attendees leave with your giveaways.

The Finishing Touches
Follow up with attendees after the event is over. Write a thank you note and include a glossy 8x10 photo of the group by the pond. If you captured email addresses during registration, add them to your e-newsletter distribution and your direct mail list so they’re aware of other services and promo- tions you provide. And if you’re really ambitious, hold an anniversary party a year later, inviting the community to stop by for refreshments and view the pond now that the plantings have matured and fish have been added. Offer an anniversary special on water garden products and keep the momentum going for months and years to come.

Once the water garden is installed, provide signage that lets customers know you offer water gardening products. You can choose to offer pond installation services or maintain a relationship with the certified pond contractor who helped with your Retail Build-A-Pond Day. Many customers will opt to install the product on their own. Make sure staff is educated on water gardening so they can answer any questions. Round out your product line with water treatments, fish, fish food, spitters, and more to ensure your store is the water gardening destination in the community. You’ll be glad you decided to take the plunge and get your feet wet with water gardening.