Having a Genuine Point of Difference - John Russell
In Italy, garden centres have a simple business motto – “Have a ‘Consuleri’ and a ‘Purple Cow’”. In other words a Consultant or mentor, and a real Point of Difference!
Many garden centres claim a point of difference – in fact I do often get a response when I pose the question. But mostly what I am told are ‘Good Quality’, ‘Good Range’, ‘Friendly, Knowledgeable Staff’. Which garden retailer would survive today without these qualities? These are not so much points of difference as necessities!

A genuine Point of Difference must embody all of the following three aspects:-
- Tangible – the point of difference must be clearly obvious to customers, and it must be measurable in a physical financial way.
- Customer benefit – the point of difference must offer a significant benefit to a large number of customers.
- Unique – the point of difference must be something that is significantly different to what competitors are offering.
If a gardener has a choice of three garden centres to shop in your area why would they choose yours? Many garden centres claim points of difference that are necessities in modern retailing, not genuine points of difference.
John Russell comments: Often when I am consulting, or running staff training sessions, I ask the staff or garden centre owner ‘What is your Point of Difference?’ – ‘If I drove into town and had a choice of three garden centres to visit why would I choose yours?’
I expect to be bombarded with lots of reasons and aspects that make the particular outlet different. Instead, I am met by a lot of pondering and head scratching! If the owner and staff don’t know what makes their store special and different, how will their customers, and why will they go there?
Unless all three factors are in place there is little or no point of difference.


So how do we go about making our garden retail outlet different and special? Here are some ideas:-
- Make a big promise about something that frustrates customers. A good example of this is SuperQuin supermarkets in Ireland. Customer surveys found huge frustration with queues. Their response was to limit numbers in queues to two, and to limit waiting times. If they failed to achieve this, you got your groceries for free! This was a point of difference that was a) tangible, b) a benefit to the customer, c) unique. It has also been hugely successful!
- Specialise or become best in town and famous for a major product group or service. Kings Plant Barns in New Zealand were first to have large covered outdoor retail areas and covered drive through shopping – a major customer service which is a) tangible, b) a benefit to the customer, c) unique.
Thompson’s Plants Plus in Orange N.S.W. has the best pot and tree selections in the area.
In Ireland Garden Works were famous for a customer friendly layout to the garden centre – the plant area was laid out by ‘end use ‘ categories rather than by plant categories. In addition they had numerous ‘end use ‘concept / theme displays.
- Create a unique loyalty programme. This is not so easy to do in today’s market as there is a plethora of loyalty programmes being offered. Controlling costs of loyalty programmes can also be difficult. Create a programme that is based on added value, that is a) tangible, b) a benefit to the customer, c) unique. Structure it so that it benefits both retailer and customer.
- Survey customers to see if you have a point of difference that can be enhanced. Customers have many different reasons to visit your garden centre. For a point of difference to be real it must be a major for most customers
- Create a strategic alliance with a designer or landscaper in order to offer more than competitors.
- Implement and advertise your point of difference. Having created a point of difference it is important to implement it with intensity so that it is recognized by all customers. If you are doing things differently and better than everyone else, make a big noise about it – “we have the best range of ----“, “Your only under cover garden centre”, “The ---- experts” etc. This can be done in a number of ways – signage, information brochures, and advertising. A byline on every press or radio advertisement, every email you send to your customer database, on your Facebook site, on your website, is an excellent way to get across the message that “you are the best”!
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