Case Study: A different challenge

Zylstra Greenhouses has been selling to the landscape market for 12 of the 18 years it’s been in business, so Owner Steve Zylstra has learned the differences you have to embrace in order to successfully sell to this market.

“The landscape is really different than the other two,” he says. “It’s kind of a dedicated, separate way of having to do business. For controlling inventory, responding to what they need for a job, the variety selection, the percentage of what you grow, … it’s so completely different.”

His Kalamazoo, Mich.-based company also sells young plants to other growers and brokers, as well as independent garden centers, but the first difference with the landscape market that he sees is having the resources and being prepared.

“A big challenge of it is the demand of what [landscapers] need,” he says. “We ship quite a bit into the Chicago commercial market, and there’s just so much to do in a short window when everybody wants to plant.”

Zylstra says getting the product and keeping up on shipping and delivery is a challenging part of meeting the customers’ needs. Especially when he might be waiting on the landscapers to lock in their color and maintenance contracts from their customers before they can order the plants they need. You can imagine the chaos that might ensue if a landscaper doesn’t have his order in on time.

To help keep things running smoothly, Zylstra Greenhouses is proactive. He says they work with the landscape companies several times a year to encourage pre-booking and educating property managers on understanding why an order can’t be placed at the last minute. The company also works with the breeding companies to learn about upcoming trends and varieties, so it can make suggestions to its customers and help them be successful.

Although it might sound like a lot of challenging work, the results are rewarding. Because once you prove yourself to the landscaper, you’re likely to have a customer for life.

“Once you’re established with the landscape market and the certain customer base … you build up more of a partnership with them,” Zylstra says. “It’s developing a good year and a good partnership, and then you know you’ve got a consistent customer there.”

Want to know more?
Learn more about Zylstra Greenhouses by calling (800) 456-8002 or visiting www.zbestgreenhouses.com

Photo courtesy of Zylstra Greenhouses