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Cultivating Unforgettable Experiences: A Conversation with Kyle Natorp of Natorp Nursery Outlet
During a recent stop on the Garden Center Group Fall Event garden center tour, we had the pleasure of talking with Kyle Natorp, a driving force behind the remarkable success of Natorp Nursery Outlet. With a deep-rooted commitment to customer experience, Natorp shared insights into their unique approach, from becoming a “Reverse Brand” to creating unforgettable “wows” for visitors. In this interview, we delve into Natorp’s philosophy and the strategies that have made their outlet a standout destination for plant enthusiasts.
Sunrise Marketing: We’d love to dive into your philosophy on customer experience. Can you share your thoughts on this?
Kyle Natorp: Certainly, customer experience is a topic we’re passionate about.
Sunrise Marketing: You mentioned that providing good customer service has always been a part of your company’s DNA. Could you tell us more about how you incorporate this into your business values?
Kyle Natorp: Of course. Two of our core values, “Be customer-focused” and “Be the better company,” are the foundation of our commitment to customer service. We are customer focused. – Listen to our customers so that we can adapt our product mix and services to meet their changing needs and use their input to help guide our direction. Be the better company. – Always take the high road. Do what is right in dealing with employees, vendors, customers, competitors, and industry members. Be a good neighbor. It is also part of our mission statement: Provide exceptional plants, horticultural services, and a personalized customer experience.
Sunrise Marketing: Moving on to your strategic shift in 2011, where you closed traditional garden centers and transitioned to Natorp Nursery Outlet. Can you explain what inspired this shift?
Kyle Natorp: In 2011 when we decided to close both out traditional year-round garden centers and move our retail operations to our nursery, we spent about 6 months putting together a strategic plan. We had been looking at that for years at our traditional garden centers but never felt like we could make the numbers work. During the summer months you would still need to have someone there taking care of the plants and if you have people working you might as well be open and make what little money you can. The winter months would certainly be easier and I think there are quite a few garden center that close or greatly reduce hours in the winter. You also have a store that still has fixed expenses like utilities and maintenance that need to be taken care of even when closed. In our case we can and do use the facilities for other things when it is closed. We grow some fall crops in the summer months and overwinter a lot of container material from the nursery in it during the winter.
Sunrise Marketing: The garden center industry has always been challenged by the seasonal nature of the business. What were your other considerations?
Kyle Natorp: The biggest reason we chose to go seasonal was based on the fact that we would make money every year in April, May, and June and then slowly give it back over the remaining 9 months. Like most garden centers we could never drive enough traffic in the off season to be profitable most of the other 9 months. Christmas was never big for us either, unlike some other garden centers. On the other hand for years we would have an “Outlet Sale” at the nursery for two weekends in early September. During those two weekends we would do more than both our retail stores did for the entire fall. Our fall sales numbers are fairly unique for the garden center industry. Most stores only see a modest bump in the fall.
Here is a chart showing the local sales trends for our area that was included
in our strategic planning document at the time illustrating industry sales by week.
Sunrise Marketing: That is a really remarkable sales figures for the Fall season. I can see how that would influence your decision. Were you concerned about losing customers?
Kyle Natorp: We decided rather than continue to try and change the customer we would accept that there are only certain times they really want to shop for plants and would focus on maximizing our sales during those times rather than trying to figure out how to bring people back to the store when they really weren’t interested. After we committed to going seasonal we asked ourselves what would happen if we reduced the hours and days open as well. We struggled with this more than only being open seasonally. Ultimately we felt that the benefits to staffing and the fact that we wanted to operate as an outlet, which at least in our area a lot of outlet stores have limited hours of operation, out weighed the risks of losing customers. We also wanted to make sure that when we are actually open we are busy. It’s a very different experience in a 3 acre greenhouse with one or two customers than it is when we are full of people shopping.
Sunrise Marketing: Still, that’s a big change to make for a company as large as Natorps. How did Covid impact that decision?
Kyle Natorp: We have found if you make it worth it enough the customers will accept it and even embrace it. During Covid we decided to reduce our hours even more and went from being open from 10am to 7pm during on weekdays to 10am to 5pm. This reduced our open hours by 106 or 15%. We haven’t gone back and continue to see our sales grow.
Sunrise Marketing: How did this impact your staffing? Did it adversely affect service?
Kyle Natorp: We do have a small staff while we are closed and will take care of customer replacements, answer gardening questions, and take orders by appointment.
Sunrise Marketing: Have you found that online ordering has helped in the slower summer months?
Kyle Natorp: Yes, but we made that decision well before Covid. In 2017 we added the ability for customers to by online and pick up in store. This is available year round. We do get a fair number of online orders when we are closed mostly in the summer months. We can handle these orders with about 1/10th the staff that we used to have at our traditional garden centers in the summer and generate about the same sales volume. After 10 years it has now created excitement around our opening and closing dates each season as people wait with anticipation for us to open and scramble to get here before we close again.
Sunrise Marketing: How does this tie into your focus on customer experience
Kyle Natorp: Our goal was to make the experience of buying plants from Natorp’s feel different than buying plants anywhere else. The facility certainly helps with this but to be successful we felt we needed to create an unforgettable customer experience. We consider Natorp Nursery Outlet to be a Reverse Brand as described in the book “Different” published by Youngme Moon in 2010. “Reverse brands say no where others say yes, and they do so openly. Nothing is likely to raise eyebrows more quickly than a decision to strip away benefits that consumers expect to receive. They take their stripped-down value proposition and infuse it with some unexpected form of extravagance. They take away what we expect, but then give us what we don’t.”
We said no we won’t be open year-round or even 7 days a week when we are open. We won’t carry or offer many of the non-plant products that can be found in most garden centers. We won’t do Christmas. What we will do is make the experience you have when you shop here so good you will want to go home and share with your family, friends, and neighbors.
Sunrise Marketing: That’s fascinating. You mentioned the “Five Wows.” Could you walk us through what each of these “wows” entails and why they are vital for your customers?
Kyle Natorp: Certainly. The first two we get for free from every new customer. When they come over the hill into the parking lot and see the facility for the first time, they are wowed by what they see that’s not visible from the road. The second wow can be seen by the staff a lot of times because when customers enter the greenhouse for the first time they usually stop and stare. Many times you can see them actually say wow. The last three we have to earn by how we treat our customers while they are shopping, when they are ready to checkout, and finally as they go to their cars with their purchases. A video about this is on our website and can be viewed via this link: https://www.natorp.com/about-natorps/customer-commitment/
Sunrise Marketing: That’s a great breakdown. Now, you’ve mentioned several other initiatives aimed at enhancing the customer experience. Could you highlight a few of these, such as the Plant Lovers Club and offering to load every customer’s car?
Kyle Natorp: We have many other small things that we do to try to create that emotional and memorable customer experience.
Plant Lovers Club: All of our plants have two prices a retail and a club price. The club price is on average 20% below the retail price. The club is free to join it only costs the customer their name and address. 99.9% of our customer are in the club so we track every purchase which can be useful for data analysis and future planning as well has managing customer replacements. The other benefit to this is that we always know when a customer is in the outlet for the first time because they will ask what the club is. This gives us an opening to really welcome them, tell our story, and hopefully make personal connection creating the emotional experience.
Offer to load every car: We have a large loading staff and loading area. We offer to load every customer’s plants as they exit the outlet.
Free Flowers for Kids: We have a potting station where all children can pot up a free plant every time they come into the store. Everyone is trained to direct or better yet take customers with kids to this area.
Free Water: We have free bottled water stationed throughout the outlet. On hotter days we have someone walking around with a tray of water to pass out to thirsty hot customers.
Free Plant coupons: Each season all club members get a plant guide with our hours of operation as well as pictures of highlighted plants for the season. In the guide we always offer a free plant coupon as a thank you to our club members.
Free plants: If we happen to be long on a particular plant like a tomato variety, or certain annual if they are still of good quality, we place them on a free cart and encourage our customers to take one to see how it does for them free of charge.
End of season calls: During the time while we are closed between seasons, we call every customer who has purchased a tree to check in and make sure their tree is doing well. This helps with replacements but more importantly it is another wow for those customers. We make around 2000 calls each season.
Nursery Plants: We have a large facility but not all plants we grow will be displayed at any given time. Customer though, have access to our entire inventory online. If we don’t have what they are looking for in the Outlet we will go out in the nursery to retrieve it. Even better, if we can, we will take the customer with us in an RTV so that they get a mini tour and can pick their own plant from what may be several 100 to choose from.
Replacements: Officially we have a one-year guarantee on trees, shrubs, and perennials, but in reality, we will replace just about anything at any time. At Natorp’s we love replacements. We have found that customers who have a plant replaced spend a significant amount of more with us than those who don’t.
Sunrise Marketing: I think it is refreshing how you approach customer feedback, even if it isn’t all positive. Can you expand on that?
Kyle Natorp: We strive for the customer experience I described everyday but we do fail to deliver on this promise occasionally. This can be seen in our google reviews. There are two things that I would like to point out about those.
First, while we have an impressive facility and I think very high quality product, when we get a review, 5 star or 1 star, it is almost always about the experience the customer had with our team. So regardless of everything else customer experience rules the day. Second, when we do fail to live up to the customer experience we are trying to create, we work hard to try to remedy our failure. Sometimes we are successful and sometimes not. Either way we try to use these as opportunities to learn and improve.
Sunrise Marketing: It’s clear that your main objective is to make customers happier when they leave your outlet. How does your team create these personal connections and ensure customers leave with a smile?
Kyle Natorp: Our team understands that it’s about more than just selling plants; it’s about connecting with customers. We focus on making their visit enjoyable and memorable. By providing exceptional service and creating those personal connections, we ensure that every customer leaves happier than when they arrived.
I want to thank Kyle Natorp for taking the time to share his thoughts on customer service. It’s evident that their dedication to crafting exceptional customer experiences goes beyond mere retail. Natorp’s commitment to creating lasting connections is a testament to the power of customer-centricity. We’re also reminded that, in the world of gardening and horticulture, it’s not just about plants; it’s about the people who nurture them. Natorp Nursery Outlet stands as a shining example of how fostering these connections can transform a simple visit into an unforgettable journey.
