Wikileaks and the nursery business
Over the last few weeks on thing has become clear for all to see. There are no secret’s anymore. Whether it’s state secrets, or company secrets, there is no expectation of privacy. Just a few years ago the letter that Monrovia sent to customers would have stayed with the customers, eventually being dispensed through the various trade magazines. Now the letters contents are published on The Internet for all to see.
Two interesting things happen. First, customers of Monrovia (retail nurseries) chime in with their opinions, and if Monrovia wishes they can read what the customers are saying about them. You would hope the company monitors what is said online about them.
The second interesting thing that happens is gardeners writers, garden bloggers, and people in allied trades apparently find what is happening very interesting. They feel they have something to say. And they do. Monrovia, or any company can also see what they are saying. For the first time customers, and customers of the independent nurseries have something to say, and have the ability to say it. This is something new and novel.
Where is it headed? It bodes well for companies who engage the customer online, and listen to what is being said. It would seem that these days advertising is being usurped from the companies, and put in the hands of the customer. It’s become a whole lot more difficult to control the conversation. If you can’t control the message, you had better have nothing to hide.
Be aware that there are people on the Internet who are engaged in attempts to blackmail your business. As you know, there are many sites on the Internet that offer customers the opportunity to write reviews of small businesses, sites such as insider pages, yelp!, MerchantCircle, Citysearch, Yahoo! Local Listings, Google local business listings and the garden discussion forum at craigslist. One scam making the rounds (as related to me by a local nurseryperson): someone calls or emails you and points out the negative reviews of your business at these sites. They offer, for a large fee, to have those reviews removed from the sites.
This particular nurseryperson, being somewhat computer savvy, compared the IP address of the negative commenter with the IP address of the “company” that offered to remove negative comments. Guess what? Same address! The nurseryperson threatened to bring charges against the culprit. Lo and behold, the negative reviews disappeared. If you don’t know how to check the raw source material of emails and webpages on your email program and web browser, this would be a good time to learn.
@Fred
This is why it’s so important for business to be out there engaging with, and gaining the trust of, as well as good reviews of customers. It’s harder for these scams to work if you have a track record of good or great reviews from people who know you.
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I have a 20 year old highly successful small retail operation, unrelated to the nursery business, managed and operated with little or no involvement by me. Frankly, I wouldn’t know the first thing about keeping it running as smoothly as it does. I am, of course, very lucky to have this dedicated staff. They balance their lives with their work and make adjustments without me hovering around.
Since I live in another state a thousand miles away and visit only once a year, I do occasionally check these customer rating/complaint sites for any systemic problems in this store. I have found it valuable to read them for systemic issues and suggest to my manager a course correction if needed.
Its pretty easy to sort out little problems from big ones in these posts.
nick hudson
greengardengates.blogspot.com
I agree and appreciate this rapid response process we now have to events unfolding in our industry.
The story of the Floral Carpet rose introduction years ago is perfect example of a need for this rapid reaction we now have. That product was sold initially with a solid promise that it would be exclusive to the independents. We all got excited, ordered tons of those roses and got behind the program full throttle.
One week after the national kickoff, a large corporate multi store chain, busted the price point and pushed them out the door. We were pissed that the product was sold to the chains and the price was immediately compromised.
I sat in a room with 50 owners that fall who were so angry at those owners at the podium, they could have taken them out and strung them up!
If we could have had a rapid response of information, we could have learned about these corporate sales, slowed or stopped our orders, possible forcing those Floral Carpet owners to re-think their dirty little fib they were telling us.
nickhudson
greengardengates.blogspot.com
Hines Nursery at their Houston area location has a huge banner up on the outside fence which reads “LANDSCAPERS WELCOME!”. Its obvious they are desperately trying to move some material out of that location.
Hi,
I ran into a fellow this morning (0530) at BUR airport and we started talking. I asked what his business was and he said horticulture.
I told him I had painted many a Taylor truck and cart. He said he knew Jim Meadows who was the “Taylor truck”guy. I told him that Jm was my former father -in law and he is the one who had me painting taylor trucks. The fellow said he had been laid off from Hines and was on his way to interview for two jobs. I didn’t get his name and I would love to pass it on to the family. Jim Meadows, Sr. died on Thanksgiving day at age 89 and loved the nursery business. Can anyone help me??
Oh yes, I remember Jim very well……an old friend of mine from Astoria, Oregon married one of the Meadow girls. He was a deputy sheriff there. Can’t remember his name. Jim was a good guy. Sorry I can’t help you with this
Anyone who follows wiki leaks or wikis for the truth is a dangerous individual in need of some Taliban detainment. Fact is these wickis are the National Enquirer of our time.
Asange is a major hemmoroid on the A$$ of the world
@ Greg – Remember when Jose Conseco wrote the book about rampant steroid abuse in Major League Baseball and named names? He was raked across the coals in the media. Turns out most of what he said was true. You can not discount any info that comes out and stick your head in the sand. You must let it play out to see if what is being said is the truth. I pay no attention to National Inquirer, but there are a lot of people that sure care about what wiki leaks has to say. In this day and age of distrust of our media and politicians, who do you believe? ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, NPR?????
@Greg and Keith,
No mater what you think of Wikileaks the fact of the matter is they are releasing info. Info that is changing the way we think about secrets. You don’t have to like the source to know the game has changed.
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