method of introducing a new drug to the marketplace was through the company’s salespeople making per- sonal visits to doctors at each doctor’s office. The drug companies “got smart” and began marketing directly to the consumer—the end user—through paid print, radio and television com- mercials, direct mailings and social media. The ads help the consumer identify their problem; prompts them to visit their doctor to discuss it; and frequently to inquire about the drug for treatment. Thus the drug company is no longer totally dependent on the doctor to market its product; the com- pany controls its own destiny.

Pope says, “That’s what we want to achieve with our sod sales.”

Like most sod producers, Bethel Farms serves customers in multiple markets: golf, sports fields, landscape and retail. Pope says, “Each market segment has different needs and serving them effectively requires different talents. We looked at how and why hiring ex golf course superintendents as sales representatives for the golf market had proven successful. Because they knew the needs of a golf course and how the sod would perform on a golf course, they could effectively reach the end user. The sales representatives didn’t need to know about sod production, that’s our area of expertise.”

So Pope and his marketing team strate- gically separated each market segment and developed a marketing approach specifically for each segment. He says, “We took the concept that worked in the golf market and adapted it for the retail and landscape markets.”

For both of these markets, it’s a multi- tiered process. “We do need to sell the program to our main buyer or there’s no market segment,” says Pope. “The retailer or landscaper carrying our product is the one that writes the checks. But the primary customer is the end user and we also have to sell

our program to them. Our industry gets that mixed up. The end goal is to help the market segment buyer sell more sod, not just for us to sell more sod to them.

“If we help get the whole channel of distribution moving, and we support both sides of it, the main buyer will sell more sod—and they’ll buy more sod because it is selling. We try to bypass the intermediate level and work directly with the people/segment of the team that has the primary contact with the end user.”

Reaching the Retail Market The retail market is unique because it is so diversified. Some end users may come into a store and throw a few rolls of sod in the trunk to take home and install. Other end users want to sod a much greater area. The big box home improve- ment retailers have a higher percentage of do-it-yourself customers; the inde- pendent garden centers have a higher percentage of do-it-for-me customers.

Pope says, “With most of the retailers now, box stores and independents, we just get a space. It’s our job to provide the marketing dollars and the brochures and the expertise on the weekends. Our program has to sell the sod for them—and it does.”

Signage is important in all retail outlets. It’s what the end users see when they go into the store. “Signage informs shop- pers of the key features of the grasses as well as benefits, such as installation and free delivery,” reports Pope. “But signs get damaged or moved ‘temporarily’ and not reset. We can’t expect signs to be the only messenger.”

The heart of the retail marketing strategy boils down to one key point. And that, Pope says, “Is getting the retailers’ in- store salespeople excited about the sod.”

So Pope and his team spend a lot of time in the background, creating the information for the salespeople, wheth-

TPI TURF NEWS • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016

er it’s the person at the pro desk in the local Home Depot or the staffer working the floor of the independent garden center. “We market internally to our customers’ sales staff to give them the knowledge and resources they need to talk about our sod to their customers. The salespeople become the experts onsite,” says Pope. “Too often, the sales staff doesn’t know enough about sod, and they don’t want to look dumb, so they don’t talk about it at all. Some may even shy away from the shopper in the sod area. That’s the pragmatic reason that we do what we do.”

They designed brochures specifically for Home Depot; others specifically for Lowe’s; and still others specifically for independent garden centers. Pope says, “Because we’re the wholesaler when dealing with the retail market segment, our interest isn’t getting our name out to them—it’s getting the grass name out to the end user.” Each retail store can put their name and contact informa- tion on the brochures and give them to their customers, which ties the store directly to the sod they are selling.

And it doesn’t stop there. Pope and his team spend a good deal of time and resources in training the sales force of the home improve- ment store or independent garden center so they are equipped to use the information they are provided to make the sale. It’s a show to sell technique that is much more power- ful than any of the individual mar- keting components by themselves.

As with all good strategies, the process is ever-evolving, with the training pro- gram continually evaluated. Pope notes it goes far beyond a simple script, like the rote, “Do you want fries with that,” of the “hear and repeat” tactic used way too often in the retail marketplace. The training focuses on the benefits the right turfgrass in the right spot will deliver to the end users and others who are in contact with or view the grass, and to the environment.

Pope says, “We worked directly with 15