 Todd Davis
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I hate to say, “I told you so.”
Actually, I don’t. I love doing it, especially when it’s related to good news.
For a year I’ve been shouting that plant shortages were on the horizon. Many of you, looking at a glut of material out your window that wasn’t moving, scoffed at me and drew devil horns on my mug shot on this page. (I can tell when you do that.)
But scanning availability lists from nurseries across the country, I frequently see three beautiful words: “Out of stock.”
This means the market is adjusting itself, and prices are going back up in reaction to the supply/demand curve. If you have quality stock on hand and ready to ship, you should be a happy, happy nursery professional.
Survey says
Want more proof? Our sister publication Lawn & Landscape did an exclusive survey of contractors across the country regarding their plant purchasing plans for 2011.
The survey is not yet final and ready for publication. We’ll be giving you the full results in an upcoming issue, but for now I can give you a sneak peek. Landscapers were asked their biggest challenge when sourcing plants, and easily the No. 1 answer to the open-ended question was lack of availability.
They can’t find what they need, when they need it, in the numbers they require.
And I know what you’re thinking. “Some fool contractor wants 80 8-inch-caliper bigtooth maples, container grown, that don’t exist. So he says there’s an availability problem.”
Yes, sometimes landscapers want material that doesn’t exist in commerce. But when almost half of the respondents say availability is a problem, it’s a real issue.
Quality too
Yet even more good news: The second most frequent survey response was a lack of quality or lack of size available on the market. So, in summary, landscapers are having a hard time finding what they need. When they do find it, they’re not happy with it.
And what does this mean to you? Get your sales staff on the horn. If they’re not burning up the phone lines right now, preaching to high heaven what you have in stock, then you’re missing the boat.
Now is not the time for complacency. Get active. People are looking for the stock you have and are willing to pay premiums for high quality.
It’s times like these that you can leapfrog your competition. Get on the leading front of the market and ride the wave for as long as it will take you.
And I can’t resist saying it again. I told you so.
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