32 MARKET tips
She uses ‘dummies’ that allow her to fill just the top half of a box. This keeps the boxes looking full but with half the volume. The rest is stored in a cool area at the rear of the stand, which should be kept looking just as presentable. “Customers are not attracted to chaos … so
take some effort to make sure your back area is looking half-decent,” she says. Signage should also be clean and tidy.
Hire good help Helmer says it takes three experienced
workers two hours to put together her 600- square-foot stall. The help not only ensures the stall is set up on time and professionally, but it also gives her the freedom to focus on preparing to engage with customers. A helper might cost $100 a day, but it’s a worthwhile investment in terms of repeat business down the line.
“I think it’s money well-spent because I think it will allow you to have more customer interactions, more time for you to be in front of the customer,” she says. “The magic happens between the farmer and the consumer.”
This being said, workers should complement and strengthen the grower’s own skill set.
“Staff with the strengths that you don’t
have,” she says. Rather than hire an organic farming enthusiast, find a retail expert who knows how to relate to people to move product. And, above all, focus on the customer, and what she calls “mutual appreciation.”
nfrom page 31 This runs from being present at the stall
and looking active rather than engaged in some personal activity like eating lunch or checking a phone to learning the names of a few regular customers. “Customers love that,” she says. “They’ve made such an effort to get there. They’re bringing you all their hard-earned money. Get to know their name.” And then, thank them for dropping by and being willing to spend their money. “We say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ all the time,” she adds. “Make sure you’re hiring people who also know how to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you.’ … In terms of creating mutual appreciation, ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ goes a long way.” It’s also important to respect the market management, and the rules established for the benefit of vendors. “The relationship with the market management I think is the first building block in the mutual appreciation thing,” she says. While the market societies are not-for-
profits, they exist to create profitable business opportunities for farmers. The difference means farmers need to respect the middle ground they occupy. And yet, if the market hasn’t laid down clear rules about opening times or the like, vendors are free to take advantage of the opportunities the situation presents. Ultimately, it’s the customer who gives both market societies and vendors a reason to come together. “My point is we can do a lot to use customer service as our niche,” she says. “That’s how farmers’ markets will survive.”
COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • JULY 2018
Anna Helmer has honed her farmers’ market stall and is now sharing what she’s learned with others in a new book. SUBMITTED PHOTO
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researchers at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, the BC Association of Farmers’ Markets has developed a tip list based on the experience of 15 successful farms selling at markets around BC. BCAFM executive director Heather O’Hara presented the tips as part of the final seminar at the association’s annual conference in Victoria
this spring. 1. Craft an engaging story that connects your farm with consumers’ food. 2. Be part of the local food scene in the communities where you’re active – engage stakeholders. 3. Be a knowledge leader: teach and educate others about what you’re doing and the food you’re growing. 4. Be authentic and
transparent. Consumers are curious and farmers can be a trusted source of information about what they’re eating. 5. Be experimental and
innovative. When a crop does something that doesn’t usually sell – say, if the broccoli flowers – you may find there’s a market for it because farmers’ market visitors are open to discovering something different.
6. Build multiple marketing channels. Farmers’ markets aren’t the last word in sales; often, they can open doors to new customers that offer a more diversified revenue base. 7. Develop a deep
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relationships. Adopting a co-op structure or approach can give individual growers access to economies of scale they wouldn’t have alone, and also supportive relationships that mean they’re not trying to do everything themselves. 9. Show pride. Confidence
in the greatness of what you’re doing isn’t just good marketing, it challenges you to ensure that every aspect of what you’re doing from soil to sale measures up. 10. Keep listening, and keep
learning.
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