IMPROVE YOUR BEST SEASON FIRST

By Jane Eckert April 2003

As a farm consultant, I visit properties throughout North America. Often, the owners ask the same question: "What can I do to improve my off-season?" And I say, hold on, your best bet at increasing revenues is to improve your best season. Yes, start with the best season and build on it to make it stronger.

For most farmers, the best season is fall (September and October), when sales account for between 50% and 100% of total farm revenues.

Just do a quick calculation in your head: how much would you have if you improved sales in July by 10% compared to how much you would have if you improved sales in October by 10%. See where I'm going?

Where can you make the biggest improvement to the fall season? In INCREMENTAL SALES - increasing your sales-per-person or average sale. After all, you have big crowds at the farm; let's try getting each person to spend a few extra dollars.

How do we improve incremental sales?

LOOK AT THE LINES

The good news about our fall season is that there are big crowds on the farm. The bad news about the fall season is that there are big crowds on the farm creating long lines at food stands and in the farm market.

• While most people don't mind waiting in food lines or checkout lines for a brief period, it can quickly become a turn off and people just get tired and leave the line. In fact, they might even leave the farm.

• Open another food outlet or food cart (even if it's just for the four-hour peak time) to minimize lines

• Use a tent if necessary since this is just temporary

• The crowded sight of the country store may be turning people away. If the lines inside your market are very long, it just encourages people to go back outside for other activities than shopping, before they've made any purchases. Add more checkouts if possible.

• To reduce lines inside the market, consider moving some of the most desirable, seasonal products into outdoor retail stands or a tent. For example, create an apple stand outside. This will reduce lines inside the market as well as create incremental sales from people who weren't willing to brave the crowds at the store.

• Again, inside your market may get very crowded during the high season. Look at a prep area or a storage area. Can you use that space to give the crowd some breathing room and help the traffic flow?

PUMPKIN PRICES

• Maximize the value of the pumpkin crop by charging per pound, not per pumpkin. This means you have to have a scale, but ultimately it will pay off.

• Most of you can easily raise your price-per-pound on pumpkins. Why? Visitors come to our farms during the fall for a special experience, not to get cheap prices on pumpkins grown on the property. I've seen pumpkins go for as high as 45 cents a pound at a farm outside a large city.

FOOD CONCESSIONS

In general, food concessions during the fall season can generate $2 in incremental sales per person. Look at your numbers and see how they compare.

• Food concessions are one of the biggest selling opportunities on the farm. Often farmers think opening concession stands is too inconvenient. It does take a little planning and executing, but is well worth the trouble based on incremental sales they bring.

• Even visitors who have a fixed idea of what they are willing to spend money on at the farm do not usually think of food costs within that context. After all, they're going to get hungry and have to eat somewhere… so it might as well be with you.

FALL DECORATIONS

• This is a category for growth in most farms. You're already selling pumpkins, but today consumers are decorating their yards and their homes beyond just pumpkins.

• Consider beautiful displays and sales of bundled Indian corn, colorful gourds, bundled corn stalks, painted pumpkins, straw bales and fall mums. These kinds of products are a natural for fall sales and can positively affect incremental sales.

ACCEPTING CREDIT CARDS

Incremental sales often depend on accepting credit and debit cards at as many registers as possible. Today's customers travel with very little cash and often leave their checkbooks at home. You sure don't want them leaving your farm empty-handed because you don't accept credit cards.

These are just a few possibilities for achieving incremental sales. Look around your operation and get ideas of how to maximize the possibilities. Remember, just a slight increase in sales per person means you truly can get the best from your best season.

Jane Eckert is the founder of Eckert AgriMarketing (www.eckertagrimarketing.com), a full-service marketing and public relations firm that helps farmers to sell directly to consumers, diversify operations and become tourist destinations. She is also CEO of www.RuralBounty.com, a search directory for agritourism farms and ranches in North America. Jane can be reached at 314-862-6288 or you may email her directly.