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Questions about signage?

We're starting a new series in January in Today's Garden Center called Signs Sell. It's written by Dan Truesdale, who works in marketing at Rolling Green Nursery (along with being the tree & shrub manager). He'll be writing a piece each month about signage, and the series will include a Q&A section.

Do you have a question for Dan about signage in the garden center? If so, post it here and we'll have him answer it in the magazine!

Thanks so much,
Jen

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Michael Pawelek on December 30, 2009 at 9:12am: I am always in a quandry as to "how much" information should go on a particular sign. As a small operation I have always depended on my signage to be a silent salesman at my nursery and have always included the common name of the plant, scientific name, minimum cultural requirements and a picture of the plant in full bloom. Years ago I tried signs with detailed information on each plant and observed that customers only stopped at each sign for a few seconds and did not read all the information, so I assumed that customer attention span plays a role in how effective a sign is at selling a product. I later toned my signs down to not include detailed imformation. So the question is.....how much information is enough and how much is too much?
Michael Pawelek
Pecan Hill Nursery
www.pecanhillnursery.com; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jen Polanz on December 30, 2009 at 10:58am: Great question, thanks Michael! I'll send it on to Dan and we'll get it answered in an upcoming issue of the magazine. I'll also see if he can post the response here, too!

Michael Pawelek said:
I am always in a quandry as to "how much" information should go on a particular sign. As a small operation I have always depended on my signage to be a silent salesman at my nursery and have always included the common name of the plant, scientific name, minimum cultural requirements and a picture of the plant in full bloom. Years ago I tried signs with detailed information on each plant and observed that customers only stopped at each sign for a few seconds and did not read all the information, so I assumed that customer attention span plays a role in how effective a sign is at selling a product. I later toned my signs down to not include detailed imformation. So the question is.....how much information is enough and how much is too much?
Michael Pawelek
Pecan Hill Nursery
www.pecanhillnursery.com; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jen Polanz on February 4, 2010 at 4:53pm: Bumping this topic to see if there are more questions out there on signage?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Tish Llaneza on February 9, 2010 at 11:10am: Not scientific Jen but I included this question in my latest customer poll to see what they wanted.
Top five were price,common name, conditions (sun,water,etc), recommendation by employee (Beverly's favorite because) and finally height/width.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jen Polanz on February 9, 2010 at 12:51pm: That's awesome - directly from the customers! I couldn't agree more on the price. It drives me crazy when I really want to buy something and have NO idea how much it is.

Tish Llaneza said:
Not scientific Jen but I included this question in my latest customer poll to see what they wanted.
Top five were price,common name, conditions (sun,water,etc), recommendation by employee (Beverly's favorite because) and finally height/width.; ▶ Reply to This