The Extras Aren't Extras

The basket of goods and services you provide to your customers has more in it than the explicit stuff. It’s not just the vegetables and the delivery and the newsletter - it’s the box you put the produce in, the label you put on the box, the invoicing system you use, and more.

People who buy your fruits and vegetables aren’t just buying produce and a newsletter, they’re buying everything that goes into buying that produce, from the way you present it to the story you tell about why and how you got into farming. Farmers market customers are buying clean and fresh farmers in addition to clean and fresh vegetables, and wholesale buyers buy a communication and delivery schedule in addition to their produce.

You can one-up the competition by doing exceptionally well at adding real value with service and consistency where your customers don’t even know that they expect it. At the wholesale level:

• Provide a clean, well-designed, and organized invoice, including your contact information;
• Use an email service like MailChimp to schedule availability notices at the same times every week (you can do the same with faxes);
• Promptly document credit requests for products that don’t meet expectations;
• Verify your customers’ overdue payment status every month, and let them know about anything that’s missing - including applying a credit to an invoice.

At farmers market:

• Clearly identify prices for your products where customers can easily see them (putting the price for radicchio on a chalkboard behind the stand does not make it easy for customers to identify the vegetable or its price);
• Be prepared with at least one “week-night” preparation for every product on your stand, and make sure your helpers have the same knowledge;

For a CSA:

• Provide a straightforward sign-up process (this doesn’t have to be an online shopping cart - Fair Share Farm in Missouri requires members to come to a sign-up event - the process just needs to be linear and clear in its description of options and process.
• Let members know what to expect in their share before you deliver it - at the same time every week;
• Make box return easy by providing instructions for unfolding boxes;
• At delivery sites, keep the boxes off of the ground to keep them clean and sanitary.

You’re always selling more than what you’re selling, and the extras are part of the price that your customer pays for their produce.

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