Apr 17, 2009

Proven Winners Offers Garden Center CertificationSource: Proven Winners

Proven Winners recently developed a comprehensive training program for North American independent garden centers: Formerly known as the Certified Garden Center program, the newly relaunched iGarden Certification Program offers important information on what garden center shoppers are looking for and how to provide the best possible customer service.

The training program, which is free to independent garden centers, is available in an online or hard-copy video format and includes information on what motivates customers to buy and what marketing, service and merchandising strategies are most effective in reaching them.

The program’s three training modules include plant selling, merchandising and customer service techniques. Once employees have viewed the video training modules, they must pass an online test to achieve certified status.

In addition to providing valuable training for garden center staff members, successful completion of the iGarden Certification Program offers additional benefits, including:

• A free, prominent listing on Proven Winners’ online retail locator, viewed by more than 600,000 people annually
• A Proven Winners iGarden certificate and plaque to display
• Monthly e-mail updates on new products and opportunities
• Free access to and use of thousands of print-ready images from the Proven Winners Photo Library
• News releases announcing iGarden Certification status for local papers
• A choice of two iGarden T-shirts or aprons for the first 100 garden centers to have all of their registered employees certified; an outdoor banner for the first 700 garden centers to have all of their registered employees certified; and an iGarden button for all employees who complete the program.

Training can be completed online at www.pwcertified.com, or you can request a hard copy of the iGarden DVD and test by calling (877) 895-8138.