Another "new" Proud FTD Order Gatherer

[CHR]

View attachment 15542 I can't help but ask what is the difference between what Jerrys is doing and what Avante Gardens is doing.

I think you already answered this, but I'll also have a go. Our page says 'Fullerton Florist Delivery'. We never claim to be a florist IN Fullerton, just a shop that delivers there... The page even mentions the civic groups in the town we support with in-kind donations. Our shop began in Fullerton in 1984 (we moved to Anaheim in 1994) and we still have many customers there and do deliver there daily. The Fullerton city line is 2 miles from my shop.

The difference between us and Jerry's is that we control the inventory, prices and drivers to the towns where we advertise. They don't. By representing specific products at specific prices, consumers believe they will get exactly what they ordered. We know that's far from the truth and a large part of order gathering is hiding behind small print substitution disclaimers since they don't really know what delivering florists have in stock.

If we run out of an item, we email and call the purchaser to get an OK on a subs. Due to the many layers involved with OGing, sub OKs generally put the delivery 1 day late (or more).

But at what point is it wrong for actually appearing to be in a city that you are not.

IMO it's when a business hides fees from customers (since most think a 'service charge' is the 'delivery fee') and don't let consumers know a different company will be delivering the order.

I just wonder if some magic SEO genius showed up on many of our doorsteps and said I am going to give you a website that will generate 100's of orders a month for you and make oodles of money for us and it is free.

It would never be 'free'. OGing is a very expensive business these days. Most of the OGs have been whacked in organic search at the city level and PPC costs are rising all the time.

Linda that is very, very nice of both you and Boss but is it smart business? My cousin called me to send flowers to his wife 30 miles away last week and I told him to call a florist in his town and gave him the name of someone I knew. He said he was on the road and just wanted me to do it and bill his credit card which is on file. For every person who would appreciate that type of service there is another person who just wants to make their flower ordering easier.

We're still in a WS and I have no problem offering to help shoppers place orders for distant cities. Most of our customers who use a WS are either 'mature' or are businesses with accounts where they want a one-stop shop to send. BUT, I also give out a lot of phone numbers for other florists - especially for customers who want to know exactly what they'll get.

BBrooks is a great network and Barbara's business ethics are entirely in line with our own. In our three years as members, we've had only 3 complaints about deliveries by other shops. In all cases, the shops apologized and fixed the issues promptly. If every WS had such low complaint levels and such professional service, this industry would be in far, far better shape than it is today.

I NEVER want to go back to the headaches we had with the major WSs. Skimmed orders, dOGs who set us up to fail by selling consumers one thing and then ordering something different (and smaller) from us, ridiculously low-priced designs, over-priced codified containers, reconciliations that wasted valuable time.... you all know the list and I don't miss any of it.

We're interested in selling our own flowers delivered by our own vans. 90%+ of the items on our website are blocked to be sent to a city outside of our delivery area. We try to keep our prices affordable, and I'd have to raise them to get another shop to deliver and absorbs the deep discounts. Plus, I have far less confidence in major WS local florists than I did years ago. Have you visited the flower room of a funeral home lately? Some really scary stuff being delivered....

 

[secretgarden]

I too am doing things the same as Boss and Linda. I have a list of florists that I have gotten to know and if the city is not on my list I will take 2 minutes to research the area and give them 2 to 3 names and numbers to call. I inform them that talking to the florist in that area direct will get them the best for their money. After having to fight with at least 3 florists in the year and 3 months I was with TF and ending up refunding on my end with no compensation on the other end we made this decision. When they talk to the florist direct then that florist has an invested interest in that customer.
When they have a happy result with that florist they will trust me to recommend one to them the next time as well.
I do have a handful of people we handle this for. They include some close friends, long time customers, and business accounts. I do this for them because we either bill them or have their CC number on file and I can give it directly to the florist I am calling. They still get the most for their money.

We all have things we do not offer. I have read thread after thread on florists who do not make fruit baskets, do I think less of them? No I think that it does not fit their business model. We have a grocery store across the street so we rock out the fruit baskets . I also see posts on people who will not touch a prune vase because they are tacky. Well here in good old Decatur IL the tackier the better, our folks love a good old fashion prune vase for a 50th birthday and the people who get them laugh and have a great time receiving them. It's all about what fits your shop the best. For us giving the customers the tools they need to find a quality florist in that area is what works for us.

Also on the "service" areas. If I can't get in my shop van and personally deliver it myself I do not advertise in that area. I do advertise in 2 nearby towns that have florists. If they do not want the business by spreading their name around I will be glad to take it off their hands. In my opinion if it's in my delivery area it's mine for the taking. Once it crosses over into my no fly zone then it's up for grabs by others.

 

[Eric S]

Today I had a customer place an order for one of our tropicals. Even though it says on each products whether it can be sent to another florist or not this customer really wanted this tropical sent to the recipient. But I know I couldn't send it because most shops just don't carry the tropicals. So I sent an email to the customer noticing them of the problem and cancelled the order.

I get calls and orders for our balloon bouquets and again I tell them if I'm delivering it no problem but i can't send those types of orders to other florist because they just don't have the same balloons. And that's what the customer wants.

I send a good amount of orders out to LA San Diego and Riverside counties and a make sure it shop understands that the customer wants the product on our website and to please duplicate it as well as $12 for delivery.

This way the florist gets additional money for delivery and they see the same price for the arrangement on our website. It is as honest as I can be with my customer and the florist that will fill the order. Keep in mind I'm still only sending 20 to 30 orders a month so it's still a very small part of our business.

I take most of the phone call orders and I do find myself answering the phone as Everyday Flowers and yet the customer will say are you Fullerton florist? I tell them no and they decide very quickly if they are going to use me or continue to look for "Fullerton Florist". It's so strange because I get a lot of calls asking if I'm this florist or that florist and I tell them each time who I am, what I do so they decide if they are going to use me. Even if they say well I chose you because your local in Fullerton and I always quickly tell them look I'm in Tustin and I deliver to fullerton. I even tell them my address is right their on the top of the page which for some reason they miss.

To sum up my post I find it very strange that a consumer in today's way of sending flowers that anyone would be fooled into thinking they are dealing with a local florist because they ask a ton of questions before they even give you their phone number. The only way they could be fooled is if they are just plan lied to on the phone and that I feel is a big problem.

 

[jamie]

The only way they could be fooled is if they are just plan lied to on the phone and that I feel is a big problem.

happens every day. Everything from "Yes we deliver there" to "Jamie is on a delivery but I can take your order"

 

[Rhonda]

Eric, I did call one listed in yellowpages.com and it's Flower Concierge in Florida. They had a "local cell phone" which forwarded to them. They answered the phone "Flower Shop". This is not uncommon... most of them (DOGs) answer generically. All shops should answer their phones with their legal name, not just generically but then again.....

 

[Eric S]

happens every day. Everything from "Yes we deliver there" to "Jamie is on a delivery but I can take your order"

Yeah but I get people asking me where am I at, what are the cross streets I mean it's 50 questions before they order. That's what I don't understand. If they are quizzing me so much how does the og get away with so many orders?

Unless I just get all the burned customers.

 

[Eric S]

happens every day. Everything from "Yes we deliver there" to "Jamie is on a delivery but I can take your order"

Yeah but I get people asking me where am I at, what are the cross streets I mean it's 50 questions before they order. That's what I don't understand. If they are quizzing me so much how does the og get away with so many orders?

Unless I just get all the burned customers.

 

[sandytf]

Yeah but I get people asking me where am I at, what are the cross streets I mean it's 50 questions before they order. That's what I don't understand. If they are quizzing me so much how does the og get away with so many orders?

Unless I just get all the burned customers.

Eric,
Just a thought, but I wonder if it has anything to do with your shop name? It doesn't tie itself to anything "local"....not that it matters because most order gatherers use local city names anyways. We never have anyone ask questions that make us wonder if they think we're local or not.

 

[anytimeflowers]

Eric,
Just a thought, but I wonder if it has anything to do with your shop name? It doesn't tie itself to anything "local"....not that it matters because most order gatherers use local city names anyways. We never have anyone ask questions that make us wonder if they think we're local or not.

I thought EXACTLY the same thing when I read your post Eric, because I end up with the same thing and also have a "suspicious" sounding business name.

 

[Eric S]

It could be. I mean Anytime Flowers sounds more local right? :tongue:

I don't know it just feels like someone is playing a game with us. But on the other hand everyone that calls has different phone numbers when they call so its not like its a blocked number that I couldn't track.

 

[Eric S]

It could be. I mean Anytime Flowers sounds more local right? :tongue:

I don't know it just feels like someone is playing a game with us. But on the other hand everyone that calls has different phone numbers when they call so its not like its a blocked number that I couldn't track.