Are people stopping WS because...

[Simon Says]

....they have listened to their head, having through the finances, and find it is really not a $ viable option?

Or are people following their heart and terminating because of a sense of dissatisfaction with the WS in question?

Then again, is it a blend of the head and heart reaching a joint conclusion?

In my case, I suppose it was both but the $s did make me finanly put proverbial pen to paper.

In a way, I hope that people are stopping their WS for $ reasons because that will make it increasingly likely for the WS model to break sooner.

I think it would be interesting to conduct a brief poll of Flowerchat members who have stopped (or are seriously considering stopping) as to whether it was a decision made by the heart or the head.

 

[Flowermomma]

....they have listened to their head, having through the finances, and find it is really not a $ viable option?

Or are people following their heart and terminating because of a sense of dissatisfaction with the WS in question?

Then again, is it a blend of the head and heart reaching a joint conclusion?

In my case, I suppose it was both but the $s did make me finanly put proverbial pen to paper.

In a way, I hope that people are stopping their WS for $ reasons because that will make it increasingly likely for the WS model to break sooner.

I think it would be interesting to conduct a brief poll of Flowerchat members who have stopped (or are seriously considering stopping) as to whether it was a decision made by the heart or the head.

made by dollar figures. we were paying out way more monthly then the ordered coming in would ever pay for it.
I just could not see that the wire service was a good idea from a make money point of view.
I send out on a regular month less then 10 orders. I was with Teleflora when i bought the store 3 yrs ago. IN 6 months it did NOT pay for itself or show signs that it would. we went 18 months without any service then tried FTD that was a mistake too. I can use FSN to send to the US for a low yearly fee and I can use my store credit card for orders with in Canada. FSN can also take care of the 5 or 6 to england/germany orders we get at Christmas time.

 

[anytimeflowers]

Simon,

Interesting point. I think most are going to say they ultimately quit because of the dollars, it's just so hard to get your head around the fact that when you are getting a check, you are actually losing money. I "made the decision" after doing the math for my November 2009 statement. Even though I got "a check", it had actually cost me $200 to fill all of those orders with my product and deliver them.

Even so, I thought I must have done something wrong in my numbers because that's impossible, it couldn't happen.

I also realized that in order to fill their orders, I was systematically losing my own designs and also my own local customers. What was in the cooler did not match what they were used to getting.

I didn't actually send my letter until January 2010 when I got an e-mail that informed me they had taken the liberty of pre-ordering one case of each of their containers for me for Valentines Day. I NEVER ordered their over-priced VD containers, only for Christmas. They put me through HELL getting their stupid pre-order canceled. I had to jump through hoops for something that they just randomly decided I was going to get. I could go on and on but I'm getting angry again just reliving it!

So, I sadly have to conclude that it was a combination of all these things, even though the great $200 giveaway should have been....uhm....a clue?

 

[debhooper]

I have a question. I have not dropped the ws yet, but am thinking seriously about it. What point of sale are you guys using? I use the Dove point of sale and will have to get something in place before I make any major changes.

 

[lori042499]

I quit the wire services for money reasons and sanity...

I quit bloomnet a year ago purely for my sanity, I never even worked the money, they were just killing me sanity wise at the holidays...then the store up the street bought into the franchise and the volume got low and I was losing my designs into ther crap...

TF was a whole different story...I was trapped with them because of my POS...then when I could be free, I had to figure out my technology situation, then I was emotionally attached...then I figured the money hard and fast and finally made the big decision..It was not an easy one..I figure I paid into TF 9-10 extra months just making the emotional decision...I am telling everyone it is like having stockholm syndrome...

 

[lori042499]

Floristware here..I was also on Dove POS...still getting used to the floristware, but so far it does just what I need it to do...

 

[bootcampguy]

I have a question. I have not dropped the ws yet, but am thinking seriously about it. What point of sale are you guys using? I use the Dove point of sale and will have to get something in place before I make any major changes.

I had mercury POS for 15 years and finally pulled the plug. Went to FW, light years ahead of the classmates and hellaflora.

 

[Rhonda]

FloristWare here.. wonderful... no WS to tell me what to do... I have FTD for $29.99 / month but call most all my orders out with a credit card direct!
And YES, florists are counting ther $$ - I spoke with two today both TF shops that asked me about being wire free (lol)... and I was calling them orders for 100% with a credit card.. both have been TF for years, both have other POS (and asked about FloristWare) and both are very seriously considering leaving ws for good, in their words, especially after Mother's Day.... hmmmmmmmm

 

[sandytf]

We dropped for financial reasons. We have 5 stores and two of them were actually showing a very slight profit from FTD when I made the decision to drop them. (when I started with our company we had 3 wire services! AFS, Teleflora, and FTD. AFS went away and several years later I dropped Tel because we just didn't do much volume with them and it didn't make sense to pay fees to two wire services). After doing my annual review of FTD.....I decided the two stores who were pulling a slight profit were doing it because of a high volume of outgoing-and we could send out with FSN for a lot less in fees. That being said, I decided we would NEVER go through another Mother's Day with FTD after 2009. It was a nightmare! We wasted way too much time rejecting undervalued orders or trying to get more money instead of focusing on 100% orders from our local customers. We were wire service free by the end of April in 2010.

 

[hollyflr]

I resigned from Teleflora in the spring of 05 after developing a spreadsheet of the teleflora expenses and revenue. With $14,000 of incoming orders, The shop lost $3,000 after factoring in COG's, labor, delivery, and TF expense. I did not count outgoing because I had FTD. I sent the spreadsheet along with my letter of resignation, when I received the obligatory call back, I was told that my 20% for labor was too low. This really stuck with me, because if I raised the labor, I would have been using even less product, and it would have been a greater loss. I believe the Rep did not have a clue, or thought I did not have a clue. I quit! When I quit Teleflora I moved my website to FTD and was given a 6 month package of an all inclusive $99 per month. When the six months was close to up, I redid the spreadsheet and found I was making a little money being on the $99 package. I requested a permanent extension and was refused. One week prior to my last day, my rep came in and offered the $99.00 fee. I told him FTD was a day late and a dollar short and I would not change my mind. I have never been happier nor the shop more profitable,

I have belonged to FSN for the past year and am satisfied with it. If I can find a shop on FSN close to my delivery, I use it, if not, I use my credit call. I have a Strider Website, and use Quickbooks POS and Financial. I write my customized enclosure cards, and use mapquest for routing and delivery directions. Last year was a really bad year, but this year has been really good so far. Starting next year I am going to use Turbotax and do my own, saving me more money. I did a side by side test run with my enrolled agent and my numbers were almost identical. I have gone local for trash service and security system, I have part time help rather then full time, use a delivery person when I am alone and can't deliver, and do the deliveries when I have help.

 

[Simon Says]

So far, it looks as if the ceasations are overwhelmingly due to $/head and not the frustration/heart. I suppose that this is particularly encouraging for, IF our opinions and the reading of tea leaves is correct, the WS will hurt more and florists and consumers can work to re-invent the floral design and distribution system.