Dumping FTD

[Biscotti]

Well the boss has had it. She said today she's going to dump them. She called to get the payoff amount on the Computer etc. The only question she has is, can she transfer the files of all the in house accounts she has, or will that info have to be re-entered when she gets a new POS system. I told her I didn't think the file type would be recognized because the software will be different. Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

[sfox]

yes

Yes, the customer files can be transfered on FAS

 

[theRKF]

Yup - can be transferred to just about anything. You on Merc POS? Can't remember.

Ryan

 

[TOTO]

Just Curious? What was Her final Straw?

Well the boss has had it. She said today she's going to dump them. She called to get the payoff amount on the Computer etc. The only question she has is, can she transfer the files of all the in house accounts she has, or will that info have to be re-entered when she gets a new POS system. I told her I didn't think the file type would be recognized because the software will be different. Any feedback would be appreciated.

Having been one of their biggest cheerleaders pre small bob and based on the lies which small dick handed out to us pre-sale, I was wondering just what it was that, became your bosses final straw.

I can list what mine were but, just no point in repeating myself.

And YES, all text data can be transferred from one system to another in the form of ASCII file format after the length of each field is determined.

http://www.procat.com/Winner/tips/FAQ11072000.htm

Just a matter of projecting each field in the order they will be read into the new system and delimeting that string accordingly with an "first","last","addr","city","st","zip","phone", etc. using notepad or any other word processing program for a .txt file.

Just be sure that, your boss has gotten out from under their CASH FLOW program to avoid any impounds.

 

[Joe Mioux]

YOu all know where I stand on wirebusiness.

I really enjoyed seeing the end of FTD at my shops. Why? because a dozen or so incoming orders per month and member fees of $325 per month doesn't equate to profitable incoming business.

You only need one wS for outgoing.

Now imagine my amusement to find my backstabbing competitor of 25 years join FTD after my departure!!!

It makes me giggle everytime I think of it.

 

[RWK]

Unfortunately.......regardless of the bad press and crappy attitude of late with FTD......That Mercury man on the door or window is still one of the most widely recognized trademarks out there.....Yes, the competitor will get eat up in fees and the like......but they will have that instant brand recognition. Most of the buying public at large still equates that sign with a quality flower shop......Unfortunately.

 

[BOSS]

I told her I didn't think the file type would be recognized because the software will be different. Any feedback would be appreciated.

MAS can convert customer data files, past sales history and more...even your product codes.

 

[Chezbloom]

Unfortunately.......regardless of the bad press and crappy attitude of late with FTD......That Mercury man on the door or window is still one of the most widely recognized trademarks out there.....Yes, the competitor will get eat up in fees and the like......but they will have that instant brand recognition. Most of the buying public at large still equates that sign with a quality flower shop......Unfortunately.

Not in my area! I get calls like this quite frequently:

"Can you please make it NOT look like something from FTD? The consumer is sick of seeing the same FTD looking stuff on multiple websites etc. And I really think the novelty containers have seen thier day as well. I am only speaking for my area of course. I would like to send flowers to the Merc mans funeral.

 

[felicityflowers]

Not in my area! I get calls like this quite frequently:

"Can you please make it NOT look like something from FTD? The consumer is sick of seeing the same FTD looking stuff on multiple websites etc. And I really think the novelty containers have seen thier day as well. I am only speaking for my area of course. I would like to send flowers to the Merc mans funeral.

LOL!!! Chez...you are too much!

We get calls like that all the time. Customers are telling us they are calling direct because they want to directly deal with the flower shop that is going to be handling their order, they don't want to mess with a middleman or have to deal with two separate parties if something goes wrong.

Customers want accountability and sadly, more often than not, wire services can't offer that because of their lack of quality assurance with the shops that they are signing on.

*sorry to hijack your thread with my tangent comment biscotti *

 

[Mikey the Flower Guy]

Well the boss has had it. She said today she's going to dump them. She called to get the payoff amount on the Computer etc. The only question she has is, can she transfer the files of all the in house accounts she has, or will that info have to be re-entered when she gets a new POS system. I told her I didn't think the file type would be recognized because the software will be different. Any feedback would be appreciated.

ummmm...IF she "pays out" the MERC POS, why does she have to "get rid of it??"..is it leased, or bought??....ummmm....maybe I already know the answer

 

[TOTO]

Ditto what Chez said!

Unfortunately.......regardless of the bad press and crappy attitude of late with FTD......That Mercury man on the door or window is still one of the most widely recognized trademarks out there.....Yes, the competitor will get eat up in fees and the like......but they will have that instant brand recognition. Most of the buying public at large still equates that sign with a quality flower shop......Unfortunately.

We haven't gotten a call from anyone in the past five years asking for an FTD anything. And like Chez said, some callers actually ask us if we are affiliated with them, and when we say NO, they say, THANK GOODNESS!

After which, they tell us of their personal horror story.

What the newbies forgot during their quest for more profitability was in the fact that, it was the FLORISTS who not only built the brand, but were proud to stand behind it.

Once they began signing up anyone and their mother too, provided they had a bucket of water to put their flowers into, that's when DA BRAND started to go into the commode.

As to the KEEPSAKE CONTAINER MARKET, those days are over too! Folks are just not into chachka anymore as proven by the decline of the once top of the market collectibles to include Hummel, Disney, and Ty.

But, as we all know, they keep trying to sell their overpriced Holiday and Everyday chachkas to any florist who will buy them, while fully expecting DA FLORIST to market them themselves and without any help from the source.

After which, they all get together in their Ivory Tower and wonder, just why it bee that, DA FLORIST didn't order anything for Christmas for the following year?

Well, let me see hear ANDY? I got a case of 12 or 24 of the WINTER WHATEVERS, only sold 2 via the 29% discounted incoming wire, and now have to store them in my basement for the next 11 months with the hopes they will sell next year. And, you want me to order more BECAUSE?

Oh, that's right, now I remember! It's my fault because I DIDN'T SPEND A LOT OF MY MONEY TO ADVERTISE THEM!

I remember having a tetetetete with Rock Davis when he was in charge of the Marketplace back in 1997.

Here wee bee, on December 16th, all heavily stocked with their C1 through C7, all greened up, all flowered up, and all ready to go, just like soldiers in our coolers.

Then, and to our surprise, the only orders we see coming in from DOT.CON over the merc were for the CANDY CANE LANE bouquet at $34.99.

So I called Rock and asked him, just what in the heck was going on out there in the Ivory Tower and why wasn't 800 or DOT.CON featuring, focusing, and selling the C1 through C9?

Rock's answer was brilliant! " Our customers like that arrangement and that price point! " Well then Rock, why didn't you folks make the CANDY CANE LANE BOUQUET the freeken C1, I asked?

Make no mistake that, none of them ever had a clue and to add insult to injury, and instead of devoting their site's homepage to ONLY the C1 through C9, they were all over the place with everything but WHAT WE FLORISTS HAD BOUGHT!

After that fiasco, there was just NO POINT in buying any of their HOLIDAY ANYTHINGS since THEY HAD NO INTENTION OF SELLING THEM ANYWAY!

Finally, and in 2002, and when we had had enough, I went up to my roof, unscrewed our 36" BRANDED LOGO, walked it over to the other side of the building where our garbage dumpster was, and dropped it in. BULL'S EYE on the FIRST TRY, and we never looked back, nor did any of our customers ever notice it was missing, nor did they really care.

They then went on to KILL the DISTRICTS and finally, KILL the CONVENTION which, in my opinion, KILLED the HEART and SOUL of what had made the BRAND what it used to bee!

VALUE IN THE BRAND? NAW! It's just a group of for profit people riding on what's left of our coat tails and relishing in the FAIRY TALE of how it used to be.

Well, enough about me then!

 

[Joe Mioux]

Unfortunately.......regardless of the bad press and crappy attitude of late with FTD......That Mercury man on the door or window is still one of the most widely recognized trademarks out there.....Yes, the competitor will get eat up in fees and the like......but they will have that instant brand recognition. Most of the buying public at large still equates that sign with a quality flower shop......Unfortunately.

Rick would you say FTD's brand and image is on the uphill run or the downhill slide?

More and more consumers are seeing FTD as a carbon copier manufactuerer of flowers and just a reseller of candy, teddy bears, and soap.

No, their drive to earn a dividend is changing the way consumers view this brand. Also, are we as florists not just a bit jaded by our past reading and hearing Bob N's incessant reiterations of "THE FTD BRAND". It is a cliche.

Granted this is annectodal, but I do hear my customers say No FTD styled product.

Joe

 

[TexasFlowerGuy]

Live Flower Chat...we're here...Join Us

Just a quick note....we have a live flower chat going on....join us now.!!!!

 

[Mikey the Flower Guy]

VALUE IN THE BRAND? NAW! It's just a group of for profit people riding on what's left of our coat tails and relishing in the FAIRY TALE of how it used to be.

Well, enough about me then!

More please!!

 

[Rosebud06]

Have you guys had a problem with fraud with FTD.
I had an order come in someone placed on my FTD website.
It was for TEXAS!!!!!!!!!! I am in Alabama
FTD told me to send it to a florist in Texas and didn't have an explanation why I would had gotten an order for Texas.
Well I have to have the 3 digit code on the back of the credit card and he didn't have that info on the order. I called his number.......no voicemail. I sent email message.........no response. Soooooooooo the order didn't happen and I still have not heard anything.

 

[lori042499]

Have you guys had a problem with fraud with FTD.
I had an order come in someone placed on my FTD website.
It was for TEXAS!!!!!!!!!! I am in Alabama
FTD told me to send it to a florist in Texas and didn't have an explanation why I would had gotten an order for Texas.
Well I have to have the 3 digit code on the back of the credit card and he didn't have that info on the order. I called his number.......no voicemail. I sent email message.........no response. Soooooooooo the order didn't happen and I still have not heard anything.

The fact that CC fraud exists has nothing to do with FTD...If you have an email address and do E-business, you are openinh yourself up to fraud...Your webpage is an international entity, anyone, anywhere can find you and place an order for anywhere. This is exactly how the OG's work..You definately need to be careful with all CC transactions and be leary of anything out of the ordinary ie. too large and order, an order placed from out of town going out of your town, phone number not right, no CVV number, etc..I would say that the CVV is the single most important piece of info on a cc Transaction...Having this number leaves you open to chargebacks on any order taken over the phone or internet..Without it being provided, I would not send the order way to risky, especially if you're getting a bad vibe to begin with...

 

[TexasFlowerGuy]

Membership / Participation in Flowerchat

During the last two months, I have had conversations with both FTD and Teleflora...at levels varying from Sales Rep...to Sales VP ...and all the way up to marketing VP. The purpose of these discussions was to discuss my relative happiness/ unhappiness with their organizations, policies, and practices.

I actually think there is merit to having them here...so they can understand fully...how they are killing themselves....with local floirsts.

Some/Many of you think that they don't care...but I believe that if they are half-way intelligent...they will take an "enlightened self interest" in what is being said here.

I believe that we should ask them to participate...in a live chat session...where they have the opportunity to explain their policies and practices.

The first "victim" that I would nominate to participate in this event is Bob Hurley, Vice President of Marketing with Teleflora. Bob, gets it, in my opinion. And would welcome the opportunity to participate in such a discussion. This would give him the benefit of the doubt, and the opportunity to address his company's ideas.

If you like this idea let me know...and I will invite Bob to a future session. Bob has helped me and our businesses ....believe it or not...and I have confidence in him.

I will send a copy of this post to Bob...and see if he is willing to particpate if there is interest.

All the best...

 

[Joe Mioux]

During the last two months, I have had conversations with both FTD and Teleflora...at levels varying from Sales Rep...to Sales VP ...and all the way up to marketing VP. The purpose of these discussions was to discuss my relative happiness/ unhappiness with their organizations, policies, and practices.

I actually think there is merit to having them here...so they can understand fully...how they are killing themselves....with local floirsts.

Some/Many of you think that they don't care...but I believe that if they are half-way intelligent...they will take an "enlightened self interest" in what is being said here.

I believe that we should ask them to participate...in a live chat session...where they have the opportunity to explain their policies and practices.

The first "victim" that I would nominate to participate in this event is Bob Hurley, Vice President of Marketing with Teleflora. Bob, gets it, in my opinion. And would welcome the opportunity to participate in such a discussion. This would give him the benefit of the doubt, and the opportunity to address his company's ideas.

If you like this idea let me know...and I will invite Bob to a future session. Bob has helped me and our businesses ....believe it or not...and I have confidence in him.

I will send a copy of this post to Bob...and see if he is willing to particpate if there is interest.

All the best...

Good Luck trying to get FTD to change its stripes. It won't happen.

TF seems to be focusing on being a florists' services and product provider. I see this more and more with what they are offering and through my discussions with them. I imagine they see WS business becoming less important and florists' services as a better niche to earn revenue. This is just an observation based on my personal experiences dealing with TF.

 

[Bigted]

I actually think there is merit to having them here...so they can understand fully...how they are killing themselves....with local floirsts.

Some/Many of you think that they don't care...but I believe that if they are half-way intelligent...they will take an "enlightened self interest" in what is being said here.

I believe that we should ask them to participate...in a live chat session...where they have the opportunity to explain their policies and practices.
All the best...

Sorry Mike, but several people hear have tried that approach and failed miserably. They are not going to change for you or me or anyone else. I have been on a 6 month campaign to stop flowershopping from blatently skimming orders. Teleflora is so very concerned, but despite the lip service, never did anything. The website still says that in addition to their service charge, they will subtract an additional undisclosed fee to cover their costs(but it won't affect the arrangement--yeah right). Focus on building your own business and things will be fine.