long long long post....sorry I had a whole lot to say...
Looked at the website and it still reads heavily in the problems with wire industry...and I do agree that this is probably the biggest area of discontent with florists...What is the reality that everyone on the sending and OG side of the world will give up their profits to help give the florist better profits...Now I may be wrong, as I don't have inside info as to how the wireservices make their money, what is most important to them etc, but it looks to me like tf, ftd and 800-flowers are leading the pack in order gathering these days, judging on the amount of orders taken and failed at the holidaysand the overwhelming amount of complaints on the internet about these orders...If they are willing to overtake orders at the holidays and degrade customer trust(a simple matter of knowing what you can produce and deliver, we have been doing it for years successfully), all in the name of greed so they get the money and the info to market them(we also have to realize they are way more interested in gathering the info, because they feel that if the market to them even if they fail they can get most customers back), what makes florists think they are willing to give this up to had the customers back over to us so that most can let the info sit and not use it....they know that more often than not florists don't market and they see it as stupid florists leaving their pond(thanks Rick) open for big fishing opportunities...in a way they are right to feel and think this way as much as it hurts to hear this...I would imagine that the commision structure changing would be a bone they would throw in, giving the florist 10% more would on some levels be like handing a homeless guy 1000.00, a whole lot of florists would say OMG they understand, they are willing to change, I knew they would come around and many would stay...still losing money and not even know it, still being used and not even know it...all the while the ws is brainstorming how they can get that 10% back into their coffers from the florist, they will make up another per order charge, make some other labor intensive demand or just blatently go up on some charges simply because now the florist is getting an average of 5.00 more an order...my current figures say that I was losing overall on my orders when I thought I was making 3-5 dollars on each order, but due to extraneous fees found out that was not true, so 5.00 can get sucked up really quick with minor increases to fees...
Do we really think ws will take the rebates away from gatherers and risk losing them either to another service or to them leaving the industry altogether all to listen to florists complain that they are getting enough orders....do we really think the ws will reconsider their fees on technology and others, they know more florists need them for this than they need florists and this is their biggest hold on keeping florists and they know it...I doubt they will give that up...they may consider going up on bouquet prices and delivery charge prices giving florists a better chance of providing a closer representation of the orders after all this does affect their brand far more than most florists because most florists don't have a brand, most florists don't have signage, logos, lettering on trucks or a comprehensive grasp on what they do different than their competition...(in my town there are 7 of us, 3 have logos, 2 have actual branding efforts with the logo and color scheme following through all places, 1 has their vehicle identified, all have websites(surprising), 3 have some half assed marketing plans(not really but we try)...I would say that in marketing and branding I would be the leader in my town(and this folks is sad because I am far from good which means everyone else sucks badley) the cities areound me are equally as badly outfitted, and many of the florists I see on facebook show new signs that are no where near a branding effort coupled with outdated designs and shop interiors, how do they compete with anyone? do we think that our reps don't share this info with headquarters? Do we think that the WS don't know how they can control florists?
Now this all being said, I know many florists are good business people and know the evils of ws and know they need to just leave and for what ever reasons feel they cannot...I know many florists saw the writing on the wall years ago and made changes and are now big senders and grew that part of their business and would hate to lose the ws...but there are far many more who are clueless, can't read a statement, have no idea why they are suffering and don't even realize they went from 90/10 split of local orders/ws orders to a 50/50 split and think something is wrong but they are still just as busy and blame the problems on product prices and ws fees, not even realizing that in an average small business of 250,000 gross with the numbers put forth before 75000.00 from local orders roughly would go to overhead with the 10% wire in, and 41000.00 with the second option yet your labor, output and overhead stays the same and that doesn't even include the price increases...no business can survive on those numbers...and using that was just simple silly math that in its simpleest for most florists cannot see how that effects their business because they are artists not business people, math is not their thing and is there any doubt why the average small shop can't market, get new technology, take classes, etc....not with losing 34,000.00 plus a year to the ws...taken from their very own local base...and god only knows how much more they lost to other sources...
The problems in our industry go so much deeper than just the ws behavior...You cannot tell so many florists that what they are doing is wrong or hurting them, many won't listen, don't want to learn, refuse to change, etc....changing the ws model will only put a bandaid on a nicked artery, it will prolong the inevitable and that wuld be that florists need to starve the beast and show them that without us they do not have a model until then they have the upper hand...I think that florists organizing is a definite positive step in letting those companies see that they are in trouble, if it gains momentum it will scare them, but if we spin our wheels without real direction, they will see that also and now we still are no where near being a threat to ther existance...I just want to say that all the talk about the ws restructuring will read to them that the group is not ready to let them go and it gives them the upper hand in the strategy, they will call your bluff and if there is no counter action of we will be leaving with some very powerful players, you will have shown your hand and be turned away to square one on the drawing board....you know how I know this, because I live this life...I fail miserabley at negotiation because I will not do what I need to in the end due to the fear of losing a customer, losing a job, making someone not like me etc...where as I live with someone who excels in negotiation...He has a goal, he stands by it, he maps his strategy and will not budge...He does not care who he pisses off, he does not care who doesn't like him, and he doesn't acre if a customer takes their business elsewhere because he is confident that he was providing them the best alternative and they will get what they pay for if they choose other than what he was quoting....
my emotions and lack of confidence in pushing the envelope is something I learned in this industry, we teach the fear of losing a sale, the fear of raising prices, the fear of asking for money for services, the fear of getting what we are worth...we teach all of that in our training and always have...
