FTD Top 100 Trip

[lori042499]

I have to say one thing, the top 100 senders do in fact do as much work as fillers. They work on those websites, they work on getting the customers...they spend a pretty penny to get those customers to their sites. It is not an easy job, I'll be @@@@ed if I know how to do it or even have the money to get it done. Not that I like that OG's exist, but they found a way to make money and florists let them do it. They we @@@@@ and moan about the fact that they get rewards. What most of us do on a daily basis and spend out of pocket is piddily compared to the people that go to these trips. The stress alone keeping ahead of the next big thing or sifting through what ads work and what don't and keeping the deadlines and negotiating deals is why they deserve the trips.

I do very well for myself on the flower end of my business...I can make things very fast, i buy what people will buy at prices they wll buy at, I keep up with trends, etc etc...this is why I am comfortable with the filling side of the business. Do I work harder for my money, maybe, maybe not?? It is the side that I am comfortable with, it is the side I grew up around. It is changing quickly and maybe I will end up giving it up. I will never ever be a millionaire as a filling florist, I know that. I am willing to learn about other aspects of the business and hopefully will be able to help myself out to be a more rounded florist.

Business like RC's and Bloomz seem to me like they have figured a way to get enough WO business and enough local biz to round out the WS numbers. This is no easy feat. Just the web stuff alone is enough to drive you crazy. They must work diligently on these to make them visible and shopworthy. This is the wave of the future. Get ready folks its coming. Soon will be that days that no one comes into a shop for flowers and does everything online.

We all must face the facts that gathering orders to send to other towns is what needs to be done in order to make the most of ws fees. If you aren't with that it may be time to get out of the WS and go it on your own. The way I see it in the next 5-10 years there will be 2 kinds of florists, independent florists that only do local orders and maybe send out on their cc and florists that have marketed themselves to be bigger senders and bigger fillers.

 

[Eric S]

bigger senders and bigger fillers.

These two statements don't go together.

 

[Bigted]

These two statements don't go together.

Disagree. Most of the florists at top 100 (especially the older shops) are big fillers as well as big senders. They tend to be the shop that you want to send your orders to because you know they will take care of it.

 

[Eric S]

So the bigger the shop the better they will take care of your order.

Or its more like taking care of the orders between the big senders and the big fillers. That sounds like the old days.

So lets say the top 100 sent & filled their order umong themselves. Are you telling me they could stay in business?

I don't think so.

 

[Bigted]

Or its more like taking care of the orders between the big senders and the big fillers. That sounds like the old days.

So lets say the top 100 sent & filled their order umong themselves. Are you telling me they could stay in business?

I don't think so.

That's not what I'm saying. The big shops that have been around for a long time will generally be pretty reliable at filling your orders--or fixing things if they go wrong. A lot of small shops do too. The bottom line for me is that this industry needs wireservices, and wireservices need orders to keep the system going.

By the way, you used to say that you never wired out orders--you always gave the phone number of the filling shop to the customer. Something change?

 

[lori042499]

Eric,
I would venture to guess that the reason Gaylon told Bloomz he needed to fill more was just this reason. He already has a good share of sending, but needs the filling to keep his help busy. Bloomz correct me if I am wrong here.
There needs to be volume to make a truely successful flower shop. Every person employed must pull a huge amount of their weight to make that shop money. I am not making the money I need to make because I still have several hours a day that is not taken up with work. I should be working more on my marketing but don't have the know how. Therefore I need more orders to make more money. Most shops are inefficient in staffing, in buying and in rotation of product. Many shops keep help year round for the 3 holidays they are needed because otherwise they wouldn't be able to function at the holidays, but fall short of keeping them busy at the inbetween times. This is where filling fills the gaps and sending money is just great for all things overhead, trying to get it is a whole other story. If there are 3 people working in a shop full time and all have a job to do they need to be busy every minute they are there in order to be making money. So a driver needs to be delivering all day to make that money..A designer all day should be doing 1000-1200 dollars a day if this is all they do. A person in the shop that just does the books or business stuff really needs to be bringing in lots of business, working on the webpage, ads etc otherwise they are not helping the biz. A salesperson that is just a sales person better be selling alot of stuff or cleaning like a mad person...A lone owner if they aren't working 10-12 hours a day they probably will never make enough money to get ahead of themselves. After 2 years in business, I am realizing that at this time, I need to put more hours in and do rather than think about how to get this place marketed. I need to look into really learning or really saving my pennies to get a marketing plan going or I'll still be right here 5 years from now waiting for the people to walk through the door. I can make it by forever this way but i will never make it forward....

 

[bloomz]

By the way--It wasn't really as cold as Bloomz said.

Two words - Tumba Ferrerra.

Disagree. Most of the florists at top 100 (especially the older shops) are big fillers as well as big senders. They tend to be the shop that you want to send your orders to because you know they will take care of it.

Absolutely - nearly all I talked to filled LOTS of orders, very few were even concerned with who's orders they fill. I think they have bigger fish to fry.

So the bigger the shop the better they will take care of your order.

Quite often yes.

Or its more like taking care of the orders between the big senders and the big fillers. That sounds like the old days.

So lets say the top 100 sent & filled their order umong themselves. Are you telling me they could stay in business?

I don't think so.

Eric you really have a mistaken impression of these trips.

Of course we need more florists, but not as many as we have right now. (half?) The top 100 have most metro areas covered however, and yes that's where I want my customers orders going. I'm guessing one would find the Lion's share of orders flowing to major metro areas. I've been doing this long enough to know where I get my customers best value, and hate to say it but it's often not little Mom and Pop shops. (Before you blast me - WE are a little Mom and Pop) Better, fresher stock, better pricing and value, more efficient delivery, you just can't argue with success and most are very long term successful shops.

It's an interesting barometer based on how many wire orders one sends, but it doesn't take away from their professionalism in 95% of the cases, rather adds to it.

Many send lots of orders because they have lots of customers that trust them.

Why would that be?


hmmmmm...

 

[sfox]

Here we go again

It's an interesting barometer based on how many wire orders one sends, but it doesn't take away from their professionalism in 95% of the cases, rather adds to it.

Many send lots of orders because they have lots of customers that trust them.

Why would that be?

hmmmmm...

Here we go again bloomz, I have to agree with you.:wallhead::wallhead:

 

[stormy]

great trip. one of the best yet. great venue, great food and great people like bloomz.
we are not an OG, we are a real old timey florist. we fill way more than we send. problem is it is very tough to grow your outgoing orders due to the OG. our wire outs have declined in each of the last three years. i email FTD every month and let them know what % we were down for the month. we can't send more if the top OG spend $20 or more to acquire an order. i can't lose money just to get an order.
anyway what i am trying to say, at top member, are top florist. we learn, laugh, eat and sleep the florist business. thats what we have in common. a zest for the business and life. we are not any more important than the little guy, but would you turn down and all expense paid vacation if it was offered to you? not me.........

 

[Eric S]

Nothing change. We still give the phone numbers to flowerchaters and will look up shops for customers. Come on Ted I even give them your number!!!

They still have a choice.

Customers still want convenience. I know that and I am not going to preach to them if they don't want to hear it. My beef would be with the discount orders. Those are the ones that cause all of the problems.

And your right I have no idea what a top 100 sender does when they send orders. They could be skimming or they could be sending full dollar amounts they may have a low average or they may have a much higher average. You are the only ones that know. Perhaps when we turn 50 I will know.

But hey Everyday Flowers has been around a long time twenty or so years and I didn't see a huge growth of sending when we took over in 2003 or by the end of 2005 when we left FTD and 800 flowers. There was no indication based upon the prior years records of the shops outgoing orders growing. Our shop smelled of FTD and Teleflora but the sending was not going up. The only way it went up was when we tried order gathering. But our customers where still not interested in sending FTD or Teleflora.

Just remember that I didn't make the decision to be anti WS only because of what has been said here. I was tired of my customers complaining!!!

 

[master J]

hey eric,
I will take the tri-colored red, yellow, & green, rastafari bong with a half dozen red roses accented with some nice kind bud...:bloomz:

How much will that cost me? oh I want the deluxe size! ha ha!

 

[BOSS]

Pretty amazing... well to me anyway, that this thread got so much play and THIS ONE got none...

The sky is falling...the sky is falling....:handball:

 

[bloomz]

This is a very entertaining thread

And your right I have no idea what a top 100 sender does when they send orders. They could be skimming or they could be sending full dollar amounts they may have a low average or they may have a much higher average. You are the only ones that know. Perhaps when we turn 50 I will know.

Just remember that I didn't make the decision to be anti WS only because of what has been said here. I was tired of my customers complaining!!!

I think it's fairly safe to say 98% of them do not skim. I do pay attention and I do check websites when I get an order from a potential skimmer, cuz my name is on the order - not theirs. And I will forward in a heartbeat if I think it's skimmed, to the shop who doesn't care where it comes from or how much they sold it for.

The way to retain customers is to get them the best value you can, and skimming is killing the goose with the golden eggs.

And Eric, I bet your customers were complaining simply because you weren't sending to the right shops - we have a very low complaint level.

I was waiting for this thread to come up this year...it's always entertaining to be blasted for being successful and I get a little teeny taste of what RC gets all the time here - pompous ass that he is. *wink*
:bangles:

I know

opinions vary

as well as

mistaken opinions, which you're all welcome to



PS Boss, Ok color me dumb but I am not even sure who Bear Stearns is - are they a baseball team?
:headbang:

 

[Queen of Weddings]

I should be working more on my marketing but don't have the know how

Lori,,You are the one that has to market yourself to your clients, that what tehy pay for is you, The owner is the one that makes the business, and that is what needs to be done, It doesn't cost alot to be true to yourself and your product..

Yeah guys , I am sure that you all had a great time, as a kid<Wink> I remember going to all of these, and Dad just couldn't go this year, as years past. and didn't have the gumption to go bye myself, after that darn accident recently< More ditzy than before> I learned alot from all of this, and that has made me the person I am today, before the dizts bang accident...
t

 

[Eric S]

I think it's fairly safe to say 98% of them do not skim. I do pay attention and I do check websites when I get an order from a potential skimmer, cuz my name is on the order - not theirs. And I will forward in a heartbeat if I think it's skimmed, to the shop who doesn't care where it comes from or how much they sold it for.

The way to retain customers is to get them the best value you can, and skimming is killing the goose with the golden eggs.

And Eric, I bet your customers were complaining simply because you weren't sending to the right shops - we have a very low complaint level.

I was waiting for this thread to come up this year...it's always entertaining to be blasted for being successful and I get a little teeny taste of what RC gets all the time here - pompous ass that he is. *wink*
:bangles:

I know

opinions vary

as well as

mistaken opinions, which you're all welcome to



PS Boss, Ok color me dumb but I am not even sure who Bear Stearns is - are they a baseball team?
:headbang:

Their complaints came from the keepsakes.

Quality shops no problem.

 

[bloomz]

Their complaints came from the keepsakes.

Quality shops no problem.

Well gosh that's a very easy fix!

Why cut off your nose (profitable department) to spite yer face? oke:

"Doc it hurts when I go like this."

"Well then don't go like that!"

 

[RWK]

I'm going to play devil's advocate here and ask what I think is a provacative question.

Bear in mind that I have never owned a shop. However, depending on what monies we recieve from the auto accident, it may be enough to open one. So, bearing that in mind, here is the question.

What does belonging to a wire service do for your shop's bottom line, profits, and customer satisfaction that being a wire service free shop could not do.....and vice versa?

 

[bloomz]

Rick - I want to be there for all my customers flower giving needs, simply, whether their loved one is across the street or the country.

Sending them elsewhere would be very self defeating.

Cuz there's a very good chance they may just not come back.

 

[Eric S]

Well gosh that's a very easy fix!

Why cut off your nose (profitable department) to spite yer face? oke:

"Doc it hurts when I go like this."

"Well then don't go like that!"

When you have complaints on keepsakes for two years straight I would imagine that it would take the same out of time to bring back that part of the business. So keeping this in mind it makes perfect sense as to why our outgoing orders are continuing to increase.

Well so anyway yippy yay it only took 5 years to figure it all out.

 

[RWK]

Rick - I want to be there for all my customers flower giving needs, simply, whether their loved one is across the street or the country.

Sending them elsewhere would be very self defeating.

Cuz there's a very good chance they may just not come back.

Ok, - still playing devil's advocate here.......Could you not provide that same level or greater service to your good sustomers without a wire service? And/or does the wire service affliation add to or detract from your bottom line and profits?