Get out there and teach!

[Carrieann]

It has been brought to my attention that I have not spoken enough on the subject of flowers for kids. So, here is my plea....

Get out there and teach these kids!! It really does help!

I have been doing the program for 3 years, and it looks like it may be coming to an end for me. Here is my story...

When I started, of course I used a wholesaler in the FFK program to supply me with the flowers and materials. That was for the first year and a half. Then they went out of business.

Another wholesaler I was trying to talk into joining the program agreed to give me the flowers I needed to continue my classes for free! But did not want to join the program (I do not know why) As for the materials, I photo copied what I had left.

Worked very well for the next year and a half, until that wholesaler started to feel the pennies from my classes and backed out of giving me the flowers. This was the end of last school year. This leaves me with one wholesaler left. So I approached them. They were interested in leaning more about the program. They have not yet decided if they will be joining or not, it is now out of my hands. And even if they do decide to join, will there be enough interest by the florist in the area??

So that is my back story. Why join flowers for kids do you ask? Why take a day a week, every two weeks, what ever out of the shop to teach these children about flowers? Why add more work to my already busy schedule?

Well, I can't tell you EVERY order we have received from the FFK classes over the last 3 years, that would take too long and I just don't remember them all.
I can tell you we have roughly 15 - 17 elementary schools in our delivering area (40 mile radius) and we have gotten orders from schools that we had never had orders from before, even schools I didn't do any classes in!

I booked a wedding! When I asked her why she came to us, she said her son told her she had to come here, I had to ask her to explain, as she didn't look old enough to have a son who was a customer. Her son was a student in one of my FFK classes!

I have had countless people come in or call to say they were coming and ordering because of the program.

I think you get the idea. We started to see this RIGHT away!! I mean that!
In fact my first class, BEFORE I was back to the shop, a mother had called to thank us for the class and flowers her daughter had brought home. The mother said she couldn't believe a flower shop would take time out to do such an amazing thing for the kids in the area. Apparently she went on and on about how great she thought the class was.

We got LOTS of calls like that, and LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of thank you notes both from kids from the schools and from parents!

So, please if the program is available in your area, take full advantage of it. If it is not, talk to your wholesalers, tell them about it, see if it is something they would like to do, don't stop with just one, go one to the next and the next. If you get a no from them all. Go back in 6 months and do it again, mark it on your calendar so you don't forget. If you don't know if it is available, ASK! You might be surprised!!

~Carrieann

 

[lil_goldie]

The place I had trouble was with my wholesalers. None of them wanted to come on board.

 

[OB1]

In my opinion, if this program is as good as you say, (and, by the way, I totally agree that it is,) then I see no reason why the retailer should not pick up the cost. After all, the retailer will earn the sales, and, as the retailer's business grows, so will the wholesaler's, making the wholesaler stronger, thus giving him the opportunity to support the retailer's efforts again, in the future.
Part of the reason that wholesalers have had to cut back on supporting these types of things is because many retailers have decided to jump over their local wholesalers, and buy product online, or direct from the growers, or importers. This is not necessarily a terrible thing, but like everything, it comes with a cost.
If we don't support our wholesalers, it's no surprise to me that sometimes, they cannot continue to support us.
JMHO.
JP

 

[Carrieann]

Joanne I don't disagree with you completely, however, I wonder, do you do these classes yourself? I only ask because the amount of flowers brought to theses classes is amazing. Each child receives a bouquet of about 10-12 flowers not including greens, times that by a classroom of 25 children and thats a lot of flowers. Do what I do and schedule 2 classes in one day and you are bringing a van FULL of flowers.

I was going out to schools once a week, doing two classrooms per trip out. Of course I skipped busy times at the shop ie: Valentines week, Mothers Day week, etc.. I couldn't tell you off hand what the shop cost would be if we purchased all the flowers for the program, but I can tell you we would not be able to afford it.

On the part of supporting local wholesalers, I agree with you 150%, local wholesalers are the ONLY place we purchase flowers and a lot of other supplies for that matter. The wholesaler that agreed to supply us with the flowers for free without being in the program, did so, because we are so loyal and supportive of his company.
At least in my case, I take good care of my wholesalers, and they take good care of me. (this could be a subject for a whole other thread)

My parents (the owners of the shop) and I have talked about purchasing the flowers ourselves, and have come to the conclusion that we just can't, even if we did less classes.

It has however been discussed doing a much watered down version of the program, at least of the flowers brought end, but to be honest, that would totally suck!
The impact just wouldn't be there. It is hard to explain the vibe that overcomes the whole school, not just the students you are teaching at the time, but the whole school, when you walk down the hall with bucket after bucket of flowers! The look on both the students faces and the teachers when they first walk into the room where you have your display set up and they see the rainbow of flowers behind you that just seem to go on forever and ever. The endless questions, what is that flower? what is that one? how about that one over there? And if you are lucky enough to still be at a school at the end of the day, you look down in the hallway at the sea of students who are carrying bouquets of your flowers, it is truly an amazing site to behold. And of course the amazed look on the staff who are witness to you putting nothing but EMPTY buckets back into your van and when they ask if you really gave away ALL those flowers, and you say, well, of course that is what I brought them for!

These are the feelings I evoke that I will miss the most.

 

[OB1]

Hi Carrieann,
No, truthfully I have never done a sanctioned ffk programme, so I have surmised a bunch of things, and no doubt I do not have your experience in this exact promtion.
I do, however, participate in many educational things, both for kids and for adults, and I have always footed the bill for each myself.
I host at least 6 seminars per year, with an attendance of between 100-300 guests. I offer a badge for the "brownies"...usually about 25 kids each time.
I'd have to check my actual numbers at work, but I know it's in the low thousands of dollars.
Now, I'm a bit of a stickler for ROI, so I know that if I invest $1,000, it has to result in $10,000 of additional sales, or I will not continue, and I have been doing this type of PR work for over 20 years, so I trust that it is worth every penny.

I know that great feeling you refer to, and also love the rush I get from the experience.

It is unfortunate, no, it is really sad that we are a few of the people who continue to support our local guys...and I really believe that the changing demographic of buying patterns are the major reason that it is becoming more difficult for us to market to our customer in the older traditional ways, ie, by partnering with our wholesalers.

All we have to do is to look at the fewer number of design shows, the eroding support of our suppliers helping us out with our various fundraising efforts, etc.
I don't blame them. It's very much like when a person who used to be a good customer of mine comes in to ask for a donation, but I know that they don't buy from me any more...they have chosen to purchase the bulk of their flowers from the supermarket, (or worse, from a local wholesaler, who use to only sell to retailers)
Whereas before, I would happily support their efforts, now I am inclined to tell them, look, if you buy your stuff from xyz company, then go ask them for your stupid donation!!!.

All I'm saying is, what goes around, comes around.

And sometimes, unfortunately, even we get caught in the middle.

The only way to get the wholesale guys back on track with our fundraising efforts is to show them that we can, and will, bring more business to them.
If we cannot do that, then it is not a surprise that they can no longer afford to support our ideas.

Sad, I agree, but, unfortunately true.

JP

 

[Carrieann]

Joanne, wow, that is wonderful that you are out there doing your own seminars and such! I commend you for that, I truly do!!
I have thought about putting together something here, in fact I was approached by our local state college who wanted to get try to get something together. They did the advertisement, it was going to be a holiday design workshop of sorts. I was really excited. The college was even going to help me with the cost. They needed to get a certain number of people interested before they could hold the class/seminar. I was suppose to speak for about 10-15 min. on care, handling, quality then we were going to create a centerpiece. It was going to be done in early November so I was going to do a pumpkin arrangement. Sadly, it never happened, they didn't have enough people interested.

This town is a strange one. It is boring. There is nothing here. We have banks, hotels, and pharmacies that is about it. I think this town is so used to just living there everyday life that if something, anything, comes along that is out of the ordinary they are taken back and don't notice it or think there is some kind of catch, forget about it when the time comes, or just can't be bothered with it.

I don't know, I have lived here all my life and traveled very little, but I do know from the little traveling I have done and from (thank you) talking and listening to people on flowerchat that the world is NOT like my home town. (THANK GOODNESS)

We (my family's shop) just celebrated it's 75th anniversary of being in business! We did a big celebration last week. We gave away 75 prizes, no purchase necessary, with the grand prize being a $75.00 gift certificate to our shop. We had refreshments from local shops around our town, a bakery, a candy shop, and an orchard. We brought in tons of flowers, including really cool ones we don't normally carry.
We advertised for 2 weeks on 3 radio stations, had fliers, signs at the shop by the road (I think 3 of them) We did not use the local paper, we don't get much response from them. (and if you remember Melodie's (pmflowermarket) past post, they would of probably have gotten it wrong anyway.
Well, we did give away all our prizes, but we didn't have the big rush we were hoping for. Most people that came in either said they didn't know about it or that they did but forgot.

Talking to other business owners in the area, this is the way this town is, try to give things away, they won't come. weird town!

 

[Carrieann]

Ok, I feel like we are getting off track here.

I would just like to reiterate once again. If you have the flowers for kids program in your area, please be sure you are out there using it. If you don't tell your wholesalers about it, maybe they are not aware of it. Maybe they just need that extra push. If you are not sure, ask.

Thanks

 

[anytimeflowers]

After much thought, I have decided how I'm going to approach this.

Ramiro knows this little tidbit, but I'll tell you guys, too. I can speak to crowds, and I can sing for crowds.

I cannot speak to children, they scare me, you never know what they are going to say but you can be sure they are going to throw you. Am I right, Carrieanne?

So....I've decided to ask my sister-in-law, who ADORES kids and plays with them, to do the classes. We do have a partner wholesaler, although that is part of the problem, since it is not a wholesaler that I use and I feel like it's unfair to use them in such a way. I'll have to work something out with that so the burden is not only theirs.

So there, you finally got me!
Linda

 

[Carrieann]

Linda, that is great!!!

I do agree and I thought it was just me, speaking to children IS scarier than speaking to adults. But, I did it and I am fine with it now. In fact, I LOVE it!! When I don't know an answer to a question they ask me, I simply say, that is a very interesting question, you know, I don't know the answer to that one. This usually stuns them. I don't think they are used to adults telling them they don't know an answer. But, I figure, why lie? If I don't know, I don't know. I think they respect me for that.

I make a point to tell them they have great little brains for thinking up such great questions. I even thank them if the question is interesting enough, for giving me something to think about or look up. I have even written to one class to answer a question that was asked that I didn't know because the whole class became very interested in it.

If you don't mind me giving you a suggestion, go with your sister-in-law to a few of the classes, maybe try jumping in from time to time. You might surprise yourself. You have a passion for flowers, I think speaking on a subject you are passion about makes a HUGE difference in your comfort level with something like this.

Good luck, be sure to give us updates and congratulations on making a great decision!

 

[FlowersForKids]

Flowers For Kids was designed so the local retail florist can have a way to get out in the community (and sell some flowers). Unfortunately, some wholesalers are reticent about giving you the flowers you need for the classes.
So here's something to noodle on: charge for the once weekly class at either your shop, a museum, or children's theater. Helicopter parents are always looking for something to do with the children on Saturdays. We have a special Saturday morning script that has more references for adults.
Ramiro

 

[anytimeflowers]

Flowers For Kids was designed so the local retail florist can have a way to get out in the community (and sell some flowers). Unfortunately, some wholesalers are reticent about giving you the flowers you need for the classes.
So here's something to noodle on: charge for the once weekly class at either your shop, a museum, or children's theater. Helicopter parents are always looking for something to do with the children on Saturdays. We have a special Saturday morning script that has more references for adults.
Ramiro

Ramiro, can I get that script? Hope everything is staying sane around there!
Linda

 

[conchandler]

Ramiro, I am also very interested. I have done workshops at the shop for adults and then was approached by a brownie troop and did a pumpkin arrangement class with them last year. Also taught Adult Ed at the middle school. How can I get more info on this and which wholesalers are working with FFK?

 

[mumsandmore]

We would also like some information. It would be great, if our wholesalers are involved. I don't think they are since I have never seen or heard any information, on this subject, from them.