Hard Sell

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wdestar

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Jun 13, 2008
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Youngstown
www.wadeinstruments.com
State / Prov
Oh
I think that Youngstown, OH is a hard sell area. I live here and love the people, but I just get the feeling that there's too much "old school" being passed down to each generation. What I mean by that is, "this is the way we've always done it successfully, and this is the way we'll continue..."

How about you and you're community? Is it the same?

Just asking...

Dan
 
you could say that about small town midwest. Some of our long time residents constantly complain that "this is small town" and our prices should be cheaper than the big city. (I can't find my small town discount on my bills from the gas, electric and tax man!!)

Some our our newer residents seem to think because we are small town we aren't as "cutting edge" as big town florists and we constantly surprise them that yes, good stuff can come from small town business. We didn't fall off the turnip truck yesterday, it was last week :)
 
Change is scary. Fear of the unknown is real. So clinging to the ways of the past is a normal reaction, and it should not be viewed as a bad thing.

I think the reason most small towns are slow to changes is because small towns are a tight group of people. Places where changes usually happen rapidly are areas where the majority of the population are not native.

Moving slow is not by itself a bad thing, unless it becomes a force to stifle any change. Small Midwest towns are the counterbalance to the freewheeling lifestyles of the coasts. If you understand your audience, change is possible.
 
OMG yes!!

Our town rejects just about every new business that tries to come into town. Old school for sure!!

For those of us who want to see growth to help us grow too...it is frustating.

On top of it...we live in a fairly diverse commnity - the very rich & the very poor - so most of the time it is hard to get some people to buy into the idea of the new and exciting flowers in our market...and I refuse to do carns & poms in the roundy moundy...

I think they are coming around..it's just trying to get them to pay for the better flowers.

Is anyone struggling because if these reasons with the economy on top of it?
 
For us it's more like that in the smaller burbs, in the city people are more open to change. I worked at a shop in the city and now am freelancing in a burb area and I'm like, (in my head) really people, aren't you tired of bb and daisies and carns in a basket??? The owner LOVES for me to make creative things for the cooler and people say "ooh, neat!" but continue to buy the same old stuff. This is a shop where a topiary is considered cutting-edge. Well I guess you have to serve your market right? People like what they like.
 
sfox

I think you've hit it on the head... at least in part and it's a point I hadn't considered before.

I've always been the type unafraid to invest in better tooling, better equipment, better software. Having said that, there have been times when I was unwilling to change because the procedure I'd been using all along had always worked before and, like you said, I was unsure about making a change.

In that sense, I guess I'm guilty as well.

Well said Silver Fox.

Dan

Dan
 
I live in a small town of 10,000 in central oregon. We had a big growth boom for about 3 years and now things have stopped. People have gotten better about new ideas. We have weekly arrangements that go out to some of our local businesses and we try not to do the everyday stuff. They have a lot of people that are employed by these businesses so word gets around of what we can do.
 
It took me about 1.5 year to prove to the folks in my community that I'm able to do the more traditional floral pieces they are accustomed to, while displaying my creative pieces at the store front where they can see them day in and day out. A few of my customers are starting to fork over their trust due to positive feedbacks from the recipients, and we've gained a few new customers that were once recipients.

We can do what we like to do, design away whenever we can afford to, but whatever pays the bill will have priority in my store, because it allows me to stay open and take it to the next level.

Be patient with your community, some WILL eventually recognize your unique talent and be willing to pay for it!
 
wdestar said:
I think that Youngstown, OH is a hard sell area. I live here and love the people, but I just get the feeling that there's too much "old school" being passed down to each generation. What I mean by that is, "this is the way we've always done it successfully, and this is the way we'll continue..."

How about you and you're community? Is it the same?

Just asking...

Dan
Click to expand...

Hard Sell?

It depends what you are selling.
 
Erlene said:
Any retailer's job, including florists, is to sell what their customers want to buy :)
Click to expand...

Yep.
I learned a couple things:
-I don't have to like it, in fact I can hate it. But I have to pretend I like it to the customer!
-Just cause I can't afford something doesn't mean the customer can't. I'm sure lots of people make more $ than me! :itchy: So maybe I can sell that $100 arrg.
 
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