Has Anything Changed

[Florist Doctor]

I posted this back in 2010 - kind of feel that its still same ol same ol


" Like it or not but the OG/WS are going no where anytime soon, as long as the corner florist fills their orders at deflated prices, and there will be always be at least one florist who will attempt even the most challenging of orders.

Unfortunately the success of the WS/OG has much to do with the apathy of the corner florist and our seeming consuming desire for more and more orders without giving much thought about their profitability and worth. I have long since stopped trying to beat the system. You can't, it is what it is, but you can work the system to take all the advantages and much less of the disadvantages.

Firstly, any mom and pop florists doing maybe less than 10 orders a day on average throughout the year will need to realise that our future lies outside of the WS/OG and that building up a good reputation within your area is paramount.

Secondly, setting your own realistic retail prices means more than just guesswork. It still amazes me that when florists are challenged about wire in prices then invariably they have no clue other than to say that they are the "recommended" prices, set by you know who!!

I have consistently found that price points are not the issue that so many of us think they are. Selling flowers is far more about winning the confidence of the customer than ever it is about the price. You must have a realistic price strategy, sell well, and give a superior product and customers will come back.

Our customers are getting more savvy by the day and many now recognise the order gatherer and want to deal direct with the florist. We have to personalise our web sites more to give them something to be attracted to, besides the price.

Our perception is often our reality - fill a cooler with $35 arrangements and thats what you will sell. Fill a cooler with $75 arrangements and that is also what you will sell. "

 

[Rhonda]

I'll bite. I belong to NO wire services and accept none of their orders directly..also refuse all OG's no matter what the price. In my cooler (and I am a town of less than 5000, serving an area of approximately +/- 8000) is a $25 with 3 stems poms, 5 carnations, miscellaneous foliage with an "upscale" design style. A $35 with 3 stems delphinium, 2 spider mums, 2 stems poms, assorted foliages. A $45 caged design of 10 carnations, mosses, birch twigs, 3 stems of athos poms... what sells first??? The $45 caged just because of the extras (freebies I cut on my way to work, birch and twigs) that give it the non-traditional style and negative space. All of those flowers are normally in my cooler each and every day.. but to fill a wire order with 2 stems snaps, 2 stems spray roses, 2 stems solidago or monte, 2 stems daisies, 2 stems mini carnations and to boot, photoshopped because we all know that spray roses can't be separated into 10 longer stems....I work the rooms at each and every seminar/workshop/design show my state association has educating those "newer florists" and some of the older florists who wonder how I've been in business for 39 years and am growing without wire services. Tomorrow I'll add a couple of vases, one probably in the $30 range (alstro, carnations) and $45 (asiatic lilies, alstro and 2 sunflowers with some filler)... those vases will go before any "table design"... Why.. blame Martha, blame 800's "Field of Flowers" or the education of my customers that they are longer lasting, require a little less maintenance, and the varieties utilized. Again.. stock flowers.. and the $45 will sell first because of color combos/foliage and "negative space" due to formal linear design... it's all in the presentation. We CAN out present cookie cutter with education and design experience.
Oh and just for the record, I think this is the best year ever for getting the feedback from customers and recipients alike...another just today who "had to stop and tell you how long and how beautiful". It's all about customer service, they see a picture I post on facebook, call and order it, that is what they get. I place that pic on my website, that is what they get... I am IN control.

 

[bootcampguy]

"Our perception is often our reality - fill a cooler with $35 arrangements and thats what you will sell. Fill a cooler with $75 arrangements and that is also what you will sell. "

I agree with all that you said until this last line. At last years marketing summit, my round-table of 10 all agreed that it was us, the florists who really created this competition against us. A new buying trend has emerged, "ah, shucks nothing for me" and that drove traffic to the "cheapee" sites. All of us are a sucker for a good deal and all of us have been burnt either with flowers or that "$19.95" food processor that got me a few years ago. I think the main ingredient that is missing in this industry is balance. You have florists that only want to sell $75 and $100 arrangements and they are shattering the glass ceiling and sending buyers with cash in hand away by the groves and don't even know it. Then you have others who have no idea what they are doing and sell only $40 and under. They are also modern day "slaves" to the floral industry.

We have focused on all the above written except price points. 6% of buyers have to buy by price (broke, single mom or dad, etc.), 7% choose to just to be "cheap". 30% or so are conservative buyers and will spend a little extra, but the value and emotional tie has to be there. The rest will go up or down depending on the offer or item needed. So, like Rhonda said, when a customer comes in, I want them to see all the ranges of purchase. At VD we keep short stems colored c/c roses at $29.95 (year round) and the people who flock in to buy them are the people with not much money and 90% lower economic level, wtih some exceptions. Best example, last year 3 doctors of a local group came in together at lunch time on VD to purchase flowers. All three went to the cooler, one emerged with a big bouq. in a hand blown Womar vase for $149.95, another came out with a vase of love (49.95) and the third grabbed a bouquet of our $29.95 roses. They all make 250k or better, but 3 very different buying choices. When I saw this, I called all the staff up front to see this example, then reminded them of why we have to cater to all pocketbooks. While in theory I agree, all $75 would be easier and more productive, but I would be losing 43% of the people who have money to spend, just not $75. I want to be florist for the masses in out area.

5 stores left in this area from (9). One more closing on Feb 1 (selling to me) and all 4 and this girl, all had the bigger is better sales strategy. Time to think about who we are and what each store wants to be.

 

[Florist Doctor]

Hi Rhonda - I love the .. I am IN control. bit - I think that there are at least two changes that have morphed since 2010, and both are connected to the advance of internet technology.

Firstly, more and more recipients can now send pics of their arrangements to the sender, and indeed senders request pics of their arrangements before they are sent out. Secondly flowers have more competition from the vast array of gift ideas on the internet. Regular customers are increasingly saying " well, we have done roses, and a mixed flower vase the time before, and a plant last time - so what can we send that is different this time "
Both of these two scenarios present their own challenges -

I have long held the view that it's the recipient that we have to please , not the sender. That may seem a strange thing to say, but the recipient holds the aces. If the recipient likes your arrangement then the sender is invariably pleased - even if it was not what was ordered. Now we have to be sensible about substitution.

The secret, I believe, is to sell well from the onset. Good selling is about making the customer feel good about the purchase. Customer and price conditioning is vital for doing this. Never let the customer tell you what he wants and what he will pay for it. Always take control in a way that the customer feels confident in you. What originally started out as " I want to spend about $40 " so often can turn into an $85 vase - and guess what - everyone scores.

 

[Florist Doctor]

Hi - I hear what you say - having a cooler that shows the range does give you credibility with the customer.
It would be interesting to find out just what percentage of customers are walk ins these days, and whether those that cater for them are suitably rewarded or whether the convenience of the supermarkets is where we should leave that business. Is the "ah, shucks nothing for me" customer a growing army that we should cater for.