For what it is worth, I don't think that there is any ONE solution to our problems. There is no one addtional product that we can now sell that will make up for lost sales and profit.
I think it is going to take a different mind set to work our way though this whole thing. It wil require a change in how we send orders to one another, it will probably require a change in how we price our product so we can look more competitive and we are probably going to have to sell our product and ourselves differently to the consumer.
For example, take a look at the flooring market. My wife has me looking at flooring these days. Did you know that the retail carpeting people actually changed how they price their product to be more competitive with alternative flooring <wood and laminate>. Now carpeting is sold by the square foot rather than the square yard. Much easier to compare the cost of carpeting to laminate or hardwood flooring. One sales person actually told me they found that many customers had touble determining how many square feet were in a square yard and then doing the math.
And finally, there has been no new product that I can think of in the last 50 years. Computer technology doesn't count. I'm talking about a new variety of flower or labor saving device that will actually change how the consumer looks at the floral market. We are selling basically the same products for the last 100 years. If florists had a product that was only available to florists and not everyone else, you could say you have an edge. But we don't, so we are going to have to either steal back customers from other markets or be more creative in selling to markets we currently don't do much in.
Alot of words, but not alot of concrete solutions.
I think it is going to take a different mind set to work our way though this whole thing. It wil require a change in how we send orders to one another, it will probably require a change in how we price our product so we can look more competitive and we are probably going to have to sell our product and ourselves differently to the consumer.
For example, take a look at the flooring market. My wife has me looking at flooring these days. Did you know that the retail carpeting people actually changed how they price their product to be more competitive with alternative flooring <wood and laminate>. Now carpeting is sold by the square foot rather than the square yard. Much easier to compare the cost of carpeting to laminate or hardwood flooring. One sales person actually told me they found that many customers had touble determining how many square feet were in a square yard and then doing the math.
And finally, there has been no new product that I can think of in the last 50 years. Computer technology doesn't count. I'm talking about a new variety of flower or labor saving device that will actually change how the consumer looks at the floral market. We are selling basically the same products for the last 100 years. If florists had a product that was only available to florists and not everyone else, you could say you have an edge. But we don't, so we are going to have to either steal back customers from other markets or be more creative in selling to markets we currently don't do much in.
Alot of words, but not alot of concrete solutions.
