That's ok - I gotta work now. No WAY I'd drop TEL in this economy, so save your breath. I'd never have two wire services, but I need one. So I'll take the one that does not direct ship and leave the florist completely out of the picture.
How much do you really get for wire ins
- Thread starter paradise bird
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That's ok - I gotta work now. No WAY I'd drop TEL in this economy, so save your breath. I'd never have two wire services, but I need one. So I'll take the one that does not direct ship and leave the florist completely out of the picture.
BOSS
FlowerChat Administrator
I was calling Joe....
BTW... 4042"s only run $2.33
Ha!! Now that's funny. I just ballparked high, assuming most flsts don't get the $2.33 due to lack of space or volume. I get mine from another importer at $2.30.
Eric S
Demoted Webmaster
There is no doubt that there is a little bit of money to add to the bottom line on incoming orders.
But that is the problem. Its such a small amount its not worth the time or added expenses.
But that is the problem. Its such a small amount its not worth the time or added expenses.
My designers and drivers that rely on 40 hrs/week to pay their bills would disagree, and I would not have enough experienced help at busy times, if I were to lose any of them.
Plus sending half empty delivery vehicles out all day drives up my cost per delivery.
In that case, labor is not fixed and should, in principle, be counted.
Let's say there are 5 local orders and 5 wire-in orders waiting for your designer at 8 AM. Clearly, she would go home earlier if there were no wire-in orders.
Same is true if your shop has multiple designers, all paid hourly. If 50% of the sale is from wire-ins, half of your designer's time is in fact being spent on filling wire-ins.
The question is how much percentage we should allocate as labor. For the reasons described below, the standard percentage, 25-30%, is almost certainly an overestimate. 10% is a better number.
1) Filling wire-in orders do not involve sales time. If your designer is also a sales rep, s/he isn't spending time on talking to the customer for wire-in orders.
2) Production (i.e., making arangements) in the morning for that day's delivery is very efficient, because there is no idle time wasted for waiting for orders.
Because of 1) and 2), any experienced designer, such as your self
, can make wire-in arrangements at the rate of, say, 6 per hour (one arr every 10 min) in the morning and then go home. Remember that she doesn't deal with phone calls.If the price of each arrangement is $50, that's $300 total per hour. If you are paying this designer $15, labor is only 5% ($15/$300).
In reality, things aren't this efficient. So 10% is more realistic.
One more related topic... I've thinking about this for a long, long time.
As I said above, production can be very efficient if there's no time wasted on "waiting for orders." In other words, no "same-day" deliveries.
You get all the orders today for next day's deliveries. Only people you need is a sales rep or robot to take orders.
Designers come in 6 in the morning (or 12 midnight). Do all the arrangements for the day. No phone calls. After they are done, go home. This way, designer's labor cost can be reduced to ~5%.
As I said above, production can be very efficient if there's no time wasted on "waiting for orders." In other words, no "same-day" deliveries.
You get all the orders today for next day's deliveries. Only people you need is a sales rep or robot to take orders.
Designers come in 6 in the morning (or 12 midnight). Do all the arrangements for the day. No phone calls. After they are done, go home. This way, designer's labor cost can be reduced to ~5%.
Heather, your post inspired me to run some numbers.
I looked at our incomings delivered for the weeks of Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and Dec. 1-24 only. Those 38 days, 10.4% of a year, represented 30% of our total incoming dollars in 2007 (the last full year were a member of a large WS) and 25% of the total incoming dollars in 2006.
Those are the 38 days where were really don't have excess labor and need additional designers & drivers to get our own orders out.
Other florists' numbers may vary, but I believe wires are heavily weighted to holidays and can actually harm a local shop by filling prime slots in place of cash paying customers - especially during V Day & M Day.
Yes, there are some production efficiencies to be gained, but the COGS goes up and codified container costs further dip into profits. With WS recipes reflecting real world costs less each year, my guess is those codifieds delivered on a holidays are break-even at best - and money losers at worst.
Unless your store receives a lot of open incoming orders, or unless your shop typically stocks WS arrangements 'as pictured' we found that filling 'by the recipe' takes more time, not less.
The designer has to look up the recipe and then copy the picture, which takes more time than making one of your own signature pieces.
Incoming orders also incur full-service labor outside of design & delivery: hospital room confirmations, funeral service confirmations, packaging/wrapping (which also adds to actual cost), follow-ups if no one is home, order reporting, & order reconciliation. All that time needs to accounted for and I'm not seeing it ever mentioned here.
TOTO
New Member
MAKE BUSY at the WORST POSSIBLE TIMES!
That's THEIR PROBLEM in a NUTSHELL Cathy!
The BULK of the WS orders come in at the worst possible peak period times for a REAL FLORIST which then, forces them into a MAKE BUSY MODE.
The worst case scenario is when, they get so behind having to deal with the HIGHLY DISCOUNTED OG DOT.CON SALES, that they actually decide to take their shop telephones OFF THE HOOK, and leave their own customers hanging out to dry up, and die.
Which then, forces what once was, that florist's own customers along with their 100% sales, to DEFAULT to the very 800 and DOT.CON MIDDLEMAN SKIMMERS, that MADE THEM SO BUSY in the first place.
As I've said before, It's AMAZING when the OG SKIMMER DOT.CON MIDDLEMAN PLAN all comes together!
Talk about having one's PRIORITIES TOTALLY OUT OF WHACK!
:hammer:
That's THEIR PROBLEM in a NUTSHELL Cathy!
The BULK of the WS orders come in at the worst possible peak period times for a REAL FLORIST which then, forces them into a MAKE BUSY MODE.
The worst case scenario is when, they get so behind having to deal with the HIGHLY DISCOUNTED OG DOT.CON SALES, that they actually decide to take their shop telephones OFF THE HOOK, and leave their own customers hanging out to dry up, and die.
Which then, forces what once was, that florist's own customers along with their 100% sales, to DEFAULT to the very 800 and DOT.CON MIDDLEMAN SKIMMERS, that MADE THEM SO BUSY in the first place.
As I've said before, It's AMAZING when the OG SKIMMER DOT.CON MIDDLEMAN PLAN all comes together!
Talk about having one's PRIORITIES TOTALLY OUT OF WHACK!
:hammer:
ummm, yeah :headbang:
This is sort of like watching a boxing match....
hate to tell you tho...the hard numbers win over the emotional - unless you're filthy rich like Toto or a heartless slavedriving bastard like the Bossman.
(that's a joke)
(sort of):bangles:
I'm with Joe and Heather - go figure, me in the same camp with these right wing wackos...
BOSS
FlowerChat Administrator
John (not Jon) and Cathy hit the nail on the head.
Generally the bulk of incoming orders flow at the same time when we already have enough local 100% biz to keep us hopping. Thus labor on these orders should be figured differently than on the same order in the middle of July when you have nothing better to do.
Of course if all orders came in at 100% the debate would not exist... but whatever....
Generally the bulk of incoming orders flow at the same time when we already have enough local 100% biz to keep us hopping. Thus labor on these orders should be figured differently than on the same order in the middle of July when you have nothing better to do.
Of course if all orders came in at 100% the debate would not exist... but whatever....
Joe Mioux
Well-Known Member
Just to re-iterate.
if it takes a designer 15 minutes to make an arrangement and your labor cost is $10. The cost that you could assign to this order is $2.50 not 20 pct or not your total labor expense.
You can't use your total labor pct/GS pct to calculate the variable costs associated with making a particular arrangement.
This is not to say you should do this with every order.
Only discretionary orders. These are orders that you don't or wouldn't specifically schedule a designer for that day's work, such as WS work.
So in our example, $100 WS order, yields $65, minus COGS, (labor still doesn't have to be added since you didn't hire this person to specifically fill this order) but if you insist, only charge $2.50.
The $2.50 is actually the true value of labor's variable cost associated with filling this order. However, since most shops are not at 100 pct efficienct any work that keeps a designer producing is positive for net profit, therefore the $2.50 really isn't required for this analysis.
It would be like saying "ok miss designer you can stand around for the next 15 minutes, do nothing, and I will give you $2.50 or you can make this discounted order." Which is better?
if it takes a designer 15 minutes to make an arrangement and your labor cost is $10. The cost that you could assign to this order is $2.50 not 20 pct or not your total labor expense.
You can't use your total labor pct/GS pct to calculate the variable costs associated with making a particular arrangement.
This is not to say you should do this with every order.
Only discretionary orders. These are orders that you don't or wouldn't specifically schedule a designer for that day's work, such as WS work.
So in our example, $100 WS order, yields $65, minus COGS, (labor still doesn't have to be added since you didn't hire this person to specifically fill this order) but if you insist, only charge $2.50.
The $2.50 is actually the true value of labor's variable cost associated with filling this order. However, since most shops are not at 100 pct efficienct any work that keeps a designer producing is positive for net profit, therefore the $2.50 really isn't required for this analysis.
It would be like saying "ok miss designer you can stand around for the next 15 minutes, do nothing, and I will give you $2.50 or you can make this discounted order." Which is better?
Joe Mioux
Well-Known Member
The bulk of the business coming in at holiday time? Generally, a shop will added additional labor to handle the additional local business anyway, so if WS business increases proportionately more than your additional labor, turn the Merc and Dove machines off when you hit your saturation point.
Personally, I like seeing the additional orders and having the staff work faster. AND I am the one who works fastest of all during these times.
Christmas 1-24 days: WS business is not a big deal when you have 24 days to handle that additional business.
Vday,for us is a non ws event. Husbands usually live in the same city as the wives. Boyfriends same thing.
Mothers Day: still have about a week to handle these orders.
If your shop is not capable of handling the holiday busines, turn the machines off.
Your problem goes away.
Spending time on confirmations for funerals, hospital and other deliveries, again if the wire business only represents about 10 pct, the added business should be looked at increasing your shop's labor efficiency.
Personally, I like seeing the additional orders and having the staff work faster. AND I am the one who works fastest of all during these times.
Christmas 1-24 days: WS business is not a big deal when you have 24 days to handle that additional business.
Vday,for us is a non ws event. Husbands usually live in the same city as the wives. Boyfriends same thing.
Mothers Day: still have about a week to handle these orders.
If your shop is not capable of handling the holiday busines, turn the machines off.
Your problem goes away.
Spending time on confirmations for funerals, hospital and other deliveries, again if the wire business only represents about 10 pct, the added business should be looked at increasing your shop's labor efficiency.
I was just about to type your statement in bold. You took the words right out of my mouth! That is the beauty of WS orders... You don't have to sell your ass off... the only labor $ you have in the order taking portion is the "clean up/order scrubbing" (in Dec I had 5 Tel orders phoned in and 624 doved). YOU get to set your minimum... YOU get to choose what to accept. If you have determined there's no profit in it, REFUSE IT. If you have reached maximum capacity, SUSPEND!!
Hell... lots of times an order that one of MY staff took has a description full of premium flowers... for not enough $ and I of course make them aware of the price it SHOULD have been sold at, but I can't call them back and say - "you know what - I need to refuse this order b/c the gal that took your order was a moron."
If you want to decide that you're only taking dozen or two dozen red roses at VD - refuse everything else. You have those made... you have taught even your most inexperienced "arranger" how to make these and any joe blow can pull the order off the printer and tag a dozen roses from the cooler.
Joe, the only disagreement I have is that VD is NOT a WS holiday. I do fill a lot for one major OG (yeah I know tar and feather me). If you decide to fill for OG's, than you'd better be prepared to get a lot. I am not WS dependent. Even in Dec I was only 15% WS. If I shut off by dove on 2/14 and they drop me... so be it. If they become you're pimp you're screwed (ha- no pun intended.. but that was funny!).
My comments were not about 'being capable to handle the orders', they were about the theory that labor and delivery should not be considered as a cost of order fulfillment since shops use "excess capacity".
A shop that has excess capacity to fill 627 orders in December is most likely over-staffed 45 weeks of the year.
If not, then at least an additional designer and driver need to be added to payroll, so their direct payroll expenses should be considered part of order fulfillment cost.
A shop that has excess capacity to fill 627 orders in December is most likely over-staffed 45 weeks of the year.
If not, then at least an additional designer and driver need to be added to payroll, so their direct payroll expenses should be considered part of order fulfillment cost.
Eric S
Demoted Webmaster
The number one thing I keep hearing from every florist is
"I don't have enough time"
I feel that instead of wasting that labor on filling discounted orders it can be better spent on creating your own products. Besides think about the amount of time that a shop owner spends on reconciliation of their WS statement. Or the time that is spent running around to your wholesalers trying to find lavender roses to fill a discounted order.
Whether incoming orders contribute to any of your bottom line or help move more product out of the store its just not worth the time that is invested. It only solves a short term problem and instead you should work on your long term goals.
If incoming was the answer to everyone’s problems then we should be seeing a strong industry with shops rolling in the money. As shops continue to retreat out of their retail locations into homes or just closing up completely we are going to see some radical changes in the way all of us do business.
"I don't have enough time"
I feel that instead of wasting that labor on filling discounted orders it can be better spent on creating your own products. Besides think about the amount of time that a shop owner spends on reconciliation of their WS statement. Or the time that is spent running around to your wholesalers trying to find lavender roses to fill a discounted order.
Whether incoming orders contribute to any of your bottom line or help move more product out of the store its just not worth the time that is invested. It only solves a short term problem and instead you should work on your long term goals.
If incoming was the answer to everyone’s problems then we should be seeing a strong industry with shops rolling in the money. As shops continue to retreat out of their retail locations into homes or just closing up completely we are going to see some radical changes in the way all of us do business.
LJVF
Well-Known Member
It seems like the usual suspects (myself included) go in circles on this issue from thread to thread to thread to thread to thread to thread to thread. :tread: :faint:
TOTO
New Member
TRIAGING out OG Orders, not worth the time!
While VD DAY may not be a WS HOLIDAY, it most certainly is, A MIDDLEMAN DOT.CON back door entrance to a REAL FLORIST'S VD DAY ACHILLE'S HEEL, albeit via their WS printers.
Like others, we just got tired of WASTING OUR VALUABLE TIME during these peak periods in an effort to try and TRIAGE OUT THEIR JUNK with the usual numerous (ASK) (P) (MO MONEY) merc or dove message requests.
Add to that, the other inherent problems and rediculous caveats those OG orders printed out with to include; NO SECOND CHOICE, MUST BE DELIVERED BEFORE 10:00 AM on VD DAY, NO TELEPHONE NUMBER, INCORRECT ADDRESSES, and as usual, TOO LOW SRP's coupled with TOO MANY UNREASONABLE RECIPE REQUESTS.
The LOVELY LINDA, TOTO's MAIN SQUEEZE, would suffer through, and waste, THREE to FOUR HOURS of her VALUABLE TIME during every HOLIDAY PEAK PERIOD, in her efforts to TRY AND FIX THEIR PROBLEMS, which had always began at the 800 or DOT.CON POS's.
Played that stupid DOT.CON game for over TEN YEARS and from 1994 up and until 2004, when we came to the conclusion that, THEIR PROBLEM was only getting worse, and they had no intention of fixing it.
Another REAL FLORIST friend of ours (NYC), would waste up to SIX HOURS of his time on February 13th. As usual, his merc would spit out anywhere from 100 to 150 DOT.CON orders starting at 3:00 P.M. for VD DAY deliveries, all requesting EARLY DELIVERY and over 70 percent were TOO FAR OUT OF THE ZIP CODES he serviced. His shop was located in MANHATTAN NORTH and most of those deliveries were for MANHATTAN SOUTH. Unless you have driven in MID-TOWN MANHATTAN on a weekday, you will never understand the true meaning of the words "GRID-LOCK"!
The reality of what was happening was clear. Most NYC shops had already suspended their MERC on February 12th at NOON, or earlier, and his was one of the few still on line. And the DOT.CONS will accept EVERY ORDER entered into their CLAP TRAPS regardless of the time and date or the reality of TOO LATE FOR DELIVERY IN TIME FOR VD DAY.
I even remember a few DOT.CON FILLER shops having gotten all those VD DAY DOT.CON orders in, only to try and deliver them on February 15th and 16th with a note of apology to the recipient. By then of course, the DOT.CON SKIMMERS cancelled them, and those florists BIT THE BULLET on the bucks.
His attempts to (FOR) were in vain since, the only thing that happened, and because the SYSTEM is on AUTO PILOT and could not find any other on-line mercs, just AUTO-FORWARDED the same orders back to him.
In the end, he would be forced to waste even more time (REJ) those DOA orders, and by the time he was done, it was 2:00 AM on Feb 14th.
In his own study, this was his final analysis regarding VD DAY coupled with DOT.CONS:
1. Only 50 of those LATE/LAST MINUTE DOT.CON VD orders were doable!
2. The marginal profit contribution averaged only $5.00 per order.
3. The additional volume forced him to PUT HIS PHONES ON HOLD.
4. He and his wife were BURNED OUT having had to work all night.
5. 10 DOT.CON ORDERS made them only $50.00
6. 1 100% VD SALE made him $50.00 plus his $ERVICE CHARGE.
7. They made the WS DOT.CON ORDERS go away.
8. They ANSWERED ALL OF THE CUSTOMER'S TELEPHONE CALLS.
9. They FILLED ALL OF THEIR CUSTOMER'S WEBSITE ORDERS.
10. They put in less hours and went home by 11:00 P.M. on Feb 13.
11. They made MO MONEY while DOO-ING LESS WORK.
12. They RE-DISCOVERED the MEANING OF LIFE after DOT.CON.
13. They stopped ARGUING and FIGHTING on every HOLIDAY.
We had already uncovered that FLORIST MYSTERY OF LIFE by 2004, and tried to convince him of our discovery. However, he was stubborn, and it took him a few more years to get it. I think, and when the CONVENTION WENT AWAY, that put him over the edge.
He too, like many of us OLD SALTS, continued to hold out HOPE that, someday, someway, they would turn it all around, re-evaluate their COMPANY'S MISSION STATEMENT, and decide to PUT THEIR FLORISTS FIRST! After all, how can any FOR PROFIT COMPANY, which depends upon their own member florists for their PASSIVE REVENUE STREAMS, continue to EXCLUDE THEIR OWN FLORISTS from being PROFITABLE?
Obviously, this scenario doesn't work for everyone, but then again, everyone doesn't agree on WORKING FOR THEMSELVES!
And, as BLOOMZ is quick to point out, and when you're hanging around with nothing to do, and you need to keep the employees and the drivers in a KEEP BUSY MODE, and you don't want to send anyone home early in an effort to KEEP YOUR LABOR COSTS DOWN, filling DOT.CON orders with minimal/marginal contributions to your FIXED EXPENSES, is one way to deal with the WS DOT.CON conundrum.
Then again, remember too that, ole BLOOMZIE is somewhere OFF IN PARADISE scuba diving and catching FRESH BUS, while he's left poor TWILA behind to try and TRIAGE OUT any of the DOT.CON JUNK orders.
The only thing which keeps this MEAN SPIRITED CONSERVATIVE from holding BLOOMZIE ACCOUNTABLE, is in the fact that, he's agreed to bring me some GREAT HONG KONG TAKE OUT, and a few fresh fishies for SUSHI he may have caught (or is that crabs?) from any of the USUAL DIVES he's frequenting. Don't forget my CHOP STICKS JB!
:rofl:
While VD DAY may not be a WS HOLIDAY, it most certainly is, A MIDDLEMAN DOT.CON back door entrance to a REAL FLORIST'S VD DAY ACHILLE'S HEEL, albeit via their WS printers.
Like others, we just got tired of WASTING OUR VALUABLE TIME during these peak periods in an effort to try and TRIAGE OUT THEIR JUNK with the usual numerous (ASK) (P) (MO MONEY) merc or dove message requests.
Add to that, the other inherent problems and rediculous caveats those OG orders printed out with to include; NO SECOND CHOICE, MUST BE DELIVERED BEFORE 10:00 AM on VD DAY, NO TELEPHONE NUMBER, INCORRECT ADDRESSES, and as usual, TOO LOW SRP's coupled with TOO MANY UNREASONABLE RECIPE REQUESTS.
The LOVELY LINDA, TOTO's MAIN SQUEEZE, would suffer through, and waste, THREE to FOUR HOURS of her VALUABLE TIME during every HOLIDAY PEAK PERIOD, in her efforts to TRY AND FIX THEIR PROBLEMS, which had always began at the 800 or DOT.CON POS's.
Played that stupid DOT.CON game for over TEN YEARS and from 1994 up and until 2004, when we came to the conclusion that, THEIR PROBLEM was only getting worse, and they had no intention of fixing it.
Another REAL FLORIST friend of ours (NYC), would waste up to SIX HOURS of his time on February 13th. As usual, his merc would spit out anywhere from 100 to 150 DOT.CON orders starting at 3:00 P.M. for VD DAY deliveries, all requesting EARLY DELIVERY and over 70 percent were TOO FAR OUT OF THE ZIP CODES he serviced. His shop was located in MANHATTAN NORTH and most of those deliveries were for MANHATTAN SOUTH. Unless you have driven in MID-TOWN MANHATTAN on a weekday, you will never understand the true meaning of the words "GRID-LOCK"!
The reality of what was happening was clear. Most NYC shops had already suspended their MERC on February 12th at NOON, or earlier, and his was one of the few still on line. And the DOT.CONS will accept EVERY ORDER entered into their CLAP TRAPS regardless of the time and date or the reality of TOO LATE FOR DELIVERY IN TIME FOR VD DAY.
I even remember a few DOT.CON FILLER shops having gotten all those VD DAY DOT.CON orders in, only to try and deliver them on February 15th and 16th with a note of apology to the recipient. By then of course, the DOT.CON SKIMMERS cancelled them, and those florists BIT THE BULLET on the bucks.
His attempts to (FOR) were in vain since, the only thing that happened, and because the SYSTEM is on AUTO PILOT and could not find any other on-line mercs, just AUTO-FORWARDED the same orders back to him.
In the end, he would be forced to waste even more time (REJ) those DOA orders, and by the time he was done, it was 2:00 AM on Feb 14th.
In his own study, this was his final analysis regarding VD DAY coupled with DOT.CONS:
1. Only 50 of those LATE/LAST MINUTE DOT.CON VD orders were doable!
2. The marginal profit contribution averaged only $5.00 per order.
3. The additional volume forced him to PUT HIS PHONES ON HOLD.
4. He and his wife were BURNED OUT having had to work all night.
5. 10 DOT.CON ORDERS made them only $50.00
6. 1 100% VD SALE made him $50.00 plus his $ERVICE CHARGE.
7. They made the WS DOT.CON ORDERS go away.
8. They ANSWERED ALL OF THE CUSTOMER'S TELEPHONE CALLS.
9. They FILLED ALL OF THEIR CUSTOMER'S WEBSITE ORDERS.
10. They put in less hours and went home by 11:00 P.M. on Feb 13.
11. They made MO MONEY while DOO-ING LESS WORK.
12. They RE-DISCOVERED the MEANING OF LIFE after DOT.CON.
13. They stopped ARGUING and FIGHTING on every HOLIDAY.
We had already uncovered that FLORIST MYSTERY OF LIFE by 2004, and tried to convince him of our discovery. However, he was stubborn, and it took him a few more years to get it. I think, and when the CONVENTION WENT AWAY, that put him over the edge.
He too, like many of us OLD SALTS, continued to hold out HOPE that, someday, someway, they would turn it all around, re-evaluate their COMPANY'S MISSION STATEMENT, and decide to PUT THEIR FLORISTS FIRST! After all, how can any FOR PROFIT COMPANY, which depends upon their own member florists for their PASSIVE REVENUE STREAMS, continue to EXCLUDE THEIR OWN FLORISTS from being PROFITABLE?
Obviously, this scenario doesn't work for everyone, but then again, everyone doesn't agree on WORKING FOR THEMSELVES!
And, as BLOOMZ is quick to point out, and when you're hanging around with nothing to do, and you need to keep the employees and the drivers in a KEEP BUSY MODE, and you don't want to send anyone home early in an effort to KEEP YOUR LABOR COSTS DOWN, filling DOT.CON orders with minimal/marginal contributions to your FIXED EXPENSES, is one way to deal with the WS DOT.CON conundrum.
Then again, remember too that, ole BLOOMZIE is somewhere OFF IN PARADISE scuba diving and catching FRESH BUS, while he's left poor TWILA behind to try and TRIAGE OUT any of the DOT.CON JUNK orders.
The only thing which keeps this MEAN SPIRITED CONSERVATIVE from holding BLOOMZIE ACCOUNTABLE, is in the fact that, he's agreed to bring me some GREAT HONG KONG TAKE OUT, and a few fresh fishies for SUSHI he may have caught (or is that crabs?) from any of the USUAL DIVES he's frequenting. Don't forget my CHOP STICKS JB!
:rofl:
I agree that if a shop increases their WS % far more than their local business %, they now need to add designers, or put them on OT and add drivers, etc. In my slowest month, July for instance I am 13% WS, compared to 15% in Dec. With these % being so close, I believe most shops can fill these orders with holiday help, PT-ers working more hours (under 40/week), contract drivers being paid per delivery in their vehicle and properly backstocking your coolers on the weekends and at slow times. My WS biz is increasing at only a slightly higher ratio than my local biz. Most of these orders are next day... can be loaded on a FULL truck, put into the delivery pool for $3, or give to a contract driver for $4-$7.
In Dec I had 4 FT designers, and three other FT "floaters"... sales/process/office/gift baskets/plants. The majority of my staff choose to work PT anywhere from 8-32 hrs per week). Most of them will go to FT when we need them too, OR if they work weekends b/c they have a "real" job during the week, they work Sat/Sun, 6-9pm some weekdays, etc. I even have two that took personal days at their regular job to help us out a few days near Xmas. I wish I had more designer holiday help, but I only really had one temp designer this year (with design ability). I have lots of high schoolers for the grunt and tedious work.
I agree that four FT designers & 3 other FT "floaters" is too many for our shop in the summer, but I don't think the WS business at 13 or 15% is greatly affecting my staffing. They work their tail off at the holidays and I will not cut their hours at slow times, unless they are willing to be cut. I lose one to a summer nanny job, and with vacations we don't have much over-staffing. We do promo vases often and send staff to local businesses to drum up business when we have too much staff. Either they do that or they go home. Then they follow up with a phone call to the contacts they've met a few days later.
I think the key to our biz with regards to holiday/everyday staffing is part timers than can be full time 8 weeks out of the year, or when you have events/funerals depending on where you get the bulk of your business. If you are able to do that, keep your WS dependency under 20% at a holiday AND non holiday, and predetermine what you will sell so that you can make them in multiples, you will be profitable with most of your wire service orders. Those that are CUSTOM and need to be made one at a time, may need to be refused, especially the same day delivery wire in orders.
I have raised the minimum order from ftd.com to $99.00 and florist orders to $45.00 and raised my delivery $4.00 to help off set the discount. Delivery is now 10.00 in town 10 mile zone
I have been lucky and have always sent more order than received but I still don't think you make money.
I don't want wire in orders and I am getting rid of FTD as soon as I can.
Golferdude
I have been lucky and have always sent more order than received but I still don't think you make money.
I don't want wire in orders and I am getting rid of FTD as soon as I can.
Golferdude
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