Is anyone sorry?

herndonflorist

herndonflorist

Well-Known Member
Mar 13, 2009
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Herndon
www.herndonflorist.com
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Va
I see a lot of great discussion here about "to be...or not to be" a member of a wire service. It has given me a lot to think about. I wonder if anyone here can honestly say they are sorry they quit, or regret the decision to quit being a wire service member. Is anyone willing to honestly say yes?
 
My guess would be that the folks that did rejoin, probably have a large amount of outgoing and doing it manually was just too hard and other inferior services were just to small and not reaching far enough...or they filled a whole lot and it cut into efficiency and buying power for their regular customers and found that they would need to fire people, cut down hours, or just plain work less efficiently...there are many businesses that wire services work for...

I am not sad that I quit bloomnet, I am apprehensive about quitting TF, not because of moeny or orders, but because of all the things I have tied up with them and have to change and learn new or deal with...I just don't know that I want to do it or can do it...other than that the 20-50 dollars it cost me per order just in fees just doesn't make sense...and that doesn't even include my website, computer support fees or products, that is just memebrship, ads, and regular dove fees...
 
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master J said:
I'm sorry I decided to be a florist period........
Click to expand...

I'm sorry you made that decision, to be sorry to be a florist...it's a heavy cross to bear, it's a heavy bear to "cross".....
 
I don't believe you Adam. You're too good, I love your pics and your videos. Are there days being a florist is a pita? hell yes
 
I do not regret never having been in a wire service at all! First decision I made when I opened my own shop and have always been happy with it.

For those who worry about those florists who are without wire services voicing negative opinions about them and thereby tainting the image of all florists in the minds of the consumer, I say -

A. I always tell my rare customer who asks for this service that I don't participate because I cannot guarantee that another florist's work will look like Sprout's.

And B. Should worry about how the negative things wire services does to the consumer paints the rest of us with their dirty brush!
 
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Adam, you are not sorry...I know it in my heart...well somedays maybe...
 
I don't know why anyone would be sorry. It's easy to rejoin.

B brooks I am sure is great for some shops but they don't allow many shops in their network.
 
I am absolutely not sorry I quit FtdTF. When my former FTD rep came in and offered $29.95 for life for membership, Mercury etc. I said no. Number one-I don't trust them, number two-I asked what they were doing about their other customers paying full price and he said if there were extenuating circumstances they would adjust, I think that is unethical, number three I don't trust that it would be for life.

I did join Flowershop Network in February and it has more then paid for itself.
 
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No coverage issues with BBrooks. If there is no member in a city, they use select TF shops via that service. Our shop used to fill BBrooks orders via TF before we were a member. BBrooks also has international sending, although the minimum is around $100 - 120 - but we've gotten rave reviews on the international orders we've sent.

I also have a CC on file with a few shops where we regularly send. We can also use MAS Direct, but have to set up CC billing with each shop individually.

There are lots of options to get orders out these days. Believe it or not, our outgoings are up a bit over the last few months. Go figure. :)
 
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Worst thing i ever did (business wise) was to join teleflorist. Best thing i did was to quit them.

I am a business owner and not a franchise, I give discounts to regular customers based on if I can still come out on top with profit. With tf this can not be done without skimming the order. I am in my sixth year of business and my accounts have never been so healthy. I have never relied on incoming orders and dont have many outgoing. Unless there is a complete balance of both imo i dont think it can work. And, even if there is a complete balance, I really think that given the time spent on taking orders, putting them through, dealing with queries etc etc is worth it compared to the time spent on doing other more profitable marketing activities.
 
We are a/the prefered shop in Albuquerque, I fill BBrooks stuff constantly. I LOVE getting thier orders, we fill through TF for them.
 
I have been part of teleflorist twice. The first time I left my profits shot up then I relocated to a bigger village and felt I may benefit from being a member again but after all the fee's went up it is something I can no longer afford to be a part of even if I wanted to be. Instead I can use some of the fee to target market my customers and push my website sales. It a win win situation instead of a win loose situation, ws win, me loose.
 
I have only been wire free since Feb so I think it's too soon to say. So far I am not sorry a bit, but I will reserve the right to change my mind if after a year, I feel differently. And if I do change my mind i won't be ashamed to say so. We should all do what's right for our business and not worry so much about what everyone else thinks about it.
 
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I quit FTD and 800Flowers in 2005. Still with Teleflora mostly for their POS and Credit Card Processing.

I don't ever regret leaving the other two. My only regret is that I haven't found a way to untie myself from Telefloras POS system. Just to much invested money to just throw the system away.
 
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