I understand where Tim Huckabee is coming from. Order Gatherers are smooth businessmen and they know how important and impressive it is to have a polished presentation.
Florists, on the other hand, are pretty common folks, not so savvy in the business world, might be at the cutting edge of design, probably quite knowledgeable, but must just don’t cut it very well in how to relate to consumers. That is what Tim Huckabee told us.
Tim Huckabee wrote “Florists have a strong reaction to wire orders. Some view them as “just discounted business” and others go to great length to procure them. To view wire orders as “just discounted business” proves that they are not analyzing the numbers rationally. In order to take 10 to 20% of ones entire sales and discount it 20% and then pay another substantial percentage to get those sales just does not make any sense.
When any merchant gives a discount, his questions should be, “what am I getting in return”? Is it advertising, community exposure, goodwill? One rationale could be that I am going to capture a company’s total business, by being their exclusive florist thus getting something in return. One has no way to get all the wire order business when you have no exclusivity on it. There was a day when a wire service offered some degree of exclusivity. That has not been for a long time.
Going to great length to procure them (wire orders) made a degree of sense at one time. If you got in $10,000 worth of orders, you would expect to have $10,000 (more or less) going out. The economics worked out and the net gain was the service (relay) charge. It was a service to the consumer that no other merchant could duplicate. Commissions were looked upon as a wash unless you aggressively promoted to get outgoing order business. I wonder if all florists are aware that regions of the U.S. send more orders than they receive. In my conservative, prudent, tight fisted Midwest, there are fewer outgoing wire orders than incoming. The same goes for the value or wire orders. We constantly struggle to get customers thinking $50 on outgoing orders.
Can a consumer send flowers today without placing the order at a wire service flower shop? YES
Can a flower shop handle orders directly from a consumer in another city? YES
For the consumer who does not have Internet or who wants service, can a flower shop handle those orders without the traditional wire services? YES
Who needs the traditional wire service? NONE OF THE ABOVE. Then will somebody please tell us why florists contribute to a business model that is sucking the life out of the retail florist industry? How can a florist in good conscience accept a rebate when they know that it is sucking the life out of the florist on the filling side? Is there no conscience any more? Are there no ethics any more?
Florists, on the other hand, are pretty common folks, not so savvy in the business world, might be at the cutting edge of design, probably quite knowledgeable, but must just don’t cut it very well in how to relate to consumers. That is what Tim Huckabee told us.
Tim Huckabee wrote “Florists have a strong reaction to wire orders. Some view them as “just discounted business” and others go to great length to procure them. To view wire orders as “just discounted business” proves that they are not analyzing the numbers rationally. In order to take 10 to 20% of ones entire sales and discount it 20% and then pay another substantial percentage to get those sales just does not make any sense.
When any merchant gives a discount, his questions should be, “what am I getting in return”? Is it advertising, community exposure, goodwill? One rationale could be that I am going to capture a company’s total business, by being their exclusive florist thus getting something in return. One has no way to get all the wire order business when you have no exclusivity on it. There was a day when a wire service offered some degree of exclusivity. That has not been for a long time.
Going to great length to procure them (wire orders) made a degree of sense at one time. If you got in $10,000 worth of orders, you would expect to have $10,000 (more or less) going out. The economics worked out and the net gain was the service (relay) charge. It was a service to the consumer that no other merchant could duplicate. Commissions were looked upon as a wash unless you aggressively promoted to get outgoing order business. I wonder if all florists are aware that regions of the U.S. send more orders than they receive. In my conservative, prudent, tight fisted Midwest, there are fewer outgoing wire orders than incoming. The same goes for the value or wire orders. We constantly struggle to get customers thinking $50 on outgoing orders.
Can a consumer send flowers today without placing the order at a wire service flower shop? YES
Can a flower shop handle orders directly from a consumer in another city? YES
For the consumer who does not have Internet or who wants service, can a flower shop handle those orders without the traditional wire services? YES
Who needs the traditional wire service? NONE OF THE ABOVE. Then will somebody please tell us why florists contribute to a business model that is sucking the life out of the retail florist industry? How can a florist in good conscience accept a rebate when they know that it is sucking the life out of the florist on the filling side? Is there no conscience any more? Are there no ethics any more?