Opinions please

[lori042499]

I had quoted out a job last week for a customer for her own vases with 6 stems of white daisies, bb tree fern and a red sheer ribbon around the neck. I quoted 20.00 a piece..plus a Sunday delivery(special cause I am not open) she almost lost her teeth...Now she shops here because she likes what I do. She likes my service, she likes my attitude, she likes my style...

She went up the street and got a quote from a shop for 10.00 a piece which is fine, the problem I have is this...I can choose to match the price or let it go. I chose to match the price and make less money...just because I wanted to keep the customer from going elsewhere and risk losing them(I doubt this would happen with the shop she chose to get a second price from). I am going to attach the pictures that I have taken of the difference in what she would have gotten from my shop to the other. What I want is suggestions on how to get my price because as you will see there is a very clear reason why my design is worth more than theirs...i just don't know how to get that across to the customer without just saying ok, buy their 10.00 vase but my design is better and you are losing out...

My design took twice as long to create...2 minutes for the crap design, 5 minutes for mine..I recreated a replica of a vase I bought from the said florist that I took apart just to see why they quoted much a cheaper price...just for my own education...and just for the record I did them all with the better design for the lesser price because I wouldn't let chop and drop out of my store, and in the future I am not 100% sure I would match the price of this particular florist, because the flowers weren't very fresh either. I am just not sure if it is worth losing a customer over price or is it? What is your opinion?

I also omitted the bb at the POS when I agreed to the price reduction because bb is just very darn expensive, I only use the new varieties like new love and million stars..

 

[Palms]

I think the danger of price matching is that the customer can not see the difference in the designs and then would not believe that you were not making as much as a profit. I would have perhaps stood by my price but thrown something in for free or asked her to collect on the saturday. I get asked to price match for my chair covers and they are a completely homogenous product. I insist on the price but if the order is worth it i will throw in an extra pair of topiary tree hire free of charge. This way it does not cost me anything but their perceived value of my package is raised.

Not to comment on your prices as i dont know what you pay for materials but i would have probably charged about £6 - £7 for that ($12-14).

 

[lori042499]

I think the danger of price matching is that the customer can not see the difference in the designs and then would not believe that you were not making as much as a profit. I would have perhaps stood by my price but thrown something in for free or asked her to collect on the saturday. I get asked to price match for my chair covers and they are a completely homogenous product. I insist on the price but if the order is worth it i will throw in an extra pair of topiary tree hire free of charge. This way it does not cost me anything but their perceived value of my package is raised.

Not to comment on your prices as i dont know what you pay for materials but i would have probably charged about £6 - £7 for that ($12-14).

What you see in my design style would have been 15.00 without the babies breath, the original quote had babies breath...so not too different..thanks for your opinion..and I agree the price matching is a problem if they are not comparing apples to apples in this case they clearly were not..It is so difficult to make people realize that it takes extra time to design correctly and that is what they are paying for..if we can't put a concrete value on it how is the customer supposed to..

 

[HydrangeaBleu]

Lori,

A couple of issues I think. With a regular customer, I can see being flexible on price periodically. You don't want to lose a regular customer over one sale. She may be thinking - hey, they're daisies, how much can they cost. It's a perceived value issue. However, there's a fine line with starting a precedent that everytime she orders from you it's going to be a negotiation with the threat of going down the street. Only you can evaluate the attitude of your customer and determine if this is a one time event or if the door is now open to constantly being challenged on your pricing.

Anne

 

[Rhonda]

Lori, I think I would simply explain that you can match the price by just chop and drop, not designed as yours is. If she sees the difference in the two and still wants the "cheaper one", then just chop and drop. Personally, Daisies here are now $3.50/stem (my cost is $3.25 bunch of 5-6 stems) and delivery charge about .25/bu today... and only 3 blooms - 8 buds per stem -ugh!

 

[anytimeflowers]

Lori,

Has the other florist been around as long/longer than you? How do you know that $10 would be their price to you if you just walked in there to order without first saying you got a quote for $20 and how horrified you were. I'm just wondering if the other florist quoted that price as a bid to "steal" future sales, and their normal price would be higher.

I try very hard not to play that game, my price is what it is. I know I am not ripping anybody off, I am fairly priced to still stay in business. If you feel that your price is fair, then my opinion is to not negotiate. Why did she even go to the other florist, DID she even go to the other florist?

Naw, I would not play price-wars. If the customer had gone to the other, by the second time of purchasing, she would have seen the difference for herself and decided whether or not the savings were worth it. If the savings out-weight the quality, then this will be a continued battle and probably more work than it's worth.

jmo

Linda

 

[concord]

I agree with Linda. No price wars ever. I think you've already wasted too much time worrying about this and you should move on. BTW I would have charged $25 for your design. I would also offer to sell them the cut flowers so they could save money and do it themselves.

 

[shannonlovesflowers]

Lori, I think I would simply explain that you can match the price by just chop and drop, not designed as yours is. If she sees the difference in the two and still wants the "cheaper one", then just chop and drop. Personally, Daisies here are now $3.50/stem (my cost is $3.25 bunch of 5-6 stems) and delivery charge about .25/bu today... and only 3 blooms - 8 buds per stem -ugh!

This is good advice.

 

[Victoria]

Lori, price matching is a slippery slope and as has been said a bad precedent to start.

Rhonda offers a good solution if you feel you must.

V

 

[lori042499]

Thanks for all the input...I think I must rethink a few things...I am trying to be all things to all people and I cannot...I do not know how to do things half-assed nor do I want to, its just not me...I would never let that chop and drop crap out my door, i am better than that...I will sell them the raw goods and they can do it to save money...I think the time is right for me to be bold and start letting people know what I am willing to do and what I am not...people shop here because I am friendly, nice and provide good value, good design and go above and beyond...I think that when i give a price and they come back I should be able to say I am sorry I cannot come down on my price, it is that price because of the level of professional service you get with the job, ie odd time delivery, supierior design, expert experienec etc., if you feel that price is the most important thing and you are willing to get an inferior product that would be your choice. I just ask that when you price compare that you make sure you are comparing apples to apples and not oranges.

I think I need to step up my confidence in my experience and design abilities are worth more and I need to state it...I constantly feel like people don't value what I do yet shop here because they cannot get what I do anywhere else, well there is a reason for that, I have invested my life to honing my skill and I let every tight budget person knock that down so fast and make it worthless, that needs to stop today!

 

[concord]

Good for you!