Question for those that don't use WS

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Kimber K

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Nov 14, 2006
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www.toledofloristandgifts.com
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OK, so since I'm mad as H*LL at Teleflora and I plan on dropping them next week.... I have a question for those of you that don't use WS.

When you have a customer that wants to send flowers out of the area and you don't have a "regular" Florist that you call in that area, what do you do?
I read where some of you posted that you actually give the customers the 800 number of a florist in the area and let them handle it themselves... which seems like the easiest thing to do, but have you ever found that it makes the customer unhappy to do this? Do they feel like you're not "servicing" them properly?

Before, I was taking the order then calling it to the other florist and using shop debit card. The previous owner told me to subtract my 20% off before giving the other florist the total, but I never really felt right about that because I was afraid MY customer wasn't going to get enough for their money. (I think this is the "skimming" that some of you are referring to). (It's hard living in little PoDunk town where $45 will get you a nice pretty arrangement... and then you call to a bigger city and they laugh at you when you ask for a $36 centerpeice...)
So I used my Shop card...the customer paid me... Over, done with, gone.
File the invoice and be done with it. I liked that.

So for those of you that don't use the WS do you JUST collect the call out fee... Do you ask the receiving florist to fill it for 80% of the total... Do you take your 20% off first... or do you just give out 800 #'s?
What works best for you?

I'm just trying to figure out how to work this whole thing without using a wire service. I have the internet as well as the old Teleflora book.. I can look up a florist and call these orders out myself, but I shudder to think about all the calls I'll have to make come Mother's Day.
I do have to say, that at Christmas time, the Dove was great.... but is it worth $300 a month JUST to have the Dove?????
I think not.

TIA for all the advice... I'm still learning :hammer:
 
We don't have a WS. We like it that way. We take the delivery information, call the filling florist and pay with the customers card. We take no fee at all but make sure we have the local contact info to be able to market to them as well as to the recipient.

D
 
You are providing a $ERVICE and so.......

Just like everyone else in the REAL WORLD OF BUSINESS, you are entitled to make your earned commission (20%) plus your $ERVICE CHARGE.

Also, never give up control of your customer at your point of sale by acting as 411 and giving them the telephone number of the delivering florist or simply calling out the order to them using your customer's credit card.

The problem you'll face is the same one which, all the wire services count on, that of IGNORANCE and a lack of BUSINESS SAVVY on the part of many florists you'll have to deal with.

When you are calling a florist you don't know, identify yourself to the person who answers that shop's telephone. After which, you must ask to speak to the owner or shop manager since MOST CLERKS have NO CLUE.

Once you get a person with a brain on the telephone, identify yourself as a REAL FLORIST, explain to them that you DUMPED all wire services and why you chose to do that, and then explain to them that, you are now sending orders direct, REAL FLORIST to REAL FLORIST using your company credit card.

After which, you can go on to explain to them that, your order is being sent to them at a full net 80% to them versus the old wire service rate of net 71%, which they would've had to wait 30 to 45 days for their money.

You will either have someone who fully understands what you are talking about, or wind up with the VILLAGE IDIOT.

When you hit upon a VILLAGE IDIOT, just move on and try again.

Or, join up with IFA and use their system at the 80%-20% fee structure.

http://www.myifa.org

Suffice it to say that, it's getting easier out there now as more and more REAL FLORISTS are doing it this way.
 
kimberk said:
I read where some of you posted that you actually give the customers the 800 number of a florist in the area and let them handle it themselves... which seems like the easiest thing to do, but have you ever found that it makes the customer unhappy to do this? Do they feel like you're not "servicing" them properly?
Click to expand...

We don't offer this to our customers immediately but, if they squawk at our sending fee we will offer them a phone number. Most of the time the customer WANTS you to do all the work for them and that is why they call.

Before, I was taking the order then calling it to the other florist and using shop debit card. The previous owner told me to subtract my 20% off before giving the other florist the total, but I never really felt right about that because I was afraid MY customer wasn't going to get enough for their money.
Click to expand...

Being from a little Podunk town as well I know where you are coming from. We require a 45.00 minimum for all sympathy orders being sent out of town. This comes from being turned down a ba-stinkin-zillion times when trying to fill an order for a 35.00 plant. We do not "skim" 20%. If the florist offers us 20% then we take it, but we never ask either. We charge the customer 9.00 to send the order and that is about what 20% is on an average order anyway.

We have quite a few orders that go out on Mother's Day. I hire my sister to make all of those calls while I tend to my local customers. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to place an order and it sure doesn't cost me $300/month :)

If you ever have any questions feel free to PM me or call me at the shop. We have been an independent florist since we opened our doors. My phone number is in my signature :)

Best of Luck and enjoy taking care of YOUR customers !!
Heather
 
bittyblossom said:
We don't have a WS. We like it that way. We take the delivery information, call the filling florist and pay with the customers card. We take no fee at all but make sure we have the local contact info to be able to market to them as well as to the recipient.

D
Click to expand...
I believe that's illegal. The customer has contracted with you to fill the order, and by disclosing their CC info to another florist you're violating privacy laws. At least in Canada... can't be 100% sure in the USA. Anyone from the US got an answer?

We refuse to take an order from a florist trying to give the customer's card. It's only happened a few times, but it's not kosher.

Ryan
 
we have been WS free for almost 2 years now and are VERY HAPPY with our decision. We call direct and give the filling florist 100% plus their delivery charge and charge our customer that total plus a 7.00 handling fee on our shop credit card which is only used for trasnsferring orders. Have been able to do a data base we have setup for shops that we have used in the past and add to it as we use other shops. Yes it does take a little time o search out shops on the internet but in the long run after a period of time you are able to get a pretty good data base to referr to.
My feeling is that the filling shop is doing all of the work and should be paid accordingly for their work. just like a local customer. There are times when the shop will give a discount but we do not ask for one as I want our customer to recieve full value.
Yes each shop is different but we find this works for us.
 
Infinite said:
We refuse to take an order from a florist trying to give the customer's card. It's only happened a few times, but it's not kosher.

Ryan
Click to expand...

I agree. There is no in way in Hades I would accept a credit card from a third party... nope, nyet, non, never. By the same token, nor would I give my credit card info to a go between! Good grief, in these times, that's just courting disaster.

V
 
Thank you all so much for your input. I SOOO appreciate it.
I'll get this issue figured out yet, and it helps to have the opinions of those of you who have been in the biz for a while. Most days I feel like I'm flying by the seat of my pants... Whooooooaaaaahhhhh
But its a GREAT RIDE!

I'm loving this business and feel blessed every day to have had this opportunity... But I don't want to blow it with costly mistakes.

Thanks again!!

Kim
 
Never give out a customer's card number. Ever.

Get one of those cash-back or rewards cards. That way, you get something else, in addition to whatever fees you charge.
 
When you send orders from Oregon to another state you will have to pay sales tax most of the time. Your customer will have to pay tax all of the time. This is not a positive experience for your customers most of the time. Believe it or not, it is actually more expensive for your customer when sending direct from Oregon as opposed to using a service.

Your best best bet is to use something you already pay for - Flower Shop Network. Since you are on the internet, you charge your customer a $4 fee and fill in the online form. Or, charge them $7 and phone it to FSN. They relay the order for you and you keep 20%. I have been doing this for almost a year having only one order for a rural area out of reach of FSN. It doesn't cost you anything more except the $4 or $7 that you collect from your customer.

When I send within Oregon, I usually phone direct and get %20 off the merchandise. If a florist doesn't want to give me 20%, then I let FSN handle it. It is interesting how many florists do not give 20% off for a credit card order, yet they will give their WS close to 30% - and pay to do it!

Don't pay with customer credit card because if the card turns out to be stolen you will be asked why YOU are using a stolen card. Don't put yourself in the middle of a bad deal.

Don't take 20% off the top and send the order. THIS IS SKIMMING UNLESS YOUR CUSTOMER ALLOWS IT! This is a big problem. What the florist is telling you is that they will make the order to 80% value - NOT 100%. When I have florists tell me this, I ask them what value they will put into the arrangement. Their reply is "whatever you are sending me". I then say goodbye and sprinkle laxatives on my florist voodoo doll.
 
I send at 100%, I charge my customer $6.95 for executing the order. I use my debit card (customer must pay in full at time of ordering). I don't ask for any discount BUT if someone calls into me and asks for 20%, I ask if they have charged a service or wire charge to their customer. If they have, I do not give a %. I will accomodate a friendly florist calling if they have not charged a service charge to their customer..... IF they are friendly!!
And we discuss Flowerchat.com and floristdetective.com!!
 
We are WS free, unless you consider IFA a WS. We send our wire-outs via IFA through our POS system, but I think IFA has some software or something that can hook up to a regular computer. We call the order out if we have time, if we know the florist that will be filling the order, and/or if there is some specific thing about the order which requires clarification. We ask for the 80-20 split, but if the filling florist requires 100%, we go ahead and give that amount. Having been a faithful reader here and on another board, I realize that many florists have very strong feelings about 80-20 or 100%, so we do what we have to do in order to get the order filled. If the order is going to a large city, we always get (add) at least $10 for delivery, but we also tell the customer that the delivery fee is determined by the florist who fills and delivers the order, so we will call them (customer) if the florist requires more. For Mother's Day, we bring in our extra help, one of whom chiefly handles the phones.

Occasionally we do run into a florist who will not accept a direct order from another florist. We believe them to be unenlightened and move on. We have never, yet, been unable to find a florist. I have actually had florists call me back to find out why and how became WS free. That's a great time to plug FC.
 
Maybe it's because we have been WS free for close to 8 years and we do not receive many requests for sending bouquets out of town, but we do not charge our customers and in return they almost always give me $5 or $10 for my troubles and leave here really happy. I figure most of these are already good customers or will become...
If we are very busy though, I supply them with a phone # or two and send them on their merry way, maybe with a few pointers on how to order and what to order.
If we had a high volume maybe we would rethink the fee.
 
I'd bet money that there are more orders going out of town than you think there are...somebody is doing them. I can guess my smaller town of 50,000 people has possibly 2000+ orders per month going out thru the wire services alone, and this doesn't count the people who order online thru OG's.
 
Hmmm, perhaps clarification might help. We checked with our cc service company and they did not have a problem with us providing this service for our customers. I'm confused as to why there would ever be a problem?

We write out the customers order on the form showing all the important info such as what they are ordering where it is going, all charges for delivery fees/design etc. The cc info is written along with name, addy,ccv, phone, place of work etc. The customer signs the order form on appropriate line and they are done.

We call the filling florist, explain we have a direct order for them and proceed. They are given all the necessary information with our shop name and contact info if they need to contact us. We have never ever had a problem doing this.

I will do some more checking but I haven't found anything so far to suggest that we are doing something illegal. It isn't any different than if your Grandma called in an order using your credit card because you couldn't do it yourself. Now if we were charging the customer for something there might be an issue but we aren't.
 
bittyblossom said:
We call the filling florist, explain we have a direct order for them and proceed. They are given all the necessary information with our shop name and contact info if they need to contact us. We have never ever had a problem doing this.

I will do some more checking but I haven't found anything so far to suggest that we are doing something illegal. It isn't any different than if your Grandma called in an order using your credit card because you couldn't do it yourself. Now if we were charging the customer for something there might be an issue but we aren't.
Click to expand...
Hmmm.... I don;t know about that....

What happens when you encounter a shop with high tech where the system says no, because the address and zip do not match the card resulting in a decline or warning message...?
 
BOSS - I don't know what we would do regarding that situation as thankfully, it hasn't come up. We verify the card at our location before our customer leaves the shop if that is any answer.

NP - We don't charge anything initially for the actual "wire" but we market to the recipient as well as the sender. Most of the senders are already our customers and prefer to shop with us for our customer service policies -or- they were told about our "you take good care of your customers" reputation from a current customer. It's not for everyone but we feel that we can spare a few moments of time per month to gain the word of mouth advertising and good will it provides us. People are happy to shop where they feel "needed" and that's where we stand apart from our competitors who charge for every little thing. We may not be "rich" (yet) but at least we know that folks aren't out bad mouthing us for having low customer service practices.
 
I too go through IFA. I do not have their accounting software so to enter an order, we go to the web site and place it via internet. It owrks quite well for us!

We too are a small shop in a small town and when we did the math regardign TF, it was costing us way tooooo much to provide discounted flowers. We tried calling out orders direct for about a year before we found out about IFA. Have been a member of IFA for about 3 years now and applaud the folks that got it started. IF you feel strongly about the 80/20 split or 100%, good news. You get to sign up for one or the other, which ever you prefer.

www.myifa.org

Wanda
 
I don't use a wire service; I use the Internet. I just charge $5, basically it's a convenience charge to find the florist and make the call. I give the customer full value and don't ask the filling florist for a discount. They shouldn't need to know about or be involved in my deal, just fill the order. I don't like it when someone asks for a discount, I think it should be dealt with on their end.
 
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