Teleflora and FTD

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stormy

stormy

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Jan 6, 2005
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winston-salem, nc
www.sendroses.com
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i watched the Teleflora Favorite mom show last Sunday and was very pleased with their new commerical. talking flowers in a box. teleflora says that they will be alerting consumers to use a REAL LOCAL FLORIST.
if you have not seen the commerical it has flowers delivered in a brown box and the flowers talk about how old they are or something similar and then it shows a man, HAND DELIVERING flowers to the door.i have not been a real big telelfora fan but this is a must see commerical, its great.

now FTD.
the new owner, united online says that they will go back to using the real florist and no as much drop ship items. they want to give the florist more value to be FTD and wants to promote the brand using real florist same day flowers. more on this as time goes on. the FTD employees were very upbeat about the new owner and the firection he wants to take FTD.

as usual they will be naysayers among us, including me. but after hearing the above news i am excited about the way the wire services see the value in the REAL LOCAL FLORIST. maybe, just maybe our time has come to shine. enough drop ship dead flowers.

now another real problem. @@@@*ty shops that do @@@@*ty work and have @@@@*ty service. folks this is a very BIG problem among us that want to be called professional florist. how to we get rid of them?
 
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Joe, count me as one of the Nay-Sayers!

I think what your seeing is the FACT that FTD, Teleflora and 800Fowers are finally seeing the writing on the wall, with more florists leaving than ever before and coverage starting to become an issue. I can only hope this trend continues.

Like always, FTD will say what they *think* florists want to hear, to keep them in the loop, their (FTD) life depends on keeping florists chained to the cog-wheel.
 
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Your Right Boss

BOSS said:
Joe, count me as one of the Nay-Sayers!

I think what your seeing is the FACT that FTD, Teleflora and 800Fowers are finally seeing the writing on the wall, with more florists leaving than ever before and coverage starting to become an issue. I can only hope this trend continues.

Like always, FTD will say what they *think* florists want to hear, to keep them in the loop, their (FTD) life depends on keeping florists chained to the cog-wheel.
Click to expand...

i think they DO see the writing on the wall. and it is our job to hasten their change.
 
The problem with their (TF) "real florists" words...they still support non brick and mortar order gatherers by transmitting the orders for them.
They still allow their members to advertise in areas they are not physically delivering to (against rules and regulations regarding usage of the teleflora logo)...
FTD, they'll continue to drop ship and add to their "gift line" just as 800 does.
 
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FTD Numbers

The number of "Real Florists" that belong to FTD is dropping every qtr. The new owners need "real florists" to stay because they have a huge debt to service. Second, the more "real florists" that leave means that the OG's hold a bigger hammer over FTD's head because they are then responsible for a ever and ever larger portion of FTD's revenues.

Forget about what the new FTD owners say and watch what actions they take.
 
I'd love to see the TF commercial you described. Couldn't find it on YouTube but did run across this one (which is pretty hilarious).

Lost in the Mother's Day business was FTD's Q3 report. According to the data, income was as follows:
For the quarter (in thousands):
Consumer Segment: 4,743
Florist Segment: 14,471

For the fiscal year to date (in thousands):
Consumer Segment: 11,759
Florist Segment: 44,958

It still remains that florist services are the real cash cow for FTD in North America.

What do you make of FTD selling $19.99 florist-delivered (total including delivery) items through WalMart.com for Mother's Day? (read more here)

@@@@*ty shops that do @@@@*ty work and have @@@@*ty service.
Click to expand...
That's a question that should be directed to FTD & TF. They're the ones signing up marginal operations. Both know which shops generate complaints for their .com operations, so they can avoid the lousy ones. As to the rest of us, it's trial and error.
 
We received a call last week from 1800 for an order. We do fill their orders when we get what we ask for, which is everytime. They have money to work with!

Anyway called the number they gave us and it was the senders cell not the receivers. Looked up the receiver in the phone book and called her. She was home - we delivered.

This is what she told us. She had received a box of flowers from her kids the week before Mother's Day.
When she opened it the only thing inside was the vase! She insisted that her kids call 1800 and complain. Her kids now have our 800number. She said it doesn't matter how old they are, she still has to train them LOL.

Wouldn't a video of her opening that box been terrific!
 
Interesting

CHR said:
I'd love to see the TF commercial you described. Couldn't find it on YouTube but did run across this one (which is pretty hilarious).

Lost in the Mother's Day business was FTD's Q3 report. According to the data, income was as follows:
For the quarter (in millions):
Consumer Segment: 4,743
Florist Segment: 14,471

For the fiscal year to date (in millions):
Consumer Segment: 11,759
Florist Segment: 44,958

It still remains that florist services are the real cash cow for FTD in North America.

What do you make of FTD selling $19.99 florist-delivered (total including delivery) items through WalMart.com for Mother's Day? (read more here)

That's a question that should be directed to FTD & TF. They're the ones signing up marginal operations. Both know which shops generate complaints for their .com operations, so they can avoid the lousy ones. As to the rest of us, it's trial and error.
Click to expand...
Interesting thing about the FTD financials, is that YTD sales and profits would have been down if not for International. It seems that the sale of FTD comes at the right time. It's most likely really getting hard for them cooking the books in order to keep investors happy.

Florists are still the largest cash cow, but the amounts are dropping.

 
Yep, the wire services see florists as a source of income and nothing more. They will not change for the better and any talk of doing so is just that, talk. I see no benefit to the florist by being in a wire service.
They are parasites. Oh my goodness, I really sound like a bitter, jaded broken record.....again....sigh
 
Rhonda at work said:
The problem with their (TF) "real florists" words...they still support non brick and mortar order gatherers by transmitting the orders for them.
They still allow their members to advertise in areas they are not physically delivering to (against rules and regulations regarding usage of the teleflora logo)...
FTD, they'll continue to drop ship and add to their "gift line" just as 800 does.
Click to expand...

And make more money by charging extra penalty fees to the filling florists when an order cannot be filled or isn't refused in time..

"@@@@*ty shops that do @@@@*ty work and have @@@@*ty service"

That can't be happening, I pay a quality assurance fee each month so I know our member quality must be great :spin .

I've been a member for seven years and I'm re-evaluating the situation now. With membership dues, technology fees, fees to to receive an order, fees to refuse an order, quality fees.. their cut of my incoming sales is hovering between 35 and 40 %. That's just wrong.
 
[quote=Rhonda at work;143077]

The problem with their (TF) "real florists" words...they still support non brick and mortar order gatherers by transmitting the orders for them.
They still allow their members to advertise in areas they are not physically delivering to (against rules and regulations regarding usage of the teleflora logo)...
FTD, they'll continue to drop ship and add to their "gift line" just as 800 does.[/quote]

Well said Rhonda, and oh so true !
BEWARE !
 
OMG! You sound just like me! I have been used so much by the WS & order gatherers I forgot to pay myself only to realize I am broke & can't pay them anymore. I can't do any more orders for them & now I just refuse them, but I learned today that they charge me a $1 to refuse it. Man, I hope that is incorrect info. I didn't know I had to pay if I refused an order because I can't do it. They really are parasites!! I like doing 5 jobs with no pay. :)
 
It's real !
Never Reject, EVER, EVER, EVER.
There are ways around it . And then the option of ceasing membership comes up as well.

Good Luck
 
It should be crystal clear to anyone who has been involved with a wire service what they are about. The fees are astronomical. The monthly fees, the quality program (isn't marketing for the floral industry part of their whole gig). the fees to communicate with another florist, the time we have to waste dealing with orders that are impossible to fill, the fees for refusing or canceling an order, the fees , the fees,the fees.
And then to add insult to injury they are in cahoots with the order gatherers. i refused every order for md (and since )that I know comes from one of these scumbags. It is criminal that an organization that was established to set a standard in the floral industry has now become its biggest enemy.
Our only hope is to continue to disconnect ourselves with these companies. until they get it. I will be completely free of them (ftd june 1st) and teleflora as soon as my new website is up and running.
 
Not only do the wire services support non brick and mortar order gatherers, I believe they likely own many of those OG sites.
If you are not making money with the WS, there is no reason to have one. You might as well leave your door unlocked and the till wide open.
People, seriously, FREE YOURSELVES, before they eat you alive.

*I'm so dramatic:spintongu
 
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fortinos said:
I will be completely free of them (ftd june 1st) and teleflora as soon as my new website is up and running.
Click to expand...
Ahhh...and the trend continues....I too plan on saying goodbye by August 31st...just waiting on a couple minor technical adjustments on my end and time to get the paperwork in line...
 
I would think that Teleflora is positioned to come out looking peachy, if they could tap into the current sentiment. Many are unhappy about FTD penalty fees, and vocal about it. I am NOT reopening that debate or commenting on it. My point is a good competitor would seize the opportunity to say "we are different...and here's how..." Tf could institute a reward for good florist behavior, or a rewards system, throughout the year, kind of like the shopper cards where you accumulate points. Also, a "here's how we value your membership plan at TF" could go a long way to capitalizing on whatever ill will from the FTD move. And they could tighten up the dOG, skimmer problems, and say HEY - we are leading by example. I'd have every rep in the country visiting stores, leaving gas cards instead of lunch, cookies, and freebies. and I'd be looking hard at keeping my current members happy, with some BIG reward, and not just offering free trial periods and bonuses to new members. Just food for thought.
 
Teleflora gets a lot of "windows of opportunity" like this, to take advantage of disgruntlement, but they continue to ignore them.

I think Consumer Direct is their Prime Directive, and everything else pales in importance to them.
 
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