Teleflora...HAVE YOU...

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Mikey the Flower Guy

Mikey the Flower Guy

It's a GREAT DAY to live, and love!
Nov 10, 2002
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Dundas, Ontario, Canada
www.hamiltonflorists.com
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Ontario
gotten "the call" from TF offering you free gifts of product, low cost membership, and open dialogue regarding "lost coverage" issues because of declining membership in TF??
Did you "give into" the proposal, did you steadfastly tell them "NO THANKS"?? Do you think that TF has now learned some lessons??
This IS NOT a discussion about which wire service, IF ANY, you should belong to...this is "asking you" have you felt "missed" by either WS when they make "the call"??
I had a genuine call from TF today, short and sweet, to the point, and NO BS....it didn't sway my decsion to be FTD ONLY....it DID surprise me that it was as "frank" as it was...very interesting.
There is "generally" room for ONLY ONE wire service in any florist shop these days...I'm pretty sure that the BIG TWO have FINALLY figured out that REAL FLORISTS ARE the framework of our industry...we "carry" the load, and HARDLY EVER actually REQUIRE maintenance...to get the job done!
 
joanne said:
He then said but we are giving you credit card orders , i said yes you are right and it can stay that way Joanne
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TFTD has seen the light, they KNOW that the RealFlorists out there are forming up, standing together and becomming a force to be reckoned with. They also know, that the game has changed and that they have lost the control (illusionary) that they once weilded where membership is concerned.

They, TFTD are both in discord within the walls of their Ivory Towers and unless one of them embraces the RealFlorists and soon, they will both implode upon themselves and be left begging. it has already started, evidenced by the "free" membership offers floating out, even into cities where they do not need additional coverage. Whats the point of 12 members in a city of 50K? Who knows, lets add more...brilliant.

The time has passed where they realize that all it would take is a RealFlorist Summit, an open, cross WS meeting with only 1-200 RealFlorists in attendance where resources are pooled even more so than they are being right now, and a concerted effort to spread the word emerges that would alert the unknowing to the realities of todays floral world, and their houses of cards would come tumbling down.

If I was them, I would be truely VERY worried about this coming Valentines holiday...I think this will be their end, and that more RealFlorists will see more real biz thru both the phone and internet, as consumers are procrastonators and will not order early enuf for the OG's and BIG2 to be of assistance...there will be ALOT of WS technology disconnected from the grid for a few days...and they already know it.
 
V.d.

With the direct shippers in a bind V.D. The RealFlorists have the opportunity to reject those gathered orders and have an impact with real conquenceses.

Considering V.D. is not known for being a big wire out kind of day. The best aproach could well be to program the Birds and the Wings to not recieve orders on the 12th, 13th, and 14th.

Granted, sending Florist to Florist orders would be impeaded. But my gut feeling is that the Gatherers need the systems more than the Membership does.

The question in my mind is if forwarding the orders back to the sender is more time consuming during that period than it is to not recieve them at all.

Is it possible that the current round of sweatheart deals is designed to cover themselfs for just such a possibility. On the old "any port in a storm" kind of way?

Could many, if any, shops handle the potential consentrated flow of orders created by a large number of access denials? Especially considering the tardiness the general consumer shows on this holiday.
 
flowerknife+us said:
With the direct shippers in a bind V.D. The RealFlorists have the opportunity to reject those gathered orders and have an impact with real conquenceses.

Granted, sending Florist to Florist orders would be impeaded. But my gut feeling is that the Gatherers need the systems more than the Membership does.
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February 12-13-14... CASH IS KING

Nope not a big wire holiday....and your "gut feeling" is right on track!

Y2K5 the year of the REAL FLORIST!~
 
I have a strange feeling....

that both of you have really touched on a nerve, and it CAN prove to be a tide turning holiday IF, REAL FLORISTS understand what they are doing!!
Turning OFF the MERC/Pigeon is NOT an option, BUT, DENying OG and commision thieves is the BEST way of turning this thing around!!
I for one, WILL NOT, turn down a reasonable order from ANY FTD shop, that by chance MAY HAVE a wildly successful website(s), just because MY feelings may be hurt that THEIR'S is better than MINE....BUT, true OG's BEWARE!!......I will not acknowledge ANY order until AFTER the holiday is done!!
Had an "issue" with 1800 again last week.....THEY were "mad"..I was happy.
NOW, a shop out of FLORIDA, is trying to flog a website "directory" and is looking to DUPE MORE florists out of a nominal fee per year......http://www.floralyellowpages.com/
and shops have signed up for this...EVEN HERE, in Canada.
I'm sorry IF I resign myself to the fact that this business contains more "losers" than probably ALL other businesses combined!!
THOSE REAL FLORISTS, that TRULY are REAL FLORISTS, already understand how this business "works" and how to generate a reasonable living, and THE REST, are the reason why, we can't expect anything any different, any time soon!!
 
Mikey the Flower Guy said:
that both of you have really touched on a nerve, and it CAN prove to be a tide turning holiday IF, REAL FLORISTS understand what they are doing!!
Turning OFF the MERC/Pigeon is NOT an option, BUT, DENying OG and commision thieves is the BEST way of turning this thing around!!
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I concur, and was not advocating flip'n the flip'n switch...but exactly what you are talking about.

EVERY INbound order passes thru my hands, is scrutenized and sent in the appropraite direction...I would suggest each shop puts someone in charge of incoming traffic right now and be critical of where it originated.

All RealFlorist orders welcome even below minimums depending...but OG's, SFO's need not bother as they will be FORwarded back, or they will recieve the ASK P(mo money) request for the addition of $9.95 service charge that they collected to be sent along as well...
 
directories

As more and more florists struggle to stay alive, more and more florists are trying new ways to improve thier bottom lines. I can't really fault them for that but I for one do not want to be in a "listing" directory that has paying click thru ad featuring any of the wire services or drop shippers or OG's. I think a service like Ilocalflorist, locateaflowershop and Localflowershop is a good idea if the net is not bombarded by more of them. I look at them as improving my bottom line and two of them have......they rank well and I am seeing results of direct calls and orders placed on my site....my internet orders coming in to my town have tripled in the past year. These are consumers that would never have heard of Flowers From The Rainflorist.I also think they are a good source for any florist who is starting out who definately does not need a ws, or a shop that is wire service free or who does not have the best of technology and still calls orders out. If everyone of us got one more florist to join Ilocalflorist or locaflowershop then coverage for all of us would be phenomenal.............and the argument of both of them having "default" florists would be mute. As far as another florist 'gathering" orders on the net.......well my view is a little different. I would rather that they grab that consumer, or even myself grab the consumer and send that order out to a real florist than have a non florist og or a dotcom grab it and send it to ne at a discount....or skimmed i guess is a better word. And we can argue over and over about og's dotcoms directories etc but we have done nothing for the past three years but yak about the same thing.
Ryan and a small goup started an excellant forum here.yes it costs a few bucks, but how many have joined. I am floored that as professional florists only a handful are supporting this. Even if you know everything in the world..........how can you not learn something from the paid portion of the site. We all talk about "banding" together but are we ever going to do anything but talk? Maybe RealFlorist banding together will work but we have to actually "band" together..............less talk more action..........but let us get off our collective rears and do something postive that will help all of us before it is too late............grab a florist in your town and get them to come here, put a message on all of your outgoing about this forum, bring the info to your local meetings....whatever it takes but DO SOMETHING. In the end, we will all benefit. Wheewie..now for that cup of coffee..........thanks for listening and thanks for being there always for me to improve my shop with the knowledge I have gotton from all of you "oldtimers"..........
 
Boss....

you say each order is scrutinized. The big question is we do not have a specific NAMED shop order gatherer list. Okay, we know Beneva, Karins, etc but there are so many like the one in MA who uses about 5 names. How do we actually know the "real name" of the ordergathering shop if they come to us by Merc/Dove. 800 tries to send to me over the phone, I refuse them telling them they have to come by merc/dove. They are on my do not receive list for dove so they don't come through. They haven't sent through merc for months so they must call one of the other shops here...great deal for me. Now, my resignation to Teleflora will be effective in Jan and the cpu that holds my dove is now awaiting a new powersupply and fan so it's defunct for now so I don't have to worry about getting headquarters orders over the dove. BUT if they call one in? How will I know if it's from a gatherer.
They get real put off when I ask for the sender info.
sorry so long winded...
R
 
Mostly Rhonda, it boils down to "does it feel right" if their sending name is not familliar... Lots of times I simply look them up in Advantage to see what their listing looks like...

If they are coded for more than they sent me, they too get an ASK P (mo$$). Any order that comes in below minimum too is a hint... and I take anything ending in .95 to be an order generated from the web...

Some florists probably do quote 44.95 then add delivery, but the OG's always end in .95 so orders that come in for 44.95 get more of a look see, than even dollar amounts do...

It works for me, and everyone has to figure out what works for them. No there is not a list like you speak of..yet...
 
About http://www.floralyellowpages.com/........

that Mikey mentioned a few posts below. Only the big cities have anyone listed. How convenient for this new O.G. to create a site where they can collect between $20.00 and $50.00 a month from a florist or online OG and at the same time in every other city that is not large which is 99.999999999% of them it gets defaulted to their OG site.

Or you can buy a banner at $25.00 per 1000 clicks (or whatever) with a minimum of 10,000 or $250.00. Right now when I went there I saw FTD.COM, americanblooms.com, growerflowers.com which advertises straight from the grower and another odd one.

Detroit had 3 listed and they are all REAL florists as I know them. Chicago has 4 of which 1 is an OG. Vegas has 2, San Francisco has 2, NYC has 7 of which one is a site which advertises on their home page that they are New York City's #1 online Florist - Academy Floral.

I recently had an order from them not knowing they were even an OG. I got one of those FTD adjustment complaint things in the mail and I remembered the order very much when I looked it up as it was for a pink and orange vase arr in mostly pastel shades. I happened to have those pink and orange snaps in fresh that day and other stuff to make this arr. It was exactly what they asked for and was very lovely if I do say so myself as I made it. The complaint said they complained and I was supposed to deliver a new one and I did not so they claim non-delivery. SO.....

I send a letter back to FTD with the paper I was supposed to return with my version of the story and an exact detailed breakdown of what was in it. They have all the merc copies of ask and ans and no complaint on any of those. Thank Heavens for those merc copies, huh?

Anyway.... this is exactly what Rhonda was just saying (I hope it was this thread so this makes sense) about how do you know if they are an OG? I guess you have to do what BOSS said. Hard to do all the time, though.
 
Academy Floral

Is a Real Florist, and a good friend of mine...

Sal does do a good job marketing web orders, but he does operate one of Manhattens best Real Florist Shops too....
 
BOSS said:
Is a Real Florist, and a good friend of mine...

Sal does do a good job marketing web orders, but he does operate one of Manhattens best Real Florist Shops too....
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That's good to know. It makes me think they will be more reasonable with this phony complaint. I hope so anyway. I guess FTD has to decide.
 
Just for information...

...Please don't turn down our orders because they end in .95 as all our orders do and they have for years... Delivery- $2.95, 3.95, 4.95, and now the year 2004 5.95. Learned many years ago that the customer only hears the first # , they never round up in their minds so it always seems to them that they are spending less money.

Knife's wife
 
Sal's a good man, and very generous with his time and knowledge. His shop is one of the busiest I've ever visited :)

As for the $x.95 issue, I'm with Knife ... all prices and charges end in .95, even in store.

Ryan
 
Ditto me, Academy is my first choice of REAL florists for New York City, very professional, very accomodating and can get an order out even late in the day (no idea how they can do that) He just happens to have a successful web business also, and good for him at that.

We were just also taught (tho we were already doing it) that .95's are the way to psychologically price, 99's look like *special*'s, and therefore price pretty much everything at dot 95.
 
Dearest Sher.......

I've read, and re-read your reply above, and am not sure if you are supporting, or condoning the use of real florist directories.
Under NO CIRCUMSTANCE, does anyone have the right to tell you how to run your business, yet, it seems that these "directories" have EVERY RIGHT to expect a percentage of REAL FLORISTS, to hand over their narrow margin money, to fill a "gray void" in an "attempt" to thwart OG's and SFO's...why I'll NEVER KNOW!
The LEAST EXPENSIVE WAY of getting "the word" out, is for EVERYONE HERE, to talk about it...the MORE we talk, the MORE times the same message surfaces, the MORE times florists "hear" this talk, the MORE likely we'll be in a position to effect real change.
This is NOT re-inventing the wheel, not ONE florist has to stand in front of a Tiger tank, and give up their life, and we REAL FLORISTS, do NOT require a false gold calf to honour!
Here we have a group of REAL FLORISTS, as well as florist industry observers, that CAN effect change...over time, under budget, and with few shots fired.
We WANT to be independant, but WE NEED each other....fix THAT, and a "revolution" will follow!
 
Mikey I do support the use of real florist directories.ilocalflorist, localflowershop, locateaflowershop, as long as they are not placing ads on the sites that lead to to our competition and if they are ranking.(I was with flowershopnetwork, got notices very day about all the "hits" I was getting and yet never got an order) None of the ones I first mentioned do the ad thing and from the two that I am listed with, I am getting business into my town....the cost is pennies. I am very disappointed in Floristdex for using that as a way to make money on our listings and had I known ahead that he was going to do that I would not have joined. I think my message was, if you don;t have a site, then get one. There are plenty of inexspensive ones out there that are affordable. If you (Mikey or Sal Or JB ) have a site and pick up a customer sending to Sunrise, it is more beneficial to me to have you grab that customer ( if I haven't grabbed him on my site) and send that order to me than it is for me to recieve it from a ws........am I still confusing you? I do that you know. lol And as far as having a 'real florist" gather orders out there..I think it is still more beneeficial to us to have them grab the order away from a ws or a non florist in India with sites all over the place and to send it to us. Once it is in my hands, they are not going back to that site........it is more of a capture thing I guess. Just my 7 cents worth.........of course if they have the ad crap then it becomes another story......but until we educate ourselves and then the consumer, we had better be working our rears off getting the customers before the big2 finish us off.
 
Hey Hey Hey

I would NEVER dump a RealFLorist order... the .95 is just a "trigger" meaning...LOOK...Scrutinize....

Not to worry folks...guess I am just used to sending in even dollar amounts...
 
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