[FONT="]Did everyone receive this not from TF's President my partner wrote a letter in response to it and today my area rep called and told me to write my notice to leave Teleflora and get out! Read on
[/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="]
[/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="]A heartfelt thank-you for your hard work this Valentine's Day[/FONT]
[FONT="]All Teleflora Florists,[/FONT]
[FONT="]This Valentine's Day has been an outstanding success. The last few days of the holiday period were particularly exciting, as we experienced record-setting days in terms of total orders flowing through the Teleflora system. This includes orders from florists, Teleflora.com and our various partners, and across our family of eFlorist sites. I'd like to take a moment to thank all of you for going the extra mile to meet this surge in consumer demand and for your expert handling of last-minute orders.[/FONT]
[FONT="]From the outstanding results, it's clear that our marketing programs that paired our "hand-arranged, hand-delivered" local florist advantage with the star power of Faith Hill resonated and inspired more Valentine's Day shoppers than ever before to choose Teleflora. Our advertising efforts were amplified by the terrific coverage we received in the press, including stories in top-tier media outlets such as The Today Show, Good Morning America, E! Entertainment Network, Extra, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today, as well as hundreds of other print, broadcast and online channels.[/FONT]
[FONT="]We are pleased that our marketing proved effective in convincing more consumers to seek out the benefits of using Teleflora and its network of florists, but what is clear to all of us at Teleflora and our consumers is that it is our florist network that brings those benefits to life in the form of stunning and memorable bouquets. We recognize the effort it takes to make that happen, especially during the Valentine's Day rush, and we are sincerely grateful for the wonderful job![/FONT]
[FONT="]Shawn Weidmann
President, Teleflora
[/FONT]
[FONT="]From:[/FONT][FONT="] Don Kiser
Sent: Friday, February 18, 2011 10:43 AM
To: '_Inbox: Web Master'; Level 2 Group in Web Services ([email protected]); 'Teleflora (Michael Tetzlaff)'
Cc: 'Stephen Robinson'; Don Kiser
Subject: re: heartfelt thank-you[/FONT]
[FONT="]Tele Flora[/FONT]
[FONT="]ID: 59-020700[/FONT]
[FONT="]Bloom Fresh Flowers, Alexandria, VA[/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
While Bloom Fresh Flowers “independent” store business saw a 50 percent jump in orders and our average order increased more than $7 over same period sales...our Teleflora business was significantly down.
I do not appreciate your hyperbole. Please spare me the marketing hype and the pat on “your” back...
Either you did not experience record-setting days or you define record-setting as an increase in the number of small $ orders. Either way, Teleflora did not send me as many orders to my shop as you did last year. I have seen a steady decrease in my orders over the last years from Teleflora. However, this year, I did see an inordinate amount of low dollar orders (below my codified minimum). All of these under $50 business (including shipping and often times chocolates, etc) may be great for Teleflora, because you get your 50-60% off of the top regardless of the increased costs for the fulfilling florists - but does not work for your urban market, independent florist’s bottom line.
I honestly feel like there is a disconnect between Teleflora HQ and the independent florist. [FONT="]Shawn Weidmann’s[/FONT] love note to himself and to Teleflora HQ is insulting to the hard working local florist.
Just so, you know, I did see the same trend from FTD. As a matter of fact, I canceled my contract with FTD this week and will no longer be receiving orders from them in a few weeks. From talking with other florist in the DC metro area, I feel confident that many Teleflora florists are seriously considering eliminating our one-way relationship with you as well.
After I told my partner that Shawn Keith had called me and told me to get out, he wrote the following....
please deliver to Shawn Weidmann, President, Teleflora Don Kiser [[email protected]] This message was sent with High importance.
Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 10:37 AM To: '_Inbox: Web Master' [[email protected]]; 'Level 2 Group in Web Services ([email protected])'; 'Teleflora (Michael Tetzlaff)' [[email protected]]
Cc: Stephen Robinson; Don Kiser [[email protected]]
Attachments:
p.x_MsoNormal, li.x_MsoNormal, div.x_MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; }span.x_MsoHyperlink { color: blue; text-decoration: underline; }span.x_MsoHyperlinkFollowed { color: purple; text-decoration: underline; }p.x_MsoPlainText, li.x_MsoPlainText, div.x_MsoPlainText { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Consolas; }span.x_PlainTextChar { font-family: Consolas; }span.x_EmailStyle20 { font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); }span.x_EmailStyle22 { font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); }.x_MsoChpDefault { font-size: 10pt; }div.x_WordSection1 { } [FONT="]To: Shawn Weidmann, President, Teleflora[/FONT]
[FONT="]Fr: Don Kiser, [/FONT][FONT="]ID: 59-020700, [/FONT][FONT="]Bloom Fresh Flowers, Alexandria, VA[/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="]Stephen Robinson, my business partner, just received a call from Shawn Keith.[/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="]Shawn Keith’s adversarial tone and aggressive “if you do not like it, get out” attitude is shocking. [/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="]Keith’s ugly response to my email goes to the core of my feelings. Shawn Keith does not treat our partnership with Teleflora as a customer/vendor relationship. Shawn Keith takes an autocratic approach and tone when discussing our concerns and does not treat Bloom Fresh Flowers as a valued customer and representative of Teleflora but rather as a disposable commodity.[/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="]Mr. Weidmann, have you spent any time with your local, independent florists’ representatives in the Washington, DC market? I hope that Shawn Keith’s brand of customer service is neither an indication of your personal views nor those of Teleflora.[/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="]I will be happy to get on a conference call with you, Shawn Keith and my partner Stephen Robinson to address my correspondence. The reason that I wrote the 02-18-11 email was to reach out to you and try to figure out if this lack of understanding was coming from the top or from your staff.[/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="]-Don Kiser[/FONT][FONT="][/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="]Anyone else feeling this way or having these problems???
[/FONT]
