So if I get you, all this griping about the wire services by florists is just that ....griping, because it seems that from your answer, florists have no problem spending money with these same evil wire services.
Teleflora to require DCON's in August
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So if I get you, all this griping about the wire services by florists is just that ....griping, because it seems that from your answer, florists have no problem spending money with these same evil wire services.
BOSS
FlowerChat Administrator
Pretty much.....
And, a sincere hope that things will change for the better...
But....
As we have seen, we should realize that *they* will only continue to change into what we don't really want or need, and that it's up to "us" to build the new model of what we **need**... and it won't be what everybody *wants*...
I have not talked to Hal about his statement... but **if** MAS came out and gave away MASDirect, and if FAS, Floristware and the other independents came along side and made cross platform communication available we could drop (and kill at the same time) the sire services, as well as the dOG's in a heart beat and be left with the flower side of the industry less the negative aspects that affect us all.
Doug Munro
Well-Known Member
Confirmation determined by good manners?
Joe, We can't even agree on this as a group, yet it appears that you feel we should place our faith in the fact that every recipient will display good manners.
I have about as much confidence in that happening as I have in seeing all consumers becoming educated on wire services, fresh flower care, or any of the other grievances I read on this board everyday.
Joe, We can't even agree on this as a group, yet it appears that you feel we should place our faith in the fact that every recipient will display good manners.
I have about as much confidence in that happening as I have in seeing all consumers becoming educated on wire services, fresh flower care, or any of the other grievances I read on this board everyday.
Joe Mioux
Well-Known Member
O.K. The problem then is that the customer wants to know the flowers were delivered.
The solution:
The simplest most direct route for customer satisfaction is for TF to provide the filling flower shop with the customer's phone number or email address. Why go through several layers of WS bureaucracy when a simple phone call from the filling florist to the customer will suffice AND actually be more efficient?
Can this be done? why or why not? Simple and efficient.
joe
BOSS
FlowerChat Administrator
Yep Joe...
If the wires, truly had the florists and consumers best interest in mind, they would gather the customers and transfer them to the filler fool... thus the consumer would get better service, and maybe buy more flowers...
Never happen til we do our own thing...
prestonway
Well-Known Member
I think this could really happen!
Simply raise the membership dues to $20,000 a year and VOILA!
Don't want to be the market leader on this though.
I'll wait for Joe & Boss to take the lead...
:dunno:
Joe Mioux
Well-Known Member
i think it will be easier to just dump, once the fees
rder ratio gets out of whack.joe
BOSS
FlowerChat Administrator
I would not advise you to hold your breath...
Heck, I'm expecting a call Monday, regarding the Single Member Town Fee Structure... we'll see how that goes...
Joe - regarding your solution to Dconns - Let me pose this question to you. Whether or not the WS requires a dconn or not is beside the point for this question.
If you have transfered an order to me either direct or via a wire service.....and I ask you if a delivery confirmation is required ( rather, I tell you that I provide delivery confirmations on all orders including local as well as sent via direct or wire)......Are you prepared to give me ( another real florist ) your customer contact information so I can send a delivery confirmation direct to them?
Now, before you answer....think about this.....
I now have in my possesion YOUR customer info. What is to stop me from now undertaking direct marketing to your customer for their floral needs both in South Carolina and outside South Carolina thereby bypassing you?
If you have transfered an order to me either direct or via a wire service.....and I ask you if a delivery confirmation is required ( rather, I tell you that I provide delivery confirmations on all orders including local as well as sent via direct or wire)......Are you prepared to give me ( another real florist ) your customer contact information so I can send a delivery confirmation direct to them?
Now, before you answer....think about this.....
I now have in my possesion YOUR customer info. What is to stop me from now undertaking direct marketing to your customer for their floral needs both in South Carolina and outside South Carolina thereby bypassing you?
Well, How about you JB - Would you be okay with me marketing direct to your customers hoping they would shop with me and not you?
One real florist attempting to steal/take a potential customer from another real florist?
I was hoping that I was not the only one who saw the potential double edge sword that was Joe's solution
One real florist attempting to steal/take a potential customer from another real florist?
I was hoping that I was not the only one who saw the potential double edge sword that was Joe's solution
Joe Mioux
Well-Known Member
Rick that is my point. The OG's are Covering Their Backsides with DCON, DCon's have little, if anything to do with better customer service for their customer. Even it does mean better customer service, I don't care or even want to help them - the OG competitor who is taking money away from me ( commissions).
I have no interest in adding any extra labor as a filling florist so the OG looks better in the eyes of their customer.
One poster's main theme in this thread was for us filling florists to modernize our thinking and just start performing DCON's because other competing industries are already doing it.
That is a specious argument at best and also a bunch of nonsense.
Other non floral related competing industries use delivery services such as FEDEX and UPS. These industries charge for their tracking services, it is built into shipping prices. OG's can use these services, but they won't because they will cut into their profits by doing so.
If OG's want DCON's, my solution (give the filling shop the phone #) would work very efficiently, but the OG's and WS's are not going to give up that information because they don't want me better serving their customer.
OG's want a complete list of DCONS so they don't have to go back and ask the florist when their is a question with delivery. I would guess that customer requested DCON are less than 1 pct of all OG orders, but the OG's are now demanding filling florists provide DCON's on 100 pct of all wire orders.
and that is why I think it is all about....................
It's all about saving time and money for OG's labor and nothing else. They want us the filling florist to increase our costs while lowering their cost of order fullfillment by not having to go back and ask for a DCON when the need arises, which again is probably less than 1 pct of all OG orders.
So, in summary: all the benefits go to the OG in terms of increased operating efficiencies, more profit for them, enhanced image in the eyes of their customer, while all the increased costs are borne by the filling florist and thus making us less profitable.
No, if they want this service, they can pay for it, just like we all do when using FEDEx or UPS.
joe
Now, I understood completely the reasoning behind the answer.......JB - I didn't think you would go that route either.
Really, don't think anybody in their right mind would go that route either.
Although this opens up a whole new can of worms......There is a simpler solution.....If you don't like the WS dconn policy - leave the ws.
of course, now we go to the same arguments about exit strategies, whose gonna fill for the real people behind OG order, and a host of other topics already explored.
Really, don't think anybody in their right mind would go that route either.
Although this opens up a whole new can of worms......There is a simpler solution.....If you don't like the WS dconn policy - leave the ws.
of course, now we go to the same arguments about exit strategies, whose gonna fill for the real people behind OG order, and a host of other topics already explored.
Joe Mioux
Well-Known Member
No, you don't have to leave the WS because of Dcon's.
the only business's advocating this is the OG's. Real flower shops haven't been asking for dcon.
AND if they would I would do it for them because they asked. once or twice isn't bad, every time, no.
Ricky, the solution is to reject the OG orders demanding it, everytime.
joe
prestonway
Well-Known Member
And herein lies your problem.
You've already stated that over 90% of incoming arrive from .com.
Add in another...hmmm...let's just say 5% from other order gatherers.
So sooner or later 95% of your incoming will be requesting a DelCon.
That leaves you with 5% of incoming that you would actually fill.
Hardly enough to remain in the WS...so why bother?
Joe Mioux
Well-Known Member
And herein lies your problem.
You've already stated that over 90% of incoming arrive from .com.
Add in another...hmmm...let's just say 5% from other order gatherers.
So sooner or later 95% of your incoming will be requesting a DelCon.
That leaves you with 5% of incoming that you would actually fill.
Hardly enough to remain in the WS...so why bother?
Don't confuse my FTD WS business with my total incoming WS business, which includes TF.
Pw, when I told you about the 90 pct incoming being .com, we were only talking about my FTD business.
Second, please don't extrapolate my 90 pct .com comment (from a different thread) as the industry standard.
It is not. It is my FTD .com/incoming retail flower shop figures.
FTD compared to TF incomings is night and day with regards to the volume. Most TF's orders come from flower shops and not OG's.
joe
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