Teleflora to require DCON's in August

[BOSS]

Bold type: Have you seen the choices of vases that are shown on OG/WS websites. There is no way a shop can inventory all of them.

That's cuz they don't stock ANY of them, and have someone in the orifice thats good with Photo Shop...

__________________________
Dang, I see none of you all have a life on Wednesday nights...so many posts... so little progress...

 

[Joe Mioux]

Ummmm, $1

unless you're the only game in town...then - whatever it costs

$1 is about $60 an hour as each one shouldn't take more than 1 minute.

Who should pay this $1?

 

[Joe Mioux]

also, that $1 really equals about 70 cents after the ws commissions.

and do you think $5 is too much for a PITA fee? What happens when the WS penalizes a shop with a Whopping fee of 200 pct of the value of the arrangement. That money will have to come from somewhere.

Like I told one of my employees the other day, I am done having increased costs of business coming out of my pocket. From now on the fees come out of other's pockets.

joe

 

[LJVF]

Who should pay this $1?

Joe, I have no idea what Teleflora plans to do for compensation, but I do know for a fact that Bloomnet offers .75 per order confirmed on the same day. It takes seconds to manually confirm each delivery. You can easily dcon 3-5 deliveries per minute which equates to $2.25 to $3.75 per minute for compensation. They also offer the option to dcon in lumps by phone with a voice recognition toll free number. After the driver completes his/her last delivery on a particular load, they can call the number and dcon the orders on their way back to the shop.

I do recognize the challenges for the florist that operates using a delivery pool and also the small town shop during holidays. Not sure how they will work it out.

 

[RC in Dayton and Cincinnati]

Darrel,

I have designers tell me they can make an arrangement in five minutes, but at the end of the day they've only made 10, not 100 like they claim.

Do us a favor, since you are already doing this, actually measure the real time it takes from start to finish, not just the time it takes to enter it into the system but from the time the driver gets back to the shop to completion.

Our problem is we have hundreds of deliveries every day. Out of those one or two are an incoming wire order. All deliveries are confirmed seamlessly when the order is marked complete. The drivers have no way of knowing if he happens to have in incoming wire order, which now has to separated back out so it can be manually confirmed. This would take us more than a few seconds like some of you suggest.

So, I'd take Doug's suggestion. We already know incomings are a money loser, and we fill them only as a courtesy anyway. We would simply stop accepting them.

RC

 

[ivygreen]

I'll take the $1 from Bloomz, and I want it direct. And I'll take $3.00 from Doug and I want it direct too for the picture he wants. And I still want a seemless way to do it from TF. And that means the upgrades to get everyone's system on track for this are FREE. And a separate automatic 1800 number comes with the program.

So now the sender has the option of requesting the dcon and pays for it, and the filler is compensated. And it separates the value added, quality shops seeking to fulfill their customers utmost timely needs from the ones who create their own issues with their late sending habits and impossible to fill requests, and overpromises to customers.

So the DCons are there, and the photos are optional, and we are compensated fairly. And the systems are smoothly allowing this vital issue to be put to rest.

To make this tansition a smooth one, TF is going to review their records, and select a number of various size florists from filling markets, and a few responsible senders, and ask them to come together for a weekend and hash out the best way to make this program really work.

I actually think dcons are our future, and good customer service but they are an added task if not chore, and adopting the idea of doing this has merit but the onus should not be on the filler shop.

A true industry leader leads with a standout program, that makes a difference, not just jumps on a bandwagon and reinforces a already top heavy system. Much of the resistance of this concept stems from our various POS/WS systems and the ridiculous interface issues.
This has little do with improving industry standards, and good business practice. Let's ask TF to convene a group of real florists and make this concept work.

Prestonway has a good beginning idea with his dcon request, and it's something to build off. Let's take tackle the issue of delivery pools, and make a functioning easy to use system. A worthy program would help the floral businees in consumer's eyes, and we all want to keep floral gifts a viable choice. Some of these services mentioned in the thread are paid for too, by the consumer, not the merchant. Certified letters, guaranteed delivery, timed deliveries, are all tossed around in this conversation, but the consumer pays dearly for these options. There has to be some accounting, somewhere for these ideas, and it can't come from the filling side. For example - credit a shop who performs x number of dcons with thier quality assurance fee. If dconing makes you a good florist, reward it.

And lastly the snide attitude of everyone who doesn't want to do this must be lazy or inept is insulting and unproductive. I see the value in the dcons, now and in the future. But I also see Rhonda's point, Cheryl's point, & Joan's point, and they are just as valid. If everyone you big sender's toss off "like it or leave it" and get with the technology/times" to comments left the industry, you'd have a bigger problem the dcons to worry about. Lay off the let's bash the filler for being stupid lazy and stuck in the past. Move the debate forward with insight and resolutions to real issues. They might not be your shop's issues, but they are issues that affect many of the shops in the network, and that makes them just as valid as the consumer issues with delivery.

As to the purpose of the debate, it is important. A decent idea of asking for dcons can easily end up being another moment on the treadmill of this business , doing xyz to get xyz, or it can be transformative, and a step forward for TF. Guess we'll see, :dunno:

As for my bet.....well let's just say I'm not holding my breath.

 

[CHR]

One more important point:

When FedEx or UPS delivers a box of flowers, they are paid without requiring a signature from the recipient. Everybody here knows the packages are left on doorsteps no matter the weather. Efficiency overrides quality assurance.

Wrong address provided by the purchaser? Too Bad.

Wrong Funeral day or time? Too bad.

Patient already discharged from the hospital? Too bad.

When it comes to delivery, florists are paid less and required to do more already.

If you want FedEx-like service, then embrace all of it.

 

[LJVF]

RC, you make a valid point.

Darrel,

I have designers tell me they can make an arrangement in five minutes, but at the end of the day they've only made 10, not 100 like they claim.

Do us a favor, since you are already doing this, actually measure the real time it takes from start to finish, not just the time it takes to enter it into the system but from the time the driver gets back to the shop to completion.

Our problem is we have hundreds of deliveries every day. Out of those one or two are an incoming wire order. All deliveries are confirmed seamlessly when the order is marked complete. The drivers have no way of knowing if he happens to have in incoming wire order, which now has to separated back out so it can be manually confirmed. This would take us more than a few seconds like some of you suggest.

So, I'd take Doug's suggestion. We already know incomings are a money loser, and we fill them only as a courtesy anyway. We would simply stop accepting them.

RC

Randy,

I took a quick video for you of the dcon process. Unfortunately we are up to date on all of our confirmations, except for one. So the video is a poor example. Usually, there are more than one and that would have been a better representation.

Without taking into account the time it takes for the driver to walk from the delivery vehicle to the shop, I did measure the time it takes to open the bloomlink portal, open the delivery confirmation box and type in the numbers. It took approx. 20 seconds to get to the dcon screen and about 20 seconds to look up the dcon and log it in. I'll admit, it did did take longer than I predicted. However, I think the time would have been cut shorter on average if I had more dcons to enter.

With that said, you bring up a good point on the challenges of being a large shop like yourself. I am nowhere near the 100 deliveries per day you are at, so our delivery logs are much more simple.

Anyways here's the clip:

[youtube]lESn3SlVnis[/youtube]

BTW, if I am violating an rules by posting the portal, let me know, and I will remove the clip immediately.

 

[bloomz]

One more important point:

When FedEx or UPS delivers a box of flowers, they are paid without requiring a signature from the recipient. Everybody here knows the packages are left on doorsteps no matter the weather. Efficiency overrides quality assurance.

Wrong address provided by the purchaser? Too Bad.

Wrong Funeral day or time? Too bad.

Patient already discharged from the hospital? Too bad.

When it comes to delivery, florists are paid less and required to do more already.

If you want FedEx-like service, then embrace all of it.

Gee that's what I call professional flower delivery

not

no thanks

I don't care to sell grocery store market bunches either, see I'm a florist.

so no thanks again.

That was silly, for lack of a better term - no one here implied we "want" anything whatsoever like that.

"Efficiency overrides quality assurance" - anyone here talking about lessening quality assurance?

Thank you however to the 3 or so that put just proper perspective and reality back into this discussion.

------------------------------------------

PS - today I will be refunding the customer whose drop ship item was delivered to the hospital late after they had checked out. FTD just confirmed the cancellation.

Can you believe somebody spent $105 for Skittles???

 

[Doug Munro]

And this folks is why our industry is in trouble....

Everyone wants to get all the orders and get paid for them and noone wants to do what the customers want....how do you all feel when a corporate client wants a fax copy of their invoice sent out so they can get reimbursed. This is one of the biggest pitas for me, but I do it...

DCONS are simple, even at holiday times, It is just me and one other temp at MD, I have 2 drivers and over 300 deliveries in 3 days, all my dcons get done simply and without any extra paper....yeah I amy pay someone, but everyone jknows that their mom got their flowers...as a result the only deliveries I have any problems with are the ones I send out to the masses...that I don't get a dcon from...I got only one non-delivery complaint this MD, from a bloomnet florist who had 25 orders supposedly print on Monday, that she missed on Friday and Saturday, because she wasn't paying attention...I didn't get a DCON and assumed she was one of those florists that didn't know how to use her technology or better yet didn't have any technology and started to worry about the order....called the shop the phone was off the hook...didn't find out until Monday that she effed up, but not paying attention to the fact that she wasn't getting anything from her bloomnet program...called on Monday late afternoon and got her lame excuse about how the orders didn't print and that she was scrambling to get all these 20 orders out now....she was overwhelmed by the holiday, over whelmed by the technology, over whelmed without staff so my customer paid for her bad planning..and I paid for her bad planning, is this fair...

As much as I don't like what the internet has done for our industry in making it more difficult, the new technology that is coming down the pike is making us more aware of the screw ups that are out there...I still come across people who don't know how to use their dove and shut it off if they close for the weekend, I think these people should be kicked out of TF for that...if you have the technology learn to use it or drop out if you cannot, it is not fair to the rest of us sending orders and not knowing if they will be handled professionally...

Lori,

Bravo!

The fact is that retail is changing everyday and we can either adapt or perish. This type of conversation occurs every time there is a change that will cost business pennies off the bottom line initially but has the long term opportunity to increase sales and customer satisfaction.

I wish I had a time machine, I would have loved to sit in the florist discussion group (sadly no internet chat boards in those days)40 years ago that focussed on the increasing demand by consumers to pay by credit card rather than cash.

There would be a group of us making the logical arguments that

- No more phone orders where you didn't get paid
- Less risk of internal theft
- Consumers using credit cards tended to have a higher average spend
- No more mailing statement and making collection calls
- A huge reduction on bad receivables
- Being the first florist on the block accepting credit cards would lead to
more consumers choosing you over competitors
- Everyday more customers were expecting retailers to accept credit
cards

On the other side of the table we would have the opposing group

- Customers prefer to spend cash
- Nobody else is doing this
- Who will pay for the service charges
- My customers never ask and don't like credit cards


Now lets use my time machine and jump ahead three decades or so to say 1997

We have the same two groups but the discussion topic has changed. The topis is "Florists need to develop internet sites."

Back in my time machine and ahead 12 years to todays date, same two groups and the topic is (you guessed it) "Delivery Confirmation

 

[Mikey the Flower Guy]

One more important point:

When FedEx or UPS delivers a box of flowers, they are paid without requiring a signature from the recipient. Everybody here knows the packages are left on doorsteps no matter the weather. Efficiency overrides quality assurance.

Wrong address provided by the purchaser? Too Bad.

Wrong Funeral day or time? Too bad.

Patient already discharged from the hospital? Too bad.

When it comes to delivery, florists are paid less and required to do more already.

If you want FedEx-like service, then embrace all of it.

HOWEVER.....at least the sender "knows" that the package has arrived...that's ALL that is being "asked" of you.....
We'll get better at this.....FIRST, we gotta get away from what "used" to be...I'm just as guilty of NOT providing DCON'S all the time, BUT, also TOO, just like a few here, I'm ALL putting this action into the "mandatory" file for florists to morph into!!
By the way...WE HAVE TO GET BETTER!!..it's NOT our "choice" anymore....

 

[Seasonals]

HOWEVER By the way...WE HAVE TO GET BETTER!!..it's NOT our "choice" anymore....

I'm really surprised at the resistance of this new requirement. An amazing amount of posts in a day and over 1200 views!

In our minds and in our posts we feel we are the best in our areas. This is just another way to show , "we are". I'm ready to step it up.

 

[duanermb]

This has been a fun read.

I have a couple of points to make, and a potential solution for the delivery pools.

1. I think that in this age of technology, the dcon is a must for orders sent through a wire service. There are way too many issues with the WS system, (read on and on for weeks here on FC) and I think this is a great step forward for the industry as a whole. Sorry to say it, but let's get out of the dark ages people. Dcons are a proven method of customer communication by ALL delivery services and mail order providers throughout the world.

2. Local customers that walk in assume it will be delivered when you said it would, and have talked to you or your staff face to face. I don't think a dcon is required here, but it is great to get their email and market to them under the guise of a dcon if you have the technology.

3. Customers ordering from an internet site expect this these days. It has been said in many posts here. That's just the way it is. See point #1. (Thanks FSN for adding dcon to your system!)

4. Doug made a very good point about multiple wire services, and if that is a problem, you will have to deal with it. (This IMO is the root cause of all the wire service issues in my opinion, although very few will admit it here)

5. We use a floral delivery service, not a pool, but have somewhat the same issue with this as the pool people. Our orders go to a central staging area, where they are distributed city wide 2 times per day. To make a mole-hill out of a mountain on this one, why not suggest only non-delviery confirmations from the pool for the day. You could have this information by 7 or 8PM, and send out all confirmations in the morning. How many orders actually don't get delivered the same day they go out anyway?

D

 

[avenuegardensflorist]

....waste of fillers time and paper. Pay the filler for this
service and I vote for it.

 

[prestonway]

One more important point:

When FedEx or UPS delivers a box of flowers, they are paid without requiring a signature from the recipient. Everybody here knows the packages are left on doorsteps no matter the weather. Efficiency overrides quality assurance.

Wrong address provided by the purchaser? Too Bad.

Wrong Funeral day or time? Too bad.

Patient already discharged from the hospital? Too bad.

When it comes to delivery, florists are paid less and required to do more already.

If you want FedEx-like service, then embrace all of it.

This raises a point that has been bothering me for a few years now.

As florists, we charge a nominal delivery fee, usually between $7.00 & $15.00 for same day delivery.

For chits & giggles, I went to the FedEx site for shipping a 1 lb package from Victoria Canada to Edmonton Canada (Doug's city).

For delivery in three business days it's $11.57.

For delivery before 9:00 am tomorrow the cost is $41.95.

If we are truly supplying a superior level of delivery service, with hand delivery, phone calls to make sure someone is home, pictures of the arrangement, DelCons, ad nauseum...

...then why the *ell as an industry are we not charging a reasonable amount for this service?

If everyone were to receive $15.00 to $25.00 per delivery...

...would we even be discussing this issue????

 

[Joe Mioux]

PW, finally we are in agreement. If the customer wants the service, they need to pay for the premium services.

joe

 

[duanermb]

PW, finally we are in agreement. If the customer wants the service, they need to pay for the premium services.

joe

Or go to a different shop that offers it as part of their free premium customer service plan.

 

[RWK]

I suggested something similar, but I think it got lost in the shuffle. There is a delivery pool operating in Columbia, SC. The method for Delivery confirmations is handled in this manner.

Each day, florists meet at a specified time to exchange deliveries. Each driver makes a list of what he or she is given from the other florists.......then each driver goes back to their own shop to divide the deliveries, pick up more, or go on to deliver.....

All you would have to do is get the drivers to mark down the time that the delivery was made........they can do that when it is signed for ( providing you get recipient signatures ) - How long does it take to look at a watch and notate the time?

then the driver photocopies the list from each florist - gives the lists back to them the next day.....and then the originating shop gets that copy and can send out the dcons as they need to , want to, or whatever.

Shops that utilize delivery pools DO have unique concerns that not all shops face.

I HOPE THIS HELPS IN SOME WAY TO ADDRESS THOSE PROBLEMS TO THOSE SHOPS.

 

[duanermb]

I suggested something similar, but I think it got lost in the shuffle. There is a delivery pool operating in Columbia, SC. The method for Delivery confirmations is handled in this manner.

Each day, florists meet at a specified time to exchange deliveries. Each driver makes a list of what he or she is given from the other florists.......then each driver goes back to their own shop to divide the deliveries, pick up more, or go on to deliver.....

All you would have to do is get the drivers to mark down the time that the delivery was made........they can do that when it is signed for ( providing you get recipient signatures ) - How long does it take to look at a watch and notate the time?

then the driver photocopies the list from each florist - gives the lists back to them the next day.....and then the originating shop gets that copy and can send out the dcons as they need to , want to, or whatever.

Shops that utilize delivery pools DO have unique concerns that not all shops face.

I HOPE THIS HELPS IN SOME WAY TO ADDRESS THOSE PROBLEMS TO THOSE SHOPS.

To simplify this even further, why does the exact time of delivery need to be input. Who really cares, as long as it got there.

They may or may not know it was delivered already when they get the confirmation the next day, but at least it is a first step in the right direction, rather than throwing up roadblocks to the system.

 

[Doug Munro]

This raises a point that has been bothering me for a few years now.

As florists, we charge a nominal delivery fee, usually between $7.00 & $15.00 for same day delivery.

For chits & giggles, I went to the FedEx site for shipping a 1 lb package from Victoria Canada to Edmonton Canada (Doug's city).

For delivery in three business days it's $11.57.

For delivery before 9:00 am tomorrow the cost is $41.95.

If we are truly supplying a superior level of delivery service, with hand delivery, phone calls to make sure someone is home, pictures of the arrangement, DelCons, ad nauseum...

...then why the *ell as an industry are we not charging a reasonable amount for this service?

If everyone were to receive $15.00 to $25.00 per delivery...

...would we even be discussing this issue????

First off, Fedex physically takes charge of the package in Victoria, then physically moves it the 1200 Km or so to Edmonton, then physically delivers it to the recipient. All the time using their own equipment or buying space.

On a wire order there are no such requirements, the sending florist gets well paid for the amount of effort they invest in taking the order and have virtually no costs attached to it (minimal labour, no inventory). The receiving florist is simply making another local delivery, with any luck one of many that day. Their actual delivery costs are in theory no more or less on a wire order than on any other order.