The big question....

S

Smalltowner

New Member
Sep 16, 2011
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Wisconsin
This is the big question that has been keeping me up at night....
Will my bottom line be better or worse if I drop my wire service?!?

My website and merchant services are both thru FTD...but I am not afraid to do it without them.
I have already tweeked my fees as much as I can. The pencil has been sharpened.
I have already stopped buying codified product to keep the bills as low as possible.
My husband thinks they are a security blanket for me. He may be right.
In this era of globalization, internet & debit cards...do we need them??
Or am I just frustrated from a long summer of having to buy product to fill their orders and still owe them so much money?

Has anybody quit and regretted it?
Or has been liberating and money saving?

Please help. I need sleep :) LOL
Thanks alot...any feedback greatly appreciated!!!
 
We are in the same position--looking to terminate by December (I made a resolution)
Started new Web Site--by I love my Dove POS!!
 
here's 3 questions........
1) IF you "remove" the costs of the containers, do you owe them, or do they owe you??
2) How many ASB listings do you have??
3) How big is your town?? (population & area??)
 
1. We generally have to fill approx $600-700 retail value of orders to break even (of course that does include the website & merchant fees & 1 or 2 wire-outs per month).
2. Currently, we also service 9 other cities (small towns) due to the rural nature of our location, some of which have funeral homes & no florist. (This is expensive.)
3. The population of our city is 5,000. Our storefront is right downtown...good location w/ decent walk-ins.
 
well how many do you send out?

can you do the outs on a credit card?

do you really need the in's to move product or can you adjust to buying less.

ARE you making any money off them each month?

I had teleflora when I bought the shop 3 1/2 yrs ago. I dropped it after 6 months.
I was with out any wire service for a year, just used the shop credit card to call out orders.
ran into a problem with overseas sending so I have The flower shop network for that.

BUT i'm wire free for the most part.

We are in a small town of 6-7000 people.
My dh was convinced we needed a wire service until I broke down the numbers.. that the monthly bill was X we had so many orders in totaling profit is ZERO infact it was costing us money.

edit to add the Florist for Change link for you... http://www.floristsforchange.com/
 
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There are websites, CC proccessing, and POS systems that you will love more once you try them.

If you are the only florist that services an area then you would be much better off dropping all wire services and marketing yourself to get 100% of those orders.

If there is another shop servicing your area then you would be much better off dropping all wire services and spending your energy and money on marketing while the other shop stays busy (and barely afloat) filling all those orders at a 30-60% discount.

If you are not going to market then keep doing what you are doing. They will keep you busy.
 
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all the above advice is sound, so,
IMMEDIATELY...DON'T HESITATE ONE MINUTE.....
1)REMOVE all ASB listings EXCEPT the ONE that gets you the most orders (eg F.H.)
2)NEGOTIATE a TOTAL "SMALL TOWN" membership, often you WILL GET a $69.95 full service package, including Merc Direct, AND membership inclusive
3)IF you do not get what you want, IMMEDIATELY QUIT...you'll be still in the book until after Christmas.
4)Wait for "the call" especially if you are THE ONLY ONE in your area!!
Let us know how it goes..don't be "afraid".......just do it!!
 
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Tammy,

So you say your pencil is sharpened. You should have some good data to look at, I think you said you've had your shop for several years now?

Follow the link Melissa gave you, floristsforchange.com. That is a website you need to follow, also a facebook page.

I digress. Once you get to the website, click on "Important Links" . Then click on "At A Glance WS Calculator"

There is also one on flowerchat that CHR uploaded that you can download ~ http://www.flowerchat.com/forums/downloads.php?do=file&id=7

I see red flags for you because you say you owe them money each month even though you only send a couple of wire-outs. Are you buying fresh product from them? Usually if you owe money to them, it means you are making money but certainly not on one or two out-going.

I can tell you that I belonged to bloomnet for less than two years. It quickly became apparent that I indeed was losing money with them, literally paying them besides making and delivering their orders. I would have been better off financially to just take a hundred dollars and throw it in the trash. When I experienced a holiday without them, it was like a dream. No messages coming through, no weird crap that I had to try sourcing, no og's with their cheap little $30 orders and gotta be there by 1:00 crap. I was able to completely and sanely serve my own local customers and stock the flowers my local customers want.

For me, my sales didn't change. I was only fulfilling an average of $1500 retail, that was easily picked up with better service to locals by a saner me. My COGS however decreased which means more money left over for me.

Do the math, nobody else can tell you what to do, only share with you their own experiences. It was a much easier decision for me because I'd spent 10 of my time in business without a wire service, so I already knew I could make it just fine without. I needed to find out that I was working harder and making LESS but most importantly, I was apparently neglecting my local customers and that is the real tragedy.

I hope this helps you make the right decision for your shop.
 
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I left a relay company over here over a couple of years ago. I send using my credit card and use eflorist for overseas. My COGS went down even though turnover was up and because I have a good website with online ordering I do better from this than I did in a WS and it costs me less than being in a WS. WS don't always bring you in new customers as you may not be giving 100% if margins are tight or you are having to stock expensive items that you struggle to use. It is scary but if you aren't covering your costs to do the work for them and not making any profit, I can see how you can loose. Good website that is very visible on the internet and decent marketing to those towns you serve is going to give you a better presence than being in a WS. You will be able to save large amounts of money by going it alone rather than been spoon feed by the WS and become the florists you really want to be - Profitable.
 
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Here's my 2 cents:

I just dropped Fee'd To Death......after 29 years. There are profitable sales within the WS structure, but they are "diminishing" below the point where fees versus order value, versus marketing capability are on equal footing. Even with a good marketing plan in place the orders for the above are "repeat" discounted orders and the data supports that. Now the funeral work through them is discounted and all but one of mine are on board. We have decided to keep the other for now and the only reason, right now 60% of their recipients live in affluent areas, so our chances of growing with them is much better than the other. We send heavy out and we now have many more choices.

We had everything with them like you, switched everything to independent ( no contracts at all web, cc, etc.) We've added 2K a year back into our pockets from CC fees, and our website has gone from 10 orders a month to 40 per. month through August first................

Downside, yes, one. The containers that some of them have for various times of the year are "national advertised" so you do have about 20 -30% of those buyers I call "sheep" buyers, they are lead to slaughter by adds. They call of wlakin with the ad and our approach now will be, we have the "Rick's Lavender Charm Vase" a product that we have bought and put a profitable design in and sell for us..........It will hurt us a little, not worth the tradeoff in fees.


You've gone to the wizard (us) you now have courage, don't hesitate.....................


Make your decisions based on facts, not emotion. If a vendor is not performing for you, however, then take them out, not down to new levels. They are trying there best for me to stay, offering many things. I told them the only was I would stay is as a free member, I'm doing you the service. They declined............
 
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bootcampguy said:
Here's my 2 cents:
I told them the only was I would stay is as a free member, I'm doing you the service. They declined............
Click to expand...

I like it, sorry it didn't work out for you.:)
 
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It is your sandbox! They have to abide by YOUR rules or they are out.
I am teleflora. We work good together. Several years back I looked at my overall cost on things and the wire service was one of them. I decided to keep TF over FTD. At that point if they wanted to send orders my way I would only accept with a credit card. Then the other smaller shop in town became both a member of FTD and TF. I knew it wouldnt last long and about a year she dropped Tf and became FTD. I stopped filling for FTD about 3 years ago. THey were only using me when the other smaller shop couldnt fill their orders. I also say NO to under valued orders and on the codified products. I always check the recipe and calculate MY PRICE. If they want something it's either match MY price or Sorry I can't fill it for you.

As far as my relationship with TF, Everytime there was an increased somewhere I cut some where else. I cut all my ASB since they where not profitable. They have ways to find you anyways. Negotiate your membership. If you would be the only florists that is FTD in your area, drop them and let them phone the orders to you with their credit card and get money now instead of waiting next month billing cycle to get money. If you are not the only florist in your area, look at the potential amount of orders that would go to the other florist and see if it is worth staing or giving them those orders. Sometime giving the edge to the other florist is not good unless you are well established. Many side of the coin to look at but you have to make the decision that is good for you and your sandbox, not mine or Mikey or all other Tom Dick and Harriette in another town.
P.S. Years ago when I told Mikey what I was going to do, he thought I lost my rocker. Today he sees things way differently with me. I took control of my sand box and many more florists are doing that these days!
 
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Luc said:
P.S. Years ago when I told Mikey what I was going to do, he thought I lost my rocker. Today he sees things way differently with me. I took control of my sand box and many more florists are doing that these days!
Click to expand...

you DID lose your rocker...we're STILL looking for it!
Decisions MUST be made based on your geographical area, and the number of "competitors" you have!
 
It is your sandbox! They have to abide by YOUR rules or they are out.
I am teleflora. We work good together. Several years back I looked at my overall cost on things and the wire service was one of them. I decided to keep TF over FTD. At that point if they wanted to send orders my way I would only accept with a credit card. Then the other smaller shop in town became both a member of FTD and TF. I knew it wouldnt last long and about a year she dropped Tf and became FTD. I stopped filling for FTD about 3 years ago. THey were only using me when the other smaller shop couldnt fill their orders. I also say NO to under valued orders and on the codified products. I always check the recipe and calculate MY PRICE. If they want something it's either match MY price or Sorry I can't fill it for you.

As far as my relationship with TF, Everytime there was an increased somewhere I cut some where else. I cut all my ASB since they where not profitable. They have ways to find you anyways. Negotiate your membership. If you would be the only florists that is FTD in your area, drop them and let them phone the orders to you with their credit card and get money now instead of waiting next month billing cycle to get money. If you are not the only florist in your area, look at the potential amount of orders that would go to the other florist and see if it is worth staing or giving them those orders. Sometime giving the edge to the other florist is not good unless you are well established. Many side of the coin to look at but you have to make the decision that is good for you and your sandbox, not mine or Mikey or all other Tom Dick and Harriette in another town.
P.S. Years ago when I told Mikey what I was going to do, he thought I lost my rocker. Today he sees things way differently with me. I took control of my sand box and many more florists are doing that these days!
 
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Mikey the Flower Guy said:
you DID lose your rocker...we're STILL looking for it!
Decisions MUST be made based on your geographical area, and the number of "competitors" you have!
Click to expand...

THem are fighting words!!!!!!!!!
Like I said she is the only one that can make that final decision because there is so many variables to take in account.
 
:loopy
We are wire service free and have been for four years now. We don't get many incoming orders anymore from florists but have given business cards to not only our customers but recipients of orders so that they can let their friends and relatives know who to call direct. All business we have now is more profitable and we can do things to market ourselves in the community. If we had stayed in the wire services I think the current fee structure would have put us under. When we phone out orders we use a credit card.
 
:loopy
We are wire service free and have been for four years now. We don't get many incoming orders anymore from florists but have given business cards to not only our customers but recipients of orders so that they can let their friends and relatives know who to call direct. All business we have now is more profitable and we can do things to market ourselves in the community. If we had stayed in the wire services I think the current fee structure would have put us under. When we phone out orders we use a credit card.
 
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