This is a prime example...

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L

Luc

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Nov 1, 2002
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Elliot Lake
www.a1florists.com
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Ontario
that some people DON"T KNOW the DIFFERENCE between flowers in a flowers shop and grocery store.
Had a customer called, wanted a arr to include delivery for $20.00 total. Sold her on cut flowers wrap, which she picked up instead of delivery so she can have aliilte bit more to give.
Well she came in when I wasnt there and called me to complain that the flowers she received was not enough for the price.
I gave her 1 daisies, 1 lilies, 2 carns, 1 chincher, 1 alstro, a liatris.
FOr me that would be $18 + tax = $20.70

She complained it was not enough for the price. I asked her what she expected for the price. SHe then mention IGA, she can get more for $7.99 I tried to explain what she is getting from me but she didnt want to hear it. Another displease customer who doesnt give us the chance to explain. Tried to tell her our price but wouldnt hear about it.
This is a good example why we should NOT deal with IGA< SOBEYS and other grocery stores.
Luc
 
Can't beat a grocery store mentality Luc...even with a really big, mean stick. :rolleyes: I get those people here as well...there is an A & P a block away from here
 
the $20 flower arrangement people have a grocery store mentality. If I get an order like that, I tell them up front what they are going to get for their $20. I have been known to suggest that they go to the grocery store to get their flowers.
We don't have to be all things to all people to be successful florists. Somewhere along the line we have decided that we should fill ALL floral needs. It just ain't so.
I personally do not feel that the mass merchants and groceries are competition because I do not believe that those are our customers. I am more than happy to sell a customer $20 worth of flowers, but like I say, I am not trying to compete with the grocery. Interesting thing, if you look at the stems that are actually in those grocery bq's they really aqre not getting that good of a deal.
 
Aren't we totally missing the quality issue here? Rather than focus on the number of stems, one would think that our refrigerated storage would double the life in comparison to a grocery store bo-k stored at room temperature.

I actually have competition across the street that is a member of both Teleflora & FTD. This morning they had a number of bo-k pails outside their door, apparently competing with the grocery store next door. They actually had one pail with $39.99 bouquets. Did she forget it was minus 3 degrees this morning, windy, next to a parking lot with idling cars blowing ethylene on the bouquets...OR DID SHE CARE?

If we're going to treat flowers like a commodity with no discernible quality difference, then price wins & WE LOSE!
 
Sounds like you had a good qty of flowers for the $18.00 + taxes Luc. But as others before me as said, you can't win with the IGA/Sobey mindset crowd. In addition they are getting excellent qty flowers and professional floral service unlike the stupid supermarket. Plus she should be lucky your town has such a professional as yourself. I think it's the full of the moon or something with some people the last few days.
 
There was a time when no one bought flowers at a supermarket. Now, alot of people do. I suspect the customer came to you looking for something she felt she couldn't get from the supermarket.

Somewhere along the process of handling this order, figuring out what the customers desires were, wasn't addressed sufficently enough to advoid the complain.

For all the talk about being professional in our business, and providing the services that make us stand out from the compitition. Seems to get overlooked on the small dollar volume sale. We will always shoot ourselfs in the foot if we forget the simple fact that those who come to us expect the same level of service be the sale 20$ or 200$.

Salesmanship is salesmanship is salesmanship.

If not, then the consumer will only continus to shift their buying to other outlets, And the % of flower sales in traditional flower shops will continue to drop.

In the end, all these complaints are our own fault. No matter how right we think we are.
 
A baker once told me, you can put all the icing on a cake you want, and make it taste like junk inside but they will buy it if it looks good on the outside. It's not right to do that, but non the less, it happens in the bake shop business's.

On a slightly different thought from outside the box's box..

Wonder if we could learn anything from the Bake shop business' that Moms and Pops had, as we all know once upon a time, a Mom and Pop had a Bakery, and then before long, everyone was selling their stuff like the **** supermarket, some specialized in some things and added coffee etc.

THoughts ideas?
 
prestonway, Not all grocery store floral depts sell poor quality flowers. they don't sell the design, but they can and do sell the quality in freshness that a real florist sells. There are two grocery stores in my service area that have very good floral depts. The have good florist quality coolers etc. The big difference is that they sell the pre made wrapped bucket bouquets for $9.99. they do not do the custom work and the made to order stuff. One of those stores is directly across the street from me. I can look out the window of my shop and see the customers buying flowers in that floral dept.
I don't try to compete with them. I just figured out my YTD business today and I am up 37.6% . I was talking with the manager of the floral dept over there and she is concerned that they may close the dept because her sales are way down.

Being cheap is not always the answer and you can not please 100% of the customers 100% of the time.

As to Peters post, I believe that if you put out a superior product with each and every sale that goes out the door, that in the end will be what builds your business. Wow your customers, get them talking about your product and how exceptional it is, but not how cheap it is. That in the end will kill you if you get the rep of being cheap.
 
Luc.....DO NOT BROOD...

over this customer!!
By the way, there IS a full moon tonight, and you're GONNA have customers like this, we ALL do!!
Turn the tide on them....tell them to BRING the flowers BACK, give them their money back LESS the delivery!! tell her/him, next time they want DELIVERED QUALITY FLOWERS, come to YOU, and when they want to PICK THEM..go to the GROCERY STORE!!
I've chased people out of my store for "insulting" our ability and knowledge!!
You have no control over these nuts...
Mike
 
Knife...Dale Carnegie taught me many things...not the least of which is to know when to let go. I am an excellent sales person. I know my customer and know how to "upsell" (stupid term). I also know that the grocery store, or Wal Mart or Canadian Tire person is NOT my customer and not likely ever will be. They don't care about the quality...their bottom line is always the price (so they tell me). They want the 3.99 bouquet with slimey stems. They thrill over the 199.00 wedding packages. They extoll the virtues of being able to dicker and bargain and get stuff "at a steal." I am always respectful with all who enter here...I don't worry anymore about the ones who want something for nothing...nope, not anymore...life is too **** short.
 
Luc, just so you will know. In my twelve years this has hapenned at least 20 times. Or something similiar. I few times I know that it was another florist in town just trying to aggravate us. They place an order over the net or phone, then call and complain, we replace it then they bombard the comment section on our website or email us with "You suck, we will never use you again, ABC florist is better, etc.
Just yesterday (or the day before) I had a call, they wanted to send something for an illness: "what can I get for $15?" I just told her not much and that was the end of it. Honesty saved me some trouble I am sure on that one.
 
victoria... then I assume you went through the motions, in that Dale Carnigie way, that the consumer wasn't going to get their 20$ worth as" they" precieve it. But I also doubt that you would not try to get them to precieve something else you offer as being worth 20$ . Being the point I was getting at.

I don't see where your the type of person to use Dales principles in reverse. I'm only suggesting that, at times, people do ,as they do, as a result of what the consumer seems willing to spend. With Dales "help" we can usually convince them that 25$ is a more worthy expression of their feelings wouldn't you say?

It's not how we chase the cheapo out. It's more, how we make them feel like comming back, when their not feeling so cheap.
 
Actually my point was, I now know when to let go...I don't stew and worry anymore about the person who wants something for nothing. That isn't to say I don't try to show them that quality generally is much better than quantity. If they don't get that, then I am happy to send them on their merry way...to Can Tire, WalMart, Forest of Flowers or the girl sitting outside the LCBO on Friday night selling roses for 6.00 and carns for 4.00. (in the freezing cold, I might add.)
 
Luc,
As others have said, don't let that person ruin your day! My shop was next door to an IGA for 17 years! You wouldn't believe the idiots we had to deal with. Some would buy their $9.99 roses at IGA then come in to our store asking for water tubes. OR they bought a $4.95 poinsettia down there and wanted us to give them some foil and a bow for it. And of course, periodically there were the complaints about our prices compared to theirs. We would pleasantly explain that ours would last longer, and the roses from our shop didn't have thorns. One guy bickered with our sales girl about our prices, then stormed out to the IGA, and marched by our front windows with his cheap bouquet held high. We just laughed it off, knowing those posies would be deader than a doornail in a few days. We didn't need a customer like him.

Here's some proof of the worth of a real florist: At one point, the grocery store changed hands and was remodeled, during which (a year and a half time) it was closed. Guess what? Our business actually slowed down. There was less foot traffic in the plaza. This proved to us that when the grocery store was busy, people weren't actually buying flowers there, they were getting their groceries then coming in to the florist shop next door. There are always going to be those few who will pick
up a bokay atIGA, but the people with the most disposable income will seek out the quality and service provided at the real florist.
 
Well said Christine. :)
 
I should have said that when the owner from the IGA needs flowers they call on me, and they do even if they have some in their store. Just that alone, means something.
Luc
 
Originally posted by Luc
I should have said that when the owner from the IGA needs flowers they call on me, and they do even if they have some in their store. Just that alone, means something.
Luc
Click to expand...

Luc, you reminded me that the owner of our IGA always ordered flowers from us! A big spender too, dozens of long stem red roses for all his girlfriends and sometimes his wife. It does say something, that grocery store flowers were not good enough for his money or image.

Remember too, that the grocery stores don't make any money on things such as flowers-- it is a "convenience" item that they offer simply to keep people in their store longer. That's why they don't care about the quality of the product or whether customers continue to buy flowers there. In the end, they throw out more stock than they sell (I know, having witnessed IGA filling their dumpster!):spin
 
Originally posted by Christine
Remember too, that the grocery stores don't make any money on things such as flowers-- it is a "convenience" item that they offer simply to keep people in their store longer. That's why they don't care about the quality of the product or whether customers continue to buy flowers there. In the end, they throw out more stock than they sell (I know, having witnessed IGA filling their dumpster!):spin
Click to expand...

Not true ... the reason they can throw out so much is because the markup on flowers is so much higher than the staples they sell. I heard from one supermarket that the profit on one rose = sale of 8 loaves of bread. Little additional overhead, since they already have the store space and minimum wage staff. Even if they only sell half of what they buy they are doing well.
 
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