Watch your descriptions on a wire out order

[Lady Biker Florist]

Case in point - an order for today came through EXACTLY as follows:

1st Choice Description: Rectangular basket with a handle with lots of babies breath to cover the handle and bright beautiful flowers.

I called the sending florist and this is EXACTLY what she MEANT: A wicker basket rectangular in shape preferred, but round is acceptable with a handle. DEFINITELY NOT A FUNERAL ARRANGEMENT, but an all-around large table arrangement filled with lots and lots of baby's breath. Flower filled to value but to be very vibrant in color. Showy as possible so fill with less expensive flowers. Handle of wicker basket to be covered as part of the arrangement and not sticking up above the flowers.

Just a reminder to those that read this board that do a lot of the sending - BE SPECIFIC in explantion when it is called for.

Mind reading is not a job requirement but maybe it should be. Man oh man!

 

[carol]

This is exactly why I like to sell from the FTd picture book.. or a website picture..to be sure the filling florist has a clue as to what the sender expects to be delivered..
One of the reasons people like the direct ship of the OG;s is they anc see what they get.. well at least the flowers are the same.. and everyday it is getting closer to the picture. They are winning because so many florists are into this designer;s choice fantasy.. like floral designers are masterpiece painters at $45.00.. just not so.. and what is considered wonderful in Calif. is not appreciated here..just like Calif. doesn't like the country baskets so popular in NH..
IMHO we florists will continue to lose until we smarten up and show the sender what the recipient will really get.

 

[Lady Biker Florist]

Yes, and to add to it - I had an idea in my head what it would (should) look like and then I saw the finished product after my mom made it and what is vibrant to her is not what I call vibrant. What she called covering the handle is a little less than what I would have done. I am beginning to see the wisdom in using pictures Carol. I know a lot of people on this board these days are way gaga about designer creativity and uniqueness and that may be good for them, but we know this business is not a one size fits all.

 

[theRKF]

This is why I feel the onus is always on the sending shop to not only sell for a fair price, but to give both the customer and the filling florist a reasonable expectation of what will be delivered.

Since we sell a lot of our unique-to-us designs, we always include a detailed description, a web link to the image, and encourage shops to contact us if they have further questions. If the florist is unable to decipher what our customer wants and the customer is unhappy the fault lies with us, not the filler.

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Admin note: Please, let's not turn this thread into a discussion on WS vs no WS.
1) This topic is about procedure for orders being sent from shop to shop. We're addressing how to do it, not wether or not to do it.
2) If you feel it's better to have your customer call direct, that's fine, but it's outside the scope of this thread. Please respect that.
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Ryan

 

[carol]

This is why I feel the onus is always on the sending shop to not only sell for a fair price, but to give both the customer and the filling florist a reasonable expectation of what will be delivered.

Since we sell a lot of our unique-to-us designs, we always include a detailed description, a web link to the image, and encourage shops to contact us if they have further questions. If the florist is unable to decipher what our customer wants and the customer is unhappy the fault lies with us, not the filler.


Ryan

I agree... in my mind this is what the 20% commission is for..taking the order and passing it along so the filling florist knows what is expected. If the sender can not communicate this than they do not deserve the 20%. Unfortunately as it is set up right now the onus is on the filling florist.. and this should not be.. which is why we 'pass along' dubious orders.. if the florist can't make sense then we have very little hope of meeting the customers expectations..since we haven't a clue what they are. and when I hear..oh just make it a little smaller.. she won't care.. I run for the hills because that sounds more like..'she will never see it and will never know"