Wire Service Free?

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lil_goldie

lil_goldie

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Apr 15, 2009
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Chatham, Ontario, Canada
www.pizazzfloralsandballoons.com
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Mark: I know you will pick this up in about two minutes!
I've read the pros and cons and many many opinions of going wire service free.....
We are TF and our website is TF. There are only two TF shops in our city. We get most of the orders for Chatham because only we have an extended listing (I know that I always pick a shop with an extended listing when I send) and we are also affiliated with Flowers by Sears. People always come to us for the Christmas Kinkade house. We're known for it in town. As the only ones who carry it, we get a lot of repeat business. We get a discount on merchandise and I do love their cube vases. I can't seem to get the coloured cube vases anywhere else. Their product is expensive, but we build it into the cost.
Even though they take 27%, I would assume (I know I know...assume) that we get some new customers just from the amount of wire ins we do.
Our website is well known already and I've done a tiny bit of work to make it a little different than all the others you see......
I know there are benefits to going wire service free.


But what do you do when you need to send something out?
Call in with your own visa? We are a busy busy shop and I love just going to the dove directory and looking up a delivery charge without having to find a florist in the yellowpages and check out their delivery charges, etc.
Thoughts?
 
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Many of these questions are ones I've struggled with. I am in the process of getting a new e-site so I can cancel TF hosting. Once I get good at my new POS and the site is up and running with my own images, I will start calling florists directly or trying Direct2florist to see how that goes. The POS will help me keep records of florists plus it's easy enough to go to Teleflora.com find a florist, and call them up. You don't have to be a member to use that resource. But, it will take some work initially which is why I am taking some time to get things in order before I take the final step of being wire free.You have some compelling reasons for sticking with TF, so only you can decide what is best for your business.When I make the leap I will keep you posted. Definately a bit nerve wracking, but for me, the right decision.
 
Thanks Helen!
I always appreciate the advice of my FC friends.
Just that Kinkade house is the stickler
POS isn't an issue for us. I would never get into bed with a WS on that one
Floristware all the way (Thanks, Mark)
I'd Appreciate an update
Thanks!
 
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Lil Goldie - You need to sit down with CHR's Wire service Calculator form.....think it is on FC somewhere for download......and determine for yourself if being a member of Teleflora is profitable for you.

However, there is only one aspect of wire service that is still relevant in today's marketplace and business environment IMO. That is the infrastructure to handle sending and recieving of INTERNATIONAL floral orders. Language barriers, currency conversion, country specific holidays, and the like are more easily handled with a wire service.

Whether you stay with Teleflora or become Wire Free is a decision you have to make only after you have sat down and crunched the numbers to see if WS affliation is profitable or not.
 
all that is "written" about being in or out of a wire service is ALWAYS pre-empted with "DO YOU NEED IT"??
Though it seems "obvious" that many, or most of the florists here on FlowerChat "advocate" firing of the dinosaur wire service model, there ARE shops who thrive on selling $1000.00 weddings, getting paid "only" $730.00 (by choice)less expenses ( just an example), and are happy to do so !!
If you are one of those shops, who's mantra is to be BUSY, there is NO evil in that result, and we leave it alone.
Think long and hard, about how busy you are, AND, how much of that "busy" is making 100% dollars for your shop, and how much of that busy is making 73%(less expenses) for your shop, and determine it quickly.
No more than 10% (preferably less) of your shop income, should be derived from wire activity, and IF you DON'T know why, there is thread after thread after thread, of pros and cons.....
Good luck...do some research in the FlowerChat library
 
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If it works for you and you see the benefits, you should not quit.

These kinds of decisions should be based on sound business reasoning, not emotion.

Do what's right for your business. WSs work well for some and not so well for others. Only you know how they work (or don't) for you. :)
 
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lil_goldie said:
Mark: I know you will pick this up in about two minutes!
Click to expand...

No, Mark won't come here to answer your question. Because Tigers lost today. He will be busy crying in bed for the next couple of weeks.

lil_goldie said:
But what do you do when you need to send something out? Call in with your own visa? We are a busy busy shop and I love just going to the dove directory and looking up a delivery charge without having to find a florist in the yellowpages and check out their delivery charges, etc.
Thoughts?
Click to expand...

As far as I know, most of so-called WS-free shops actually belong to mini-networks, such as FSN, BBrooks, and so on. I think they call out only when they can't find a suitable shop in these mini network.

For a shop with many outgoing orders (5 or more a day), I don't know how they can manage it without belonging to at least one of the big 3.
 
Hmmm... to answer your one question, we simply give our customer your phone number. It's the way things will be in the perhaps distant future anyway...

Flowers by Sears huh??? www.searsflowers.com and I suppose Teleflora will state that they are not members either... looks like TF images to me...

I'm formulating another thread for later today, Walmart as a wire service, from an article about Walmart and Sears "marketplace" sections on their sites...

Wonder what everyone would think if Walmart came out with a wire service model based on their "marketplace" one. $34.95 a month plus 15%.... only time will tell....
 
goldfish said:
As far as I know, most of so-called WS-free shops actually belong to mini-networks, such as FSN, BBrooks, and so on. I think they call out only when they can't find a suitable shop in these mini network.

For a shop with many outgoing orders (5 or more a day), I don't know how they can manage it without belonging to at least one of the big 3.
Click to expand...

This is true for us. Can't claim WS free, but the distinction is we pay very small yearly fees for this, rather than the larger monthly fees of the big 3. We get what we pay for on it though, which is the ability to send orders, and receive some as well. That is all we get! Keep that in mind, as I know there are many other tools provided by the big 3 for the money you pay.

We send out when we are asked to, and it amounts to one or 2 orders a month for us, though we don't really promote it. That may change.

For us right now, it is a part of the FSN package that we are using heavily.
 
Mark said:
Hmmm... to answer your one question, we simply give our customer your phone number. It's the way things will be in the perhaps distant future anyway...

Flowers by Sears huh??? www.searsflowers.com and I suppose Teleflora will state that they are not members either... looks like TF images to me...

I'm formulating another thread for later today, Walmart as a wire service, from an article about Walmart and Sears "marketplace" sections on their sites...

Wonder what everyone would think if Walmart came out with a wire service model based on their "marketplace" one. $34.95 a month plus 15%.... only time will tell....
Click to expand...

Sorry for the hijack here, but...

These guys are actually breaking the law here in Canada by advertising in all the yellowpages, and not charging sales tax on their orders. The law currently states that if you do business in the province, you must charge provincial sales tax, but their site does not. I have not been able to get anyone to seriously look into it though.
 
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We are one of the "so-called" WS free shops and no... we use no smaller network such as FSN etc. We have been COMPLETELY WS free since 2006. While using a WS for sending out may be convenient with their computer systems, how do you think florists did it before computers? They looked up a florist and called. In my case, I give my VISA number instead of my WS member number. No sweat. My POS, (Flowersoft) has a florist database built in, searchable by town/zipcode. It takes no more time to look up a florist in my POS that it does to look up a florist in the dove.

The key to being WS free is MARKETING MARKETING MARKETING. Take the money that you would normally give to TFTD800 and market your shop, brand, uniqueness, buying methods, etc. Remember, busy doesn't always mean profitable! Do you sell enough of those tacky kincrap cottages to make it worthwhile, profit-wise? I used the kinkaid excuse for 2 years and now I don't miss them at all! Especially since Kinkaid whored himself out to the masses. Glade candles, tacky wall prints available at Walmart, etc.

I admit it did take some getting used to, not being as busy in the backroom, but what we ARE busy with is 100% ours. All the cookies in the jar are ours. The whole pie! (Now I'm getting hungry)

Like so many others said, it's a business choice and only you can make it. Be informed, totally, as far as expenses and fixed costs are concerned and decide if your really NEED that pittance of profit from the WS to keep your doors open and the lights on.

Good Luck!
Tim - North Port Floral
 
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So much to consider!
For me, I FEEL like accepting orders works for us. But I think I suffer from "that's the way it's always been" syndrome....
I'm going to dig up some old stats and bills and try that calculator.
In Either instance, my mum is the owner, not me. So I have no decision making power......but I can influence I guess.
Thanks for the tips everyone
 
Here's CHR link to her WS Calculator

Only way to know if your WS either makes or costs you money is to use CHR's Wire Service Calculator.

This link will take you to Cathy's post and then, you can download her Wire Service Calculator and fill in the cells with your numbers. You must put in your last twelve months from your WS's statements along with your true costs of delivery otherwise you will not get the bottom line results of a WIN or a LOSS.

http://www.flowerchat.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4289&highlight=calculator

After that, the least expensive symbiotic relationship is with IFA.

Only $20 per month and only if you send out an F2F order. Otherwise, there is no fee for a month when you did not send out.

Initial membership fee is $40 dollars, and that's it!

http://www.myifa.org/users/signup.php

To send out, one logs into their website, selects Order Entry, and away you go.

To receive, you get your incoming via your FAX, or their operators can call those orders to your shop.

Payments are made with a Credit Card, the split is the usual 80%/20%, and you get their money in your bank account within 48 hours versus 48 days via a wire service.

It's simple and extremely cost effective for shops who are looking to $ervice their customer's needs for their out of town orders, and without paying through the nose for bells and whistles they don't need.

It isn't an option for the top 10% senders, but it is an option for the other 90% smaller mom and pop shops looking to save money in a dismal economy.
 
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Exactly Tim's point! The thing we're best at for our partners is our ability to market in a big way, which individual florists wouldn't be able to do on their own. Anything that gets cheaper/better with big volume is the true benefit of our services (CC processing, our ability to work with Google to get eFlorist sites listed in the 'local 10 pack', that kind of thing). We'd hate to lose any member, but you've got to do what's best for you as a business.

Oh, and to Mark's point earlier about Sears - I think we're quite open about having an affiliate sales relationship with Sears; just as we are about AARP, various airlines and so-on. :)
 
Mark Anderson said:
Hey Nicole,

Are you saying that Teleflora members enjoy cheaper credit card clearing rates?
Click to expand...

Mark, you need a "visa" to "enter" this thread!! <wink,wink>
 
oldtownflowers said:
I have sent out international through a website to a florist in germany just like someone would go to my site for here it was just as smooth and turned out great.
Click to expand...
Ditto here. For lower priced orders (Under $125) to Europe and most of Asia, you can usually find good prices and more realistic images on local florist sites. Better idea of what will be delivered than ever going through a US based WS.

We use BBrooks for our premium international orders and the responses from customers has been absolutely terrific. In this case, relationships really matter.

Did you know you can also send international orders through Direct2Florist.com?
 
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