We currently are in a small town and do not offer wire service and the next town 15 miles away does but does not del. to our town so basically we are the only florist in our area. When we get a customer that comes and wants flowers sent out of state or in state, we normally just call the florist in the town where they are going to be sent and ask if they will accept our order. We also ask If they do an 80/20 spilt , since we have been in business over 2 years this has worked great except with a couple of florists not doing the spilt. Whats your thoughts on this. Would you rather work with a non wire florist vs wire service company/florist?
Wire Services vs. Dealing with Florist Directly
- Thread starter backwoodsflowersnmore
- Start date
cobblestone
New Member
I love working florist to florist and we always give a 20% discount to florists that call. We also like Flower Shop Network which basically is a link to us on their website (we keep 100% of those orders) and there is an 80/20 split if you go florist to florist via their site. No special containers to buy, etc., but it's something like $200/year to join.
anytimeflowers
Linda
Personally, I prefer to go directly to a florist, simply because I feel slightly better about talking to someone personally. I feel it may give the recieving florist a little more feeling of the humanity behind the order. I'm guilty, especially when I used to try to fill orders for bloomstoday, an og.
Besides Flower Shop Network, there is anothe site called Locate a Flower Shop. This site will tell you which shops participate in a split, and what that split is.
Besides Flower Shop Network, there is anothe site called Locate a Flower Shop. This site will tell you which shops participate in a split, and what that split is.
Flower SHop Network
Does it really pay to use Flower Shop Network? I seen the site and looks really great. How does it work? Can I use it to wire out to other florists? Does it cost me to wire out or is that included in the $299 , Anyone that using it can you tell me more about it.
Backwoods Flowers N More
400 Main Street
PO Box 165
Fairview WV 26570
(304) 449-1400 Store
"Flowers are a gift from God, Treasure them forever."
Does it really pay to use Flower Shop Network? I seen the site and looks really great. How does it work? Can I use it to wire out to other florists? Does it cost me to wire out or is that included in the $299 , Anyone that using it can you tell me more about it.
Backwoods Flowers N More
400 Main Street
PO Box 165
Fairview WV 26570
(304) 449-1400 Store
"Flowers are a gift from God, Treasure them forever."
I am recently free of wire services (yay!) and I now use FSN to send out orders for my customers or I will call a florist direct if I have a favorite in the area. There is a $3.99 fee per order when sending through FSN so unless you have Floristware as we do, it may not be worth it. Our FW /POS is integrated so it takes no effort to send and since we are a big sending shop, it's worth it to me for the time savings. If calling direct has worked for you then you should probably save the money. Unless maybe you need a web site, which they seem to do a decent job with. I do not have one of their web sites.
anytimeflowers
Linda
http://www.flowerchat.com/forums/sh...er-Shop-Network?highlight=flower+shop+network
Follow this link, it should take you to a recent thread on this forum, you can read all about it.
Follow this link, it should take you to a recent thread on this forum, you can read all about it.
Rhonda
Well-Known Member
Personally, I have paid for Locate a Flower Shop - not worth the money.....
FSN, I haven't used but I will say that...... I am a member of a WS but still call out lots of orders direct. I give 100% as I charge a $6.95 for the service. I ask incoming callers if they have charged their customer a "service charge"..... if they have, I expect 100%, they should have made their % with their SC. Call it "paying it forward" and hope to get a 100% order filled.
FSN, I haven't used but I will say that...... I am a member of a WS but still call out lots of orders direct. I give 100% as I charge a $6.95 for the service. I ask incoming callers if they have charged their customer a "service charge"..... if they have, I expect 100%, they should have made their % with their SC. Call it "paying it forward" and hope to get a 100% order filled.
Johan
New Member
- Oct 20, 2008
- 854
- 764
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- State / Prov
- West Yorkshire
Don't you think you should give 100% of the order value to the executing florist and charge your customer a service charge to cover the cost and make some money. If you are upfront with this cost I would prefer to do this and no that the florist at the other end has the full amount to work with. Especially with the economy as it is. Every bit of money is vital and as we are all trying to make savings - receiving 100% is vital on lower margins. Otherwise it's neally as bad as ws. If you send loads out yes your quids in but if you execute loads it can really make your bottom line suffer. This would make it musch more transparent when dealing with each other. Some shop lets face it will only make up the order to the 80% value if thats all they receive.
TOTO
New Member
There was once a time when.................................
I have to admit there was a time (pre 1994) when we would only accept wire orders via FTDA Florists. I was stuck in the old mentality of supporting the wire service we owned, and so being FTDA ONLY! shops, our policy was to refuse F2F orders from unknown callers who purported to be other REAL FLORISTS. The exceptions were from other REAL FLORISTS who we knew personally.
Even after FTDA became FTDI, I still stuck with that old mentality and still thinking the false promises made to WEE FLORISTS from the wall street banker and their revolving CEO's, would actually come into fruition. (stupid mee)
We called it a day with INC in 2004 and joined IFA (The Independent Florist's Association)
http://www.myifa.org/about/index.php
We also rejoined Teleflora after having been away for almost 20 Years. Turned out that, their DOT.CON was no different in trying to make us jump through hoops with too many codicils, caveats, and time constraints, coupled with too little dollar amounts.
In answer to your question, we would rather deal directly with another REAL FLORIST and avoid the MIDDLEMEN at all costs. (emphasis on the word COSTS)
And, we honor the 80%/20% traditional F2F commission structure for the obvious reasons.
What continues to amaze me is when I call ahead to check if the other florist has a brain and feel them out in order to see if they are qualified to fill our order to begin with, and hit upon the: OH NO!, we don't give other REAL FLORISTS their 20% earned commissions. I make it a point to ask for the owner of the shop manager since phone clerks have absolutely no clue as to what I'm talking about and I really don't like wasting my time.
And yet, on the flip side, those same florists are more than willing to give a 30% order discount through the Wire Service they happen to be a member of, not to mention a further discount when their dues and fees are factored in.
When hitting upon STUCK ON STUPID, I simply move on in my attempt to find another REAL FLORIST who also has the ability to operate a calculator, while realizing that, a 20% discount is better than a 30% (on the surface) discount coupled with the reality that my real money will be in their bank account within 48 hours versus 48 days.
In closing: For those that BELIEVE, no explanation is necessary! For those that DON'T BELIEVE, no explanation is possible!
There was once a time when, the Wire Services were a true business partner of a REAL FLORIST and an asset to their profitability. Sadly, those days are gone, and for the majority of WEE SMALL MOM and POP shops, they have morphed into our competitors, wind up being a drain on our 100% profitable sales, and a liability on our spreadsheets.
I have to admit there was a time (pre 1994) when we would only accept wire orders via FTDA Florists. I was stuck in the old mentality of supporting the wire service we owned, and so being FTDA ONLY! shops, our policy was to refuse F2F orders from unknown callers who purported to be other REAL FLORISTS. The exceptions were from other REAL FLORISTS who we knew personally.
Even after FTDA became FTDI, I still stuck with that old mentality and still thinking the false promises made to WEE FLORISTS from the wall street banker and their revolving CEO's, would actually come into fruition. (stupid mee)
We called it a day with INC in 2004 and joined IFA (The Independent Florist's Association)
http://www.myifa.org/about/index.php
We also rejoined Teleflora after having been away for almost 20 Years. Turned out that, their DOT.CON was no different in trying to make us jump through hoops with too many codicils, caveats, and time constraints, coupled with too little dollar amounts.
In answer to your question, we would rather deal directly with another REAL FLORIST and avoid the MIDDLEMEN at all costs. (emphasis on the word COSTS)
And, we honor the 80%/20% traditional F2F commission structure for the obvious reasons.
What continues to amaze me is when I call ahead to check if the other florist has a brain and feel them out in order to see if they are qualified to fill our order to begin with, and hit upon the: OH NO!, we don't give other REAL FLORISTS their 20% earned commissions. I make it a point to ask for the owner of the shop manager since phone clerks have absolutely no clue as to what I'm talking about and I really don't like wasting my time.
And yet, on the flip side, those same florists are more than willing to give a 30% order discount through the Wire Service they happen to be a member of, not to mention a further discount when their dues and fees are factored in.
When hitting upon STUCK ON STUPID, I simply move on in my attempt to find another REAL FLORIST who also has the ability to operate a calculator, while realizing that, a 20% discount is better than a 30% (on the surface) discount coupled with the reality that my real money will be in their bank account within 48 hours versus 48 days.
In closing: For those that BELIEVE, no explanation is necessary! For those that DON'T BELIEVE, no explanation is possible!
There was once a time when, the Wire Services were a true business partner of a REAL FLORIST and an asset to their profitability. Sadly, those days are gone, and for the majority of WEE SMALL MOM and POP shops, they have morphed into our competitors, wind up being a drain on our 100% profitable sales, and a liability on our spreadsheets.
conchandler
Well-Known Member
BOSS
FlowerChat Administrator
I love this Toto!
The owner here, John, likes the 80/20% structure, whereas I like the idea of giving 100% and feel the service fee charged is sufficient, but anyway you look at it, it's all good compared to the ws!