Six important image things, that florists tend to ignore.
During my 12 years of owning and managing flower shop in Dallas, TX, I had learned six important things to follow, that can affect your image as a florist (which means, it can and will affect your profits as a business owner).
1. Drop the apron.
When consumers imagine successful business owner, who at the same time is a flower shop owner, they picture gracious and elegant looking individual, with perfect hair, dressed in style, who speaks poetically, and makes meadows of flowers magically move to the right directions right into the vase, just by waving their magic wong with perfectly manicured fingers.
You and I, we both know, that quality of your work, and impeccable style in floral arranging, has nothing to do with the way you look. But customers don’t know that. They think, that the way you look (stylish, up-skilled, well-groomed, etc.), is just the same way your floral arrangements and their deliveries look (neat, clean, well-done, taken care of). Customers don’t know, that owning a flower shop, is not the same as picking daisy petals, and smelling the roses, while sitting on the white cloud.
If your appearances are not up to the customer’s expectations, they think that there’s something wrong with this picture, and ultimately lose respect for you.
I know, that you might have to get up at five o’clock in the morning, just to get your kids ready for school, and then pick up and move several heavy boxes with vases and flowers from a wholesaler, before even opening the store at 8:30 AM. I know that, but they don’t. And their opinion about you, even if it’s simply based on your looks, is the one that counts.
2. Respect your driver.
I have done floral deliveries many times myself. And I know, that slight problem with just one delivery, can ruin entire day. When recipient is not available for one reason or another, calling him/her on the phone in an order to deliver flowers, can be crucial. However, it can be impossible, if receiver’s telephone number is wrong. 90% of the time it happens because sender is simply trying to be spontaneous, being afraid of “spoiling the surprise”. So, sender is simply gives his/her telephone number instead of receiver’s telephone number. That is why, each time I take some telephone order, when sender hesitates to give recipient's telephone number, I say to the sender: “We will not call your receiver, unless there’s a problem with delivery of your flowers. If we have to leave your flowers anywhere else, or with anyone else but your receiver, we need to call your recipient, just to let them know that there are flowers waiting for them”.
That, tells my customer that:
a) We take a good care of their floral delivery.
b) We are not there to spoil the surprise, but to do our job right.
Call your driver “delivery engineer”, make sure to greet him/her and treat him/her right and with respect, make sure that your delivery engineer is always trimmed, and neat and clean-looking, just like everyone in your shop of course, and make sure, that his/her day at work is as smooth as it can be, because well, as much as receptionist is “the face of the company”, unhappy or irritated driver can ruin your image as well.
3. Picture it. Practically every day, at last at once, you will have to leave your flowers at some customer’s door. If you do so, take a second to snap a photo of it. You can text it to your customer right away, or, in a case if there’s any problem. Protect yourself and your image from the things that you can’t control, by doing what you can have control of, which is having a proof of your delivery by “picturing it”.
4. Have a quality control on every arrangement.
How many quality complaints have you received, during your time of owning the shop?
In twelve years, I myself received no more than a handful. Why? Because, I deliver what customers ordered, no more no less. You don’t want to lose profits by using too much product. And you can protect yourself, in a case question about the quality, would ever arise. How? By going strictly by the design recipe, and counting every stem. If your designer refuses to write down each stem used in each and every floral arrangement, tell them, that it is a part of quality performance. And that those, that dare not to perform as expected at the work force, are subject to termination. Period, end of story. It is not about trusting your designers. It is about following procedures of quality control and business image protection. Being neat and precise, is very appealing quality in the eyes of the customer.
5. What’s in your cooler?
People, that choose to come to the flower shop in person, instead of ordering over the phone or the Internet, simply want to see the beauty and experience the joy of being surrounded by flowers themselves, before they send that precious gift to others. That is why, keeping your store neat, clean, and “full” of flowers is so important, in an order of earning your customers’ trust.
If your shop is small, and you simply don’t have time to make extra arrangements “just in case”, then simply fill up the front cooler with actual arrangements, that are already pre-ordered. If some customer wants to buy one, you can always say: “This one is already sold, but it will take me five minutes to make another one just like it, for you”. Customers don’t mind waiting five minutes while looking at other items that you have throughout your shop. Or you can just sell them the arrangement that is already maid, if you have time to do the one that is already pre-sold, after customers leaves the shop. Hiding “deliveries” in the back cooler, while having nothing to show up front, is a very wrong way to go. Remember: it is all about “beautiful experience”, that your customers will capture and bring home with them.
6. Loving you for your looks.
Rotate items in, and decorate your shop constantly. If you can’t afford extra help to simply rotate and redecorate items in your store every two weeks, find some event planner, who might want to come over and spend 1-2 hours of every two weeks in your store, to do that. Offer them window display, or advertisement on your business card, coupon, or elsewhere, along with your own advertisement with them in exchange. Event planners usually don’t have permanent location and they work from home. Help them to advertise, and they will help you.
