Believe it or not, the #1 factor for people choosing or quitting a wire service is incoming orders. So what are they to do? If they stop competing for orders, ProFlowers ends up with all the orders and no same day florist network to feed.
Wire services have never stopped a florist from getting their own business, and have even helped them.

The 1-800-Flowers deal with Tributes.com didn’t happen because 1-800-Flowers said, “Try us we have nice flowers.” It happened because they went out, bid, and earned the relationship. I know the competition for that contract was not John Doe Florist in Localtown, USA. They were most likely up against FTD, ProFlowers, or Teleflora. So good for them.

If you want the orders, join the network. FTD and Teleflora have deals and orders. This is ONE part of your business. OR, go out and market your business. You can’t buy from someone you can’t find.

It was a joy speaking with florists in Ohio the other night as I shared my OUT OF THE BOX presentation. There was NO WIRE SERVICE complaining. We did not waste time talking about what we could not change, but we did talk about getting new business. I explained and demonstrated every piece of the FLORALAPP™ and educated so many who, like most, do not understand it completely (which is ok). People who want to succeed step up and learn. We discussed employees and how to develop a staff that reflects our shops culture, and even discussed designers and what they are. Some challenges florists face today is hiring a designer and getting a floral arranger. One is trained with experience in creating with proper mechanics, the other can copy any design someone else made. Identifying and knowing what you are looking for is the first step. How about unemployment? Am I boring you yet? Yes, these are the points and NO ONE was bored. We had fun and we shared tips on how to take back our industry.

I will be in the Midwest in a few weeks again and will announce it here.

Click here for some pictures of the forward thinking florists in Ohio that showed up. I got very little sleep afterwards thinking about all the opportunities for florists, and the excitement of being in an industry with so many opportunities!

Last night, I visited Nordlie wholesaler in Cleveland where I enjoyed being greeted by so many shops that were prepared to get out of the box and into the future of retailing in the floral industry. While I was there to explain the functionality of floralapp™ and the future of this industry leading technology, I was more interested in getting florists to see proof of business in their own backyards in the simplest of terms, using illustrations that anyone can clearly see.

Take the graph below for example. Based on compete.com, last May we showed a 4.2 million unique user increase to the following websites. Where did those customers come from? The answer is our local communities.

So how do we get all this business that is clearly staring us in the face? It is clear that what we’ve been doing is not working. There is an old saying about luck, “The harder people work, the luckier they always seem to be.”

The florists that attended got out of the box and are rethinking what they do, and will be doing. Shops shared ideas, and we optimistically took a good look at our industry.  Just outside the door is a world of business, profits, success, and orders, but you need to walk through the door to get there. You need to get out of the box!  I am certain that most who attended will improve sales this December.

Some interesting topics also came up when I asked what florists’ greatest challenges were today:

• Employees – Having the culture at your shop is in your hands. By planning, and training your staff, you can give the Ritz Carlton experience to your customer. We discussed eye contact, and how at Beneva Flowers, we treat every customer who walks in our store as if they were visiting our home. That is a good place to start.

• Designers – I asked, what is a designer? Many times we hire arrangers expecting them to be designers. We also discussed what to look for when hiring a designer.

• Engagement – Get more orders and build engagement. What does your shop have (or do) that others don’t?  What is giving you the competitive edge?

Click here to have Art’s 4 tips for florists mailed to you for FREE!

And finally, apps. Over 300 shops have signed up for floralapp™ in the past 6 months. Shops are not just getting it, they are locking in customers. Today, the last thing we can think is that a customer will come back. We must engage them!

We also announced a deal that John Henry will be providing: floralapp™ Promo Cards for quick downloading of the app! Just scan and load. No need to only offer the app via your website.

It was refreshing to experience such great energy and I was glad to have met such a forward thinking group of florists. What are your ideas for improving the way florists do business?  Let us know in the comments below.

#1 Open House: This is a great way to introduce customers to your special offerings, however, don’t limit yourself. Remind them.

A) You can handle all their gift giving needs across town OR the USA (believe it or not, everyone doesn’t know how easy you can make holiday shopping)!

B) Identify and promote what makes you stand out from your competition. Highlight that.

C) If you have our Spode Train, chances are no one else in your town does. Step up and show your unique gift that is the first in a 3 year series. It is not just a container, it is a collectible. It’s numbered and limited in production, AND available in select cities across the USA. It’s special, treat it like it’s special. Just one more item to showcase your shop.

D) Do you have FLORALAPP ? If so, you have MILLIONS of potential users. Have the QR code ready, and load them onto the phones. Have a contest or a drawing, create a buzz. BE UNIQUE! Remind them they get $10.00 off their first APP order. Once they place the first order, we are finding people keep going because it is SO EASY. They never have to type a recipient contact again. JUST 1 CLICK and the fields are filled in. Our reminder program will be out shortly to make it even better!

#2 Twitter: Learn how to make the most of your tweets. Dave will share how we use Twitter to make the most of this experience and why. You won’t want to miss this!

#3 Turn 2: I will illustrate with Tina how we make this happen. Just make a simple suggestion and watch the orders pour in. YES I said POUR. You have to try it to believe it.

These tips are FREE. These plans cost $0.00 to use. It’s up to you to try it. YOU HAVE EVERYTHING TO GAIN!

Make the time, train your staff, and take advantage of the tools you have to close sales. If you really want to be a florist for change, start in your own store. The more orders YOU secure, the better you keep the local experience and secure the future of local retailing. The rest is up to you!

Watch this video to see how you can start!
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/31542540 w=450&h=253]

It cannot be any clearer than it is now. We as local florists need to pick a side. We either remain boutique shops and accept the orders that the marketers get, OR go and improve our technology, and run our business like a true corporation. There isn’t anything 1-800 Flowers can do that we can’t, we just DON’T!

1-800 markets better than we do, they handle phones better than most, and make it inviting to do business. At the end of the day, they send orders to US and HOPE for a good result. WE DO THE SAME THING! We just don’t focus on it. The industry is too concerned about what the other guy is doing, or what FTD or Teleflora is doing.

No one is stopping us from going after national business, and there is nothing wrong with it. The orders you take are those they don’t.

So how? 1 step at a time. Yes, I have helped many shops, but it is a process.

We must:

* Brand our product

* Process with a smile (the YES WE CAN attitude)

* Lock in the customer

In my opinion, anyone that can have a website and doesn’t, gives up the convenience for the customer to order from them.

Anyone that doesn’t have an 800 number gives up another way for a customer to do business.

Anyone who does not take advantage of a 24 hour answering service gives up after hours calls from people on the web. Your site is accessible 24/7 so there should be a trained professional available to answer questions and take the order.

Anyone who can have FLORALAPP™ for customers on smartphones, should have this option. It is one more way to lock in your customer.

If you don’t have the app by now, what are you waiting for? Do you think smartphone’s are a fad? Do you see less people using phones in the future? Is there a better deal out there for an app? The answer is NO.

If you have not incorporated these tools in your business, you are limited in the experience you can provide your customer. This limitation could be the difference between getting or losing a corporate sale.

If you don’t have these tools, or don’t use them, don’t knock the others for doing this business. FTD did a deal with the funeral homes, now 1-800-Flowers has a deal with Tributes.com. If one doesn’t do it, the other gets it. That is just the way it goes. People used to buy records and music at music stores, but look what happened there.

The big guys won and will continue to do so. We need to make a choice. Boutique and fill, or build and market to compete. We can win and the tools are there. It is up to you to use them. The industry has changed, have you?