For the Retail Florist: One Thought Before You Start Your Day

Every morning after I arrived at the shop, one of the first things I did was taking a moment to remind myself that NO ONE NEEDS OUR PRODUCTS, they CHOOSE to use our industry and services in order to communicate through the language of flowers.

For example,

Someone is out too late the night before…

A Birthday is being celebrated…

New Baby arrival…

Just because….and so much more!

Our products convey a message with style and meaning. In most cases, the card message is more important than the actual bouquet. However, should you miss the delivery time or not be able to deliver, the value quickly goes to zero.

The point of this message is to drive home the fact that in most cases, the service supersedes the item ordered.

These days, we have Amazon, who has stretched the expectation of delivery and services to 7 days a week. I see an Amazon Prime vehicle almost every Sunday. This is a game changer happening before our eyes. It’s important that we recognize this and keep the expectations of the consumer satisfied by meeting the challenge of service expectations. The expectation is “I want it NOW.” We as an industry are faced with growing challenges from fuel surcharges to affordable products and now the potential of minimum wage going to $15 an hour. This is all becoming reality very quickly - what are we doing?

For 30 years I simply did what others wouldn’t. I was open 7 days a week for all 30 years, never missed a day, never had a delivery cutoff, and coined the phrase YES WE CAN in our shop. It was our motto and our goal to answer every request, “YES WE CAN.”

Committing to excellent service and a POS system called RTI, I was able to take my small family owned florist and turn it into an industry leader. I had no special education, just a passion to succeed. I was a floral designer too, but I was average at best, so I hired the best designers and shared my passion with them.

You see, as an owner, you have the chance to set the expectation by being the example. You will be surprised how staff will gravitate to you. Everyone wants to do well at their job but showing what it takes is important. Good employees will quickly realize how easy it is to be a Yes We Can florist the entire staff steps it up.

Today we are seeing great change ahead so it’s time to regroup, start planning, and prepare to tackle the challenges facing us ahead. The key is service and efficiency - are you ready?