blog

Feeling gouged? The nine biggest rip-offs out there

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 22:04:13 +0100

I am always amazed at the efforts our industry goes to in trying to convince customers you provide real value.
I stick to value because it is the most powerful weapon you have in order to gain repeat business (this is another topic altogether). Our local floral association is always after the pizza chain or the national chocolate brand bashing you on Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day. But take a look at this very powerful article in our national newspaper where the price of a wedding offered by florist is described as literally “arm robbery”. Article offers a good and interesting read as well. Sadly, not the positive advertising we all look for.
To read the article follow this link: click here

Pricing Science

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 16:57:17 +0100

A good pricing strategy is both a science and art. To make your price just right, you have to consider your costing structure, your local market competition, balance the rules of value proposition, and the customer’s perception of value. As you can see, it is quite the job. The good news is that most of the parameters for a well designed pricing strategy are not that hard to implement if you follow the rules.

The first step is to understand that the way customers approach price is totally “irrational”- if you try to apply pricing rules that follow a specific law of calculations you will run the risk of putting prices that make sense to you, but leave customers scratching their heads.

Here are three very important frame works described by Charlie Gilkey in an article of Inc Magazine.

Anchors – every industry has a set of anchors in place. An IPod shuffle for under $50, Or Apple TV for $100. These are not arbitrarily set as Apple knows we all have a $50 or $100 with-in reach. In our industry we can relate to the $29, $39 dozen rose bouquets, or the $45 vase arrangement.

Bumps- If anchors are the base line to get your customers in the door, bumps compares the type of products your customers are getting (Value for your money). If I buy a dozen roses for $60 and get baby’s breath and leather I might be happy, but I have to pay $75 I am sure I will be expecting something nicer either in presentation, quality, or type of roses I will get.

Charms- A price that's a little less than the round number is called a charm price. Now some people think this is trickery but charm pricing is used by low cost and high end goods all the time. And the reason it is used is because it works. The rationale behind charm pricing is that it somehow gets us to perceive the value of the offer at the right amount while we at the same time view the cost as lower. When we see $19.99, we assess the value at $20 but the cost as the same as something that's in the $10 to $19 range. You can read the complete article here.

There are other very interesting pricing strategies, here are just some ideas:

• Everything in your store should have sign with pricing. I mean everything! Big bold signs if you can.
• Change the pricing of all the services you provide like delivery, design etc. to end in .95. Instead of delivery fee of $6 it will be $6.95
• “Dollars off” the selling price are better than “% off” the selling price.
• Buy one get one free is a much better offer than “half off”.
• Offer volume discount on product. Your wholesaler offers this option to you. Why not pass it on to your customers?
• Combine 2 complimentary items into one single price that is slightly lower than the sum of the two items in a separate line.

Laugh A Little…

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 16:38:46 +0100

If you are reading this is because you have survived Valentine’s Day 2012. Congrats!

It will take as few weeks to recuperate. In the mean time we can all use a laugh here and there- Life is not always serious business. Here is classic Herman for you.

Coming soon; Easter, spring, Mother’s Day

Happy Family Day

Valentine's Day Tip #4

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 03:10:40 +0100

Make a holiday training manual and hand out. It is easy to prepare and provides for continuity of information. Schedule a quick early morning briefing to go over all points. Keep it short and to the point.

Manual should have:
• Store locations and phone numbers
• Hours of operation
• Meals and brake policy
• Phone use procedures
• Delivery policy procedures
• Sales goals
• Product information
• Order entry procedure
• Identify decision makers
• Expectations
• List of possible complaint scenarios

Valentine's Day Tip #3

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 07:52:09 +0100

Hiring temps through and agency can be costly, but it may prove worthwhile for one or two key jobs: Order entry and office support.

Valentine's Day Tip #2

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 01:33:27 +0100

Shelves are a marvel of invention, and can be a florist best friend. Coolers can be permanently modified to maximize storage by making a adjustable shelving units. Don’t bother making one from scratch. Head to IKEA and/or Home Depot. They sell plenty of shelving units that will help you make your cooler allot bigger for allot less money.

Valentine's Day Tip #1

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:42:15 +0100

Our busiest day of the year is fast approaching. Valentines 2012 looks interesting. Because of the mild winter we are having we might see increase in customers motivated to go out and get your flowers . You might see a lift in sales on the week-end. And if you have a compelling promotion going on, more customers will notice you.

I am sure you have it all under control. Flowers have been ordered, staff has been assigned, you are working on your logistic etc. I will say you can never make enough preparations for this crazy holiday.

To help you visualize the “D” day, or should I say “V” day I thought of posting a list of tips to help you make Valentines a profitable one. Here are the common denominators:

• You will have a significant increase in business – 12 to 20 times the normal daily volume!
• You will have a huge number of last minute sales “opportunities”. Notice I emphasize opportunities.
• You will have an increase demand for RED roses. But there are plenty of opportunities to market colour roses.
• Customers will expect the same quality and service you provide every single week.

Sources; SAF, Flower Council

It's a Numbers Game

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 19:28:36 +0100

Today is quiz time.

Quick answer this question for me; What is you ideal selling price for roses if your cost is 84 cents and your margin needs to be 70% , and your wastage is about 5%? Beep! Too slow sorry :(

Second try..Ready? what is your brake even point for next Valentines? You have your variable and fixed costs, you know you will buy 1000 roses and your selling price is $4 each rose. Do you know what your safety margin needs to be in order to protect profitability? Beep! Sorry again you are just not yourself today :(

One more time, this one is for the new car. Ready? What is the percentage change for and arrangement that was $75 and now is $50? Little beep on this one, you almost got it.

Not to worry, most people are not able to solve these type of question in the blink of an eye. We are just too busy running the business, and looking after other things. However, these type of questions should be the first thing you ask yourself when you buy that case of pink carnations, or that nice bucket of lisianthus on special. They are critical in making the business successful.

The solution? APPS to the rescue! And the company that made it all possible is called boxonline. They have created 4 very simple apps you can install on your phone and use them faster than a “speeding bullet” to get all the answers to the questions I just gave you. They have even created an app for companies that buy and sell perishables. I have used their product for a couple of years now and can tell you these are the most used icons on my phone. No more complicated excel sheets, or calls to the accountant. Amazing! Next time someone gives you a question about your numbers the answers are on the palm of your hand. You can download the app by clicking on the picture below.

Battle Of The Florist

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 01:40:26 +0100

There is nothing better than a good match up, and you will find this article from inc.com very interesting. It compares two florists from NY City. The article looks at how the two florists approach the online experience. What are the compelling offerings, their trust factor, call to actions, and appearance.

Great tips! The author provides us with a good list of improvements one has to make, in order to get a website to close the deal. What do you think? Originality vs traditional who is the winner.
You can read the whole article here!

Colour Trends 2012

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 03:49:04 +0100

Every New Year brings all kinds of prediction. Colour forecast is one of the key trends you need to keep a close eye on. The flower business used to lag behind mayor trends in colour by about one or two years. However, all this is changing with social media and new generation of consumers hitting the keyboard and the street. From my research this is what we can expect to see for 2012.

Art-Deco is your main theme.
Nostalgia of early 1962 - Elegance and flair with silver accents
Vintage sparkle
Electric Elegance.

Colour of the year is “Myth Blue”. Many top retailers are putting this amazing colour in their space (see chair).

This is how our flowers will look in the 2012 colour trend.