Running A successful FLORIST feature

I've found that the overall appearance of a shop looks more impressive if you place flowers together by colour rather than by type (i.e. all of the yellow flowers together, instead of having all gerberas of the same colour together). It looks like you have A LOT of stock, and it seems to add a sense of balance. I've tended to sell quite a bit more when a shop is set up like that.

Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart Top ten guide to Retailing

Wal-Mart is the world's #1 retailer, with more than 4,150 stores,
including discount stores, combination discount and grocery stores, and membership-only warehouse stores (Sam's Club). Learn Walton's winning formula for business.

Rule 1: Commit to your business. Believe in it more than anybody else. I think I overcame every single one of my personal shortcomings by the sheer passion I brought to my work. I don't know if you're born with this kind of passion, or if you can learn it. But I do know you need it. If you love your work, you'll be out there every day trying to do it the best you possibly can, and pretty soon everybody around will catch the passion from you — like a fever.

Rule 2: Share your profits with all your associates, and treat them as partners. In turn, they will treat you as a partner, and together you will all perform beyond your wildest expectations. Remain a corporation and retain control if you like, but behave as a servant leader in your partnership. Encourage your associates to hold a stake in the company. Offer discounted stock, and grant them stock for their retirement. It's the single best thing we ever did.

Rule 3: Motivate your partners. Money and ownership alone aren't enough. Constantly, day by day, think of new and more interesting ways to motivate and challenge your partners. Set high goals, encourage competition, and then keep score. Make bets with outrageous payoffs. If things get stale, cross-pollinate; have managers switch jobs with one another to stay challenged. Keep everybody guessing as to what your next trick is going to be. Don't become too predictable.

Rule 4: Communicate everything you possibly can to your partners. The more they know, the more they'll understand. The more they understand, the more they'll care. Once they care, there's no stopping them. If you don't trust your associates to know what's going on, they'll know you really don't consider them partners. Information is power, and the gain you get from empowering your associates more than offsets the risk of informing your competitors.

Rule 5: Appreciate everything your associates do for the business. A paycheck and a stock option will buy one kind of loyalty. But all of us like to be told how much somebody appreciates what we do for them. We like to hear it often, and especially when we have done something we're really proud of. Nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen, well-timed, sincere words of praise. They're absolutely free — and worth a fortune.

Rule 6: Celebrate your success. Find some humor in your failures. Don't take yourself so seriously. Loosen up, and everybody around you will loosen up. Have fun. Show enthusiasm — always. When all else fails, put on a costume and sing a silly song. Then make everybody else sing with you. Don't do a hula on Wall Street. It's been done. Think up your own stunt. All of this is more important, and more fun, than you think, and it really fools competition. "Why should we take those cornballs at Wal-Mart seriously?"

Rule 7: Listen to everyone in your company and figure out ways to get them talking. The folks on the front lines — the ones who actually talk to the customer — are the only ones who really know what's going on out there. You'd better find out what they know. This really is what total quality is all about. To push responsibility down in your organization, and to force good ideas to bubble up within it, you must listen to what your associates are trying to tell you.

Rule 8: Exceed your customer's expectations. If you do, they'll come back over and over. Give them what they want — and a little more. Let them know you appreciate them. Make good on all your mistakes, and don't make excuses — apologize. Stand behind everything you do. The two most important words I ever wrote were on that first Wal-Mart sign: "Satisfaction Guaranteed." They're still up there, and they have made all the difference.

Rule 9: Control your expenses better than your competition. This is where you can always find the competitive advantage. For twenty-five years running — long before Wal-Mart was known as the nation's largest retailer — we've ranked No. 1 in our industry for the lowest ratio of expenses to sales. You can make a lot of different mistakes and still recover if you run an efficient operation. Or you can be brilliant and still go out of business if you're too inefficient.

Rule 10: Swim upstream. Go the other way. Ignore the conventional wisdom. If everybody else is doing it one way, there's a good chance you can find your niche by going in exactly the opposite direction. But be prepared for a lot of folks to wave you down and tell you you're headed the wrong way. I guess in all my years, what I heard more often than anything was: a town of less than 50,000 population cannot support a discount store for very long.

Thanxs RantingDev I like your colour suggestion too.

Kath!

How Good is that, Kath?? Thanks for sharing. I wish others had that passion.

Anyone have advice on brides wanting on the spot quotes (i.e. for pictures in mag or photo album)? I would rather quote at consultation but maybe people expect an idea right away? How do you respond to this kind of thing?

Christmas is around the corner. The smart florists will have taken the time to work out a range that will return the most profit for them. It is always worth the planning time to reward yourself financially. One of the rules of selling is never to bracket customers into the same group. Always try to sell on an individual basis. Ask questions and strive to present a product that will please. Dont sell by 1995 prices. All other industries keep prices progressing. Bought meat or fruit lately? Dont undersell your products. Remember most mistakes come from point of sale so ask the questions you need to know. It is always best to think of yourself as the driver doing the delivery. What should you know? Good luck for Christmas trade.

Sarah if you have worked out prices you should be able to estimate a range. For example a rose posy of forty roses with foliage. Work out exactly what it will cost including labour and all sundries and flower/foliage cost. Estimate the percentage you will require for margin. If you calculate ten different types of designs and flowers you will be safe to quote within a range on consultation. It all comes down to preparation and planning. Good luck.

Is your Floristshop costing you TIME and MONEY????????

One of the biggest problems confronting Florists when times get lean is “panic” In the panic, there is a move way from what they are known for and what they know best. The Florists who do best and remain leaders in the field and service in tough times are those with clear and well thought-out strategies. They stick to a Business Plan as their core issue. A Plan well-known by staff and client.

Secrets in compiling a part of a successful Business Plan

1.Spend more time with CUSTOMERS you have already made contact with.

2. Make marketing your priority Flowers market themselves. Presentation of flowers is the marketing tool to gain more CUSTOMERS.

3. Use information to your advantage in arranging a presentation of flowers. A Florist becomes more knowledgeable, skilled, experienced and service orientated by gaining your CUSTOMERS information

4.Be careful not to lower prices on your major items. This practice also lowers quality and value to your CUSTOMERS request. It displays a negative attitude. (Do not be pushy)

5.Show ‘HOPE’ to your CUSTOMERS. Don’t give up.You will never know how close you are to success.

6.Look at a marketing plan to increase the first time CUSTOMER ,and to increase the dollar value of each purchase of returning clients and the number of times they return.

7. Market to past prospects on a DIRECT contact basis with those CUSTOMERS who love flowers.The Sender and the Recipient are definite prospects if treated with respect on the first contact. Record details on a database and continually thank them for your SUCCESS as a FLORIST with GRATITUDE

CAN THE PROMINECE OF THE CUSTOMER IN THE ABOVE ESCAPE YOUR ATTENTION
EflowersAlive.......Ron

I found all the comments really informative!! thanks,

So refreshing to read all the above commments . .great vibe ! I look forward to being around more and getting to know you all