Undervalued casket sprays Thread

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Undervalued casket sprays (Forums : General Discussion : Undervalued casket sprays)	Post Reply
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Gloriosa	Jan 18 2010, 11:37am Anchor
There is one funeral director in this district with 3 florists. The funeral director takes turns with the florists for casket sprays. The problem is he is so cheap. An average casket spray will be $143. It is ok if I have lots of open lilies to get rid of or more mature flowers that would only last for 2 days at someones house and I need to get rid of them. But I did a casket spray that they wanted it all mixed roses priced at, wait for it, $165! Right before Valentines day. They obviously have no idea what florists charge. I had about 60 roses in it! And they were all ordered specifically for the casket, no leftovers involved. $22 extra will not cover this. You use more as they are smaller heads and they are more expensive then say, gerbs, which cover triple the size! My problem is, how can I, as a new business owner, go in and demand more without losing his business to the other florists?
Flowerfusion	Jan 18 2010, 3:15pm Anchor
You could do what I did and make up a stylish laminated selection guide that has starting prices (ie. from $... not set prices). This allows the funeral director to cater for all budgets, styles and tastes, and the customer can see the quality and value differences between using you or the other budget suppliers. Cheers, Annette Flowerfusion - Flowers & gifts
nicole79	Jan 23 2010, 3:07pm Anchor
I, like Annette did the same and made up a portfolio of my funeral work and gave it to the funeral home. It helps them to show their clients actual work you have and can do. The only problem is you don't want them using your guide when they give the work to other florists (in my opinion) and if your name is on the guide and the client thinks you are the florist doing the work and it was one of the other florists then it is not good for you (in the way that if the flowers were no good). I guess you just need to explain that to the funeral director if you decide to make a guide, I am sure they would understand. Also in our town people tend not to spend much on funeral flowers - very similar to yours! I just make things up to value. There is no use in doing the work if you are losing money out of it. If people want a full rose spray then they either need to pay for it or I just make it up to what they want to spend. Do you have a relationship with the other florists that you could ask them what they think and maybe you could all increase the prices as they might be feeling the same as you? Ideally it would be nice to gain all the work but if this is what he does with the rotation of orders you don't want to rock the boat. I am not sure if any of this will help but good luck!
Tigerlilly	Jan 23 2010, 4:22pm Anchor
I had a similar issue when doing a casket spray. It was huge and consisted of 120 roses which were 70cm in length plus about 5 bunches of spray roses. The funeral home wanted to be charged the standard price for the large casket spray which was $160.00. Which we honoured, but told them if it is a special request of flower type they would be costed out per stem, plus labour etc. They were ok with that.
studiorosa	Jan 24 2010, 4:29pm Anchor
if we all just said no to outrageous demands from funeral homes, then maybe they would realise they are playing florists and not growers who make up casket orders in bulk for a huge discount, meanwhile they still charge the grieving family more (evernthough they are essentially dealing with a wholesaler) than what a regular retail florist would charge for flowers and make a tidy profit - funeral homes are not relay services - why do they act that way? doesn't say much for compassion...... so we just say no and only take orders direct from customers in situations of bereavement - we do not on-sell to funeral homes, we find it in bad taste - that is what large flower growers based in Melbourne are for :-)
nicole79	Jan 25 2010, 8:54am Anchor
Lucky for me I have an honest funeral director and they are the loveliest people you could meet and they charge the client exactley what I charge them. They make no profit on the flowers at all. I know it is probably a rare find and it is such a pleasure to deal with them everyday!
studiorosa	Jan 25 2010, 9:39am Anchor
enjoy - you are lucky and i am very surprised!
mushy	Jan 25 2010, 5:55pm Anchor
when are professional florists going to stop selling themselves short....by providing casket covers that clearly have more value in them than what you are being paid is stupidity. if you continue to supply to these funeral directors at these prices then that is all you will EVER be paid. when the day comes that you ask for more money they will be shocked & horrified because you have been under selling yourself the whole time. I would rather do no casket covers & get paid nothing than do under valued casket covers & lose money on them. often funeral directors are ill informed as to the value of funeral tributes.....they need to be educated...if you, as a professional florist, are doing their work then you need to set the standard & the price. it is YOUR business, therefore you should be paid what you deem to be acceptable to cover ALL your costs & MAKE A PROFIT. PROFIT IS NOT A BAD WORD.
studiorosa	Jan 26 2010, 6:49am Anchor
mushy totally agree with you - this is exactly my point - be proud of your work and charge accordingly and feel empowered to knock back orders if they do not do your business justice - this is same principle i use for corporate and wedding work... usually i get the order and if i don't I am not bothered as i have saved my time and my team's time, and it is that time I can spend pursuing other areas of income for my business to be able to make higher profit... agree it is ok to make money!! :-) vicki
Gloriosa	Jan 27 2010, 12:54pm Anchor
I, too, agree with what you all are saying, which is why I asked the question in the first place. I'm just very hesitant as I have taken over from an owner who was dirt cheap and when I upped a few prices people got pissed. The old owner never used to add on for green at all. So if someone came in and hand chose flowers and then asked for them in a bunch with green, she never even thought to add on, even for her time to make it and was quite shocked when I said I did and everywhere else I have worked did too. So I don't want customers to think that the old owner was fair in price and I am a rip off. Just so frustrated at the moment. I am also having to keep an eye on my staff/her old staff as I have told them new prices and I don't think they are always charging them right. And I definitely agree it's ok to make money and it is my new mantra.
Flowerfusion	Jan 27 2010, 3:32pm Anchor
Gloriosa, Tell those staff members, if they can't take a fresh new approach to the fresh new start your business is going through, it will have to be a case of out with the old, in with the new. A florist I worked at previously got new management, I was told on the first day that I would have to forget everything that was done before (not basic techniques but image, style, wrapping, pricing etc.) or they would have to let me go like the others (only 2 of the original team of 6 were kept as it is much easier to start a new person than re-program existing staff to new procedures) I am sure if you set a great standard and have your own style you may lose a few cheap skate customers, but you will gain respect and patronage from those that value quality and style. If you are there everyday I would be asking them to price them in front of you for the next week or two, may be annoying but at least they will know that you are not joking and expect them to step up thier game. Cheers, Annette Flowerfusion - Flowers & Gifts
studiorosa	Jan 27 2010, 4:39pm Anchor
annette makes good points here and Gloriosa - might be team for a fresh start - but definately get staff to price out everything, adding in time, sundries, green - everything and come up with a formula that works so that you don't lose money ... good luck, be firm and always smile :-)
Caz	Feb 6 2010, 8:47am Anchor
Gloriosa i am in your situation, we are in a country town with 3 florists and the 1 funeral director in town is determined to keep everyone happy and rotate the casket sheafs between us unless the families specifically specify a florist. I was happy with this as I am getting my fair share however we also have set pricies so that we all charge the same, obviously if you charge more you get left out of the rotation. When I came in the prices were way too low. As florist we come together and raise our prices on a regualar basis, usually an increase of about $25-30 each 3-6 months. We have managed to doubled the price in the last few years, we are still too cheap compared to what gets charged in the city but by all working together we are getting there. So what I am trying to say is that even though the other florists are your competitors, sometimes it benefits you all to work together for the common good of all of you. I just ring the other florists every 3-6 months and suggest we all increase our price together, I would be surprised if they said they didn't want more per casket. They are probably all thinking the same thing as you but until you all work together you will be all worried about being left out. The funeral diredtor doesn't really have a choice when you go to them and say this is what we have all agreed to charge for a standard casket etc. from now on. It has been working really well. Good Luck!!
studiorosa	Feb 7 2010, 4:21am Anchor
hi caz, i like your thinking on this topic... makes sense, might try it myself ;-)
Gloriosa	Feb 23 2010, 8:49am Anchor
Ok, update- I just had an order come through from the funeral home which a staff member took. It is for a all rose casket spray of red and white roses with a footnote that said "bigger then usual", for a whole $165. I just rang and politely explained that last time I did a casket spray full roses, I used around 60 heads, which when you add that up is about double the price. So for them to want it even bigger than that at the same time is not doable. He is going to get back to me. So fingers crossed they aren't jerks about it. Wow, I am pissed. I got a call back from the man I talked to at the funeral home. His boss had told him to tell me that I don't need to use long stem roses (well, duh) and to fill it in with babies breath (niiiiiice!) and greenery. I told him the casket spray was undervalued and I won't be doing it for that price. I also told him that I wasn't using long stemmed roses but also not the shortest either otherwise you were going to have the smallest heads which would need more roses to fill it. Basically I told him I would be losing money. Where does he get off giving me advice on how to do a casket spray. This guy has no idea about floristry. I didn't need him to tell me to use greenery. I'm not an idiot. Grrrr, I am just so angry. He may not care about mediocre work in his funeral but I sure as hell do! Edited by: Gloriosa
mushy	Feb 24 2010, 7:32pm Anchor
hi gloriosa, glad you are standing up for yourself. obviously they are jerks! it will probably take some time to get through to them, as you have previously done a rose casket for this price they will expect it & more everytime. good luck & don't be angry, stay positive. mushy:)
Flowerfusion	Feb 25 2010, 6:43am Anchor
I actually thought he wouldn't even get back to you and just use someone else, so at least they are still communicating with you, there is hope. As Mushy said stay positive, and keep in mind you are saving *your* money (and self worth) by not doing them at a loss. No funeral is better than one that costs you in the end. Cheers, Annette Flowerfusion - Flowers & Gifts
mushy	Feb 25 2010, 6:18pm Anchor
talking about under valued items..........this morning we received 2 orders from ready flowers & 1 from easyflowers, all 3 were under priced. I rejected these orders stating the price I wanted for them & was given the amount I requested....obviously they have quite a bit of variance in their prices. do other florists ask for more money or do they just accept an under valued order.??? any thoughts??
Gloriosa	Feb 26 2010, 6:45am Anchor
Ready Flowers and easy flowers I always request more because I know they have the leeway.
EFlowersAlive	Feb 26 2010, 9:42am Anchor
CO-OPERATION versus COMPETITIONHave you ever considered the social, economic and psychological costs of competition between people, groups and nations who have as their primary objective, goals at the expense of others?Our world is besieged with COMPETITION. Businesses, schools, nations, etc. compete. Competition touches every aspect of our lives. This kind of competition usually focuses on self-centered efforts to get to the top, to obtain goals by means that prevent others obtaining their goals, or to put others down in the process. Millions believe and practice that "competition is the life of business", "competition builds character", and "competition brings out the best in us". Do competitive attitudes really bring out the best in us? Do we really perform better when we try to beat others to get ahead than when we work together to obtain mutual goals. We the flower industry, i.e., the flower grower, the flower wholesaler, the flower seller, and last, but not least and the most important, the FLORIST, have but a single goal within the industry, "to bring awareness for flowers as a necessity, to be an everyday part of life""FLOWERS ARE DEFINITELY NOT A LUXURY"WHY CO-OPERATION SUCCEEDSFirst, co-operation promotes teamwork and harmony. Next, co-operation takes advantage of the strengths and skills of each person and group involved and help each improve knowledge and skills. It encourages each to offer their best knowledge, experience and efforts for the success of the whole group in our case; the whole group being the FLOWER INDUSTRY. Our competitions are other industries eg. chocolates, perfumes, alcohol etc., all of which we can enhance and do, with flowers. A survey held in England asked women their choice of a gift of chocolates, perfumes or flowers, resulted in "FLOWERS"Now that the ground rules of any successful industry is summed up in one word "CO-OPERATION and co-operation is to the fore by your interest, then discussions on knowledge, experience and efforts to change this flower industry around to a new direction may be a success.The flower industry has the largest market in Australia, in fact, approximately 10 million over the age of 18 years. CO-OPERATION is needed to capture these clients to a successful FLOWER INDUSTRY. Foremost in our Industries discussion should be the Topic..."MORE COMPLEX, QUALITY PRODUCTS CAN BE MADE IN CO-OPERATIVE WORK CONDITIONS THAN COMPETITIVE AREAS, NOTHING SUCCEEDS LIKE CO-OPERATION Why do you continue to accept these orders? The only reason you are getting these orders is because a large majority of the florists are rejecting them. They are no loss to your business but if you keep accepting them, your whole business will be a total loss AND SO WILL THE INDSUSTRY (REMEMBER VALENTINES DAY) This applies to Funeral Directories as well. It is a well known fact in the business world that florists are a soft touch and it is not very smart to do their work at your expense. Over the last ten years since these cowboy order-gatherers have evolved on the internet, Florists have had to raise their prices or reduce the quantity of flowers in their arrangements to make ends meet. AFTER ALL THESE ORDERS ARE SOME LOCAL FLORISTS LOCAL ORDER NOT NEEDING A MIDDLEMAN. IT CERTAINLY MAKES COMMONSENSE TO DIRECT A CUSTOMER TO ONE OF YOUR FLORIST COLLEAGUES. HAVE ANY OF THESE ORDERS BEEN POACHED FROM YOUR LOCAL CUSTOMER? AN ORDER YOU COULD HAVE RECEIVED A 100% PAYMENT FOR AND GAINED TWO PROSPECTS AS CUSTOMERS ON YOUR CUSTOMER DATABASE. Co-operation wlth your florist colleagues is but a starting point to rebuild the Florist Industry to its former glory days from the adverse publicity received at Valentines Day. Please do not let these middlemen get your paddy up, for believe you me it shows in your body language, your voice and your arrangements. Stay calm, or you will be a customer of the funeral director, and when you are lying in that box, you will be saying, "who the hell made that casket spray???" Cheers and best of luck......................the Wise Old Owl at EFlowersAlive...........Ron
mushy	Mar 2 2010, 1:07pm Anchor
ok...a few points to consider....lets presume that customers who order from "the order gatherers" are not your customer yet anyway. I presume they are ordering over the internet & send their order to the first thing that pops up., whether that be Interflora , easyflowers, yellow pages etc....if you search yellow pages for a specific suburb that doesn't mean all those florists are in that suburb anyway. we accept their orders (easyflowers etc..) if we choose to on our terms & if we do not wish to execute their order it is rejected for whatever reason. are Interflora & Teleflora classed as order gatherers or not? I'm confused about this situation...can one be a member of Interflora but be frowned upon for accepting orders from the order gatherers? we consider ourselves to be in the business of selling flowers, we must make a profit on all orders received or we will not exist. orders come from many different places, private, businesses,relay services etc....if any of these orders are price appropriate then we will execute them. it is not up to us to question every order as to it's origin. this is the way we see it & it seems to work for us. mushy
Flowerfusion	Mar 2 2010, 3:52pm Anchor
Hi Mushy, As far as I could gather from Rons rantings is that the relay networks are not too bad as he is also a member of those, even though it sounds as though he is accusing us for destroying the industry for using them, he does too, so they must be O.K. It is the websites that just put up the same items as available on the relay networks with their own profit margin tacked in so that when they send the order on through the relay network it is $5 - $10 less than the customer actually spent. And Yes, you can even find those advertised on this site! There is nothing wrong with what you are doing, Ron is just trying to get everyone to use his EflowersAlive and Snappy Florist Management Systems instead of what you are using now. Whatever works for you, do it. Cheers, Annette Flowerfusion - Flowers & Gifts
mushy	Mar 5 2010, 6:52pm Anchor
thanks Annette would still like to hear Rons opinion on my points to consider...... every persons opinion should be accepted whether we agree or not. mushy
EFlowersAlive	Mar 6 2010, 6:18am Anchor
Mushy, So sorry, I have not replied, because Flowerfusion's 3years experience of Floristshop operation knows more about my business than I know myself. I am of the opinion, with a total of 108 years experience including my wife and one loyal staff of 28years in the Florist Industry that you would not want to hear ANY MORE RANTINGS from EFlowersAlive on this forum. However, as time permits, I will answer your questions honestly and truthfully under the Questions and answers thread. In the meantime please read the value of a sales representative on this forum. Cheers, I do value your questions and allowing me to Live the Truth of this Florist Industry.................The Wise Old Owl at EFlowersAlive...........Ron
studiorosa	Mar 8 2010, 4:54pm Anchor
we all have experiences to share, and it doesn't matter if you have been a florist for a day or for 50 years, everybody's experience is valid and that is why this forum is good as it allows those experiences to come to light and be shared equally on this particular topic, and with most service areas in my business i have started a base rate system for all services including weddings, corporates and day to day orders and relay orders ... if this is not suitable or affordable to the customer or client or relay provider then that is there choice to go elsewhere We talk about quality, craftmanship, value and lastly price.... if customers are only focused on price and want a cheap fix, then i refer them back to their gardens and offer a pair of snips - we are the artists, the designers and business owners, so it is our obligation to the industry to treat pricing and eachother with respect it's not hard :-)

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Gloriosa

Jan 18 2010, 11:37am Anchor

There is one funeral director in this district with 3 florists. The funeral director takes turns with the florists for casket sprays. The problem is he is so cheap. An average casket spray will be $143. It is ok if I have lots of open lilies to get rid of or more mature flowers that would only last for 2 days at someones house and I need to get rid of them. But I did a casket spray that they wanted it all mixed roses priced at, wait for it, $165! Right before Valentines day. They obviously have no idea what florists charge. I had about 60 roses in it! And they were all ordered specifically for the casket, no leftovers involved. $22 extra will not cover this. You use more as they are smaller heads and they are more expensive then say, gerbs, which cover triple the size!

My problem is, how can I, as a new business owner, go in and demand more without losing his business to the other florists?

Flowerfusion

Jan 18 2010, 3:15pm Anchor

You could do what I did and make up a stylish laminated selection guide that has starting prices (ie. from $... not set prices). This allows the funeral director to cater for all budgets, styles and tastes, and the customer can see the quality and value differences between using you or the other budget suppliers.

Cheers,
Annette
Flowerfusion - Flowers & gifts

nicole79

Jan 23 2010, 3:07pm Anchor

I, like Annette did the same and made up a portfolio of my funeral work and gave it to the funeral home. It helps them to show their clients actual work you have and can do. The only problem is you don't want them using your guide when they give the work to other florists (in my opinion) and if your name is on the guide and the client thinks you are the florist doing the work and it was one of the other florists then it is not good for you (in the way that if the flowers were no good). I guess you just need to explain that to the funeral director if you decide to make a guide, I am sure they would understand.

Also in our town people tend not to spend much on funeral flowers - very similar to yours! I just make things up to value. There is no use in doing the work if you are losing money out of it. If people want a full rose spray then they either need to pay for it or I just make it up to what they want to spend.

Do you have a relationship with the other florists that you could ask them what they think and maybe you could all increase the prices as they might be feeling the same as you? Ideally it would be nice to gain all the work but if this is what he does with the rotation of orders you don't want to rock the boat.

I am not sure if any of this will help but good luck!

Tigerlilly

Jan 23 2010, 4:22pm Anchor

I had a similar issue when doing a casket spray. It was huge and consisted of 120 roses which were 70cm in length plus about 5 bunches of spray roses. The funeral home wanted to be charged the standard price for the large casket spray which was $160.00. Which we honoured, but told them if it is a special request of flower type they would be costed out per stem, plus labour etc. They were ok with that.

studiorosa

Jan 24 2010, 4:29pm Anchor

if we all just said no to outrageous demands from funeral homes, then maybe they would realise they are playing florists and not growers who make up casket orders in bulk for a huge discount, meanwhile they still charge the grieving family more (evernthough they are essentially dealing with a wholesaler) than what a regular retail florist would charge for flowers and make a tidy profit - funeral homes are not relay services - why do they act that way? doesn't say much for compassion......

so we just say no and only take orders direct from customers in situations of bereavement - we do not on-sell to funeral homes, we find it in bad taste - that is what large flower growers based in Melbourne are for :-)

nicole79

Jan 25 2010, 8:54am Anchor

Lucky for me I have an honest funeral director and they are the loveliest people you could meet and they charge the client exactley what I charge them. They make no profit on the flowers at all. I know it is probably a rare find and it is such a pleasure to deal with them everyday!

studiorosa

Jan 25 2010, 9:39am Anchor

enjoy - you are lucky and i am very surprised!

mushy

Jan 25 2010, 5:55pm Anchor

when are professional florists going to stop selling themselves short....by providing casket covers that clearly have more value in them than what you are being paid is stupidity. if you continue to supply to these funeral directors at these prices then that is all you will EVER be paid. when the day comes that you ask for more money they will be shocked & horrified because you have been under selling yourself the whole time. I would rather do no casket covers & get paid nothing than do under valued casket covers & lose money on them. often funeral directors are ill informed as to the value of funeral tributes.....they need to be educated...if you, as a professional florist, are doing their work then you need to set the standard & the price. it is YOUR business, therefore you should be paid what you deem to be acceptable to cover ALL your costs & MAKE A PROFIT. PROFIT IS NOT A BAD WORD.

studiorosa

Jan 26 2010, 6:49am Anchor

mushy totally agree with you - this is exactly my point - be proud of your work and charge accordingly and feel empowered to knock back orders if they do not do your business justice - this is same principle i use for corporate and wedding work... usually i get the order and if i don't I am not bothered as i have saved my time and my team's time, and it is that time I can spend pursuing other areas of income for my business to be able to make higher profit... agree it is ok to make money!! :-)

vicki

Gloriosa

Jan 27 2010, 12:54pm Anchor

I, too, agree with what you all are saying, which is why I asked the question in the first place. I'm just very hesitant as I have taken over from an owner who was dirt cheap and when I upped a few prices people got pissed. The old owner never used to add on for green at all. So if someone came in and hand chose flowers and then asked for them in a bunch with green, she never even thought to add on, even for her time to make it and was quite shocked when I said I did and everywhere else I have worked did too. So I don't want customers to think that the old owner was fair in price and I am a rip off. Just so frustrated at the moment. I am also having to keep an eye on my staff/her old staff as I have told them new prices and I don't think they are always charging them right.
And I definitely agree it's ok to make money and it is my new mantra.

Flowerfusion

Jan 27 2010, 3:32pm Anchor

Gloriosa, Tell those staff members, if they can't take a fresh new approach to the fresh new start your business is going through, it will have to be a case of out with the old, in with the new. A florist I worked at previously got new management, I was told on the first day that I would have to forget everything that was done before (not basic techniques but image, style, wrapping, pricing etc.) or they would have to let me go like the others (only 2 of the original team of 6 were kept as it is much easier to start a new person than re-program existing staff to new procedures) I am sure if you set a great standard and have your own style you may lose a few cheap skate customers, but you will gain respect and patronage from those that value quality and style. If you are there everyday I would be asking them to price them in front of you for the next week or two, may be annoying but at least they will know that you are not joking and expect them to step up thier game.

Cheers,
Annette
Flowerfusion - Flowers & Gifts

studiorosa

Jan 27 2010, 4:39pm Anchor

annette makes good points here and Gloriosa - might be team for a fresh start - but definately get staff to price out everything, adding in time, sundries, green - everything and come up with a formula that works so that you don't lose money ... good luck, be firm and always smile :-)

Caz

Feb 6 2010, 8:47am Anchor

Gloriosa i am in your situation, we are in a country town with 3 florists and the 1 funeral director in town is determined to keep everyone happy and rotate the casket sheafs between us unless the families specifically specify a florist. I was happy with this as I am getting my fair share however we also have set pricies so that we all charge the same, obviously if you charge more you get left out of the rotation. When I came in the prices were way too low. As florist we come together and raise our prices on a regualar basis, usually an increase of about $25-30 each 3-6 months. We have managed to doubled the price in the last few years, we are still too cheap compared to what gets charged in the city but by all working together we are getting there. So what I am trying to say is that even though the other florists are your competitors, sometimes it benefits you all to work together for the common good of all of you. I just ring the other florists every 3-6 months and suggest we all increase our price together, I would be surprised if they said they didn't want more per casket. They are probably all thinking the same thing as you but until you all work together you will be all worried about being left out. The funeral diredtor doesn't really have a choice when you go to them and say this is what we have all agreed to charge for a standard casket etc. from now on. It has been working really well.
Good Luck!!

studiorosa

Feb 7 2010, 4:21am Anchor

hi caz, i like your thinking on this topic... makes sense, might try it myself ;-)

Gloriosa

Feb 23 2010, 8:49am Anchor

Ok, update- I just had an order come through from the funeral home which a staff member took. It is for a all rose casket spray of red and white roses with a footnote that said "bigger then usual", for a whole $165. I just rang and politely explained that last time I did a casket spray full roses, I used around 60 heads, which when you add that up is about double the price. So for them to want it even bigger than that at the same time is not doable. He is going to get back to me. So fingers crossed they aren't jerks about it.

Wow, I am pissed. I got a call back from the man I talked to at the funeral home. His boss had told him to tell me that I don't need to use long stem roses (well, duh) and to fill it in with babies breath (niiiiiice!) and greenery. I told him the casket spray was undervalued and I won't be doing it for that price. I also told him that I wasn't using long stemmed roses but also not the shortest either otherwise you were going to have the smallest heads which would need more roses to fill it. Basically I told him I would be losing money.
Where does he get off giving me advice on how to do a casket spray. This guy has no idea about floristry. I didn't need him to tell me to use greenery. I'm not an idiot. Grrrr, I am just so angry. He may not care about mediocre work in his funeral but I sure as hell do!

Edited by: Gloriosa

mushy

Feb 24 2010, 7:32pm Anchor

hi gloriosa,
glad you are standing up for yourself. obviously they are jerks!
it will probably take some time to get through to them, as you have previously done a rose casket for this price they will expect it & more everytime.
good luck & don't be angry, stay positive.
mushy:)

Flowerfusion

Feb 25 2010, 6:43am Anchor

I actually thought he wouldn't even get back to you and just use someone else, so at least they are still communicating with you, there is hope. As Mushy said stay positive, and keep in mind you are saving your money (and self worth) by not doing them at a loss. No funeral is better than one that costs you in the end.

Cheers,
Annette
Flowerfusion - Flowers & Gifts

mushy

Feb 25 2010, 6:18pm Anchor

talking about under valued items..........this morning we received 2 orders from ready flowers & 1 from easyflowers, all 3 were under priced. I rejected these orders stating the price I wanted for them & was given the amount I requested....obviously they have quite a bit of variance in their prices.
do other florists ask for more money or do they just accept an under valued order.???
any thoughts??

Gloriosa

Feb 26 2010, 6:45am Anchor

Ready Flowers and easy flowers I always request more because I know they have the leeway.

EFlowersAlive

Feb 26 2010, 9:42am Anchor

CO-OPERATION versus COMPETITIONHave you ever considered the social, economic and psychological costs of competition between people, groups and nations who have as their primary objective, goals at the expense of others?Our world is besieged with COMPETITION. Businesses, schools, nations, etc. compete. Competition touches every aspect of our lives. This kind of competition usually focuses on self-centered efforts to get to the top, to obtain goals by means that prevent others obtaining their goals, or to put others down in the process. Millions believe and practice that "competition is the life of business", "competition builds character", and "competition brings out the best in us". Do competitive attitudes really bring out the best in us? Do we really perform better when we try to beat others to get ahead than when we work together to obtain mutual goals. We the flower industry, i.e., the flower grower, the flower wholesaler, the flower seller, and last, but not least and the most important, the FLORIST, have but a single goal within the industry, "to bring awareness for flowers as a necessity, to be an everyday part of life""FLOWERS ARE DEFINITELY NOT A LUXURY"WHY CO-OPERATION SUCCEEDSFirst, co-operation promotes teamwork and harmony. Next, co-operation takes advantage of the strengths and skills of each person and group involved and help each improve knowledge and skills. It encourages each to offer their best knowledge, experience and efforts for the success of the whole group in our case; the whole group being the FLOWER INDUSTRY. Our competitions are other industries eg. chocolates, perfumes, alcohol etc., all of which we can enhance and do, with flowers. A survey held in England asked women their choice of a gift of chocolates, perfumes or flowers, resulted in "FLOWERS"Now that the ground rules of any successful industry is summed up in one word "CO-OPERATION and co-operation is to the fore by your interest, then discussions on knowledge, experience and efforts to change this flower industry around to a new direction may be a success.The flower industry has the largest market in Australia, in fact, approximately 10 million over the age of 18 years. CO-OPERATION is needed to capture these clients to a successful FLOWER INDUSTRY. Foremost in our Industries discussion should be the Topic..."MORE COMPLEX, QUALITY PRODUCTS CAN BE MADE IN CO-OPERATIVE WORK CONDITIONS THAN COMPETITIVE AREAS, NOTHING SUCCEEDS LIKE CO-OPERATION

Why do you continue to accept these orders? The only reason you are getting these orders is because a large majority of the florists are rejecting them. They are no loss to your business but if you keep accepting them, your whole business will be a total loss AND SO WILL THE INDSUSTRY (REMEMBER VALENTINES DAY) This applies to Funeral Directories as well. It is a well known fact in the business world that florists are a soft touch and it is not very smart to do their work at your expense.
Over the last ten years since these cowboy order-gatherers have evolved on the internet, Florists have had to raise their prices or reduce the quantity of flowers in their arrangements to make ends meet.
AFTER ALL THESE ORDERS ARE SOME LOCAL FLORISTS LOCAL ORDER NOT NEEDING A MIDDLEMAN. IT CERTAINLY MAKES COMMONSENSE TO DIRECT A CUSTOMER TO ONE OF YOUR FLORIST COLLEAGUES. HAVE ANY OF THESE ORDERS BEEN POACHED FROM YOUR LOCAL CUSTOMER? AN ORDER YOU COULD HAVE RECEIVED A 100% PAYMENT FOR AND GAINED TWO PROSPECTS AS CUSTOMERS ON YOUR CUSTOMER DATABASE.
Co-operation wlth your florist colleagues is but a starting point to rebuild the Florist Industry to its former glory days from the adverse publicity received at Valentines Day.
Please do not let these middlemen get your paddy up, for believe you me it shows in your body language, your voice and your arrangements. Stay calm, or you will be a customer of the funeral director, and when you are lying in that box, you will be saying, "who the hell made that casket spray???"

Cheers and best of luck......................the Wise Old Owl at EFlowersAlive...........Ron

mushy

Mar 2 2010, 1:07pm Anchor

ok...a few points to consider....lets presume that customers who order from "the order gatherers" are not your customer yet anyway. I presume they are ordering over the internet & send their order to the first thing that pops up., whether that be Interflora , easyflowers, yellow pages etc....if you search yellow pages for a specific suburb that doesn't mean all those florists are in that suburb anyway.
we accept their orders (easyflowers etc..) if we choose to on our terms & if we do not wish to execute their order it is rejected for whatever reason.
are Interflora & Teleflora classed as order gatherers or not?
I'm confused about this situation...can one be a member of Interflora but be frowned upon for accepting orders from the order gatherers?
we consider ourselves to be in the business of selling flowers, we must make a profit on all orders received or we will not exist.
orders come from many different places, private, businesses,relay services etc....if any of these orders are price appropriate then we will execute them.
it is not up to us to question every order as to it's origin.
this is the way we see it & it seems to work for us.
mushy

Flowerfusion

Mar 2 2010, 3:52pm Anchor

Hi Mushy, As far as I could gather from Rons rantings is that the relay networks are not too bad as he is also a member of those, even though it sounds as though he is accusing us for destroying the industry for using them, he does too, so they must be O.K.

It is the websites that just put up the same items as available on the relay networks with their own profit margin tacked in so that when they send the order on through the relay network it is $5 - $10 less than the customer actually spent. And Yes, you can even find those advertised on this site!

There is nothing wrong with what you are doing, Ron is just trying to get everyone to use his EflowersAlive and Snappy Florist Management Systems instead of what you are using now. Whatever works for you, do it.

Cheers,
Annette
Flowerfusion - Flowers & Gifts

mushy

Mar 5 2010, 6:52pm Anchor

thanks Annette
would still like to hear Rons opinion on my points to consider......
every persons opinion should be accepted whether we agree or not.
mushy

EFlowersAlive

Mar 6 2010, 6:18am Anchor

Mushy, So sorry, I have not replied, because Flowerfusion's 3years experience of Floristshop operation knows more about my business than I know myself. I am of the opinion, with a total of 108 years experience including my wife and one loyal staff of 28years in the Florist Industry that you would not want to hear ANY MORE RANTINGS from EFlowersAlive on this forum.

However, as time permits, I will answer your questions honestly and truthfully under the Questions and answers thread. In the meantime please read the value of a sales representative on this forum.

Cheers, I do value your questions and allowing me to Live the Truth of this Florist Industry.................The Wise Old Owl at EFlowersAlive...........Ron

studiorosa

Mar 8 2010, 4:54pm Anchor

we all have experiences to share, and it doesn't matter if you have been a florist for a day or for 50 years, everybody's experience is valid and that is why this forum is good as it allows those experiences to come to light and be shared equally

on this particular topic, and with most service areas in my business i have started a base rate system for all services including weddings, corporates and day to day orders and relay orders ... if this is not suitable or affordable to the customer or client or relay provider then that is there choice to go elsewhere

We talk about quality, craftmanship, value and lastly price.... if customers are only focused on price and want a cheap fix, then i refer them back to their gardens and offer a pair of snips - we are the artists, the designers and business owners, so it is our obligation to the industry to treat pricing and eachother with respect

it's not hard :-)