Canadian Florist - November 2017

November/December 2017

canadianfloristmag.com

STEP OUT of Your Comfort Zone

Pricing Adjustments with BIG Payoffs

Learn the Art of Tropical Nouveau

inside Instagram Stories 101

Customer Service Resolutions Contending With Chargebacks

PM42919543

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A Website As Unique as Your Shop Part of the Essential Marketing bundle by Strider StriderSEO.com/orists hello@striderseo.com 800-314-8895 November/December 2017 | CANADIAN Florist 2

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06

Vol. 112, No. 6 • November/December 2017

COVER DESIGN BY HEATHER DE KOK, AAF, AIFD, PFCI

features 14

Honestly, I can’t think of anything that I have now that I didn’t gain through taking uncomfortable risk. From asking a pretty girl on a date in high school (who is now my wife of 17 years), to helping plant a church in Toronto at a time when churches were abandoning the city, to building a business that serves florists in multiple continents, a personal brand that lets me travel all over, and a magazine that I hope will restore some unity to our industry across Canada, all of it was possible because of risks well outside my comfort zone.

-Ryan Freeman

18

An Argument for Higher Learning

16

Why It Pays to Break Away From ‘Standard’ Markups

22

Discovering a New Niche (or Two or Three)

24

The Art of Upselling

32

Ouch! A Hit to the Wallet

online Network with florists online

Have your say. Join the new Canadian Florist Facebook Group to share thoughts on florist life in Canada. http://cfmag.pub/fbgroup

30 departments 6

Bloomin’ Biz/ Coast to Coast

10

Florist Spotlight

12

The Social Florist

18

By Design

26

Care and Handling

27

Life at Work

28

Rising to the Occasion

29

Ask the SEO

30

How To With Heather

34

On the Level with Neville

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Cherish the Challenge

by Katie Hendrick During the Canadian Florist Business Forum this past May, I had the FROM THE opportunity to visit with Jennifer Harvey who told me about the extensive travels she had planned for the coming summer months. Eager to learn how industry colleagues in various cities and provinces operate, she uprooted herself for weeks on end to visit them. No doubt, the experience complicated her life: she lost time at the shop, had to figure out logistics and keep track of her itineraries, and she had to contend with jet lag as she bounced around time zones. But all that paled in comparison to what she gained: a richer perspective, enhanced appreciation for her craft, and new ideas about how to grow her business.

EDITOR

Since we spoke, I’ve thought a lot about personal growth. The only way to have it is to challenge ourselves. Whether the goal is to run a marathon, write a novel, increase sales, or develop a romantic relationship, you have to commit yourself to something that may be inconvenient, awkward, intimidating, or literally painful (looking at you, pushups!). It’s so worth it though—even if the only discernible reward is the feeling of accomplishment. At the end of the year, is there anything more gratifying than knowing you gave something your all or had the courage to try something new?

I’m writing this letter from an airplane en route to Bogota for the Proflora trade show. Even though the timing (smack in the middle of the magazine’s closing) is quite terrible and a few loved ones expressed apprehension for my safety, I felt I couldn’t possibly turn down the invitation to see some of the prettiest flowers out in the field, get a better understanding of the supply chain, network, and ultimately experience another culture. The trip will make the coming month challenging, but as I know from experience, it will pass. And when I look back, I’ll have great memories, more knowledge, and perhaps a few new floral friends.

For this issue, we asked contributors to share stories that illustrate the benefits of diverging from the standard way of doing things. You’ll hear how your peers pushed themselves to greater financial success and emotional fulfillment by taking a chance on pricing, education, accreditation, competition, public speaking, and more. If you’ve been hesitating to try something that’s always excited—but scared—you, we hope their anecdotes will give you a friendly nudge to pursue your dreams.

Vol. 112 No. 6 Editor Katie Hendrick khendrick@CanadianFloristMag.com 800-314-8895 ext 106 Advertising Manager advertising@CanadianFloristMag.com Publisher Ryan Freeman ryan@CanadianFloristMag.com Media Designer Ruby Coles Publication Mail Agreement #42919543 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO Strider Media, 6-6150 Highway 7, Suite 400, Woodbridge, ON L4H 0R6 distribution@CanadianFloristMag.com Printed in Canada ISSN 1700-5043

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No part of the editorial content of this publication may be reprinted without the publisher’s written permission. ©2015 Strider Media. All rights reserved. Opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the editor or the publisher. No liability is assumed for errors or omissions.

All advertising is subject to the publisher’s approval. Such approval does not imply any endorsement of the products or services advertised. Publisher reserves the right to refuse advertising that does not meet the standards of the publication.

Dedicated to the memory of Bill Martin, and all those who gave of their time and resources to build up our industry.

www.canadianfloristmag.com

Here’s to a healthy, happy, and prosperous 2018!

@CanadianFlorist November/December 2017 | CANADIAN Florist 4

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©2017 Smithers-Oasis Company. All rights reserved. OASIS® and VERTICAL BAR DESIGN® are registered trademarks of Smithers-Oasis Company.

the warmth of the season

For me, the love of Fall is personal: family gatherings, the harvest of flowers, my birthday. This arrangement brings those feelings of Fall into my customers’ homes. The low profile lets family conversations continue unimpeded and the layered design allows the arrangement to fit different-sized spaces.

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bloomin’

biz

The Industry Gives Back to the Community During 36th CanWest Hort Expo

In late September, local businesses and landscape professionals came together to build an everlasting stone feature at Tradex, Fraser Valley Trade & Exhibition Centre in Abbotsford, British Columbia. It was a project two years in the making.

The build was organized by the CanWest Hort Expo as part of its annual “hands on” workshops to teach landscapers how to incorporate stone into their work. The final product features a permanent sitting wall located at the Tradex front entrance. It will be finished with soil and plants for visitors to admire for years to come. Local suppliers from Abbotsford donated product for the wall.

“It’s great to be able to participate in this project,” said Bob Tiller, GM of NorthWest Landscape & Stone Supply, who led a fullday workshop during the expo. “Every year we will be able to come back to Tradex and admire everyone’s hard work and accomplishment.”

For the past 36 years, CanWest has been the meeting place for buyers and sellers for British Columbia’s horticulture industry including wholesale nursery and greenhouse growers, garden centre retailers, and landscape professionals. The Expo features nearly 300 booths and draws approximately 3,000 industry professionals.

Rosa Flora Ltd. Hosts Petals & Plates Kickoff The inaugural Petals & Plates Dinner took place Sept. 16 at Rosa Flora Ltd. in Dunnville, Ontario.

Sponsored by Flowers Canada (Ontario) Inc., Petals & Plates is a series of flowerfocussed farm dinners that highlights Canadian flower growers.

Rosa Flora sat guests at a 100-foot harvest table in the middle of the company’s blooming snapdragon greenhouse. The sold-out event included a cocktail reception in the tropical

atrium, a guided walking tour of the facilities, and a seasonal four-course artisinal meal prepared by a local chef.

Otto and Corine Bulk grew hybrid tea roses and established Rosa Flora in 1978. The family-owned business has been passed down from one generation to the next. The largest greenhouse cut flower operation in Canada today, it now grows gerberas, snapdragons, lisianthus, and stephanotis.

To learn more about Petals and Plates, visit www.petalsandplates.ca.

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COMING

EVENTS

coast to

COAST

NOVEMBER

Thousands Peruse Latest Trends at Toronto Gift Fair

The Canadian Gift Association’s Toronto Gift Fair, Canada’s most expansive home and lifestyle gift show, hosted its Fall 2017 market August 13-16 at The International Centre and Toronto Congress Centre.

One million square feet became home to more than 750 exhibitors showcasing new trends and innovative products across the housewares, décor, gourmet, giftware, fashion, accessories, and bed, bath and linen categories—drawing more than 10,000 seasoned and savvy buyers in search of the hottest must-have items to hit retails shelves next season.

Among those shoppers: Chantelle Hitchcock, owner of Pizazz! Florals and Balloons in Chatham, Ontario. A longtime gift show attendee, she goes to draw inspiration for visual merchandising and finding new and popular inventory.

There’s something more meaningful about seeing a tangible product rather than looking at a catalogue “There's something more meaningful about seeing a tangible product rather than looking at a catalogue. It mimics the customer experience,” she said. “I know if I'm drawn to it at the show, my customers will be more interested in my shop!”

A few trends she detected during her recent shopping trip include birch, wooden crates, and natural looking containers. “The ‘country chic’ theme was everywhere!” she said. Lanterns, too, will be big for 2018. “They are beautiful and functional, which is great for gift giving.”

Since 1976, The Canadian Gift Association has been the voice and entrepreneurial spirit of Canada’s $10 billion giftware industry. As a not-for-profit association, CanGift works hard to empower its members to be more competitive and successful by bringing its members together with buyers at its bi-annual trade-only fairs in Toronto, Edmonton, and Montreal.

15-17: Expo-FIHOQ Centroexpo Cogeco Drummondville, Quebec

https://www.expofihoq.com/en/

DECEMBER

5-7: Great Lakes Expo Devos Place Conference Center and The Amway Grand Plaza Hotel Grand Rapids, Michigan http://glexpo.com

JANUARY

9-11: Landscape Ontario Congress Toronto Congress Centre Toronto, Ontario https://locongress.com

26-29: Floradecora Frankfurt am Main, Germany https://floradecora.messefrankfurt.com/ frankfurt/en.html 28-Feb. 1: Toronto Gift Fair The International Centre & Toronto Congress Centre www.cangift.org

FEBRUARY

25-28: Alberta Gift Fair Edmonton Expo Centre Edmonton, Alberta www.cangift.org

MARCH

14-16: Hortiflora Expo Millennium Hall Addis Ababa, Ethiopia http://www.hppexhibitions.com/ floriculture/2018/hortiflora 9-18: Canada Blooms Enercare Centre Toronto, Ontario http://canadablooms.com/ 20-22: World Floral Expo Donald E. Stephens Convention Center Chicago, Illinois http://www.hppexhibitions.com/ floriculture/2018/wfe/ 25-28: Quebec Gift Fair Place Bonaventure Montreal, Quebec www.cangift.org

APRIL

21: Canadian Florist Business Forum St. Catharines, Ontario www.canadianfloristmag.com 22: Niagara International Association of Florists Design Show St. Catharines, Ontario www.niaflorists.org

Organizing an upcoming event readers should know about?

EMAIL khendrick@canadianfloristmag.com

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FLORIST SPOTLIGHT

Vancouver Florist Pushes Self to New Heights

By Christy O’Farrell

In a 40-minute conversation with Aniko Kovacs, AIFD, CFD, EMC, owner of Garlands Florist in Vancouver, the word “challenge” came up nine times.

Whether competing in a Canadian floral design contest, earning back-to-back professional credentials, decorating a castle in Belgium, or balancing her store’s demands with family responsibilities, she rises to the test.

Kovacs and her husband, Karoly Barna, have run Garlands for 18 years, a business that evolved from a 580-square-foot shop they started from scratch in the late 1990s. Before the couple moved to Vancouver, Kovacs finished university in Budapest, Hungary, to become a horticulturist. She worked in other Vancouver-area flower shops for a little over a year before opening Garlands. “I was always attracted to flowers,” she said.

“I love design and fashion and art.”

Five years later, the couple expanded into a 2,300-square-foot space by removing a wall between their shop and the adjacent one, when that space became available.

Then, about five years ago, the couple reversed the process, erecting the wall because property taxes were rising, as were demands outside the shop, such as managing activities for their sons, Dominik, 13, and Attila, 10. “It’s quite challenging,” she said. “The dynamics changed.”

Garlands is now a 1,100-square-foot, five-employee, cash-and-carry business plus a separate warehouse with cooler from which the staff stages corporate events and weddings. Kovacs said they do fewer weddings than they used to, but that corporate business is “pretty steady.”

The retail showroom has always been on the same street, about 15 minutes from the couple’s home. Walk-in business has recovered from a “couple challenging years,” a decline caused by development and construction in the area, she said.

Kovacs has learned florists must keep up with new inventories, displays, and design techniques. For example, plants, including succulents and air plants, are hotter right now than she can ever remember them being. “You need to show you can do different things,” she said. “You can sell what you can show.”

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TRANSIT AND TRANSIT CONNECT

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Vehicle(s) may be shown with optional equipment. *Maximum cargo volume with front passenger seat removed on Transit Long Extended Wheelbase High Roof Van. **Maximum conventional hitch trailer towing capacity (when properly equipped) for Transit 150 RWB Low Roof Van / 250 RWB Low Roof Van / 150 RWB Medium Roof Van / Transit 250 RWB Medium Roof Van, with 3.2L I5 Diesel engine, 3.73 ratio, and 13,500 lbs GCWR. ‡Maximum cargo volume behind rst row with no 2nd or 3rd row seats on Transit Connect Van. ‡‡When properly equipped. Maximum payload with Transit Connect Van. Cargo and load capacities limited by weight and weight distribution. ©2017 Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited. All rights reserved.

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FLORIST SPOTLIGHT

To stay abreast of new trends—and even set a few—Kovacs travels for competitions, demonstrations, and exhibitions.

Most recently, in September, Kovacs traveled with her friend and fellow florist, Ania Norwood, AIFD, to Belgium for Fleuramour, an annual four-day event at a 16thcentury estate, Alden Biesen, now a government-owned heritage site and cultural centre. Dozens of international designers decorated the castle and grounds. For the ground-floor salon they were assigned, Kovacs and Norwood interpreted this year’s theme (culture) with the bright colours found in folk art from their home countries, Hungary for Kovacs and Poland for Norwood. They drew inspiration from both countries’ spring celebrations, when people, some dressed in traditional clothing, attend festivals that mark nature’s awakening from winter.

In July, the pair presented “Xcel at Armatures” at the AIFD symposium in Seattle, showcasing several floral sculptures built around a structural framework. In March, they attended the Philadelphia Flower Show.

Kovacs and Norwood met in Vancouver in 2012 while both were attending training sessions through European Master Certification, a program taught by Tomas De Bruyne and Hitomi Gilliam, AIFD. “We are like sisters,” Kovacs said. The next round of EMC training, a five-day practical course, will start in Norwalk, Connecticut, in November.

Kovacs completed her AIFD certification in 2015, and was inducted in 2016. She said she designs in both North American

You need to show you can do different things,” she said. You can sell what you can show.

and European styles at Garlands. One of the main differences is some of whom she had previously known only on Instagram and that, in North America, florists must produce a larger quantity of Facebook. “It’s great for our industry” to have an opportunity to arrangements, requiring them to work faster, either hand tying discuss business and design, she said. bouquets or using foam and containers. In contrast, European But she also welcomed the chance to practice a different type design is more technical, tending toward smaller arrangements, of creativity than she does at her store, as well as another kind and often using tubes or vials for hydration and pre-made wiring of interaction with the public. At her open-concept shop, with and decorations from wholesalers that aren’t as readily available work tables visible to customers, designers always feel like they’re in North America, she said. “on stage,” she said. Yet, at the competition, “you have a direct Because Kovacs thrives on challenge, she squeezed in another connection with the public.” trip in March, this time to compete in the second Maple Leaf Cup at the Edmonton Home and Garden show.

Participants had to dress a mannequin in flowers and fabric Christy O’Farrell is a freelance writer in Alexandria, Va. (“Hort Couture”). First and foremost, she enjoyed meeting and getting to know colleagues from all over Canada,

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What They Are, Why They Matter, and How to Use Them

By Rachel Levy Sarfin

When it comes to social media platforms, Instagram WHY SHOULD YOU USE INSTAGRAM STORIES? boasts incredibly high user rates. By April 2017, the When Instagram introduced the Stories function, many people criticized the company for copying another popular social media app had reached 200 million daily active users. That platform: Snapchat. Snapchat’s stories also disappear after 24 hours. same month, Instagram announced it reached 700 In spite of the initial disapproval, Instagram Stories have gained million monthly active users. It’s no wonder advertisers traction amongst users. Approximately 150 million people share them each day. What attracts them to Instagram Stories? Some have flocked to the app. users have publicly stated that they actually prefer Instagram Stories A little more than a year ago, Instagram added another feature that proved helpful for businesses: Instagram Stories. You likely have heard of this innovation, but might not understand exactly what these stories are or how to use them for your business. This guide explains Instagram Stories as well as why and how to get the most out of them.

WHAT ARE INSTAGRAM STORIES? Instagram Stories are temporary videos and photos that appear as thumbnails in a row at the top of your followers’ feed. This content will play as a slideshow. After 24 hours, they disappear (similar to content on Snapchat).

to Snapchat’s because users are less anonymous on Instagram. If someone likes your Instagram post (you can’t like an Instagram Story), you can click on his or her profile and learn a little about that person.

Conversely, if someone like your Snapchat story, you can’t see his or her profile.

What’s the difference between stories and regular Instagram posts? Regular Instagram photos and videos won’t disappear automatically after 24 hours. You can leave them up for as long as you like. Moreover, posts will appear in your profile and on the main feed, whereas Stories cannot be retrieved at a later date.

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HOW CAN YOU MAKE THE MOST OF INSTAGRAM STORIES? The benefits of posting Instagram Stories are clear. So, what are some best practices to follow to really engage with your customers?

One popular method is to go behind the scenes. At your shop, take pictures or video in the back room as you load flowers into the van. You could also shoot footage of a staff member assembling a bouquet, a designer on site at a wedding hall or a party venue during setup, or a recipient smiling upon receiving a floral gift (provided you have permission, of course).

Another technique is to allow someone to take over your Instagram account. An Instagram takeover, as the name implies, is when someone else takes control of your account for a certain amount of time. Florists could hand their accounts over to their delivery staff, wedding planners, photographers, or interior designers.

In addition, you could use Instagram Stories to post howto videos, such as how to properly trim the stems of flowers throughout the week to maximize the flowers’ vase life. One of the advantages of using Instagram Stories is that, after the video ends, you can post a link to your site to direct traffic there.

Instagram Stories are also a wonderful way to announce company news or mark a milestone. Southwest Airlines used Instagram Stories to describe the retirement of its 737500 planes. You could share the news of an upcoming sale, introduce a new employee, or celebrate your flower shop’s anniversary.

WHAT ARE SOME INSTAGRAM STORIES BEST PRACTICES? Sometimes, coming up with ideas for content is easy. But there are other questions that Instagram Stories raise.

“How often should I post?” you ask. Instagram won’t penalize you for posting too often (meaning that your content won’t be pushed below that of other accounts). That said: know your audience. If they don’t like getting updates five times a day, you’ll lose followers if you inundate them.

“What’s the best time of day to post Instagram Stories?” you want to know.

Since they stay up for 24 hours, there’s no pressure to post at a certain time of day to ensure you reach your followers.

“What else should I keep in mind?” you inquire. There are three other best practices to remember when creating Instagram Stories: be authentic, provide value, and use calls-to-actions (CTAs).

Authenticity means that you are original. Your followers like your content because it’s different from other retailers’ posts. Providing value is connected to authenticity. Give your followers something they can’t get anywhere else (and don’t repost the same content to Snapchat). CTAs tell your followers what they should do, such as sign up, follow, and buy.

Instagram is an amazing marketing tool for florists, and the Stories feature helps you get even more out of the platform. Take advantage of it to become more connected to followers, attract more customers, and sell more of your beautiful flowers.

Rachel Levy Sarfin is a Toronto-based freelancer who has written about technology for a variety of publications and blogs.

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An Argument for Higher Learning

With so much on your plate (ordering product, designing, organising special events, invoicing, putting out customer service fires, accounting, and anything else that may pop up), a day in the life of a flower shop owner can often feel like a whirlwind. It’s easy to get stuck in a hamster wheel-like rotation. And although you may not think you could possibly add one extra thing to the crazy load you’re juggling—like advanced accreditation or continuing education—you may be selling yourself short by sticking to the status quo.

By Jamie Birdwell-Branson Besides the sense of accomplishment that accompanies those coveted letters (CFD, AIFD, CAFA, PFCI), advanced accreditation can change the way you approach floral design and help you stay at the forefront of the industry. Advancing your education will challenge you creatively and re-ignite your passion for the art of floral design.

Here, two florists share why they decided to take their education to a higher level—and why they embrace the constant pursuit of pushing themselves creatively.

Trish Fjeldsted, AIFD The BloomBox Brandon, Manitoba Fjeldsted, who has been working in the floral industry ever since her first after-school job, probably wouldn’t say she is a natural student.

“I’ll tell you the truth: I actually don’t like going to school,” she said. “I hate school. I’m not good at it. I don’t like it. I went to university for a year, but I didn’t like anything I was taking. Nothing held my attention.”

After a year at university, Fjeldsted enrolled in college to go through a large event planning program, but again, she wasn’t super passionate about what she was studying. After that, she decided to return to her flower shop roots.

At the start of her floral career, she worked at a store called Foster’s Floral Fashions, learning the ropes by folding boxes, making delivery trays, and cleaning flowers when the flower shipments came in.

Her first taste of design came during busy times at the shop when Mr. Foster would let her assemble all of the Teleflora and FTD teacups and teapots for Mother’s Day by following pictures with a little bit of direction.

“I find in floral design most people don’t have formal education as much as they have been mentored or taught by somebody who has gone before them,” she said. “My first bit of training wasn’t accredited education. It was hands on, on-the-job learning from someone who had been in the business since 1977.”

Through her time at university and college, she continued to work for Mr. Foster and hone her skills, learning design and customer service from her mentor. When she dropped out of school, she applied for a full-time position at Academy Florists, a shop she has owned for eight

Trish Fjeldsted years and rebranded as The BloomBox. Although the shop, as well as her family life, kept her plenty busy, Fjeldsted decided a few years ago to study and test to become a member of the American Institute of Floral Designers, or AIFD. “I’m the owner and operator but really, at the heart of it, I’m a designer.

That’s what I do,” she said. “If I have my accreditation, my shop benefits because it means I’m constantly trying to be better at what I do.”

Going through the AIFD accreditation process surrounded Fjeldsted with the best of the best in the industry and allowed her to learn from others. “I find that hands on learning from others is the best way to learn in this industry,” she said.

To achieve AIFD status, florists have to complete an online exam as well as participate in the Professional Floral Design Evaluation (the PFDE), which Fjeldsted describes as a little bit like the television show “Chopped.”

To pass the PFDE, a florist has to achieve an accumulative evaluation mark of 16 points or better on the intense design exam, where participants get four hours to create five designs. Florists only receive 45 minutes to take a look at an example of what they’re supposed to make and what products they can use, and are evaluated on their mastery of principles of design. Florists who pass receive an invitation to the AIFD annual symposium, where they receive a gold pin and are formally inducted into the organization.

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Fjeldsted received her gold pin last July in Seattle, which was a proud moment for her and her whole family.

“My husband is making sure he advertises it,” she said. “Our community isn’t a huge metropolitan area so getting my accreditation doesn’t get me paid more money,” she said. “But if somebody is searching for a florist who is accredited, I’m the only one in my city and only one of two or three in my entire province.”

Crossing AIFD off her list, Fjeldsted now plans on becoming a member of the Canadian Academy of Floral Art (CAFA) and perhaps wants to do a bit of teaching or speaking at future symposiums.

“Flowers are pretty much in my blood. When I was speaking to one of my employees recently about retirement, I said, ‘I’m going to be a florist until I die. Pensions don’t matter to me.’ I’m pretty much going to make my own casket spray before I get into the ground,” she said.“I can’t imagine doing anything but this.”

Lea Romanowski, AIFD, CAFA Designing on the Edge, Inc. Calgary, Alberta Lea Romanowski never intended to be a florist.

“I was going to be either an architect or a paramedic,” she said.

“I ended up at a summer job and had a bit of an accident with a coffee truck in an oil patch area. My boyfriend’s mother and sister owned a flower shop. I had taken art in school and was good at it, and they needed somebody. And I went, ‘You know what? I can do this.’”

From that moment, she fell in love.

Within six months of working at the flower shop, she participated in an FTD competition and took first place. She was hooked.

After getting her feet wet in the industry, Romanowski decided that she wanted formal floral education. The first thing she did was take a year of private instruction in Ikabana, the oldest form of floral art in Japan. Her course was just three months long, but the entire class enjoyed it so much that they hired the instructor on a weekly basis for the rest of the year.

From there, she moved onto the Flowers Canada program in 2001, when her youngest child was just two years old. With four children and a busy schedule, she studied any way she possibly could.

“I didn’t have a lot of time to read so I listened to all three of the manuals for Canadian Accredited Floral Design on cassette tapes,” she said. “I listened to the cassette tapes for six months straight. It got to the point where I could finish off the sentences.”

After a flurry of cassette tape reading, flash card making, and other intense studying, Romanowski passed her first two tests with flying colours. She then moved onto the second level of testing, which consisted of a two-hour written exam and a twohour physical test. The physical test required designing bridal, corsage, and sympathy pieces, as well as a surprise category, which kept the students on their toes. Again, she passed the exams with high marks and got her first set of letters, CAFD. “It was the most amazing foundation for me, and that gave me

Lea Romanowski a thirst of knowledge to go further. So, I went after AIFD next,” she said.

Studying furiously again, Romanowski went down to St. Louis, Missouri in 2003 to take her AIFD examinations, heading there determined to pass. Because accreditation can be an expensive process, she knew it had to be done in one go.

“AIFD gave me more credibility in the design world as well as the teaching world,” she said.

“I’m not just a designer, I believe I’m an artist.

I’m a painter. I was a singer and a dancer. I acted. So, I did a lot of artsy things and I really wanted to pursue the education and the art of floral design.”

Shortly after earning her AIFD accreditation, Romanowski went after CAFA in 2004, pushing herself to earn all these certifications before she was 40. But it wasn’t just about the accolades, she insists; she just wanted to know more about the industry she loved so much.

“We have the opportunity to impact people’s lives in their most important milestones—from the birth of children to marriage to birthdays to the death of loved ones,” she said. “We honestly are involved in the entire life cycle of human emotions.”

Romanowski has been in the industry for 34 years and has had quite the storied career.

In addition to owning her own floral studio, Designing on the Edge, where she creates statement floral art, she teaches classes for

the floral design certificate program at Mount Royal University. She has also had the opportunity to work on the Rose Bowl parade in Pasadena, California, and still regularly participates in floral competitions. In fact, just this past March she won the Maple Leaf Cup. But even after all her success, she is still hungry for more. She plans on earning the European Masters Certification (EMC) and then joining the ranks of Professional Floral CommunicatorsInternational (PFCI).

Romanowski credits her advanced education with providing critical thinking skills. “With knowledge, you can pull it from your little bag of knowledge tricks,” she said. “But if you don’t have the education or if you haven’t been exposed to anything like that, then you might struggle. Investing in your education is I think paramount to success.”

Jamie Birdwell-Branson is a freelance writer in Santa Barbara, California. She enjoys antiquing, biking, and binge watching HGTV.

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Why It Pays to Break Away From ‘Standard’ Markups

by Ryan O’Neil

Since starting our local studio in St. Louis, Missouri five and a half years ago and launching Stemcounter.com almost four years ago, I’ve had the opportunity to work with more than a thousand florists on their invoicing settings, proposals, and profit margins. I’ve seen scores of Excel sheets formatted in every way, shape, and form.

Out of all the florists I've met with, there are precisely two categories to which they belong. The first says, "I know how to price floral arrangements." The second: "I desperately need help when it comes to pricing.”

Here's where it gets interesting. Of those in the first category, I've had at least 25 conversations with people who assert florists need to price to “industry standard." Of those conversations, how many named the same “industry standard”? Maybe two.

At our shop, we began to question things and really take a dive into how different companies priced their markups. In the end, we decided to do more than just accept what others said we should do. We decided to find out what we wanted to earn and adjust our level of service based on the markup we needed to make the profit we wanted.

BUT ISN’T IT GOOD TO PRICE THE SAME AS OTHERS? “Sort of." While there seem to be 87 different markups, at Stemcounter.com we see that there are similar profit margins within certain geographical areas within the same tier of the market. This makes a lot of sense. We work a lot with event proposals, so we'll use that as an example.

Florist #1 is in a rural town in Nova Scotia with a population largely of lower to middle class families. There's no floral market or wholesaler nearby, so everything has to be shipped. You'd be hard pressed to find a flower shop with customers who will be able to pay more than the price after a 2.5x markup, with labour calculated hourly on their wedding proposals.

Florist #2 is in downtown Toronto with a storefront and three employees. Space is expensive and you have to pay quite handsomely to get great team members.

Based on anecdotal pricing from some of our Toronto florist friends, you can also get cheaper flowers than florists who need them shipped in.

Let's say there was a single industry standard and florist #2 had to make it on 2.5x markup without an extra fee for labour.

It could theoretically work — if the florist is willing to sleep in the shop and embrace a hunger strike. But if they wanted to support a family or take a vacation every so often, they shouldn't depend on “the industry standard.”

This example speaks loud enough without even considering whether the florist is retail or event-based, a brick and mortar or home-based floral business, or a myriad of other market differences that florists have.

Toronto florists shouldn’t look to Nova Scotia to determine their pricing. But they most certainly could look at other florists in the same market. This is where a geographical industry standard comes into play. Consumers have a certain expectation of what to pay and florists within the area have the ability to get flowers at similar prices. While your markup likely won't be exactly what someone else does, talking with floral friends in your community will definitely give you a better view of the market.

IF THERE IS NO SET INDUSTRY MARKUP, HOW SHOULD YOU DETERMINE YOURS? So, how do you know what to charge? Most florists who start a business from scratch simply copy the markups they already know. Many a great business has started this way so there isn't any shame in it. This is even how we started our company. But it’s neither the only way nor the answer that reaps maximum profitability.

Let’s consider another method: BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND Just as you wouldn't buy flowers for an event before you know the style, you shouldn't create a markup without knowing what you need your profit to be.

Work backwards.

1. Determine your Profit Goal How much do you want to make this year in cleared profit? $50,000? $200,000? Let's get really honest here. It doesn't matter what your revenue is.

There are some in the industry who think it's more glamorous to be Business Owner A, who grosses $1 million than to be Business Owner B, who grosses $200,000. However, if both business owners net $100,000 in profit, Business Owner B is doing 1/5 of the work to make the same profit. Don't get fooled by wire reports or tax returns saying that you did hundreds of thousands in business. What matters is what you’re taking home to feed your family.

Determine what profit you need for it to be worth staying in the industry.

There are dozens of considerations, such as taxes and shop investments that could factor into this goal, so you definitely want to chat with your tax professional. For our shop in the U.S., our cleared profit would then be subject to personal taxes as well (SECA and income), so keep that in mind when looking at your situation. For the purpose of this stepby-step process, let's say you're the sole owner of a wedding and event floral shop who wants to net $100,000. This may be a dream income for some, so let's dream!

Goal: $100,000 2. Estimate Demand Once you have your desired profit, you need to consider

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your demand for the last year. If you did 100 weddings last year, plan on doing that again this year. If you're just now starting, plan for a smaller number than you'd like and be pleasantly surprised if it changes. Luckily, in the wedding and event industry, you get a decent heads up about what your finances will look like in six months. If you're a retail shop, you may want to work based off of your cost of goods sold from the previous year.

COGS ANALYSIS

Demand: 100 weddings. Profit needed per event to hit your goal: $1,000

So, whenever you quote from this point forward, you need to ensure that your goods + your labour are equal to 35% of the final quoted price. To recap the COGS method:

3. Calculate Overhead Aptly named, overhead costs include things literally over your head (like rent for your shop) and those metaphorically over your head, such as your accounting, your marketing costs, your website, or your Stemcounter.com subscription (wink wink). For this example, let's say that you had $30,000 of overhead. Your overhead divided by 100 events would be $300 per event.

Overhead: $30,000. Overhead per event: $300.

Do a COGS analysis. As a recap, your Cost of Goods Sold includes the cost of the materials used in creating the arrangements along with the direct labour costs used to produce the goods. Don't add advertising or accounting costs in here. Let's say you spent $500 for goods and $200 for labour. Your revenue ($2,000) minus your COGS ($700) equals $1,300 (your gross margin). Your costs ($700) divided by your revenue ($2,000) equals 35% COGS.

$500 (goods) + $200 (labour) = $700 $700 (actual cost) divided by .35 (your percentage) = $2,000 It worked! The final breakdown looks like this: $700 COGS $300 event overhead $1,000 profit

(Lost on the math? Stemcounter is giving away a free markup calculator to do the work for you.

Find it at http://info.stemcounter.com/markupon-flowers.)

(If you're a Stemcounter user, this would be a markup of 2.85 on hardgoods and florals and your labour would need to be at 40%.)

4. Calculate Markup

TRIAL AND ERROR

If you did 100 weddings last year, you need to plan on an average $1,000 in profit on each wedding this year to hit your goal. Simple enough. If your average wedding is $2,000, you can spend $1,000 for each wedding. To break that down more, that's $700 for your COGS (cost of goods sold) and $300 for your overhead per event.

There are a couple different ways you could calculate your markup:

5. Make Adjustments Once you finally have everything together, you'll probably realize that you don't have everything together.

There are going to be overhead expenses that you didn't anticipate or maybe you overestimated your number of customers. This is when you'll start to play offense (raise your markups) or defense (find better priced goods). It's good to come back to this once a year to make sure you're still profiting what you should.

It’s so easy to compromise on the profit you need because you’re scared of the price you’ll have to charge. In the end, if you can’t get away from raising your markup, you need to adjust your level of service to justify that type of markup. Instead of selling flowers for an event, sell an experience for that event.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Another method would be to plug in various figures quoted as the “industry standard” to see which ones work. Let’s try a 3x markup for hardgoods and florals plus a 20% labour charge.

3x (markup) times $500 (hardgoods and florals) = $1,500 (pre-labour quoted price) $1,500 times 20% (labour rate) = $300 (labour fee) $1,500 + $300 = $1,800 (total quoted price) How’d it do? $1,800 - $500 (goods) - 200 (actual labour cost) = $1,100 (gross margin) $1,100 - $300 event overhead = $800

It looks like we ended up $200 short of our $1,000 profit. So, how do we fix it? We can either bump up our markup to 3.4x or we can bump up our labour to 33%.

Now, all this does NOT mean you have to make things complicated.

Some florists really feel more comfortable having a 3x markup for florals, 2.5x for hard goods, plus a 20% labour charge. Other florists literally just markup the flowers by 5x and then have everything built in.

Your rental charges can work with a similar concept. Remember, the most important thing is that your business is profitable.

Don't let emotions sway your pricing.

One side of you might say, "I really do deserve to earn this type of money.” More likely though, the other side of you will say, "There's no way I could have afforded to pay that price for flowers when I got married!" There are lots of instances where emotions can help a florist.

However, when you're sitting down to look at your books, tell them to take a hike. Ultimately, it’s when you’re willing to do this and break away from “standard” markups that you can finally move away from minimal profit margins and truly grow your business.

Ryan O’Neil is the founder of Stemcounter.com.

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design

By Lisa Alary, CAFA

Floral design proves that you can bridge seemingly unlikely pairings into cohesive wholes. Whether it’s mixing tropicals with temperate blooms (as with the latest “Tropical Nouveau” trend) or partnering sleek exotic blooms with “rough around the edges” rural elements, upsetting the old school design rule apple cart can render interesting results.

Taking palette cues from the flowers themselves via natural colour gradations of their petals and markings in their throats and stems (versus strictly adhering to rigid colour wheel-based schemes) can link blooms that might otherwise seem odd bedfellows. Likewise, exploiting textural contrasts and playing those differences against one another can actually narrow any gap. It becomes less about the individual blooms and more about the overall statement.

The old rules of harmony are being challenged.

Once upon a time, we would only design exotics in clean contemporary containers. We’d never dare put elegant blooms in a dusty brown jug! But today, eclecticism is the hot ticket in floral design. Varying the detailing, accents, and vessels can take the same bucket full of blooms into so many unique directions.

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Growler craft beer bottles, fresh hops, prairie wheat, and millet welcome exotic orchids and romantic roses into their fold. These rustic elements give flowers that might feel far too formal for the beer hall a laid-back—yet chic—feel.

Move over, floral prints and patterns!

Flowers in fashion are going 3-D. Flowers to wear have busted out from the conventional corsages and boutonnieres. Blooms are deconstructed in this dramatic necklace, which uses a birch base and millet “chain.�

Temperate blooms partner with exotic orchids and pincushion proteas in an elegant cascade bouquet.

Ideal for the on-trend bride, this celebrates a passion of textile and fibre arts by incorporating hand-dyed yarn around an artful tangle of wire that runs through the bouquet.

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An old pickle crock was a chance find while rooting around in the family storage room. Its monolithic physical and visual heft, paired with strong lines, takes a softer and feminine colour palette into a believable masculine arrangement with the help of sturdy birch poles and dark foliage.

Clean parallel groupings of flowers and foliage could come off as rigid and a bit static, but the repetition of aluminum wire swirl accents and coloured corsage pins inserted in cut lengths of equisetum lighten up this design with a hint of playfulness.

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Flowers and fruit have been natural pairs since the beginning of time. Midollino adds a dynamic line and movement.

And the strong geometric container takes an old Flemish/ Baroque sensibility in a fresh modern direction. The apple accents can be removed and used for smaller accompaniment pieces (pictured) or could double as fun favours for guests.

The curly willow armature and lightly perched mini cymbidium blooms allow the eye to dance between these twinned arrangements of robust blooms. They energize the composition by creating negative space and rhythm.

Lisa Alary, CAFA, is the owner of Fleurde-Lise, a wedding and events design company in St. Albert, Alberta. She studied printmaking at the Alberta College of Art + Design and has 17 years of experience in the floral industry. Alary considers herself a bit of a “design chameleon,” drawing on a number of different design styles. Much like the artists she’s studied and admired, she enjoys turning convention on its ear— in a tasteful and beautiful way. When she isn’t thinking about flowers (which isn’t often), she’s probably spending time with her husband and their five-year-old son.

But she’s probably thinking about flowers.

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Discovering a New Niche

By Katie Hendrick

(or Two or Three)

Born into a long line of florists, Ryan Freeman was destined for a career in the industry — though he could never have predicted the various hats he wears today. The publisher of Canadian Florist looks back, reflecting on the opportunities that scared him and why it always pays off to branch out of his comfort zone.

KH: What are your first memories from the family shop (Martin’s, The Flower People in Toronto)?

RF: I was the 5th generation and I was there almost from birth. At two years old, I would go to Montessori in the morning then come back to the shop for lunch and would spend the afternoon upstairs with my greatgrandmother, often taking an “arrangement” with me.

KH: What were you original roles with the business?

RF: My design career peaked at five years old when I sold my first (and probably only) arrangement. As a kid, my grandfather would pay me a nickel for every box I made, and eventually I moved from general labour into the office. One day the phone was ringing, and no one was answering, so I did.

KH: When did you foresee a career in the industry?

RF: When I was a teenager, I told my Mom to start

recruiting cousins to take over, because I had zero interest in the business. Even though I continued working at the shop part time, I didn’t see a future there. It wasn’t until college, when I began to take what I was learning and apply it in the context of the shop, that I got excited. Not long after that, I had some opportunities to do tax and POS consulting for other florists. That’s when I came to love the industry.

KH: When did tech become a passion?

RF: The way Mom tells it, I was always one to take things apart—even if I wasn’t great at putting them back together. I was lucky enough to have access to a Commodore VIC 20 when I was really young, so computers have always been a part of my life. That led to working in IT as a teenager, and getting involved with the Internet in 1994.

KH: Did you have to pitch your family on why you should focus on the Web— and why that would benefit the business?

RF: Not at all. Grandad wasn’t a tech guy, but he knew the importance of being current.

We were one of the first shops in the city to use computers for billing. Mom took over from him in the mid-90s and asked for my input selecting a POS system. We went through several iterations of really bad first-generation websites, and I distinctly remember asking Mom if we should bite the bullet and buy our own domain name (well over $100 a year

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back then). I was amazed when she said yes without hesitation.

KH: When did you launch Strider? Did you have any apprehensions about being a small business owner?

RF: Strider was formed in February 2008. I had been doing freelance work since 1994, but wanted to make it more official and build up a team of experts. I was too young to be apprehensive. It was a “great idea” and everything was going to be fantastic!

However, as the company went through the inevitable growing pains (helped out by launching at the start of a recession), I did find comfort in knowing that small businesses can last.

Our family shop made it through five generations over 118 years.

My grandfather supported a family that included five children, while also managing to be generous and find jobs for friends and relatives who needed work.

KH: How did you find clients when you were first starting out?

RF: Work has always found me through word-of-mouth—the computer shop, telemarketing call centre, jobs with FTD, Teleflora, and MAS, and others by referral. Often the harder I tried to force growth, the more I failed, but networking has been the biggest source of new business.

KH: When did you launch FlowerChat (now Florist 2.0)? What was the impetus?

RF: FlowerChat.com was launched in

October 2002. There were other chat boards, but they were text-based and boring. I had been a part of forums in other areas of interest and knew there was a lot of potential to build a community that let florists express their personalities as a part of the discussion.

KH: Any reservations at first?

RF: Huge! It cost around $130 for the forum software and I debated for two days whether or not we could afford to invest that. It was a lot of money for our family at that time.

KH: You’re also a popular speaker at industry events.

How did you get into that?

RF: Mark Anderson of FloristWare had asked me to speak at his Floral Summit event a few times.

I dreaded public speaking, so I always managed to come up with a convenient scheduling conflict. But Mark’s a charmer, and he finally convinced me to participate in 2008. I was terrified, hadn’t slept in a day or two, and when I nervously went to the front of the room to get started none other than J Schwanke himself walked in and took a seat in the front row! Talk about pressure! Thankfully, J was really encouraging and I made it through three sessions that day. Since then, thanks to Mark’s insistence, I’ve spoken at events for the Society of American Florists, Canadian Florist, and many state associations in the U.S. over the last ten years.

KH: Now the big question: Canadian Florist! How did this position come about and what were your original thoughts?

RF: The Annex staff had been given a mandate to make sure the magazine continued publishing and they needed to find someone willing to invest in the floral industry in Canada. We all know that print is declining. Newspapers are shrinking or closing and many top

magazines have converted to digital-only publication. I knew it would be a challenge to make a go of it, especially in Canada where postage is so expensive.

KH: Were you nervous? What pushed you to go for it?

RF: I was very nervous! Who goes from the digital world into the print industry in this decade??? But the alternative was to let the magazine fold. As the only national voice for florists in Canada, especially with the disappearance of Flowers Canada, this magazine was too important to lose.

KH: How has reality lined up to what you were expecting?

RF: It’s been a challenge, to be sure! Thankfully, we have a fantastic editor who is fully committed to elevating the quality and scope of the content, making Canadian Florist ever more valuable to its readers. [Editorial aside: Aw-shucks!]

KH: Looking back on everything, what have you gained by challenging yourself?

RF: Honestly, I can’t think of anything that I have now that I didn’t gain through taking uncomfortable risk.

From asking a pretty girl on a date in high school (who is now my wife of 17 years), to helping plant a church in Toronto at a time when churches were abandoning the city, to building a business that serves florists in multiple continents, a personal brand that lets me travel all over, and a magazine that I hope will restore some unity to our industry across Canada, all of it was possible because of risks well outside my comfort zone. Left to my own devices, I’d probably be in my office on a computer comfortably avoiding all human contact.

Katie Hendrick is the editor-in-chief of Canadian Florist.

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The Art Of of Upselling

By Mark Anderson

Ever wonder why movie theatres charge so much for the small bag of popcorn, and so little extra for double or triple the amount? At Cineplex here in Canada, the first seven cups cost about $5, while the extra seven cups you get in a medium are just $0.50 more. It’s a discount of 90%.

The first seven cups are so expensive because there is no real alternative to hot buttered popcorn when you are in the theatre. It’s the same reason we can charge more for roses at Valentine's Day. But, as great as popcorn is, the theatre readily acknowledges a shortcoming. It has what is known as diminishing marginal utility, meaning that each additional unit consumed provides a little less utility (in this case, pleasure) than the one that came before it. The last handfuls just aren’t as valuable as the first, and you won’t pay as much for them.

Popcorn is also highly perishable. You can’t go to a movie this week, take advantage of the discount to get twice the amount, and save half for the next week.

So the movie theatre is ready to make a deal. Rather than not ever selling medium or large sizes they’ll give you a big discount to spend a little more. They’ll make a much smaller profit on the additional units, but it’s profit they would not have seen otherwise if they had stubbornly insisted that twice the popcorn should come at twice the price.

Flowers are much like movie popcorn. Flowers offer diminishing marginal utility - two dozen roses generally don’t provide twice as much pleasure as one dozen.

And flowers are also very perishable - you can’t order two dozen roses at Valentine's Day and save half for Mother's Day. That means that Valentine's Day roses are ideal candidates for volume discounts.

The pitch would typically go like this: “How may I help you?”

“I need roses for Valentine's Day.” “Sure! We have one dozen at $60, or our 25 Rose Spectacular at $125.”

At this point, the customer makes a decision.

Hopefully they choose the much more profitable $125 option but, if they don’t, we’re not giving up. At this point, you proceed with the order and get all of the delivery information.

Then, before running the payment, you can come back with a kind of counteroffer, something like this: “So just to confirm - one dozen roses for $60. But we’re having a special and can add an extra six roses for $15, or an extra dozen for just $30. It's double the number of roses for half the price.”

This is a very compelling offer. They have already agreed that $60 for a dozen represents fair value because they agreed to pay it. In that context, an extra dozen, for just $30 more, is an unbeatable value and some people won’t be able to resist it.

Not everyone will go for it, and those that do will be generating a smaller profit on the second dozen… but it’s still profit you would not have seen otherwise.

Meanwhile, the people who placed a high value on more than a dozen roses went for the 25 rose spectacular, generating a much bigger profit.

BUNDLES Next time you are at a fast food restaurant, or buying popcorn at the movie theatre, take a look at the menu boards. You'll likely see that the majority of the space is devoted to bundles of multiple complementary items.

These bundles are magic. Study after study shows that people spend more, and buy extra items they wouldn't have otherwise, when presented with bundle options. In fact, studies have shown that bundles are popular even when they are priced higher than the sum of their component items.

Bundles also lower what is called the ordering cost. In this case, cost is not about money but rather the time and

effort that goes into selling and entering the order.

Reducing the ordering cost benefits both you and the customer by saving you time.

"Bottom Line" customers love bundles because it lets them skip past the drip, drip, drip of delivery charge, add on item, etc. They know right away what their order is going to cost, and they don't feel like they fell for a bait and switch scheme. This is a real complaint for some buyers.

Valentine’s bundles typically include the flowers, delivery, and something else. This last part is the secret sauce—you want to slip a really high margin item in there that adds value. This is the item that gets the customer to spend a little more on the bundle, adding to your profit.

Bundles are typically priced 2-5% lower than the sum of the component prices. You don't have to discount at all—bundles should sell well regardless— but if you call it a “value bundle,” you better discount a little. Otherwise it's embarrassing if you run into a customer who is good at math. And never imply delivery is free; it's included.

During the sale process bundles are best introduced as soon as you know the customer is interested in Valentine roses: "Can I interest you in one of our premium/value bundles that includes roses, delivery, and upgraded gift card/chocolate? Or would you rather just start by talking about the flowers?"

Don't expect everyone to choose a bundle, but you should see healthy interest, and a quicker more profitable sale each time.

WEIGHT OUT Have you ever wondered about all the extra space at the top of a box of cereal or bag of chips? Or dimly remembered that the 14-ounce bag of frozen shrimp used to be a pound?

This practice is known as weight-out or de-sheeting (from when the number of sheets in a box of tissue

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or roll of paper towel is reduced).

It's commonly employed when a vendor needs to increase prices but doesn't want the customer to know. Market conditions may have forced them to raise prices several times in short order and they fear customer revolt. Or, perhaps, there is a recession and they don't want to appear insensitive. Selling a little less at the same price lets them sneak in a hidden price increase.

It's a little harder to do this with the perennial Valentine's Day staple of a dozen roses. Selling ten roses when recipients acutely know the standard is twelve can start a chain of events that does not end well for you or the customer.

It is possible to play with bigger numbers though. For instance, instead of two dozen roses, your Valentine’s Spectacular might contain 20. And Valentine’s arrangements, as opposed to straight dozens, are another option. When the gift is more than just roses in a box, it's easier to get away with ten flowers.

DON’T FORGET SINGLES! Single roses can be wildly profitable, but many florists ignore them, usually because of one of the following misconceptions….

“If we don’t offer singles, people will buy a (more profitable) dozen instead.”

Not true! The assumption here is that the person looking for a single is just trying to avoid spending more on a dozen, but sometimes people really do just want a single, and moving them to a dozen makes about as much sense as moving them to a casket spray. If you won’t sell them a single, someone else will.

“If we offer singles, we sell fewer dozens.”

The concern here is that, given the choice, some people who came looking for a dozen might switch instead to a cheaper single. This can be addressed partly through pricing (more on this soon) but also through progressive disclosure. Some stores keep singles “under the counter,” only offering them when asked, or if they see someone leaving the store emptyhanded.

“Singles aren’t profitable.”

If we follow the same cost-plus formula we do everywhere else, then it’s true, there isn’t a very big profit in selling a single rose. But who said we had to stick to the formula? Customers don’t care about your costs, and you certainly aren’t obliged to limit yourself to a 3X markup.

Some stores have great success selling singles at $19.95 and higher. Typically, they use a high-end rose, give it a very nice presentation, and enjoy a very nice profit. And they have less money tied up in inventory.

Even a price-focussed buyer isn’t concerned with the best value (lowest cost per rose). He or she is simply looking for the lowest price. And small sizes never equal great value. The smallest tube of toothpaste costs less than the largest, but it offers less value. The same goes with flowers.

ALWAYS LET THEM SPEND MORE In this business, we often get focussed on the lower end of the market: the price sensitive customers that we lose to supermarkets, big box stores, drop shippers, and dishonest order gatherers.

We’re so busy worrying about the people who won’t pay that we forget about (and underserve) the ones who will.

Think back to a time before Whole Foods and an organic aisle existed in every supermarket. Did anybody think that groceries were too cheap? Did anyone volunteer to pay more? Of course not.

But as soon as Whole Foods gave them a chance to spend more, many people did.

And gasoline… every year people spend billions extra on Premium fuel that their particular vehicle doesn’t need. And in many cases, it’s not just that there is no benefit—they’re actually ignoring manufacturer guidelines against buying premium gasoline. Why? Because it says “premium” and it costs more. For many people, price is the most credible indicator of quality. We might not understand octane numbers, but we pretty much all assume that a higher price equals better quality.

So what do you do with this knowledge?

The first step is to have some premium options with compelling names (think: Signature, Platinum, Premium)— something that sounds good and expensive.

The next step is to give this premium option a bigger price. If you use a cost plus formula and you’re using better roses/ containers and/or a nicer presentation, your price will, of course, be higher.

But what we’re talking about is using a bigger markup. If you normally multiply the cost of your materials by 3, try 3.5 or 4. These are premium options. Premium options cost more, and are more profitable. There is no obligation to sell everything at the same markup.

Unless you have a very high-end store, these premium options should be presented alongside your other products, and not exclusively. The conversation would be something like “Yes! We certainly have roses for Valentine's Day, starting at $XX, or $YY for something from our Signature line.”

Not everyone is going to jump at it, but

unless your store is built entirely on a very price-conscious clientele, some people will.

DISCOUNTING Discounting is often frowned upon, but done properly, it’s a good way to get business from customers who might also be tempted by supermarkets or order gatherers. The goal is to increase sales from people who would not buy without the discount and avoid discounting to people who will pay full price.

If possible, be selective in who gets the discount offer. If you have flagged customers according to price sensitivity in your POS or mental Rolodex, use that information. Extend the offer only to people who you think need a discount.

The next step is to use hurdles to discourage all but the most serious bargain hunters from taking advantage of the discount. The hurdle is something that makes the purchase a little bit less convenient (like lining up for sales on Boxing Day). By jumping over it, customers earn their discount. Meanwhile, the customers who are prepared to pay full price continue to do just that.

Coupons are one of the all-time great hurdles. People hate using them. And, in our business, a coupon that has to be redeemed instore is even better. Someone who is willing to do that is serious about saving money.

Pickup is another hurdle. Delivery is a big part of the value florists provide and someone who is prepared to pick up in-store (especially when you have warned them what a madhouse your shop will be on Valentine's Day) has earned the discount.

Another good hurdle is a, “I love you so much I couldn’t wait!” special with a discount for people who are OK with delivery on February 12 or 13. Again, people who are willing to bend the rules on the date are likely serious about saving money. And there is another benefit for you : By spreading deliveries out, you hopefully make the season a little more manageable.

This gets into early order discounts, a controversial topic. Some florists think, “They’re going to order from me anyway, so why give a discount?” Other shops feel more comfortable having orders on the books. It lets them sleep better, buy more effectively, and be more organized going into Valentine's Day. A good compromise is to make the early order deadline really early— at least 30 days in advance. Someone willing to pay for flowers in mid January is likely serious about saving money. This also gives you the opportunity to extend the deadline and send another marketing email to that effect.

FORMATTING V-DAY PRICES •

Products/bundles with names that include adjectives like “premium,” “signature,” “exclusive,” etc. should use round pricing (i.e. prices that end in zeros, like $90).

•

Value products should always use charm pricing (i.e. prices that end in nine, like $89). Research shows that the same item sells better at $89 than $85.

•

Whenever possible, skip the cents, using prices like $79 rather than $78.99. Research shows that presenting prices like this will increase sales by 13%.

•

This shortest possible presentation of price is even more important when selling on the phone. It is much better to say "eighty-nine" (three syllables) than "eighty-nine-dollars-and-ninety-nine-cents" (ten syllables).

Mark Anderson is the founder of FloristWare and an enthusiastic supporter of a number of industry associations.

He is also a regular contributor of Floral Management.

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Branch Out With New Products in the New Year

By Gayle Smith

People grumble about losing office time to attend conventions, but industry shows help you see what’s “in” and trendy in the coming season(s), learn new trade tricks, and reconnect with old friends. Of course, flower shows have lots of gorgeous eye candy to enjoy. My favourite industry event is the Society of American Florists’ annual convention because it hosts the Outstanding Varieties Competition, which is essentially the Academy Awards of the floral world.

(Alas, this year’s competition was cancelled in the 11th hour—coinciding with press time—due to Hurricane Irma.)

Here’s how it works. Growers and importers are invited to enter products into the competition with 24 stems of any flower variety or three of the same flowering plants of any variety they choose to showcase. Number of entries per company is unlimited, but all product displayed must be available in commercial production (no test varieties allowed).

Chrysal America provides care and handling product, so everything is treated in one of three solutions: gerbera vases are filled with Professional Gerbera pills; vases of alstroemeria, tulips, lilies, callas, freesia, etc., are filled with Bulb T-bags; and all other vases are filled with Professional 2 holding solution.

Action starts a few days prior to the convention’s kick-off reception. Volunteers unpack vases, set up Dosatron pumps, lower the room temperature to 18C, and start processing flowers. Slowly, the hotel ballroom starts to transform with vases of resplendent flowers. By day three, it’s time to lay down the red carpet!

Judges enter the sealed-off room to evaluate and score entries within categories

of flowers. They do not compare entries against each other, but rather they evaluate flowers using a checklist of characteristics that determine quality, such as stem strength, bloom size, opening success and shape, amount of blooms per stem, foliage quality, colour clarity, vase longevity, and lack of disease issues. The highest-scoring entry for each category receives a “Best in Class” ribbon and is highlighted in the centre of the room.

The ballroom is open throughout the convention for attendees to peruse, take photos, and cast a vote for the People’s Choice honour. The idea is that florists soak in the beautiful array of new and—as the name suggests—outstanding product, which they can use in their businesses to wow customers. Each entry includes an information sheet with the variety name, grower, and key attributes. Growers tend to hang out in the room to mingle with wholesalers and retailers, as do I. What always emerges: conversations about likes and dislikes, thorniness, vase life, difficulties in rehydrating blooms, etc.

To me, it’s so invigorating to see the latest and greatest flowers on the market. The majesty of a room filled with premium flowers is an image that stays in my mind long after the convention is over.

What motivates you to reach out of your comfort zone with new products? The extended display period of the Outstanding Varieties Competition also gives attendees time to visit and revisit the displays to assess how well flowers open and hold their shape and colour as blooms mature.

What makes a variety “outstanding”? Well, it depends on your point of view. Growers are most interested in high productivity, stem length, and disease resistance.

Importers love those varieties that withstand long transit and still perform once re-hydrated. Wholesalers love the variety they last sold, and retailers love the colours and varieties featured on Pinterest, The Knot, or Instagram.

This year, I challenge you to branch out from your old standbys. Ask your wholesaler for recommendations of cutting-edge products. Or take a trip to a farm to ask growers what’s getting them excited. Some new and intriguing flowers will inject flair into your designs and get your customers enthused too.

Gayle Smith is the technical manager for Chrysal Americas.

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LIFE at

The Case for a

WORK

Company Christmas Party

By Cavelle Martin

The holidays are right around the corner and I know you will all be busy bees, likely hosting an open house for your customers in addition to cranking out designs for the myriad seasonal parties and, perhaps, decorating clients’ houses and businesses.

With all that’s going on, it’s easy to overlook the fact that you and your team are allowed to celebrate too!

Christmas parties are usually sources of great memories to look back on for years to come. Since your floral team is basically like family (I hope), why not spend the holidays together like one?

Yearly traditions bring everyone together, help people reconnect, and boost morale. It might seem stressful to add a party on top of your growing holiday to-do list, but it really is worth the effort in the long run.

Here’s why: A PARTY REMINDS YOU THAT YOU’RE ALL HUMAN Running a flower shop is a huge undertaking. It’s high stress with tight deadlines and long hours (especially during holidays), and it can be physically demanding. After awhile, you and your team can start to feel like a bunch of robots, operating on autopilot.

That said, whether your party’s fancy or low key, there are some things you should take into consideration before letting your hair down.

WATCH THE DRINKS Drinking is usually part of holiday festivities, but be careful. Even within a close-knit group, it’s important to drink responsibly. Know your limit.

The last thing you need is to do the walk of shame the next time you go to work.

Get-togethers, such as holiday parties, remind you to sit back and relax for a moment. Have a drink, eat some delicious food, and have some fun conversations that aren’t about flowers for a change.

Maybe exchange presents to show how much you appreciate each other. It doesn’t have to be an expensive or fancy party. It can be low key and still lots of fun!

Also, take everyone’s keys. If people are driving to the party and plan to drink, make sure they can’t leave on a whim while impaired. I know what I’m saying here should be a given, but when the drinks start flowing, it’s easy to abandon common sense. So be proactive about transporation before you get into the wine.

I personally love having a good old-fashioned potluck. It gives people a chance to show off their cooking skills and it’s less expensive than going out to a restaurant. It’s more warm and personal.

Some people, intoxicated or not, have a tendency to open up about your personal life to the point it’s just uncomfortable. This is another reason I emphasize watching the drinks! Becoming too emotional and open with your team can backfire. Drink only to a point where you will remember the evening and what you said to people. Having your colleagues fill you in on the fuzzy moments can create really awkward moments. This not the goal of the holiday party!

A PARTY MELTS THE STRESS You might not have any idea how stressed you actually are until you have the chance to let your hair down. A party gives everyone a chance to get to know the fun, relaxed side of you. Chances are, there’s someone on your team you occasionally (or often) experience tension with, who may surprise you in a good way when they have the chance to show another side of themselves in an environment outside of work. Perhaps the quiet one of the group will wow you with great conversation and humour.

A PARTY IS REFRESHING! When you take the time to take it easy, it gives you all an opportunity to go back to work fresh as a daisy (provided you skip the hangover, of course—more on this soon). It’s like pressing the reset button on a computer. A party can give you an attitude refresh.

SHARING TOO MUCH INFORMATION

PLAN THE PARTY TOGETHER Over the course of my working life, I have noticed that the holiday party always seems to fall on the shoulders of one or two people.

This doesn’t seem fair. Why not all get in on the planning process? It is a party after all! You’re all attending, so it makes sense to all be a part of it—not just indulge in one person’s hard

work. If you find it hard to get together for the planning process, I highly recommend creating a closed group on Facebook. That way you can contribute to the plans on the go.

SET THE PRICE A common practice at holiday parties is to exchange gifts. It can be stressful trying to find the right gift for a coworker, but this exercise shouldn’t stress your wallet. Twenty dollars should be more than enough to find a decent gift for a colleague. Of course, as a group, you can come to your own conclusion about what price point works for everyone. Regardless, keep it equal and simple.

DON’T DILLY DALLY Don’t wait until the last minute to plan the party. If you want to go out to a restaurant, for example, book well ahead of time. Every business will be trying to squeeze in its holiday party within the same time slot. If you wait, you will be too late. (Ahem, this is another reason potlucks can be a great option!)

If you follow these guidelines, I have no doubt you will all have a wonderful time and grow that much closer together. It’s worth it!

Cheers!

Cavelle Martin is a former CSR in the wholesale floral industry who once helped renowned designer Kristine Kratt, AAF, AIFD, PFCI, during a design show.

Cavelle is the creator of “Mental Break – In Progress,” a blog she started in 2014 after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, to help fight the stigma against mental illness.

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5 BAD HABITS TO DITCH FOR THE NEW YEAR

By Tim Huckabee, FSC The number of retail flower shops operating in North America today is a fraction of what it was 10 years ago, while the population, and its buying power, has steadily increased. What gives?

Yes, I’ve heard all the common answers: the Internet, grocery stores, wire services, order gatherers, direct shippers, deceptive advertisers, “in lieu of flowers …” obituaries, the lady on the corner selling from a shopping cart, etc.

None of these is solely responsible for the industry’s demise. Rather, it’s a toxic combination of many challenges and bad attitudes in response. With some fresh thinking, though, we can turn things around.

From my 20 years of visiting flower shops all around the world, I’ve seen certain habits and philosophies over and over, regardless of the store’s size, location, or age. Let’s break some of them down and vow to eliminate them in 2018.

1. ASKING CUSTOMERS HOW MUCH THEY WANT TO SPEND Can you imagine a waiter or a car salesman opening with, “How much do you want to spend?” Of course not! So why do florists? Take a step back, and think about what’s going on. Your customer just found out that someone in her life just got a promotion/new home/fiancé/ baby or some other emotional experience. Rather than connecting with the customer and offering something special, we awkwardly ask for money. This takes the customer’s focus off her special needs and forces her to choose a random price out of thin air. Customers typically sputter back with a response like, “Uh, I don’t know. Is $50 enough?” And then you’re locked into that price. This sets the bar so horribly low.

Instead, suggest an appropriately priced item, based on the customer’s needs, and she will let you know if she wants to spend less (or, sometimes, more). Start by taking the card message. Use this info to answer these questions: What is the customer celebrating?

What is the relationship between the sender and recipient?

How many names are listed on the message?

Then share your advice: “To celebrate such a big occasion, I recommend one of our beautiful large vase arrangements filled with bright spring flowers and priced from $100 to $125.” The worst that can happen is the customer asks for something less grand. I promise you won’t lose the sale.

2. ACRIMONY WITH GROCERY STORES Competing with supermarkets on price is a David and Goliath battle not even worth waging. Instead of worrying about something you can’t change, focus on excelling

where you can, by offering superior design and service.

When customers comment, “I saw these for half this price at Superstore,” say, “I don’t know how they price their items, but we carry only florist quality flowers that we will professionally design and hand deliver for you, happily. Thanks for choosing to call/visit us!”

Don’t apologize for your prices. Doing so only feeds the customer misconception that you’re simply overcharging for the same product that supermarkets offer.

Instead, educate your customers about distinguishing factors other than price, and grab the sale. Remember, you’re a creative source and it’s totally appropriate to let customers pay a premium for your talent. In other words, make your poinsettia or red roses look more special than your competition, and customers will pay for the upgraded option. Remember, they came to you after visiting the grocery store.

flowers.” So why ask customers a question they probably cannot answer?

Worse still, why ask a question that is likely to be countered with, “Don’t have that. Can’t get those. They’re out of season.” Why set yourself up to have to let down your customers?

Or, let’s say you’re determined not to disappoint the customer, so you special-order one bunch of lily of the valley, pay the delivery fee, hold up your driver as the pack is opened so your designer can add three stems to the arrangement, and then watch the remaining stems die a slow death in the back of the cooler!

The smarter strategy is to sell what you have, letting design drive sales.

Here is the foundation of the FloralStrategies methodology: Sell by colour schemes and speak in a language that customers understand. For example, ask your next customer, “What’s your wife’s favorite colour?” And he may say yellow. Chances are that you have some yellow flowers in your cooler.

You may be able to move out some extra product that way. Another take on that concept is to tell customers what you have. Try, “We are featuring flowers in a deep autumn palette now.” Customers know what those colours are and selling this way enables your designers to use what’s in your cooler.

Your store will instantly become more efficient and profitable.

3. RESISTING TECHNOLOGY Have you ordered takeout lately? Every time I do, the restaurant instantly knows it’s me, where I live, and what I want. They’re clearly using technology to make a quicker, easier, and bigger sale.

Do your employees know where to find a customer’s average sale? Ditto for being able to quickly find and duplicate an old order.

Even worse: taking orders on paper and then transferring them into the POS system later. That is as illogical as delivering the flowers in the morning and then sending your driver back with the card in the afternoon.

Customers expect us to use technology — to remind them what they sent before, to confirm a delivery address, to email a copy of the order. If you’re not operating that way, you’re wasting time, increasing chances for mistakes, and underwhelming customers with your 1997 pen-and-paper experience.

Learn your system! It’s that simple. Whether you have a legacy system from a wire service or a new web-based program, you need to understand it. Reach out to your vendor and demand more education, whether it’s over the phone, via a webinar, or in person. You and your team need to know all the tools your technology has beyond the order-entry fundamentals.

5. COMPLAINING ON SOCIAL MEDIA Customers can be a challenge, but we’re professionals and can handle the bride who wants a cascading bouquet of garden roses, anemones, and ranunculus tomorrow for $100, right? She might set you over the edge, but please think before ranting about her on social media. Of course, you are entitled to vent and share your experiences, but hear me out.

I have been taking flower orders since 1993, so I know the kind of absurd questions, comments, and requests you get. But when you start ridiculing customers on social media, you do damage to the industry. You never know who is reading your posts. It could even be customers themselves. How does that make us look?

I am also concerned about someone who’s considering entering the industry landing in a Facebook group where they read countless condemnations of “idiot customers” and shoppers who are “out of their minds.” I’m sure the last thing you want to do is to discourage “new blood” from entering the industry because their perception has been tainted by what they read online.

Furthermore, I have never seen mechanics or plumbers belittling their customers online or moaning about not making any money on an order or transaction. Florists seem to be particularly vocal about spewing venom online.

You are creative, experienced, and competent enough to deal with any drama that may accompany ordering flowers, so why not share how you handle those customers instead of complaining about them?

LET’S COMPARE:

4. LETTING SALES DRIVE DESIGN

“A Kate Middleton wannabe came in yesterday and asked for a lily-of-thevalley bouquet for this wedding this weekend…for $150!!! Are you kidding me?!”

I have seen this odd dynamic at play in nearly every flower shop I have visited since 1997. The intention is noble. We want to help customers choose their special design — but the approach is upside-down. We ask customers, “What’s her favourite flower?” There are huge problems in that approach, starting with the fact that most customers don’t know a chrysanthemum from a calla and stumble through their responses. For the record, when I’m doing a test call and get asked that question, I respond, “She loves lily-of-the-valley!”

Of course, the inevitable answer is, “We can’t get those

“I had a bride come in yesterday who wanted a $150 all-lily-of-the-valley bouquet for her wedding this weekend! Frustrating, yes, but I just took a deep breath and complimented her on her great taste in flowers. Then I talked about the obstacles of pricing and availability of working with lily-ofthe-valley. Luckily, I had some white freesia and cream alstroemeria to show her as an alternative, and I suggested a satin handle wrap with pins for luxury look. She loved it and promised to rave about us on Facebook.”

Please think before you post and use social media to inspire our industry, not tear it down!

But wait—there’s more! Stay tuned for the January/February issue for more tips on breaking bad habits.

Tim Huckabee, AIFSE, was born, raised and educated in Connecticut and moved to New York City in 1993 to start working at a high-end flower shop called Surroundings, where he learned every aspect of the flower business such as handling telephone sales and customer service issues and dealing with walk-in customers. In his frequent conversations with florists, he realized there was a dire lack of sales and service education in the industry. That motivated him, in 1997, to launch, FloralStrategies, a company that trains florists in sales, customer service, and how to get the most out of their POS system. He visits 250 shops annually, hosts a monthly webinar series, speaks at floral conventions, and writes a monthly column for the Society of American Florists.

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Too Good to be True: The Hidden Costs of ‘Free’ Websites

Ask The SEO BY: Ryan Freeman

So often it’s the little ones that get you. Little expenses can chip away your profits. A few dollars here, a little inefficiency there, and what should have been a profitable year is just another frustrating trip around the sun, no further forward than the one before. We’ve all been there. We’ve all had years like that.

It’s no wonder, then, that in an industry fighting for every scrap of profitability, some florists are choosing to abandon traditional website options in favour of services that offer a minimal financial commitment.

Back in December of 2015, Mark Anderson published a well-written piece on the FloristWare blog outlining the tangible financial foolishness of having a “free” website - one that collects a significant percentage of each order as a commission - in lieu of a traditional monthly or annual fee. My concern, described below, lies with the more intangible costs.

THE COST OF BRANDING A great website takes some time to develop and refine. There’s no way around it. Just like a personalized design from a skilled florist takes more investment than a mass-produced bouquet sold by a grocer, a website built for your brand requires some investment of resources.

With a commission-based website, the economics just don’t work for the website company unless they can deploy each new site at a minimal investment. This leads to cheap, templated, easily reproducible websites that do nothing to convey the character and story of your brand.

If you were to hide the logo on your site would it be indistinguishable from your competitors? How many tens, or hundreds, or thousands of sites look just like yours? If your website is not more distinct than the average McDonald’s or Wal-Mart, you are failing to build your brand and losing out on future revenue.

Some platforms take the autonomy concern even further by mandating what you can charge for delivery. Whether it’s forcing you to provide free delivery (at a real cost upwards of $10 per order) or preventing you from offering delivery service upgrades, a website provider that dictates how you run other parts of your business is directly costing you money.

THE COST OF MISSED OPPORTUNITY Missing out on potential revenue and new business growth is probably the hardest loss to measure — and the sneakiest threat to your bottom line. A “free” (aka commission-based, standardized) website may significantly limit your ability to add pages and content to promote new business channels. Whether you want to offer flower design classes, expand your offerings with gift or food items, or just show off examples of your latest wedding work, you need the ability and flexibility to add pages and manage content layout. Poor wedding pages are just as costly as not having a wedding page at all.

COUNTING THE COST When you factor in the commissions (on sales from new and existing customers), the unpredictability of cost (who doesn’t love a giant website bill in January?), the harm to your brand, the limits on your choices, and the inability to pursue new revenue channels, it becomes clear that a free website is a frighteningly costly endeavour.

In many cases, the orders from your site will actually be less profitable than incoming orders from a wire service.

Still the temptation exists to be lured into the false security of a commission system. As business owners, we are naturally risk-averse as we are afraid to commit to spending a fixed amount. After all, commission agreements allow us to match expenses with our cash flow, right? But we also need to consider our businesses from a macro point of view, looking at yearly costs. When you look at the big picture, it’s quickly clear just how much that free website is costing you.

If you were to hide the logo on your site would it be indistinguishable from your competitors? How many tens, or hundreds, or thousands of sites look just like yours?

THE COST OF AUTONOMY Can you imagine running a flower shop with your ability to merchandise and arrange your retail space and window display severely limited?

Maybe you had fixed furniture and pillars and could never change the wall colours. How long would you tolerate that kind of restriction in your business? Mass-replicated template sites have - by necessity - minimal flexibility as far as content, layout, and product presentation. We are in an era where a florist can expect their web traffic to be 10 to 100 times greater than their in-store foot traffic, so creating a great impression is critical.

Ryan Freeman is president of Strider Inc., founder of Florist 2.0, and publisher of Canadian Florist.

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How To

By Heather de Kok

With Heather

TROPICAL NOUVEAU

“Tropical Nouveau” is spreading around the floral industry, thanks to some wonderful leaders like Hitomi Gilliam, Brenna Quan and Sabine Calame. We have now given name to something that we have done for years. (I am sure you have all mixed orchids with roses at some point.) Tropical Nouveau is just that, complementing tropical flowers with temperate flowers. Mixing hard with soft and lush with arid.

Bringing in the amazing tropical flowers and mixing them with something unexpected gets consumers looking at the professional florist in a new light.

“How do I get on board with this new trend in my area?” you ask. “I cannot access a lot of tropical,” you say. Well, my answer is do some research.

Talk to your wholesaler. Call me or any of the above mentioned names. There are ways to get some new and exciting items into your cooler. You do not have to start with a lot of product. Maybe you are already carrying some orchids. But why not give the look a name and start branding it?

Often when I speak with other florists, I hear, “My clients won’t buy that.” To this, I say, your client won’t buy into anything if you have not already bought into it. If you are excited, they will be excited. You could sell ice to Eskimos if you are passionate about it!

I think what I love about the Tropical Nouveau trend is that I get to try new things and think outside of the box. We florists are in love not only with flowers but also the creative side that floristry brings out in us. When I can use an anthurium or an orchid and place it with one of my personal favorites, Queen Anne’s lace, I smile (and often squeal), which is contagious. The same goes when I’m playing around with some amazing tropical greenery and adding in some cedar for a twist—who doesn’t get excited about that? (Christmas ideas are now forming in my head as I type!)

The trend of the large garden style bouquet is not going anywhere. When a bride requests that, you have the perfect opportunity to talk to her about Tropical

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Often when I speak with other florists, I hear, “My clients won’t buy that.”

To this, I say, your client won’t buy into anything if you have already not bought into it.

Nouveau. Mixing those romantic garden roses with some protea and tropical and temperate foliage will create a jaw-dropping look sure to make any bride swoon. The word “nouveau” conveys being on the cutting edge. Referring to this style by name will please brides who like to be original (read: all of them).

At the end of the day, when you are creating this exciting look, contrast is the key. Contrast creates drama and drama gets people excited. I hope you at least try this technique.

For inspiration, search the hashtag #tropicalnouveau on social media. But most important: have fun, try new things, and smile while you are doing it. We are in the flower industry after all and that makes us the luckiest people!

Heather de Kok AAF, AIFD, PFCI, is the owner of Heather de Kok Floral Design and Grower Direct in Edmonton, Alberta.

She also founded The Maple Leaf Cup.

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Ouch!

A Hit to the Wallet

By Kathryn Deen

There’s nothing lovely about a chargeback.

Florists cringe during those nasty instances when customers call their credit card companies to complain or claim that they didn’t get what they paid for.

“It’s a horrible process,” Mark Anderson, founder of Toronto-based POS system FloristWare for retail florists, told Canadian Florist.

Anderson spent more than a decade in the retail flower business in Mississauga and recalls a lot of frustration with chargebacks.

“It’s skewed in favour of the card holder.

The customer is right until you can prove them wrong, and you usually have a very short amount of time to do it, maybe 15 days or less… and if you’re not opening your mail quickly and responding quickly, you could easily just miss the window,” he said.

If you think about it, chargebacks are a

double whammy — not only is the customer disgruntled, but he or she also isn’t paying you — for a product and service you already ate the cost for and can never get back.

It’s a hard hit to take as a florist, especially if your profit margin isn’t particularly high.

“It’s so upsetting,” Anderson said. “The net profit of the flower business is 10 percent. If someone disputes a charge for 70 bucks, you have to fill 10 more orders to make it back.”

That’s why we’re tackling the topic now, to give florists time to prepare for the big bills that florists especially get hit with after Valentine’s Day. Not so romantic, huh?

“Typically, the most dangerous time (for chargebacks) is Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day because the volume of business is greater,” Anderson said. “You’re dealing with a lot of people who don’t normally order flowers.” Plus, florists are more vulnerable to overlooking or not following up on chargebacks during those times. “Florists are so swamped and so desperately trying to get things mopped up after the date, and then they go on vacation, come back and miss bills,” Anderson said.

Shop owners should be ready to provide documentation that the order was placed and the delivery was made. If you don’t respond to a chargeback and it goes through uncontested, not

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only does the customer get his money back, but it also will appear that you were in the wrong. If you get another claim, the credit card company will be less likely to believe you if you contest it because you have a history — whether or not it’s deserved.

Anderson named three reasons customers give for reporting a false charge and requesting a chargeback: •

the customer doesn’t recognize the charge as listed and thinks it’s a mistake

•

he or she is making a false claim to avoid paying

•

he or she believes the arrangement never was delivered

“Sometimes, it’s an honest mistake.

They see the charge, don’t make the connection and refile the charge back,” Anderson said. “Then again, some people are just scammers.”

AVOIDING CHARGEBACKS

These tips will help your company avoid chargebacks in the first place.

Elisabeth Napolano, of Visa’s global media inquiry department, shared these top highlights with Canadian Florist.

BE CLEAR ABOUT RETURN, REFUND AND CANCELLATION POLICIES. State your policies clearly at the time of transaction. Your policy should be pre-printed on your sales receipts; if not, make sure to add the policy information on the sales receipt near the customer signature line before the customer signs. Be sure that the policy is legible on all copies of the sales receipt. Failure to disclose such policies at the time of transaction could be disadvantageous should the customer try to return the purchase.

DEPOSIT RECEIPTS QUICKLY. Deposit your sales and credit receipts within one to five days of the transaction date. Do not hold on to them. Failure to deposit receipts in a timely manner can result in “late presentment” chargebacks.

The best way to avoid chargebacks from people who don’t recognize the charge is to get a receipt in the customer’s hand as soon as possible by email that says, “This charge will appear on your statement as “(fill in the blank).” Anderson also suggests announcing recent name changes in bold on the printed receipt you hand the customer.

If you’re not sure how your shop’s charges appear on a credit card statement, order flowers from your own shop to find out. You might be surprised what you see.

“Sometimes florists are set up as a numbered corporation through a bank account,” Anderson said. “There can be weird things where one shop buys another shop or they buy a customer list (and a different name appears on the statement).” The key is to do everything possible to make sure there’s no confusion about what’s going to appear on their statement, he said.

Read on for more expert advice on avoiding and handling chargebacks.

BE CAREFUL WHEN LOGGING TRANSACTIONS. Ensure that incorrect sales receipts are voided and that transactions are processed only once. Entering the same transaction into a terminal more than once, or depositing both the merchant copy and the bank copy of the sales receipt with your acquirer, or depositing the same transaction with more than one merchant bank can all result in “duplicate transaction” chargebacks.

RESPONDING TO A DISPUTE

If you do receive a dreaded chargeback at your flower shop, it’s important to swiftly provide accurate information. Here’s a breakdown of the process so that you can anticipate what to expect, as shared by Elisabeth Napolano, of Visa’s global media inquiry department.

STEP 1: A CARDHOLDER DISPUTES A TRANSACTION. A cardholder contacts their issuer to question a charge on their billing statement STEP 2: FIND THE TRANSACTION RECEIPT. Your acquirer contacts you for an accurate copy of the transaction record.

STEP 3: SEND A COPY TO YOUR ACQUIRER. Promptly fax or mail an accurate, legible copy to keep the process on track.

Kathryn Deen is a magazine editor in Clermont, Florida and the social media coordinator for The Villages Florist Inc.

KEEP CUSTOMERS INFORMED ON THE STATUS OF THEIR TRANSACTION. If delivery of the cardholder’s purchase will be delayed, let the cardholder know about the delay as well as the new expected delivery or service date.

SHIP MERCHANDISE BEFORE DEPOSITING TRANSACTION. Don’t deposit transactions with your merchant bank until you have shipped the related merchandise. If customers see a transaction on their monthly Visa statement before they receive the merchandise, it could lead to a preventable chargeback.

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on THE

LEVEL with

NEVILLE

“COMFORT IS FOR SHOES!”

by Neville MacKay

Doesn’t it feel great to wear your most comfortable shoes? They cushion your arches, aren’t too tight, and your poor toes don’t want to break free! (The same goes for a lovely pair of sweats, but I digress…)

The thing is, though, you wouldn’t always wear those comfy shoes or tracks, especially if you want to make a good impression or have a little more attention paid to you, right? We can all get a little too comfortable.

In the floral industry, many of us seem to travel along doing what we do and spinning our wheels. Well, let’s talk about getting out of our comfort zone and bettering ourselves, shall we?

Have you ever listened to an inspirational speaker? Often we leave more charged, ready to conquer the world’s worries, and inspired to become better people. I remember watching a designer on stage back in the day and thought to myself, “I want to do that!” But I never thought I would ever be able to captivate a crowd. Then I remembered what my Mum said when I was a child. “Who says you can’t, Neville?” So, I began my journey of becoming a speaker, presenter, and an “entertrainer.”

(FYI: If you are entertained while being trained, you tend to absorb and retain a lot more!)

The first experience I had as a presenter was when I was a child in the 4-H club in Shelburne, Nova Scotia. I had to give a speech and it was dreadful…but I did it. From there, I went on to give demonstrations within the community and beyond, which, as a child, was an incredible thing. But it’s never too late to start, so for those of you who think you are a bit “past it,” remember that apples are as sought after as apple blossoms!

I’ve done presentations across Canada and beyond, and let me tell you, I still get nervous. In fact, sometimes I’m wound up like a cheap watch in anticipation! One of my earliest solo gigs was for the African Violet Society (doesn’t THAT sound exciting?) and I was so scared. I was up there, barely talking (shut up!) and not looking at the crowd of at least 23, when my long-suffering husband, David, calmly and quickly walked up on the stage behind me, not stopping, but saying, “I’d pick up the pace if I were you, Neville. I think the man in the third row is dead!”

Well, I looked up and this old fella was slumped in his chair with a big ol’ stream of drool coming down! I was sure I had killed him with boredom.

Thank goodness, David went behind him, kicked his chair, and the old bugger came back to life!

My first TV experience was even worse than that, darlings! I have one leg that shakes terribly sometimes. Not having slept for days, I arrived to be on a live broadcast. Not only did my leg shake, but most everything else did, too, so the producer kindly offered me a seat to present, thank

goodness. When this was all done and over, and I was running for the door, that saint of a producer said, “Hey, that was great! Want to come back next month?” I don’t know what came over me, but I said, “Sure!

Call me!” then went home to change my pants. The rest is history I suppose.

I’ve always had a big mouth and more nerve than a sore tooth, and my dad told me that would get me in trouble—and also take me places. He was right.

Several years ago, I decided it was time I did a couple things just for me—things that would elevate my credibility and boost my confidence.

I tested for and was inducted into the Canadian Academy of Floral Art. I’ve had SO many people ask what this has done for me, and let me tell you, it gives you more prestige than you’ll ever know! “I don’t do shows, and my customers don’t care…” Blah blah blah. YES. THEY. DO. Everyone wants to talk to, work with, or buy from the top of the pile, whether it’s the chef, photographer, or florist, right? I encourage anyone who is even the least bit interested to contact CAFA or message me! Come on, I dare you to be a better you! This honour certainly helped me become one of the design directors with Smithers Oasis North America—an opportunity that has me presenting, teaching, and connecting with florists all over the world.

I also took the steps to get my PFCI accreditation shortly after that, which I am SO happy I did, too! Professional Floral CommunicatorsInternational is a wonderful group of floral speakers and presenters, and many doors have opened for me after achieving this!

Now, finally, I’m writing a book! (In fact, I have two in the works!) I have wanted to do this for ages, and frankly, I don’t know what took so long.

Oh, and I’ve become a blogger, too, and I’m doing more video work than ever. The only limitations we have are those we place on ourselves.

Look, there are loads of fun and exciting opportunities out there floating around us, just waiting for someone to grab them.

Why can’t it be you?

Neville MacKay, CAFA, PFCI, WFC, is owner of My Mother’s Bloomers

in Halifax, Novia Scotia and a design director with Smithers-Oasis North America.

He designed flowers for the 1988 Winter Olympics, as well as a long list of celebrities including Glen Close, Sir Elton John, and members of the British Royal Family. MacKay appears regularly on Canadian TV and travels internationally, giving presentations about the impact of flowers.

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