JUNE/JULY 2014
summer is in full bloom table of contents 2
President’s Letter
3
Travels with Tom
4-5
Design and Education
6-7
Member Spotlight
8-9
Make Someone Smile Week 2014
10-21
Everyday Feature eFlorist, Technology, Summer Promos, Product
22-23
Christmas Promotion
The year is moving at a whirlwind pace! A successful Easter and Mother’s Day are already behind us, not to mention prom, graduation season and Father’s Day are actively underway. As we near the mid-year mark, there’s no better time to start planning for the busy seasons ahead. Earlier this year, Teleflora celebrated the 30th Anniversary of our Professional Education Center in Oklahoma City. Teleflora offers the most robust floral education and cutting-edge design programs serving as host to more than 100 events per year, far exceeding any other in the industry. In addition, Teleflora proudly supports the efforts and meetings of both the Society of American Florists and The American Floral Endowment. This summer, our Education Center courses will cover everything from new floral design trends and creating stunning wedding arrangements to how to build and run a more efficient business. Sign up now for the “Wedding Professional” program in Oklahoma City on June 8 – 11; “The Art of the Party – Creating & Selling Profitable Events” on July 27 – 30; or sign up early for “The Business Smarts Summit” to be held August 10 – 13, 2014. Summer is the perfect time to explore opportunities and to refine your services and expertise whether it’s by signing up for one of Teleflora’s classes or attending one of the many floral industry conventions and trade shows taking place in the coming months. We also sponsor many educational programs in communities across the U.S. and Canada through the tireless efforts of those florists involved in the Teleflora Units Program. With so many resources available through the Teleflora network and within our own industry, we encourage all of you to reflect on what’s proven successful, as well as find new ways to market and merchandise your business for the coming seasons. While summer is typically the kick off to the big wedding season, it is also a good time to start planning for fall orders. You can take some time now to update your shop website, post some new inspirations on your social media pages, or take inventory of your existing stock to create some new everyday designs. And let’s not forget to give back to our local community. Teleflora’s 14th Annual Make Someone Smile Week takes place this July 20 -26, and remains one of Teleflora’s most joyful and heartwarming initiatives of the year. Many thanks go to the generosity, kindness and dedication of our floral network through the years that spans across 47 units and are instrumental to the success of Make Someone Smile Week. Together, we continue to increase our volunteer efforts, gifting smiles to thousands of individuals around the country. Please join us again and help us to fulfill this year’s challenge to deliver more than 40,000 Teleflora Be Happy bouquets!
myteleflora news
Teleflora’s Pleased As Punch Bouquet
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Sincerely,
jeff bennett {president of teleflora}
TRAVELS WITH TOM
Travels with Tom
Summer’s here. Time to learn, grow, and be with florist family! I admit it: I love summer because I love attending florist conventions. They happen all year-round, of course, but many do take place in the summer. For florists who may need some convincing to get to a florist convention, I can only point to the Arkansas Florists Association Convention—believed to be the biggest state convention in the nation. At the Arkansas convention, a lot happens over just a weekend: Two days full of top-notch educational classes. A big trade show, with vendors from all over the country. Exciting competitions, with design scholarships as the prize—and of course, a grand banquet. No wonder this convention is attended by florists, not only from Arkansas, but also from many other states. And of course, the convention is only part of what the association has to offer, all year long: the Arkansas Master Florist program, a credit union, year-round educational opportunities, and more. Teleflora gives substantial support to floral associations because we know how much they do to make our industry more professional and prosperous. If you don’t already have plans to attend an association event this summer—look into it! Association events are listed in the Design & Education section of MyTeleflora.com, and also in the Floral Associations directory at the back of the June Buyers’ Guide issue of Flowers& Magazine. The Arkansas Florists convention is coming up August 14-17, in Hot Springs (more information at www.arflorists.org). I’m looking forward to it!
Bill Plummer, seen here with Teleflora’s Suzy Lawrence, is the Arkansas Florist Association’s general chairman, and a pillar of the association for many years now.
Florist conventions are all about seeing old friends (like Randy and Jo Buttram and Shelby Shy of Shirley’s Flowers in Rogers, AR)—and making new ones.
If you like the excitement of a good floral design competition, you’ll love the Mid America Invitational. Last year’s winner was Benjamin Lee, AIFD, CFD, KMF, of The Milan House in Frankford, KY, seen here with myself, competition chair Jo Buttram AAF, AMF, and Bill Plummer.
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Smiles welcome those arriving at the Arkansas Florist Association convention—and welcome bags from Teleflora!
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Design and education
Teleflora Education Center hosts 2014 Floral Educator Class Knowing how to present floral information is not something you are just ‘born’ knowing how to do – it’s something you learn. Designers from all over North America and even two from Mexico, participated in 4 days of intense training on how to speak in front of an audience when presenting floral information. Each participant’s presentations were captured digitally and reviewed by the class and instructors to create helpful suggestions for improvement. The teaching team included the Education Center’s Marie Ackerman AIFD PFCI AAF and Teleflora Education Specialist Tom Bowling AIFD PFCI. What makes this class so exciting and a bit nerve-wracking is the class participates in a live show on their final night. Each person gets the chance to perform in front of a live audience and test their skills in the real world of show designing. “It’s like a reality show” said instructor Ackerman. “It’s fun to see people discover something they did not know they had before.” For the participants, it’s an unprecedented chance to take their skills from good to GREAT!
Upcoming Classes: EUROPEAN DESIGN TRENDS with Els Hazenberg AIFD AAF JULY 22-25, 2014 The Art of the Party – Creating & Selling Profitable Events with Tom Simmons AIFD July 27-30, 2014
Business Smarts Summit: Operating a Successful Retail Flower Shop
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with Paul Goodman CPA, Vonda LaFever AIFD PFCI , Marie Ackerman AIFD PFCI AAF and Special Guest Speakers August 10-13, 2014
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Tom Bowling AIFD PFCI teaches a session on speaking to the class. Kathy Rodocker of Arkansas says this was the most challenging – but most rewarding class she has ever taken. Chelle Gearhardt of Shirley’s Flowers in Rogers, AR makes a high style attendant’s bouquet to show to the audience. Cydney Davis English of The English Garden in Raleigh, NC commentates a design in class. Mike Hollenbeck AIFD of Floral Artistry in Idaho works on a bouquet using callas for the show. Jody McCloud AIFD of Annie B’s Designs in Clayton, NC works on his finale for the Live wedding show held during the class. Scholarship recipient Mary Smith of Something about Mary Designs in St. Peter, MN makes a design to commentate in the show.
design and education
employee spotlight Name: Diann Timmons Office: Paragould, AR Title: Customer Service Team Lead Time with Teleflora: 28 years Department: Customer Service What do you like most about your job? I enjoy everything about my job. I especially like working with this wonderful group of people. What do you do at Teleflora? I’m responsible for assisting our reps with questions to assist our florists, training and maintaining quality service level. What are your hobbies? I enjoy spending time with my family, shopping, vacationing and scrapbooking. What’s your favorite Teleflora Bouquet? Queen’s Court by Teleflora.
teleflora tip Party work can be exciting and creative—but how do you build the kind of reputation that insures you can also make a profit? Teleflora Education Specialist Tom Simmons AIFD shares these tips and critical skills for successful events: Know and quote the correct price for absolutely everything you buy, sell or rent. Know how to forecast availability of fresh product; order early. Use only skilled and reliable staff and schedule them wisely. If the event is at an unfamiliar site, be sure to do a site inspection, researching issues of delivery and setup along with restrictions and guidelines. Schedule a production meeting to discuss timelines, responsibilities and procedures. Check equipment (vans, cards, ladders) in advance to be sure all is in working order. Review contracts and estimates with the client to be sure everything is clear and understandable to both parties. Arrive on time. Be professional. Dress appropriately and make sure the rest of your staff does also. And always be attentive and courteous to other vendors and their staff. Himself the owner-operator of a successful event and design company, Tom teaches a class called The Art of the Party: Creating and Selling Profitable Events, this summer (July 27-30) at the Teleflora Education Center. He also is a popular presenter at programs sponsored by Teleflora all year long, through the Units Program and at floral association and wholesaler events. To learn more, visit the Design & Education section of MyTeleflora.com.
design ideas from Flowers& Magazine from the archives: june 2013
A SIGNATURE STYLE
Floral design by Jim Ganger AIFD
myteleflora news
It’s great to be able to “do it all”—but it’s also important to develop a signature style for your shop. Here’s one example (your style might be different): a monochromatic look with creative use of exotic foliage. Each of these two designs is based in a different version of the elegant Catalina vase from Syndicate Sales. In both designs, the light color of the rocks harmonizes with the white vase. In one, papyrus cleverly simulates the basal foliage of many bulb flowers, paired with purple freesia. In the other, the stems of two aspidistra leaves were massaged until they were flexible. Then they were laid into the bowl, wet floral foam was placed on top, and the stems were bent to insert them into the foam. In this design, the foam did not need to be not glued into the vase; the rocks weigh it down securely. The callas extend the lines of the vase; moss fills in a few spaces not covered by the rocks. You can find new everyday designs featuring foliage from Jim Ganger AIFD in this year’s June issue of Flowers&—available as a free sample issue at www.flowersandmagazine. com.
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member spotlight
Hands together for Teleflora top members! Around the U.S., these top members recently accepted thanks and an honorary plaque from Teleflora: Michelle Quackenbush and her mom, Janice, of Banner Flower House in Kokomo, IN, pictured with Teleflora’s Stew Fishman; Linda Taylor of Bowden Flowers in Kokomo, IN; Paige Harkness, Jessie Larson, owner Robyn Sloan, Lacey Mork, and Karen Bauer of Doherty’s Flowers in Des Moines, IA; Seth Carey of Carey’s Flowers in South Hadley, MA—seen in front of the shop’s “wall of fame”; owner Teresa Cytlak, Cindy VanDerra and Becky Sweitzer of Ridgeway Floral & Gifts in Three Rivers, MI; Theresa Huggett, owners Jim and Jeanette Schmid, Kory Hill, Patty Blankenship, LuAnn Damon and Adrian Merriott of Swonk’s Flower Shop in Battle Creek, MI; Scott Taylor (on the right in the photo) of Taylor’s Flower Shop in Omaha, NE, seen with Teleflora’s Terry Brueggeman; Mitchell Check of Check the Florist in Providence, RI (a very happy new Dove POS user!), and Pam Johnson Shea, of Flowers by Bert and Peg in North Kingstown, RI. Congratulations to all!
In the great state of Illinois, top members include Ron Bailey at Blossom Basket in Urbana, IL; Jo-Dee Olds, seen with designer Liz Fleming at Cherry Blossom Florist in Rockford, IL; Debbie Heiman at Everything Floral in Genoa, IL; Jacquie Young, head designer at Glidden Campus Florist in De Kalb, IL; Steve Mayerak, with his sons Jim and Sherman, of Lansing Floral in Lansing, IL; Don Robbins of Robbins Flowers in St. Charles, IL; Pat Vacha of Vacha’s Forest Flowers in Oak Forest, IL; and Gary Chase of Winfield Flower Shop in Winfield, IL, seen here with Teleflora’s Stew Fishman.
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Among Canada’s Top 25 are Patti VanRys from Vanderburgh Flowers in Georgetown, ON, who received her plaque from Teleflora’s Cathy Anstett, and Warren McKinney from Vine Floral in St Catherine’s, ON, seen with Cathy and with Teleflora’s Regional Vice President Cam Wilson.
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member spotlight
Showtime in Louisiana They’re anything but “everyday” flowers when they’re designed by Teleflora Education Specialist Cindy Tole! Cindy was one of the featured designers, sponsored by Teleflora, at the Northeast Louisiana Florist Association convention at the West Monroe Convention Center in mid March.
Mustang Flowers Grand Re-Opening In May of 2013, Mustang Flowers in Mustang, OK was completely destroyed by the terrible tornado that struck Moore, OK and adjacent areas. But all’s well that ends well: the shop had a Grand Re-Opening in January 2014. David Graham, Becky Butler, Suzi Lawrence and Tom Butler of Teleflora joined shop owners Teresa DeBord and Pat Null for the celebration.
floral magnets make versatile van art “I wanted to thank you for sharing the ‘bow van’ idea,” writes Lisa Levandowski of Glacier Wallflower & Gifts in Columbia Falls, MT. “Last year I purchased a new van and wanted to update the advertising. I had intended on a floral graphic wrap, but another flower shop beat me to the punch. I was concerned that even if I did different flowers and colors on my van, people might confuse my shop with the competition’s. Then I remembered the ‘bow van’ story you published a couple of years ago. So now I too have a bow atop my van! It’s a real eye catcher, and we’ve received several great compliments. There’s not another vehicle like it in the valley.
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“To help make the van even more of an advertising machine, I then had special floral magnets made,” Lisa continues. “We swap the magnets for each holiday and season, thus always changing and updating our advertising. More than once we’ve received an order asking for a bouquet pictured on our van.” Now that’s creative marketing!
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MAKE SOMEONE SMILE WEEK
One of Teleflora’s most joyful and
If you ever find yourself thinking, “Ever need a remin about how much good flowers do in the world every d of florists across the country every summer. Over the anywhere people are likely to be in need of a smile. An in itself. In addition, Make Someone Smile® Week se
We encourage all of our member florists to participate i to deliver more than 40,000 Teleflora Be Happy bouqu kindness of our floral network through the years, we hundreds of thousands of individuals.
The program is organi summer’s event takes p on securing PR assistan 800.321.2654, extension
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MAKE SOMEONE SMILE WEEK
heartwarming initiatives of the year is just around the corner.
nder of what giving flowers is all about?,” there’s a great opportunity coming your way to remind yourself day. Now in its 14th year, Make Someone Smile® Week has become a Teleflora tradition involving hundreds e course of a single week, volunteers make and deliver floral bouquets to hospitals and nursing homes, or nd do they ever smile! Watching the recipients light up with joy when the flowers are delivered is a big reward ends a great message through the media about the power of flowers to raise spirits and heal hearts.
in Teleflora’s 14th Annual Make Someone Smile® Week and join this year’s challenge to increase our donations uets to those most in need of a smile in local communities around the country. Thanks to the generosity and continue to make a difference by increasing our volunteer efforts gifting smiles and free floral bouquets to
ized by the Teleflora Units Program, but anyone who wants to participate is welcome to help out! This place July 20-26. To learn how to sign up for Teleflora’s Make Someone Smile® Week and for more information nce to promote your local stories, please contact your local Unit President or Teleflora Industry Relations at n 3591. Canadian florists please call 800.668.5770.
Participate in this year’s Make Someone Smile Week Doodle Contest! We invite you to add your own happy doodles to our Smile Week balloon. At the end of the entry period, we’ll award one florist with a $100 American Express Gift Card and their doodle will be used as next year’s Make Someone Smile Week logo! Download our drawing sheet by clicking here and submit it to us before July 27th, 2014 by fax 310.966.3610 or as a scanned image by email (newsletter@teleflora.com) with your name, shop name and shop ID.
myteleflora news
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summer’s in bloom It’s natural to put a lot of attention and focus into Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Christmas. Why not the Everyday period as well? Take advantage of the Everyday period with this helpful guide to a fruitful summer!
eFLORIST
G+ for Business When you think “social media,” the first thing that comes to mind is probably Facebook. If you want to improve your search engine ranking with your social posts, you may want to consider Google+ as well. Google+, or G+ for short, is Google’s social network. Like Facebook, users create profiles or pages and share content with others through the network. The difference is that G+ activity is directly indexed by Google’s search engine, so a lively presence on G+ could benefit you more than Facebook or other networks.
SEO Benefits Any online activity that links back to your eFlorist website can help your organic search ranking, but it stands to reason that G+ activity would get more weight in Google’s search algorithm. Makes sense, doesn’t it? The same way your bank rewards you for using their checking, savings, home loan, and credit card services, Google rewards businesses who use more of their products. The higher your rank, the more people see your listing and click on it.
Adding the Plus To get started, you’ll want to first claim your business listing on Google. You can do so by using a Gmail account or creating a G+ profile for your business. If you’d like some help, you can contact an eFlorist eMarketing Counselor and we can walk you through the process. It’s free and takes just a few minutes. If you claim your listing with a G+ profile for your business, you can take advantage of the social features immediately. If you’ve previously claimed the listing and want to convert it to a G+ page, you’ll simply need to link it to a G+ profile. We recommend keeping your personal profile separate from your business page, just to keep things clear.
Create Circles Once you’ve made your business listing a G+ page, people can start following you and you can follow them back. G+ allows you to create circles of these followers, which is an easy way to segment your audience. For example, you could have a circle for brides, one for business accounts, and another for regular walk-in customers. You can tailor your communications to each circle, or even offer different promotions to each one.
See Reviews and Updates
myteleflora news
G+ users can write reviews of your shop and post them right to your G+ page so they appear when people view your listing. Users and non-users can see the reviews, and more importantly, the reviews can help your listing rank higher in organic search results. When you post updates to your G+ account, those posts will also appear in your listing for all to see. That unique content helps your listing rank higher. It’s also a way to share news with existing and potential customers.
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For a quick primer on Google+, check out our cheat sheet on eFloristUniversity.com or watch the recording of our webinar, “What’s the Plus in G+?”. Both are available for download at any time for eFlorist members.
eFLORIST
The Importance of Online Review Sites It used to be that word of mouth was just that, people physically speaking to each other. Nowadays that word of mouth has become electronic, and instead of spreading from one person to another, it’s broadcast across the World Wide Web. For customers, one of the benefits of that evolution is that they can find opinions on just about every business or service provider without having to personally know anyone who has used it. For businesses, it means reviews (both good and bad) can travel farther than ever before, all in an instant.
Claim your online listings Make sure customers can review your services and find you easily on review sites like Yelp. Businesses can create or claim existing listings on the site for free, and customers can post reviews for free as well. Having a listing will help you reach more new customers. Collecting reviews will help you see what you’re doing well and maybe not so well. If you’ve already claimed your Google listing, G+ users can review you right on your page. This has the added benefit of helping your ranking in Google’s organic search results. Google also relies on Yelp for reviews, but if you can get people to post reviews right on Google, you may as well. Both Google and Yelp allow you to customize your business listing with photos, a personal message, and offers for customers.
Dealing with bad reviews The inevitable question that always arises is this: How do I deal with a negative review? At the core of it, an unhappy customer is an unhappy customer, whether they’ve called you to complain or posted a review online. Your first task is to find out what happened and how you can make it better. With online reviews, it’s a little tricky, because you have to monitor your reviews to see what people say rather than waiting for phone calls to arrive, but monitoring your online reputation is time well spent.
Try to handle things privately Before responding to any online reviews publicly, you should try to reach the customer privately. It’s risky to get into a he-said/she-said online, and you don’t want other potential customers to think you have been combative or unwilling to help. Ideally, you can speak to the customer and then post a response to their review summarizing your conversation. Something like, “We were sorry to hear you were disappointed in our service. We were pleased to offer a replacement arrangement and are happy that it was more to your liking. Thank you for your business, we look forward to serving you again!”
Summarize the resolution publicly Sometimes customers will add a second review to report how the business handled their complaint, but if they don’t, your summary of the situation will do. Prospective customers will see that you took action to make a customer happy, which goes a long way in getting you more new business and keeping it.
Accept the occasional bad review We all want every review to be positive, but the fact is, you can’t please everyone all of the time. Fortunately, bad reviews aren’t as bad as they seem. If you only have glowing reviews on your business pages, customers might think they’re false. The occasional bad review actually makes the good ones look better.
Link review pages to your eFlorist website myteleflora news
Once you’ve claimed your listings and are getting reviews, it’s a good idea to add a link to the page on your eFlorist website. The business listing will include your business URL, but it’s good to link back to them from your own site. You can contact eFlorist Support to upload tiles to your homepage that link to your review pages, as well as your social media pages. It’s free and easy to do, and shows customers you have a strong online presence.
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technology
Event Planning Made Easy with Teleflora’s Event Manager Module Teleflora’s Event Manager Module for Dove POS Takes the Frustration out of Event Planning! As a floral professional, you know how important special events such as weddings, birthday parties, proms, and corporate events are to your business. Planning events such as these are an excellent way to display your artistry while providing your clients with a day they’ll never forget. While incredibly rewarding, special event planning and management can be stressful, especially during busy seasons where many florists find themselves juggling multiple events at a time. That’s why Teleflora is thrilled to announce the arrival of our brand new Event Manager Module coming this summer to Dove POS! This module schedules and manages all special events hosted by your shop, allowing you to set up tasks, consultations and proposals on a specially designed event calendar that will keep you organized from the first consultation to the day of the big event. The Special Events module takes the hassle out of invoicing and order fulfillment, while simultaneously wowing your customers with professionally designed proposals and impeccable consultation notes. You now have the power to set up custom reminders and task lists directly from Dove POS. Keep everyone involved in the process up to date using Role Checklists, which lets you view, edit, and add tasks to each member of an event’s vital participants.
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Make hand written consultation notes and proposals a thing of the past! The Event Manager Module allows you to lay out an event and provide clear and concise directions that you can give to your customer. Easy to read, well organized proposals will give your customer peace of mind knowing that their event is in good hands, and since the Event Manager Module allows you to send invoices, proposals, and other documents via email directly from Dove POS, you can deliver peace of mind on-demand. Best of all, you can completely customize your proposals to specifically meet the needs of your shop, and your customers.
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Grant yourself instant access to customizable reports and information regarding event locations, vendors, products and other variables ensuring the most streamlined and personalized experience possible! Teleflora’s Event Manager Module is scheduled to roll out July 2014.
Contact your Teleflora sales representative today or call 866.444.3683 to learn more about what Special Events can do for you!
wedding
Spread Event Work Year-Round June is traditionally the month for weddings, but the fact is that weddings happen year-round in every community. To help you get more wedding business, your eFlorist website has a wedding category that’s specifically designed to help you showcase your wedding and event work. You can upload up to 100 images of your work, from aisle runners to wrist corsages, to your eFlorist wedding gallery. The online gallery is free to use, you just have to provide images and captions for eFlorist Support to upload. Your photo galleries aren’t limited to just wedding work. You can create up to 10 galleries with 10 photos each, so if you wanted to highlight prom, Sweet 16, quinceañera, or other formal events, you could absolutely do so. You can also create individual categories for these events, even if you have similar products in each. There are two benefits of creating individual, everyday categories for these events. 1
It makes it easier for customers to find what they want.
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Creating these categories means you come up in more online searches. For example, if someone is looking for “Sweet 16 flowers” in your city, having a category on your website with those words in it increases your chances of appearing in those search results.
eFlorist can even help you write category content with relevant keywords so you can increase your chances of appearing in more searches. We can even activate consultation forms for your event services for customers to fill out online before speaking with you. Although these kinds of sales don’t typically come through your eFlorist website, your website can help you attract customers and show off your event expertise. Our eFlorist Support team can help you make the most of your online real estate. All you have to do is make an appointment with us.
Contact eFlorist Support at 866.983.3932 or eflorist@teleflora.com to get started today.
myteleflora news
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summer shows
summer shows and programs The summer is packed with incredible floral shows and educational programs. Take advantage of the slow period to network, learn and prepare for the upcoming holidays.
june 6/1: Louisiana State Florist Association Ramada Conference Center, LA Program Topic: Sympathy Designs, Presenter: Bob Hampton 6/1: Los Angeles Coastal Unit - Mellano Wholesale, CA Program Topic: Corporate Events, Presenter: Tom Simmons 6/3: South Texas Unit - Greenleaf Wholesale, TX Program Topic: Tropical Designs, Presenter: Bert Ford 6/4: Michigan Unit - Vans / Kennicott, MI Program Topic: Advanced Everyday Designs, Presenter: Hitomi Gilliam 6/4: Western Pennsylvania Unit - Pennock Co., PA Program Topic: Sympathy Designs, Presenter: Kevin Ylvisaker 6/4: Minndakota Unit - North American Wholesale, SD Program Topic: Sympathy Designs, Presenter: Darla Pawlak 6/8: Blue Ridge Unit - Sweet Briar College, VA Program Topic: Sympathy Designs, Presenter: Jerome Raska 6/8: Kentucky Derby Unit - The Foundry at Glassworks, KY Program Topic: Wedding Designs, Presenter: John Hosek 6/8: DC-MD-VA Unit - Comfort Inn & Conference Center, MD Program Topic: Everyday Designs, Presenter: Vonda LaFever
july 7/3-7/7: AIFD - Hilton Chicago, IL Program Topic: Various, Presenter: Various 7/18-7/20: Texas State Florist Association Renaissance Hotel, TX Program Topic: Tropical Hands-on Workshop, Presenter: Gerard Toh Program Topic: Salute to Education, Presenter: Rich Salvaggio 7/20: Mississippi Unit - Magnolia Wholesale, MS Program Topic: Mechanics & Techniques of Design, Presenter: Joyce Mason-Monheim 7/23: Wisconsin-Upper Michigan Unit Karthauser & Sons Wholesale, WI Program Topic: Sympathy Designs, Presenter: Gerard Toh 7/27: Kentucky Florist Association - Capitol Plaza Hotel, KY Program Topic: Wedding Designs, Presenter: Kevin Ylvisaker 7/27: Oklahoma State Florist - Oklahoma State, OK Program Topic: Wedding Designs, Presenter: Gerard Toh 7/27: Arizona State Florist Association Black Canyon Conference Center, AZ Program Topic: Everyday Designs, Presenter: John Hosek Program Topic: Ordinary to Extraordinary, Presenter: John Hosek
6/8: Florida State Florist - Bonaventure Hotel, FL Program Topic: Grand Events, Presenter: Tanus Saab 6/10: Oklahoma Unit - Greenleaf Wholesale, OK Program Topic: Wedding Designs, Presenter: Kevin Ylvisaker
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6/11: New York Capitol District Unit Seagroatt Riccardi, NY Program Topic: Designing and Marketing Weddings, Presenter: Jerome Raska
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SIGN UP!
6/18: Tennessee Unit - Roy Houff Company, TN Program Topic: Wedding Designs, Presenter: Joyce Mason-Monheim
To register, contact your Unit President three to seven days before the event.
6/22: North Florida Unit - D. Kay Wholesale, FL Program Topic: Everyday Designs, Presenter: Joyce Mason-Monheim
find your Unit President BY clickING here.
6/22: Idaho-Utah Unit - Flowers Express, UT Program Topic: Everyday Designs, Presenter: Tom Bowling 6/25: New Mexico-West Texas Unit - Selarom Ballroom, TX Program Topic: Wedding Designs, Presenter: John Hosek
Calendar
summer calendar SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
JUNE 1
Promote National Rose Month to your customers.
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15
2
3
9
16
10
Create and advertise a summer sales promotion.
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29
30
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Merchandise your store for summer!
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4
Promote your graduation offerings to your customers.
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5
12
World Cup begins. Be sure to advertise bouquets inspired by top teams!
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19
6
13
20
7
14
21
25
26
27
Create and advertise a 4th of July promotion.
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13
14
8
Post any new wedding or event images to your facebook.
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21
22
27
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29
2
9
16
3
10
17
23
24
30
31
Post to your facebook and twitter reminding customers that flowers make people smile!
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It’s the 4th of July!
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18
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national rose month It’s National Rose Month! Send an email promoting all of your bestselling rose bouquets. Don’t forget to promote the celebratory month on Facebook!
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Start planning your holiday marketing campaign.
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Start planning your holiday open house.
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Review current orders for the 2014 holiday season. Treat your employees to an ice cream party! myteleflora news dec/jan 2013-2014 | myteleflora news
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Make Someone Smile Week begins.
Perform an inventory check. Order any low supplies from the results of your inventory check.
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7
Jump into summer with a springtime closeout sale. Schedule a deep clean of your shop.
JULY
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summer checklist
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EVERYDAY 2014
Everyday Promotional Opportunities Summer is often thought of as a time in the year with few traditional holidays and even smaller opportunities for sales. With a little creativity and effort, you can make sure your summer is successful. Take advantage of these summer holidays, seasonal changes, cultural events, and lifestyle trends, and turn them into opportunities to increase your business.
National Rose Month
June is National Rose Month! National Rose Month is a monthly celebration of one of the most popular and iconic flowers. Roses have a long and colorful history. They are symbols of love, beauty, war and politics. How to take advantage: Throughout the month post facts about roses, images of arrangements with roses, or even discount roses one day of the month to promote sales. Date: June
4th of July
America’s Independence Day is a great holiday for florists. Families and friends nationwide will be gathering to celebrate the nations birthday and it’s a great opportunity for florists to promote hostess gifts or home decorating bouquets. How to take advantage: Design patriotic bouquets in red, white, and blue. Other themes to plan around are Americana, folk art and flags. Date: July 4
Make Someone Smile Week
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Make Someone Smile Week is a great vehicle for getting the word out that flowers make people smile. This year, it is expected that over 40,000 Be Happy® bouquets will be donated in over 170 cities and 320 facilities throughout the United States and Canada. This is a great chance for you to join in on this philanthropic event.
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How to take advantage: Participate in Teleflora’s 14th Annual Make Someone Smile® Week. Use the buzz surrounding this week to promote that flowers make people smile. Offer a discount on the Be Happy Bouquet to incentivize customers to send flowers just because to the people they love. Date: July 20 - 26
EVERYDAY 2014
Weddings
Wedding season is now in full swing! According to The Knot yearly survey of 13,000 brides, couples will spend an average of $2,069 on flowers with more spent in larger cities. Weddings are not only a great way to sell high priced work, it’s also a great way to make long-term customers out of brides and people in the bridal party. How to take advantage: Sign up for Teleflora’s Bridal Program to make sure brides are able to find you online. Stay up to date on 2014’s top wedding trends by clicking here. Upload your latest wedding images to a slideshow on your eFlorist website to showcase your best wedding work. Click here for more info, or call 800.333.0205.
Summer Entertaining
When the sun is out and weather is great, people come together to enjoy the weather, BBQ, watch fireworks, and picnic. It’s also a time when people entertain the most. How to take advantage: Design bouquets that customers can use as centerpieces with fun summer themes. Think of bright summer colors, grilling, camping and picnics. And be sure to stock up on our Weber® Hot Off The Grill container, which displays summer fun at any gathering. Date: All Summer Long
World Cup
Every four years, the entire world comes together to watch 32 countries play in the World Cup. The World Cup is this summer’s premier sporting event and bouquets themed to soccer or even to countries participating in the tournament will be very popular. How to take advantage: Check out the list of teams playing in the world cup and promote bouquets inspired by the colors of their flags. Have leftover flags from your 4th of July bouquets? Use them here and promote special U.S. Soccer 19 themed bouquets. myteleflora news
Date: June 12 - July 13
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products
Make this a cool summer with Teleflora’s favorite products! Here are some great merchandising suggestions for summer using our popular classic containers that have a fresh new look and our great everyday designs in fun and vibrant shades! Weber® Hot Off The Grill
Teleflora’s Weber grill is back by popular demand and is perfect for Father’s Day and great for all summertime festivities. • Display the little grills in a highly visible place in your shop on a picnic table or use a summery table cloth. • Add grilling tools and picnic accessories like baskets and plastic tableware to set the summer scene then fill the grills with unique and fun bouquets or even small succulent plant arrangements – they’ll be sure to be noticed. • Last but not least, keep one near the register with your business cards or candies inside all summer long for a fun conversation piece that your customers will love!
Sweet Little Lamb
Summer is an increasingly popular time for a baby shower so be ready by creating an “all about baby” in-store display in your shop to help welcome these extra special deliveries. • Showcase Teleflora’s newest arrival, the Sweet Little Lamb, in two perfectly sweet shades - baby pink and baby blue and you’ll be ready for anything. • These adorable little lambs will not only look great in your shop alongside your other baby gifts, but they will also be a cherished décor piece for the nursery for years to come. • Be sure to have some in the cooler and filled with flowers for the perfect grab and go gift – it doesn’t get any cuter than this!
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Captain Carefree
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This handcrafted ceramic sailboat with a removable cotton sail is not only great for baby, but it’s also perfect for summertime fun! Use this nautical themed sailboat as part of a summery beach display in your shop as well. • On a flat surface, lay down a blue or white tablecloth and display the sailboats there, surrounded by sand and seashells. Turn a few clear cube vases upside down and put the sailboats on top to showcase their good looks! • Fill them up with flowers in stylish summery colors like soft peach, orange and lime green, accent with dusty miller and this boat will be the perfect summertime accessory that’s always in style - anchors aweigh!
products
The Cube
One word describes these popular cubes best – cheerful! • Think cheerful when creating a cool summer atmosphere in your shop and use Teleflora’s classic cube in three refreshing shades. These colors make for easy designing and make even more of an impact when grouped together. • This is the perfect look for your event work like sweet sixteen, anniversary, engagement and birthday parties!
Grand Sunshine Pot
Teleflora’s newest Grandparents Day product is the exclusive Grand Sunshine Pot - a multi-glazed ceramic cachepot, banded in rich shades of green and beautifully crafted in Portugal. • Grandparents Day is Sunday, Sept. 7th but take advantage of its early arrival and promote this unique and useful product for summer. • Set up a gardening display in your shop using the Grand Sunshine Pot as the focal point. Have fun with it and fill the pots with gardening tools, gloves and garden inspired bath products – then turn a few pots over and place some on top filled with different types of plants inside – Kalanchoe, Ivy, Gardenia and even succulents will look great in this versatile pot!
Violet Couture Vase
Consumers already love this simply divine glass vase in clear and now they’ll love the new jewel tone shade that is great for almost any occasion including love & romance, birthday and just because! • Keep these vases displayed in your shop with your other high end items and for a refreshing summertime offering have some ready in the cooler filled with mixed bouquets in bright shades of pink, fuchsia, green and of course purple! myteleflora news
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Buddy Valastro, the Cake Boss, teams up with Teleflora for sweet holiday sales. With a multi-platform, national marketing campaign including TV, PRINT and ONLINE exposure, we’ve got the recipe for success.
myteleflora news
e b l l i w s a m t is r h “This C your sweetest ever!”
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BUY A “Taste of Christmas CONTAINER Pack” AND YOU COULD WIN A TRIP TO MEET BUDDY! When you buy our Christmas Pack, you’ll be entered to win a trip to New York City for the filming of Teleflora’s Christmas TV commercial! TO ORDER, CALL 800.333.0205 OR VISIT themarket. TASTE OF CHRISTMAS Container Pack (14X900 includes a 12 pack of each product)
Thomas Kinkade’s A Kiss For Santa (14X200) 24 pack ($13.99 each) $335.76 48 pack ($12.99 each) $623.52
Gingerbread Cookie Jar (14X300) 24 pack ($10.99 each) $263.76 48 pack ($9.99 each) $479.52
Celebrations by Radko® Starry Ornament (14X400) 24 pack ($8.99 each) $215.76 48 pack ($7.99 each) $383.52
Send a Hug® Precious Penguin (14X500) 24 pack ($8.49 each) $203.76 48 pack ($7.49 each) $359.52
Merry Mug (14X600) 24 pack ($7.49 each) $179.76 48 pack ($6.49 each) $311.52
The more you buy, the more chances to win!
Purchases of 14X900 must be made by August 26, 2014, in order to qualify. The trip will be in October. Florists will receive an extra entry for every additional 12 pack purchased. For complete details, please visit MyTeleflora.com/homemade.aspx.
myteleflora news
Holly Days Bowl (14X100) 24 pack ($8.99 each) $215.76 48 pack ($7.99 each) $383.52
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