Connecting Florists to Florists

I just returned from the Florida State Florists’ Association Convention that started Friday June 13 through Sunday June 15. I had the opportunity to show Florida Florists www.localflowershop.com and the many benefits of having their shop listed. These florists understood the importance of getting orders right from the consumer at 100% of the order value. Some florists were not sure how they actually received the orders from our floral directory so I explained that the orders come through their website like normal or right to their phone from the customer. They wanted to know what percentage of the order we took off the top and they were thrilled to hear that we take nothing. I also spent some time with a few florists talking about our print services that are available through Beneva Enterprises.
 
I also took this opportunity to show them our Thanksgiving direct mail piece that would also help them get orders at full value. These conversations were eye openers to most shops and I received very positive feedback on the quality and uniqueness of the featured Lenox Celebration Gift Bag.
 
Many shops shared with me their plan to cut back on wire services which follows the national trend that florists realize that they need to get leaner and maybe just need one wire service to send outgoing orders and can accept a credit card for the other wire services that they do not belong to. I took this opportunity to point out that they can save on transmission fees by phoning out their orders from www.localflowershop.com shops.  In addition, I pointed out the money savings for purchases from our floral marketplace and that they can use the beautiful arrangements in our Floral Gallery.
 
I also had a chance to speak with these shops about our move into specialty gift items like the Lenox Celebration Gift Bag and the upcoming Christmas Fitz and Floyd Holly Berry Ornament. Many shops agreed with the need for branding unique items that differentiate themselves from their competitors and the importance of marketing for 100% of the order both in print and online.
 
I had a super time and look forward to attending more conventions in the future and for the Florida shops that did not attend. Mark your calendar now for the mid season convention on January 23-25 2009 at the Embassy Suites in Destin, FL.