We’re covering the first Florists For Change conference, organized by a group of passionate retail florists looking to change the economics of the floral industry.
Last night’s Ice Breaker session featured some introductions to the organizers and an overview of the plan for the next two days. Today’s schedule is quite full! The format will be some presentation of facts, followed by breakout groups for focused discussion, and then meeting together again to review the findings from our discussions.
11.04
This is my first attempt at live blogging in a while, so I’m going to offer this caveat: there will be typos, and names will be misspelled. I will try to review the content later and correct mistakes, but for now … just remember, this is live after all
11.06
Keith Hill just announced that we’ve pushed back the official start time a few minutes to let everyone arrive and get settled in. I heard last night from the organizers that there were a number of last-minute registrations right up to the time of the first session last evening.
We are also waiting for the hotel staff to bring in more tables and chairs, as attendance has surpassed even the biggest expectations.
11.18
Looks like we’re about to get started! Dirk Lorenz is at the mic now.
11.19
He’s thanking Tony for the flower arrangements, John & Amy dibella, Green Leaf Wholesale, San Diego Wholesale for donations. I seem to recall that Syndicate donated some items for last night, too.
11.20
Fellow Canuck Herbert Teichmann was just called to the front to show off his custom Florists For Change t-shirt. “If you want to start a revolution, you need to create a uniform”, he says, to much applause.
11.22
Mike “the brains” Fiannaca is coming to the mic to kick off the agenda. Not sure if shouting “Good Morning” that loudly at sleepy florists is a good thing.
Mike just admitted to being “addicted to incomings”, then showed off his FTD Top Member hat (I liked those hats!! Still one of my faves to wear), then he declared it’s time for a change and flipped the hat off stage.
11.24
Introducing the steering committee: Betsy Hall, Dirk Lorenz, Keith Hill & Mike Fiannaca
Georgia, California, Orgegon and Nevada represented in the committee.
11.25
Mission Statement: “Florists For Change is dedicated to the improving of the economics of the retail florists by encouraging industry advertising, providing exceptional consumer value, and promoting equitable trading among florists.”
11.26
Code of Ethics:
11.27
Mike’s giving a quick definition of Order Gathering (marketing all you can to get orders) vs Deceptive Order Gathering (lying to the customer about your location, services)
11.28
Mike is asking for a vote by hand on adopting the Mission Statement as a starting point.
Passed – unanimous
Vote on the Code of Ethics
Passed – unanimous
11.31
Now for some background, or as Mike refers to it … the Jungle Drums
A few big florists realized after Mother’s Day that .Com orders are way up and Florist to Florist orders are declining. (I hope this wasn’t a new revelation for them – it’s been happening for ~10 years)
Does the 80/20 split make sense? It did when sending / receiving was balanced between fillers and senders. Now, with sending-onlies controlling the bulk of the orders the balance is lost.
11.32
Rebates are hurting the industry by rewarding sending only entities.
The need to pay rebates to senders is driving up fees to members.
There is a large and increasing discrepancy between MSRP and real retail pricing on WS items.
11.33
B&M / Retail / “Real” florists are losing market share.
Status Quo is unsustainable. There is a finite limit to where this can go.
11.36
Once upon a time florists were amongst the first to adopt new technology. (When was that???) With all the new tech available, how much do we need WS any more?
What common interests do we have with WS? Can we restructure our relationship to meet mutual goals? Impossible?
Can we craft a solution that improves value for consumer (first) and florist?
Can we heighten the relevance of florists to consumers? ProFlowers saturates the media with anti-florist advertising – because it works.
11.37
Our fees finance the WS growth to help them capture orders to send members to fill so that we’ll pay more dues …
We fill, they absorb our market, and we allow this to persist.
11.39
Mike is clarifying that WS are not Darth Vader-esque evil entities seeking to smite the florists, they are just businesses that have to act in their own interest, and they realize that we’re happy sitting on our hands.
11.40
With the unprofitability of incoming orders the consumer is likely receiving inadequate value in a lot of cases.
11.42
There is a serious lack of “buy flowers” advertising. (Hurrah!!)
WS ad budgets have been redirected over the years to fund rebates to senders.
Deceptive and Send Only entities are parasitic, harmful. Need legislation to protect florists and consumers, since we can’t afford to tackle offences in case by case lawsuits.
11.43
We need to address the problems now, or they will only be worse in the near future.
11.47
Mike’s moving into looking at the Scale of WS & Drop-Shippers vs Florists
1-800-flowers, FTD, Teleflora, ProFlowers/ProPlants
Florists understand numbers in the range of 10-100-1,000-10,000-100,000-1,000,000 … but we don’t understand $ 800 Million
11.49
Mike is reporting on revenue and membership numbers for the big 4. Not sure how accurate these numbers are, but it paints a picture.
11.52
FedEx delivered 200k ProFlowers packages in 2006. By 2008 they delivered 1 Million packages.
By 2009 they had $ 400M in sales. 50% of PF’s business is on Mother’s Day & Valentine’s
11.53
ProFlowers is owned by giant corporation Liberty Media. Clearly, they see an opportunity in this market.
11.54
Mike just blew through some numbers reported from SAF – incl average flower shop doing $ 320k per year in sales. Not sure what year this is from.
11.55
Mike’s reporting on Floriculture sales increasing … I think someone needs to tell him that Floricultre != retail floristry, so those stats don’t really apply.
11.57
Moving on to survey results. Mike’s clarifying some of the survey questions, as there was some confusion about allocation revenue to categories and COGS calculations. The survey has been re-issued with more florist-friendly questions and less accountant-speak.
12.00
Typical pricing for a florist, in simple terms:
Recipe COGS x Markup, then adjust for psychological value (perceived value, rounding)
What percentage difference is there between WS SRP and retail florist pricing?
WS .99 vs Florist .99 = 80% (WS is priced at 80% of florist price)
12.03
Mike is reviewing the “At A Glance” WS profitability calculator. Florists can input their real WS fees and order count, and it will plot out scenarios for profitability or loss, using a WS and F2F.
Interesting note: With too many incomings even a direct model leads to losses.
12.04
For F2F and WS models to be equal in profitability, a florist needs a 10:1 send:receive ratio.
12.05
Mike is really stressing the need to know your overhead costs when making decisions on wire service membership and handling incoming orders.
12.07
Shout out to Derek Myers of Crokket & Myers, one of the best accounting firms for florists.
12.08
Unprofitable orders -> poor consumer value -> unhappy customers -> disloyalty -> purchase freq drops -> other categories increase
12.10
Retail florists contract while drop shipping increases.
Mike has been talking a lot about B&M vs DOG/WS vs Drop Ship, but I wonder about the increasing prominence of big box retails increasing market share?
12.14
We need to strive to focus on the consumer by building value, convenience and loyalty. Unconditional 100% satisfaction guarantee … do we really want to quibble over a single order, no matter the value?
Legislate against deceptive sellers.
Create a Buy Local Flowers campaign. (Maybe just a Buy Flowers campaign? Don’t complicate the message!)
12.17
Mike is sharing a story about a defective baby crib and customer service at Target. He was steamed! Service was efficient, started with an apology, “we try hard to source the best”, offered refund OR replacement.
No receipt – but, with apology, rep offered a refund by cheque.
Mike bought the most expensive crib in the store … and got a letter from the president 3 days later.
12.18
Mike wants to develop “omnibus” legislature that will pass in every state banned deceptive advertising.
12.20
“Buy Flowers” campaign … not “Buy from Acme”, nothing too complicated.
Flowers = Good
We need our “Got Milk”, “Happy Cows”
Audience: “As long as it’s not talking flowers in a box!!” <cheers>
12.23
Non-Profit F2F direct order mechanism
Florist A needs to be able to sell Florist B’s products and delivery accurately. Need to discuss the commission structure and build a platform that suits all sized florists.
12.24
Ryan note: The whole F2F, I sell your products concept is great … except for the 18,000 identical TF web sites. We first have to get florists to handle basic marketing like updating their own web sites.
12.24
Guidelines for today:
12.27
TF & FTD offered to “assist” – TF contributed meeting room and hotel block rate.
TF: “Can we make a presentation?” FFC: “No”
Mike reports TF was very gracious through the process
12.29
Vendors are welcome to participate in the meetings for the purpose of understanding the needs of florist. Vendor pitches are not to be tolerated. <Hurrah!>
(I did see John Carruthers from FSI in the session last night … curious)
12.30
Goals for today:
12.35
Proposed structure concept:
12.35
Next FFC meeting is scheduled for Oct 3rd, in Atlanta.
12.40
Technology discussions will be conceptual, talking about ideas, needs, etc – not “we’ll buy/use XYZ platform”.
Just like this B newly build casino that was once a piece of land, we need an opportunity, plan, work.
Mike just compared F2F sending to building casinos, giant bridges and space travel. (Note: Those are built by experts … does the floral industry have the required experts in-house, or do we need to source outside advice.)
12.43
We can sit around and point fingers, whimper and blame everyone else for our demise.
We can seek to build common ground with the WSs.
Create non-profit web-based F2F direct order system. (My vote is for an open standard than any vendor can support.)
12.44
We’re wrapping up the first session and preparing for the first breakout session to discuss the “Do Nothing” option.
12.46
Topic 2: Common Ground option
12.48
Topic 3: F2F Direct order System Option
12.52
Topic 4: “Hyrid/Transitional Model” option
12.54
Questions from the audience are threatening to throw things off the rails, but Mike shut them down quickly. <phew>
12.55
Time for a 10-15 min break to use the facilities, check out the calculator, etc.
12.56
We’ll be back at 10:15am Pacific time.
14.31
moderating a group,back soon
15.24
We’ve been in breakout sessions for the past couple of hours, covering Topics 1-3, and now we’re breaking for lunch.
I believe the plan is to return in 45 minutes for Topic 4, then gather together to discuss the outcome of our group discussions, so I’ll report more on each topic as it’s discussed.
Now we’re off to lunch!
16.27
We’re back from lunch and Dirk is taking care of a few housekeeping items before we break into groups again to discuss Topic 4.
The WS Calculator will be made available as an Excel file by request, and the slides and audio from today will be posted on the Florists for Change web site.
17.00
We’re about to start discussion of the 4 breakout topics. We’ll be reviewing input from each group on a topic.
Coverage may be interrupted a bit as a I have to present our group’s input on topics 3&4.
17.06
Topic 1: No Action
17.33
Topic 2: Common Ground
18.13
Topic 3: Develop a F2F Direct Option
18.15
Topic 4: Hybrid Transitional – What can we do now immediately as we change for the future
18.16
We just finished the discussions on Topics 3&4, and I’ll gather and share notes on these as soon as I can.
Toomie Ferris just gave an impromptu motivational speech pledging his own money and efforts to recruit more florists. Toomie is targeting 5,000 florists on board by December.
18.18
Dirk is now congratulating Debbie Copeland for winning Florist Bingo at last night’s Ice Breaker session. Her prize? A chocolate-covered marshmellow on a stick!
18.24
Break time – then back in 15-20 for more discussion.
18.46
I finally had a few minutes to check in on the Live Blogging setup. Turns out the Twitter integration wasn’t functioning as planned – but it should be better now.
Also, I’ve made some changes to the configuration so that the auto-refresh should be better.
18.53
Mike is back at the mic, recapping our action options.
The crowd very clearly shot down the “Do Nothing” option.
Seeking common ground with the WS as our only option is not an option.
Creating a web-based non-profit F2F system is not something we can drop everything else to handle or fund immediately. (Despite some rather … optimistic? … suggestions from the floor.
Going forward, we need to start implementing a hybrid business model to transition us into the future.
19.07
Toomie is going to town on a guy who thought emailing orders through a common order template is a viable option for busy florists. Awesome.
19.14
It’s amazing how two people who can’t follow a train of thought can derail a room …
Mad props to Mike and Keith for keeping things on track. Three people in a room of of 150 can’t stop talking about their own agenda long enough to realize that the moderators are following a track. (C’mon people … how many times can we say “Option #4 includes option #3.” “No, we want #3, can’t rule it out.” “Yes, #4 includes #3.” “No, I want #3 and #4.” <sigh>)
Dirk is now at the mic having restored order. The organizers are doing a great job of controlling things.
19.20
The options were presented as “Tomorrow we can start with”:
Mike is remarkably patient!
19.26
It’s amazing how many big senders are openly committing to lose rebates in favour of F2F sending.
19.28
Moving on to the creation of committees
19.42
Members are encouraged, nay, required!, to complete the feedback form including indicating willingness to participate in Action Committees.
We’re about to break for dinner. After dinner we will be meeting back here for more chatty and goodness in about 3 hours
19.46
Update: We’ll be back at 7p Pacific.
23.10
Dinner at the Harley Davidson cafe was fun, if not overly fast or good.
We’re gathering again, and I’m closing out the day’s blogging on my Android tablet. Let the fun begin!
23.19
As we’re getting settled in I’m enjoying some of the awesome typing options on my Xoom tablet.
Yes, I am geeking out… Deal with it
23.25
The lovely Betsy Hall is leading off talking about the next FFC meeting on October 3rd. They picked a Monday for cheaper flights, and she has set up deals with Atlanta market!
The next agenda will be an evolution of this one, not a rehash.
23.30
People have been contributing funds to FFC, and it’s all welcome… I but it’s not about budget. Some are giving large some have nothing but airline miles.
This is not about big shop vs little shop. We can all spread the word about FFC to other florists!
23.33
Mike is calling Rotarians to the front. Harold is explaining the four way test.
We are going to prioritize items from topics 3&4.
23.46
Late night meetings don’t make for good decision making sessions. We have a lot of confused florists.
00.01
Right now the florists are registering their priorities for action based on pages of discussion.
I gave a write-in vote for florist education from real experts.
00.05
While this meeting was billed primarily as a discussion about wire services, but it was much more!
00.08
Dirk is wrapping up for the night.
The meeting was way beyond expectations. He just showed off a HUGE stack of volunteer submissions from people willing to take on leadership roles within committees and executive positions.
00.10
Keith is closing.
He wants to make FFC a group for all florists, big and small, WS and independent.
00.13
Mike wants to keep up the momentum! There will be work tonight and meetings tomorrow…. But it’s all about baby steps.
00.14
Group photo time!
Continue reading...
Last night’s Ice Breaker session featured some introductions to the organizers and an overview of the plan for the next two days. Today’s schedule is quite full! The format will be some presentation of facts, followed by breakout groups for focused discussion, and then meeting together again to review the findings from our discussions.
11.04
This is my first attempt at live blogging in a while, so I’m going to offer this caveat: there will be typos, and names will be misspelled. I will try to review the content later and correct mistakes, but for now … just remember, this is live after all
11.06
Keith Hill just announced that we’ve pushed back the official start time a few minutes to let everyone arrive and get settled in. I heard last night from the organizers that there were a number of last-minute registrations right up to the time of the first session last evening.
We are also waiting for the hotel staff to bring in more tables and chairs, as attendance has surpassed even the biggest expectations.
11.18
Looks like we’re about to get started! Dirk Lorenz is at the mic now.
11.19
He’s thanking Tony for the flower arrangements, John & Amy dibella, Green Leaf Wholesale, San Diego Wholesale for donations. I seem to recall that Syndicate donated some items for last night, too.
11.20
Fellow Canuck Herbert Teichmann was just called to the front to show off his custom Florists For Change t-shirt. “If you want to start a revolution, you need to create a uniform”, he says, to much applause.
11.22
Mike “the brains” Fiannaca is coming to the mic to kick off the agenda. Not sure if shouting “Good Morning” that loudly at sleepy florists is a good thing.
Mike just admitted to being “addicted to incomings”, then showed off his FTD Top Member hat (I liked those hats!! Still one of my faves to wear), then he declared it’s time for a change and flipped the hat off stage.
11.24
Introducing the steering committee: Betsy Hall, Dirk Lorenz, Keith Hill & Mike Fiannaca
Georgia, California, Orgegon and Nevada represented in the committee.
11.25
Mission Statement: “Florists For Change is dedicated to the improving of the economics of the retail florists by encouraging industry advertising, providing exceptional consumer value, and promoting equitable trading among florists.”
11.26
Code of Ethics:
- Follow the Golden Rule with consumers and other florists
- 100% satisfaction guarantee for consumers (nationwide)
- Must not participate in deceptive order gathering
11.27
Mike’s giving a quick definition of Order Gathering (marketing all you can to get orders) vs Deceptive Order Gathering (lying to the customer about your location, services)
11.28
Mike is asking for a vote by hand on adopting the Mission Statement as a starting point.
Passed – unanimous
Vote on the Code of Ethics
Passed – unanimous
11.31
Now for some background, or as Mike refers to it … the Jungle Drums
A few big florists realized after Mother’s Day that .Com orders are way up and Florist to Florist orders are declining. (I hope this wasn’t a new revelation for them – it’s been happening for ~10 years)
Does the 80/20 split make sense? It did when sending / receiving was balanced between fillers and senders. Now, with sending-onlies controlling the bulk of the orders the balance is lost.
11.32
Rebates are hurting the industry by rewarding sending only entities.
The need to pay rebates to senders is driving up fees to members.
There is a large and increasing discrepancy between MSRP and real retail pricing on WS items.
11.33
B&M / Retail / “Real” florists are losing market share.
Status Quo is unsustainable. There is a finite limit to where this can go.
11.36
Once upon a time florists were amongst the first to adopt new technology. (When was that???) With all the new tech available, how much do we need WS any more?
What common interests do we have with WS? Can we restructure our relationship to meet mutual goals? Impossible?
Can we craft a solution that improves value for consumer (first) and florist?
Can we heighten the relevance of florists to consumers? ProFlowers saturates the media with anti-florist advertising – because it works.
11.37
Our fees finance the WS growth to help them capture orders to send members to fill so that we’ll pay more dues …
We fill, they absorb our market, and we allow this to persist.
11.39
Mike is clarifying that WS are not Darth Vader-esque evil entities seeking to smite the florists, they are just businesses that have to act in their own interest, and they realize that we’re happy sitting on our hands.
11.40
With the unprofitability of incoming orders the consumer is likely receiving inadequate value in a lot of cases.
11.42
There is a serious lack of “buy flowers” advertising. (Hurrah!!)
WS ad budgets have been redirected over the years to fund rebates to senders.
Deceptive and Send Only entities are parasitic, harmful. Need legislation to protect florists and consumers, since we can’t afford to tackle offences in case by case lawsuits.
11.43
We need to address the problems now, or they will only be worse in the near future.
11.47
Mike’s moving into looking at the Scale of WS & Drop-Shippers vs Florists
1-800-flowers, FTD, Teleflora, ProFlowers/ProPlants
Florists understand numbers in the range of 10-100-1,000-10,000-100,000-1,000,000 … but we don’t understand $ 800 Million
11.49
Mike is reporting on revenue and membership numbers for the big 4. Not sure how accurate these numbers are, but it paints a picture.
11.52
FedEx delivered 200k ProFlowers packages in 2006. By 2008 they delivered 1 Million packages.
By 2009 they had $ 400M in sales. 50% of PF’s business is on Mother’s Day & Valentine’s
11.53
ProFlowers is owned by giant corporation Liberty Media. Clearly, they see an opportunity in this market.
11.54
Mike just blew through some numbers reported from SAF – incl average flower shop doing $ 320k per year in sales. Not sure what year this is from.
11.55
Mike’s reporting on Floriculture sales increasing … I think someone needs to tell him that Floricultre != retail floristry, so those stats don’t really apply.
11.57
Moving on to survey results. Mike’s clarifying some of the survey questions, as there was some confusion about allocation revenue to categories and COGS calculations. The survey has been re-issued with more florist-friendly questions and less accountant-speak.
12.00
Typical pricing for a florist, in simple terms:
Recipe COGS x Markup, then adjust for psychological value (perceived value, rounding)
What percentage difference is there between WS SRP and retail florist pricing?
WS .99 vs Florist .99 = 80% (WS is priced at 80% of florist price)
12.03
Mike is reviewing the “At A Glance” WS profitability calculator. Florists can input their real WS fees and order count, and it will plot out scenarios for profitability or loss, using a WS and F2F.
Interesting note: With too many incomings even a direct model leads to losses.
12.04
For F2F and WS models to be equal in profitability, a florist needs a 10:1 send:receive ratio.
12.05
Mike is really stressing the need to know your overhead costs when making decisions on wire service membership and handling incoming orders.
12.07
Shout out to Derek Myers of Crokket & Myers, one of the best accounting firms for florists.
12.08
Unprofitable orders -> poor consumer value -> unhappy customers -> disloyalty -> purchase freq drops -> other categories increase
12.10
Retail florists contract while drop shipping increases.
Mike has been talking a lot about B&M vs DOG/WS vs Drop Ship, but I wonder about the increasing prominence of big box retails increasing market share?
12.14
We need to strive to focus on the consumer by building value, convenience and loyalty. Unconditional 100% satisfaction guarantee … do we really want to quibble over a single order, no matter the value?
Legislate against deceptive sellers.
Create a Buy Local Flowers campaign. (Maybe just a Buy Flowers campaign? Don’t complicate the message!)
12.17
Mike is sharing a story about a defective baby crib and customer service at Target. He was steamed! Service was efficient, started with an apology, “we try hard to source the best”, offered refund OR replacement.
No receipt – but, with apology, rep offered a refund by cheque.
Mike bought the most expensive crib in the store … and got a letter from the president 3 days later.
12.18
Mike wants to develop “omnibus” legislature that will pass in every state banned deceptive advertising.
12.20
“Buy Flowers” campaign … not “Buy from Acme”, nothing too complicated.
Flowers = Good
We need our “Got Milk”, “Happy Cows”
Audience: “As long as it’s not talking flowers in a box!!” <cheers>
12.23
Non-Profit F2F direct order mechanism
Florist A needs to be able to sell Florist B’s products and delivery accurately. Need to discuss the commission structure and build a platform that suits all sized florists.
12.24
Ryan note: The whole F2F, I sell your products concept is great … except for the 18,000 identical TF web sites. We first have to get florists to handle basic marketing like updating their own web sites.
12.24
Guidelines for today:
- DO NOT dwell on the past
- ACT PROFESSIONALLY – positive attitudes only
- BE PROACTIVE – offer forward-thinking solutions
- NO wire service bashing, NO finger pointing
- NO WS representation, NO vendor sales pitches
- FOCUS – time is limited
12.27
TF & FTD offered to “assist” – TF contributed meeting room and hotel block rate.
TF: “Can we make a presentation?” FFC: “No”
Mike reports TF was very gracious through the process
12.29
Vendors are welcome to participate in the meetings for the purpose of understanding the needs of florist. Vendor pitches are not to be tolerated. <Hurrah!>
(I did see John Carruthers from FSI in the session last night … curious)
12.30
Goals for today:
- Decide on creating a formal entity, type, etc
- Approve Mission Statement
- Approve Code of Ethics
- Conduct breakouts on options
- Define management structure
- Build action committees
12.35
Proposed structure concept:
- Board of Directors
- Executive Committee
- Action Committees
- Vision/Steering
- Organizational/Legal/Operating Agreement
- Finance/Accounting
- Membership/Meetings/Communications
- Industry Advertising
- F2F Direct Order Solution
- Liason
12.35
Next FFC meeting is scheduled for Oct 3rd, in Atlanta.
12.40
Technology discussions will be conceptual, talking about ideas, needs, etc – not “we’ll buy/use XYZ platform”.
Just like this B newly build casino that was once a piece of land, we need an opportunity, plan, work.
Mike just compared F2F sending to building casinos, giant bridges and space travel. (Note: Those are built by experts … does the floral industry have the required experts in-house, or do we need to source outside advice.)
12.43
We can sit around and point fingers, whimper and blame everyone else for our demise.
We can seek to build common ground with the WSs.
Create non-profit web-based F2F direct order system. (My vote is for an open standard than any vendor can support.)
12.44
We’re wrapping up the first session and preparing for the first breakout session to discuss the “Do Nothing” option.
- What causes our inertia?
- Where will we be in 5 years?
- What are the costs / benefits of inaction vs the costs / benefits of taking action?
12.46
Topic 2: Common Ground option
- Where are our interests with WS aligned?
- Where do our interests diverge and why?
- What do we actually need from WSs and vice-versa?
- Are changes to the WS business model possible?
- What happens if we refuse to fill orders? (Is that REALLY our best leverage? Membership fees would hurt more, IMHO)
12.48
Topic 3: F2F Direct order System Option
- How might technology provide competitive advantage?
- Need for automation, but simplicity
- What does the ideal non-WS F2F system look like?
- How can it accommodate all florists?
- How would it appear to consumers?
12.52
Topic 4: “Hyrid/Transitional Model” option
- We and the WSs are part of the same industry
- Changes can be highly disruptive
- Dollars are tight
- Common sense solutions must prevail
12.54
Questions from the audience are threatening to throw things off the rails, but Mike shut them down quickly. <phew>
12.55
Time for a 10-15 min break to use the facilities, check out the calculator, etc.
12.56
We’ll be back at 10:15am Pacific time.
14.31
moderating a group,back soon
15.24
We’ve been in breakout sessions for the past couple of hours, covering Topics 1-3, and now we’re breaking for lunch.
I believe the plan is to return in 45 minutes for Topic 4, then gather together to discuss the outcome of our group discussions, so I’ll report more on each topic as it’s discussed.
Now we’re off to lunch!
16.27
We’re back from lunch and Dirk is taking care of a few housekeeping items before we break into groups again to discuss Topic 4.
The WS Calculator will be made available as an Excel file by request, and the slides and audio from today will be posted on the Florists for Change web site.
17.00
We’re about to start discussion of the 4 breakout topics. We’ll be reviewing input from each group on a topic.
Coverage may be interrupted a bit as a I have to present our group’s input on topics 3&4.
17.06
Topic 1: No Action
- What causes inaction?
- Fear of change / unknown (props to Tony Fiannaca Jr for using “FUD”!)
- We are tired / busy
- Dependency on WSs
- Perceived cost of change
- Working in, not on, our businesses – crisis management, daily grind – fewer employees
- Don’t understand financial statements
- If I don’t fill, someone else will
- Bad info from WS / consultants
- Lack of confidence in options
- Fear of technology
- Lack of communication and community
- Where will we be in 5 yrs with no action
- Further decline in shops
- More emphasis on price, flowers as commodity
- Flowers as a gift category declining
- More drop shipping
- Further customer dissatisfaction
- Higher / more fees
- Costs / benefits of inaction and action
- Kids will actually want to take over the business
- Control our business and our future
- Large senders will lose some money up front, but it’s the right thing to do
- As we do better our partners (growers / wholesale) will as well
- Survival
- Emotional costs of change, dealing with transitions
17.33
Topic 2: Common Ground
- Where are our interests with the WS aligned?
- End point for an order
- Flowers to be the gift of choice for consumers
- Clearinghouse
- Branding
- Good customer experience
- Standardized products
- Education
- Industry growth
- Voice for the industry
- Profitability
- Healthy florists
- Where do our interests diverge & why?
- Where does the money come from?
- “Stealing” of customers
- Partners became competition
- Fees & rebates
- Unfillable products vs perceived value of real flowers
- Imbalance of profits
- Drop ship circumvents florists
- Confused branding
- Make the sale vs entire process of the order
- What do we actually need from a WS, vice versa?
- Technology
- Network, Coverage, Clearinghouse
- Marketing materials
- Donuts at the holidays! <props to the field reps!>
- Stop competing – start co-operating
- They use our rep as same-day / florist delivered product, especially same-day
- The need us for dues – primary revenue source
- Are changes in the WS model possible?
- Anything is possible
- It’s not likely
- What happens if we refuse to fill orders?
- Customer loses
- Someone will fill – usually poor service
- More drop ship – they want 100% too
- Our bottom line might improve
- Same day delivery via grocery stores?
18.13
Topic 3: Develop a F2F Direct Option
- Technology to provide competitive leverage
- Bypass credit card fees
- Send to B&Ms only
- Customer reputation such as YELP
- Lowering the costs
- Accurate product and pricing
- Speed of communication
- Delivery confirmation – photo, video, e-mail
- Simplicity
- Buy local – brand national
- More control
- Broader audience
- Simplicity
- Entire life cycle of order
- Tracking similar to Dominos.com
- Cloud computing
- Make the vendors fit our standard
- Board to establish the standards in a POS/order transit system
- Ability to send picture of local product
- No clearinghouse hub
- Ability to pull up filling florist website to see prices, delivery charges, etc.
- Referral commission
- Realistic containers and images
- Central website
- Legal cooperative for all florists
- Include suppliers
- Portal for customer
- Logistics
- Branded logo
- Ownership vs cooperative
- Educate customer
- Capture young consumer
- Brand local florists
18.15
Topic 4: Hybrid Transitional – What can we do now immediately as we change for the future
- Quick timeline
- Be deliberate
- Face to the movement
- Commitment to send orders into system
- Marketing efforts to local markets based on volume in market
- Eliminate rebates
- Florist-driven SRPs
- Cutoff times pushed back during holidays
- Limit selection items at peak times
- Co-op with other industry members
- Greater filling commission during peak times
- Give software to all florists
- Bundle package at low cost
- Co-op buying
- Compatibility
- Disincentives for order gatherers
- Incentives for reciprocation
- Use wire service to accommodate 90/10 split
- Dollars from people willing to invest in start-up
18.16
We just finished the discussions on Topics 3&4, and I’ll gather and share notes on these as soon as I can.
Toomie Ferris just gave an impromptu motivational speech pledging his own money and efforts to recruit more florists. Toomie is targeting 5,000 florists on board by December.
18.18
Dirk is now congratulating Debbie Copeland for winning Florist Bingo at last night’s Ice Breaker session. Her prize? A chocolate-covered marshmellow on a stick!
18.24
Break time – then back in 15-20 for more discussion.
18.46
I finally had a few minutes to check in on the Live Blogging setup. Turns out the Twitter integration wasn’t functioning as planned – but it should be better now.
Also, I’ve made some changes to the configuration so that the auto-refresh should be better.
18.53
Mike is back at the mic, recapping our action options.
The crowd very clearly shot down the “Do Nothing” option.
Seeking common ground with the WS as our only option is not an option.
Creating a web-based non-profit F2F system is not something we can drop everything else to handle or fund immediately. (Despite some rather … optimistic? … suggestions from the floor.
Going forward, we need to start implementing a hybrid business model to transition us into the future.
19.07
Toomie is going to town on a guy who thought emailing orders through a common order template is a viable option for busy florists. Awesome.
19.14
It’s amazing how two people who can’t follow a train of thought can derail a room …
Mad props to Mike and Keith for keeping things on track. Three people in a room of of 150 can’t stop talking about their own agenda long enough to realize that the moderators are following a track. (C’mon people … how many times can we say “Option #4 includes option #3.” “No, we want #3, can’t rule it out.” “Yes, #4 includes #3.” “No, I want #3 and #4.” <sigh>)
Dirk is now at the mic having restored order. The organizers are doing a great job of controlling things.
19.20
The options were presented as “Tomorrow we can start with”:
- Do Nothing
OR - Find Common Ground with WS
OR - Build F2F platform
OR - Enter a transitional period that includes #3 AND #4
Mike is remarkably patient!
19.26
It’s amazing how many big senders are openly committing to lose rebates in favour of F2F sending.
19.28
Moving on to the creation of committees
19.42
Members are encouraged, nay, required!, to complete the feedback form including indicating willingness to participate in Action Committees.
We’re about to break for dinner. After dinner we will be meeting back here for more chatty and goodness in about 3 hours
19.46
Update: We’ll be back at 7p Pacific.
23.10
Dinner at the Harley Davidson cafe was fun, if not overly fast or good.
We’re gathering again, and I’m closing out the day’s blogging on my Android tablet. Let the fun begin!
23.19
As we’re getting settled in I’m enjoying some of the awesome typing options on my Xoom tablet.
Yes, I am geeking out… Deal with it
23.25
The lovely Betsy Hall is leading off talking about the next FFC meeting on October 3rd. They picked a Monday for cheaper flights, and she has set up deals with Atlanta market!
The next agenda will be an evolution of this one, not a rehash.
23.30
People have been contributing funds to FFC, and it’s all welcome… I but it’s not about budget. Some are giving large some have nothing but airline miles.
This is not about big shop vs little shop. We can all spread the word about FFC to other florists!
23.33
Mike is calling Rotarians to the front. Harold is explaining the four way test.
We are going to prioritize items from topics 3&4.
23.46
Late night meetings don’t make for good decision making sessions. We have a lot of confused florists.
00.01
Right now the florists are registering their priorities for action based on pages of discussion.
I gave a write-in vote for florist education from real experts.
00.05
While this meeting was billed primarily as a discussion about wire services, but it was much more!
00.08
Dirk is wrapping up for the night.
The meeting was way beyond expectations. He just showed off a HUGE stack of volunteer submissions from people willing to take on leadership roles within committees and executive positions.
00.10
Keith is closing.
He wants to make FFC a group for all florists, big and small, WS and independent.
00.13
Mike wants to keep up the momentum! There will be work tonight and meetings tomorrow…. But it’s all about baby steps.
00.14
Group photo time!
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