Editor’s Note: This week’s lead story comes from Joe Guggia, AIFD, of JP Designs in Santa Maria, Calif.
Administrative Professional’s Week and Mother’s Day are the last major financial boosts till wedding season flies in with full force. With continued organization, we can all climb that mountain to financial success! Here area few ideas that have always worked for me to make the journey less stressful and more profitable.
Implement Pre Sales
While we know we’re going to be busy (especially with Mother’s Day), let’s not wait for those orders to come in. One of the best perks of our Point of Sale systems is gathering order information for future sales. I’ve found that direct calls get the best results (hence why getting cell numbers is so important), followed by faxing. E-mails can be a positive connection as well, but so many people are deluged with this type of communication that the message gets lost, or worse, gets sent to spam.
Most of us have seen Administrative Professional’s Week sales fluctuate from year to year, and reminders are the best way to combat this. Begin calls/faxes two weeks before the holiday (in other words: Monday J). Not only will this let you know what’s selling (so you can buy accurately), but you’ll have extra money going into the holiday with credit card sales.
In House Flower Specials
I’m sure you’ll have the various wire service specials on hand. Heck, they do all the marketing, so why not? But it’s to your advantage to offer your own designs as well. Marketing five arrangements at various price points has always worked for me. Decide how low and high you’d like to go for these. Including a sample photograph is the best. If you can’t do that, a simple description with pricing will work, especially if you have a reputation of quality.
The Delivery Nightmare
No matter how beautiful your flowers are, if they aren’t delivered on time to the correct location, it just doesn’t matter. With organization and qualified staff in charge, the deliveries will go as smoothly as possible. A good call: ensuring every driver has GPS technology, whether it’s built-in the vehicle or on a smartphone. This is a huge asset in navigation and really eliminates mistakes with routing. Verifying addresses as the orders come in is also imperative. Yes it’s a pain, but trust that it’s much better to go through these steps early on to save on your stress when the holiday finally arrives. One advantage of Mother’s Day and Administrative Professional’s Week is that you can make deliveries during the week rather than during the Valentine’s 1-day rush. Have your sales people make it a habit to suggest early deliveries so the recipients can enjoy their floral gifts even longer, getting more value for their money.
Let’s gather our troops, get a game plan together, and march to floral holiday success. Step by step we can achieve the goals we lay out. No whining or moaning allowed (ok, maybe a little); let’s just forge ahead for profit by sharing the floral beauty our world loves. We represent the sender’s affection and admiration, a responsibility that’s truly a blessing. Next time you’re tired, think about all the news stories that go to show the world is far from a pleasant place most of the time, then you’ll remember how nice it is to help people do something nice.
Administrative Professional’s Week and Mother’s Day are the last major financial boosts till wedding season flies in with full force. With continued organization, we can all climb that mountain to financial success! Here area few ideas that have always worked for me to make the journey less stressful and more profitable.
Implement Pre Sales
While we know we’re going to be busy (especially with Mother’s Day), let’s not wait for those orders to come in. One of the best perks of our Point of Sale systems is gathering order information for future sales. I’ve found that direct calls get the best results (hence why getting cell numbers is so important), followed by faxing. E-mails can be a positive connection as well, but so many people are deluged with this type of communication that the message gets lost, or worse, gets sent to spam.
Most of us have seen Administrative Professional’s Week sales fluctuate from year to year, and reminders are the best way to combat this. Begin calls/faxes two weeks before the holiday (in other words: Monday J). Not only will this let you know what’s selling (so you can buy accurately), but you’ll have extra money going into the holiday with credit card sales.
In House Flower Specials
I’m sure you’ll have the various wire service specials on hand. Heck, they do all the marketing, so why not? But it’s to your advantage to offer your own designs as well. Marketing five arrangements at various price points has always worked for me. Decide how low and high you’d like to go for these. Including a sample photograph is the best. If you can’t do that, a simple description with pricing will work, especially if you have a reputation of quality.
The Delivery Nightmare
No matter how beautiful your flowers are, if they aren’t delivered on time to the correct location, it just doesn’t matter. With organization and qualified staff in charge, the deliveries will go as smoothly as possible. A good call: ensuring every driver has GPS technology, whether it’s built-in the vehicle or on a smartphone. This is a huge asset in navigation and really eliminates mistakes with routing. Verifying addresses as the orders come in is also imperative. Yes it’s a pain, but trust that it’s much better to go through these steps early on to save on your stress when the holiday finally arrives. One advantage of Mother’s Day and Administrative Professional’s Week is that you can make deliveries during the week rather than during the Valentine’s 1-day rush. Have your sales people make it a habit to suggest early deliveries so the recipients can enjoy their floral gifts even longer, getting more value for their money.
Let’s gather our troops, get a game plan together, and march to floral holiday success. Step by step we can achieve the goals we lay out. No whining or moaning allowed (ok, maybe a little); let’s just forge ahead for profit by sharing the floral beauty our world loves. We represent the sender’s affection and admiration, a responsibility that’s truly a blessing. Next time you’re tired, think about all the news stories that go to show the world is far from a pleasant place most of the time, then you’ll remember how nice it is to help people do something nice.
