Teleflora to require DCON's in August

[sfox]

Wow, look at the good the wire services are doing for the floral business.

I bet ya that the reason Teleflora is going to require decons is because they have so much love for this industry. I know that it really isn't about them extracting extra money from florists. It's all about making the industry better.

FTD was also very concerned about the industry when the started it's delayed response program. It's just a fluke that the corporation and it's largest senders are the biggest recipients of the money that their program generates.

And it must be just a fluke that all the programs these very caring wire services have created recently have all rewarded themselves and their largest senders. It must be just an oversite that over those same years, not one new program has been created that actually created any financial gain for their fillers?

Just another mystery of life in the floral world?

 

[Dorothy]

You're making this too difficult... we do it all electronically...no paper...

If there's a way to send/receive orders ONLY electronically, no printing with NO chance of missing any orders, I'm all for that! Right now, I don't mind incomings printing out...it's all the chatter that goes back and forth on less than a half page that bugs the heck out of me. Sometimes it's just two lines printing out on an 8 1/2" x 11" paper. What a waste.

 

[LJVF]

Can anyone quote or post the actual message?

The Teleflora rep said that all member florists will be required to confirm deliveries some time in August. It is currently in beta right now and the plan is to officially launch it in August. Like David, they offered me a chance to install it early.

That's all the details I was given.

 

[CHERYL BAKIN]

Thank you Melissa & Joan for your posts.

This is not a simple as you think...when you start requiring it on every order.

We belong to the Pittsburgh delivery co-op, which has about 40 members. Most are part of the technology world -- some are not. (still writing delivery tags & orders by hand).

The logistics of getting every wire order filled, delivered by me or a fellow member, and confirmed back to the filling member, who can then confirm back to the sending shop is mind-boggling!! Multiply this x 40+ and the migrane headache is about to start.

At busy holidays, we do not have, in individual shops, the man power to collect & disseminate the information back to the sending shop as to whether their specific order has been delivered & what time.

Our Delivery pool does have rules on non-deliveries, which work well given the number of packages we handle.

Please give me some pointers on how you would envision this being set up -- since we do not have a meeting space building with computer capabilities; at least 9 of our shops have no POS system; our delivery areas cover the entire county and then some -- which can take in excess of 2 hours each way (going east to west) on a good day (meaning that drivers from the various shops are often not back to their shop until well after 5 pm at busy times and at least 4:30 or later on an average day.)


I can make this happen in my shop, with the deliveries that I personally deliver. No problem.

However, my shop should not be penalized and neither should any of our Delivery Pool members for being involved in an economical way to get the product out, and just not physically being able to do this "jump thru the hoops" routine.

Cheryl

 

[Knife's Wife]

You're making this too difficult... we do it all electronically...no paper...

Yes Boss I understand that you and bloomz and a number of other people do it electronically! I don't need to be reminded of your technology.

My question is how do I get my pool members to comply to a dcon, and transmitt that information in a timely manner back to the florist??????

Why not just get rid of the florist that fail to deliver time and again, don't repond to request of delivery confirmation, don't call you when you have a problem???

I expect members of the wire service to comply with the terms of membership, act like professionals, or get put out.

When I or someone comes up with a good solution for dcons then I will be on board. If not then you will loose another great florist in the wire service.

Joan

 

[BOSS]

My question is how do I get my pool members to comply to a dcon, and transmitt that information in a timely manner back to the florist??????

Joan

Make it mandatory! Vote it into the bylaws.

Just for the record, I get delivery confirmations from many, many florists that do not run MAS as their technology choice. Mostly FAS and FTD technology users, but I used to get them on every BloomNet order when I was sending that way. These too are paperless.

 

[LJVF]

The way it works with Bloomnet is that each member is given a .75 rebate for every order confirmed by 7pm (I think they may have extended the time to 8pm) on the day of delivery.

There are no penalty fees for not confirming deliveries.

Each member is not compensated for a delivery unless the delivery is confirmed.

Each member must confirm delivery within the month the delivery was made in order to be credited for that month. You can still confirm the following month without penalty. There is no time limit that I know of (I could be wrong). If you confirm a delivery two months after, you will still get credit for it.

The incentive to confirm ASAP is that you get a .75 rebate and a better metric rating, which means more incoming orders. But there are NO extra fees for not confirming the delivery.

It really isn't that difficult.

 

[Knife's Wife]

Make it mandatory! Vote it into the bylaws.

Just for the record, I get delivery confirmations from many, many florists that do not run MAS as their technology choice. Mostly FAS and FTD technology users, but I used to get them on every BloomNet order when I was sending that way. These too are paperless.

Yes Boss, I also get those confirmations and they waste my paper and my time because the auto print. TF refuses to integrade with my "technology", so there is another problem!

Our bylaws have to be voted in by all members, say we get it passed. tell me how those florist our suppose to with and without technology suppose to get those confirmations to me electronically and mine to them??? Technology is great when it reduces the steps one needs to take. It only increase the steps by at least 3 with every order I fill for any TF member!

Joan

 

[ourfathershou25]

we do the bloomnet confirmation but we get .75 per order that we confirm. Wish teleflora would do that.

 

[Mikey the Flower Guy]

you KNOW how you, every once in a while, send something by mail., "certified"...WHY do YOU do THAT...is it "maybe" to MAKE SURE it got "delivered"...are you HAPPY, and CONTENT, when YOU KNOW??
If "dcon" is required to get paid, isn't "delivery" also required to get paid??...so, the "answer" IS, require your drivers to confirm delivery BEFORE THEY get paid......

 

[Knife's Wife]

Our drivers are required to get confirmation of delivery, as well as our pool drivers. That does not solve this headache or Cheryls, or any other florist in a large city who is part of a delivery pool.

Joan

I know Bloomz is taking the time to really think this one over and will come back with a viable answer to prove he is the genius that he was accused of being.:argue:

 

[CHERYL BAKIN]

Mikey,
in theory this might seem reasonable.

In a practical world, it's hogwash.
Not every driver gets paid by the piece. Many get paid by the hour.

You are still all not answering the question that Joan & I have -- how is a shop that belongs to a delivery pool, supposed to furnish Dcons in a timely manner? The logistical nightmre, and multiple, multiple phone calls to obtain the delivery time/signature/whatever is boggling.

For us in Pittsburgh, for instance,
Forty flower shops are not all tied into the same computer system. Some people do not even have email! The logistics of sharing this information on a daily basis is overwhelming.

and for what result?

so that 1 person out of 7,000 orders who got delivered in an average month can know within a few hours if the package was delivered or not -- and can check the order status 75 or 80 times in a time until she/he gets that message back?

I am not Fedex or UPS or DHL.
I do not provide instant up-date tracking of every order that we touch.

Sorry, you have just significantly added to my overhead, with no renumeration.
as Joan said, many like us will just choose to go away.

Cheryl

 

[LJVF]

A few weeks ago Teleflora called and asked if I would demo a new dove program that included the ability to send a dcon. I said sure. They have yet to send.
Perhaps FTD will join them. 800 flowers years ahead.

David, I just called Teleflora Member Services and they are in the dark about this. The customer service rep said that I got the call from a higher level, do you have the contact info of the person that called you?

 

[Doug Munro]

The tail wagging the dog?

This is a great thread everyone debating the pro's and cons of delivery confirmation. This shop thinking its a great idea, another shop shooting it down, one individual explaining why it won't work, another explaining the limitations of workspace or equipment.

Seems we have heard an opinion from everyone except one individual.......the customer! Ooops we must have forgotten about that poor slob after all they are only the ones that pay our bills and put food in our mouths.

Unless our company is different from most flower retailers our phone rings off the hook the day before Mothers Day or Valentines with the question "Have my flowers been delivered yet?" Simple question, but we can't answer it. Usually most shops have turned off their Mercury, the phone is ringing busy, or they are in complete chaos and can't say. Even when we do get an answer valuable time has been wasted going back and forth.

This is just one more example of the pace that our industry moves forward. :treadonme Order delivery confirmation is becoming a standard procedure by most retailers in other gift sectors particularly on the internet. As an individual who purchases a lot online I like to deal with the companies that have the ability to track my order and update me.

Say what you will about Proflowers and companies like them, but they figured this out a long time ago. When your product is delivered you receive an email confirmation, plain and simple. I realize that this is easy for many of them because they ship by Fedex so by default have access to the delivery confirmation process.

However since it is already being done by our competitors, rather than bellyache about all the reasons it will be inconvenient, lets just find a way to do it and make it a requirement. If we don't once again we will be left in the dust. As an industry we tend to take the path of least resistance even if provides less customer service and fails to enhance the product and services we sell

If I had my way every single order sent would require that the fulfilling shop do two things upon delivery

1) Confirm the Time, Date, and who accepted the delivery
2) Provide a picture of the actual arrangement to the sending florist

This information could then be passed on to the actual customer who made the purchase. This would also go a long way to resolving some of the quality and design issues we see.

I for one say it can't happen too soon for my tastes. I would in fact set my preferred fulfillers based on their ability to do this.

As for small shops that haven't the staff or can't afford the time or equipment to do this. Maybe the reality is that they should not be allowed to fulfill orders. Quite frankly I am far more concerned about pleasing my own customers than whether a small shop in Bent Twig, Nebraska is entitled to fulfill orders. The smart ones will figure it out and upgrade technology and in-shop procedures.

 

[Doug Munro]

You are not listening... or reading.

My pos have the email dcon capability, my website provider has email decon capability.

So I send a 12 deliveries to 11 different florist on wednesday, I receive 18 from 12 florist.
Thursday I go to the pool with 12 copies of my drivers sheets, which somedays maybe several different drivers, and find all 12 florist who gave me deliveries to give them a copy, and then make sure that my driver collects 11 sheets from the florist that he gave deliveries to.

My driver comes to me in the morning and then again in the afternoon to make pick ups of deliveries. I would get this sheet on Thursday at about 2:30, and then sit down to the F-ing Dove to send dcons??

On top of that I have sent 10 orders out of town, now I will receive ten f-ing auto dove print outs that those orders have been delivered?

This seems like insanity to me!!!! Nothing cost effective about it!

Joan

Joan,

I would not personally suggest for a moment that delivery confirmation is "cost effective". It is simply one more step that will need to be added to an already busy work schedule.

However what I will suggest and defend is that is is simply good customer service.

As for your "f-ing" auto dove print outs that the orders have been delivered, rather than see this as a problem why not view it as an opportunity. This provides you with the ability to contact the sender and let them know the delivery has been completed.

For a moment, take off your "retailer hat" and put on your "consumer hat". How would you view a company that followed though like this on an order you had placed with them.

On the other side of the coin as a fulfilling shop if you were confirming delivery on every order I sent you I would never send an order anywhere else.

Sure its a bit more work, but it can be a win/win for everyone and possibly help bring flower delivery a bit more into the present. Lets face it other than the computers the out of town delivery model hasn't changed in 75 years. 75 years ago we couldn't tell a customer if their order had actually been delivered and we still can't today.

Its a sad state of affairs when you think about it, the only time you know an order has not been delivered is when a customer complains. By that time the damage is done, the customer is angry, and worse yet you look like you don't know your business.

 

[Knife's Wife]

Belly aching?? No, asking the help of all those so in favor of it to give us an idea of how to make this work for "our little shops with inferior capabilities, in need of upgrades" as you put it!

It is easy to say why it would be good, it is easy to say why we should all do it, it is easy to throw some of us int the category of belly achers. It is easy to see the need on the customers part to want this confirmation. It is a lot harder to offer a viable solution to florist in our situation.


It is proflowers and 800 who in essence created the need by the customer to get it confirmed, because they burned them time and again with getting their orders delivered. Thier mistakes continue to become our burden over and over.

Do you care more about what your customer receives for what they pay or do you care that you got a @@@@ confimation to pass on to them, whether they wanted it or not? If you want great product and service and value in my area, you will be hard to find it beyond my doors. Go ahead and settle for 2nd best in exchange for a dcon.

Technology does not make one great!

Joan

 

[Dorothy]

Our customers expect us to deliver and on time and we DO. Why do wire service florists *need* confirmation before the recipient has even called the sender to thank them??? Are people really that shallow? Let's talk about that.

 

[Doug Munro]

Technology does not make one great.....

I certainly will not debate that, but in the eyes of the consumer, service does.

As for providing answers as how to provide delivery confirmation in particular regions or when using specific delivery systems I don't have an answer. That is something each shop needs to figure out on their own, after all they know their own business better than anyone.

As for Proflowers and 1-800 Flowers inventing delivery confirmation to rectify their own mistakes, give me a break.

I recently ordered several crystal items from Swarovski's as a gift for my wife's birthday. Here's how the process went

1) Order Placed online
2) Email confirmation received confirming the order and thanking me for placing it. As well it gave me an expected shipping date
3) Email recieved confirming date and time of actual shipping
4) Email recieved confirming delivery of product (I in fact hand product in my hand by that time)

Should I interpret this as Swarovski's attempt to rectify all their shipping errors? I prefer to interpret it as their way to avoid shipping errors and improve customer service.

The reality is that as a group we would not even be having this conversation if not for the fact that so many flower orders go astray once they are sent out. Lets list the excuses I have personally heard from fulfillers for non delivery of an order

1) We ran out of flowers
2) We were overwhelmed
3) We were short staffed
4) Oooops we missed that one
5) Our delivery truck broke down
6) My flower shipment did not arrive
7) We had snowstorm
8) there must be something wrong with our Mercury we didn't recieve it

and my personal favorite

8) We had to look after our own customers first

The sad part is this is only a partial list and we have all heard them

 

[Knife's Wife]

I get very few call is a months time from a customer wanting confimation. 99% of the time that call comes with several hours of the day yet to deliver.

This added time, will add expense no matter what solution we all come up with to resolve this issue, just pass it on, just pass it on.....I guess, huh?

It keeps getting less about the flowers!

Joan

 

[bloomz]

Going to dinner, and been playing with my little boy - so sorry Joan I didn't take (waste) all afternoon to debate a good idea.

In short, for now - it looks like get with the times or get left behind - times are/have changed, who's "fault" it is they changed doesn't matter.




May I please take time to go out to dinner now?