> THE NEW RULES FOR SELLING FLOWERS
contact-free services and engage in online sales. Nonetheless, as consumer demand evaporated in early April, Busch had to throw out tens of thousands of unsold Easter lilies. Looking to blunt the pain of those losses, he and his team dropped off as many plants as they could to local retirement homes as a gift to elderly citizens who couldn’t leave their communities or have visitors on site. Months later, Busch is still receiving heartfelt thank-you letters. “People wrote to tell us this was the
first plant they’d had since childhood or about how happy the plant made them,” he said. “It really drove the point home for me — the emotional connection people feel with flowers, and I think the pandemic has only increased those feel- ings. Now the question moving forward is, how do we continue to tap into those feelings? How do we build on them?” That’s exactly what Jackie Levine
is doing in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Throughout the pandemic, the fourth-generation manager of Central Square Florist has made it a point to stay in touch with reporters, resulting in substantial media coverage even while her business was temporarily closed. Her message no matter the platform: Flowers make people feel good. “The advertising payoff you get from
the media is priceless,” said Levine, who was featured on the front page of the Boston Herald and in a post–Mother’s Day interview on CNBC, among other high-profile news stories. Her proactive approach has increased Central Square’s name recognition, bolstered its credi- bility as a local florist and helped drive
more customers to the shop’s website and more engagement on their social media pages.
Streamline delivery. Long before DoorDash or Instacart, florists had perfected the art of deliv- ery — a skill that’s been invaluable in the industry as contact-free product transfers became imperative. In this time of anxiety and social distancing, taking the extra step to confirm delivery with senders and recipients (via automated technology or personal outreach) is an important special touch. In Little Rock, Arkansas, Tipton &
Hurst has trained its drivers to call ahead to recipients, but they also call the send- ers. (After Mother’s Day, they made at least 3,500 calls.) “I’m concerned that our society is so accustomed to Amazon deliveries they’re not answering the door, and things just sit,” said Christopher Norwood, AAF, AIFD, PFCI, adding that he worried as much about weather as porch theft. “We have to be better than that.” When drivers’ calls go to voicemail at
Penny’s by Plaza Flowers, the customer gets an email confirmation and a call to inform them of their gifts’ arrival and location. Thanks to a moderate spring in Pennsylvania, flowers on porches have fared well, but Drummond said that high summer temperatures could require moving to “Plan B — calling ahead and scheduling.” At J. Miller Flowers in Oakland,
California, sales staff ask what day (not time) customers want their flowers to arrive, giving them more flexibility to manage their routes and team. Most
WE’RE CONSTANTLY SHIFTING THROUGH THESE MURKY WATERS RIGHT NOW. BUT WE’RE
“
FOCUSING ON HOPE.” –LIZA ROESER
customers, particularly in hard-hit areas of the country, are understanding. To build on that goodwill, Valerie Ow added a flyer with each J. Miller delivery thank- ing customers for supporting a small local business and emphasizing the power of flowers to calm and connect. Thanks to refrigerated buildings
AVERAGE TRANSACTION ON MOTHER’S DAY $51 to $7042% $71 to $100 36% 28 FLORAL MANAGEMENT | June 2020 |
WWW.SAFNOW.ORG 7% Source: SAF’s 2020 Mother’s Day Member Survey. Response rate: 7 percent. $21 to $50 15%
on the property at Penny’s by Plaza Flowers, no driver entered the building for Mother’s Day. Drummond has ex- tended wireless service to buildings, so staff can scan packages as they go into vehicles. Inside, delivery packers know not to cross a bright yellow strip of duct tape on the floor that separates them from drivers’ space. If drivers need to use the restroom inside, they have their own separate one. “It’s strange, but it’s working,” Drummond said. Many florists also turned their park-
$101 to $150
ing lots and sidewalks into floral pickup stations during the Mother’s Day rush, blocking off six-foot spaces on the side- walk in the lot to encourage customers to wait their turn to approach the product and/or pick up a pre-ordered package. And they got their first taste of their new role as hall monitor/high school dance chaperone, gently nudging customers to
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