Retail flower shops are still adjusting operations in the pandemic — and will be for the foreseeable future — but there’s one longtime area that deserves your focused attention: customer service. That’s according to Tim Huckabee of FloralStrategies LLC, who shared service training tips for florists’ teams in the September issue of Floral Management. Among his advice: Pay attention — and sloooow down.
In the September column, Huckabee detailed a recent mystery call he made to a shop, where he posed as a proud brother ready to celebrate his sister’s promotion. “As do many customers, I just bumbled through the call, stating that I was clueless about buying flowers but wanted to celebrate this important milestone,” Huckabee wrote. “If you heard that from a customer, I hope you would immediately think big flowers, big budget and lots of balloons to proclaim her achievement to the world.”
Unfortunately, while the clerk was courteous and straightforward, the shop left money on the table —and risked disappointing a customer who was ready to go big. A deluge of questions hardly left time for the customer to respond, or the sales member to think through how to provide top-notch service.
“ bombarded me with too many choices, not even coming up for air or giving me a chance to say, ‘That sounds great’ or to ask any questions,” Huckabee explained. “He clearly did not want to take my order and when he steamrolled me with so many options it demonstrated that he did not want to give me customer service but just wanted me to pick an item.”
Read the full column and listen to the call yourself to find out more about the pitfalls this shop ran into and how you and your team can avoid them.
Mark your calendar: Huckabee will present a special holiday-themed Tim’s Calling…LIVE webinar for SAF members Oct. 29 at 1 p.m.
Mary Westbrook is the editor in chief of Floral Management.
