Robin Heller of Flowers by David, Langhorne, Pennsylvania, says her customers splurge on loved ones when it comes to ordering flowers.
The pandemic brought with it different challenges for floral professionals from coast to coast. Florists — resilient, resourceful, and flexible — shared how their ingenuity not only got them through, but also redefined their business for the better, writes Janice Randall Rohlf in the September/October issue of Floral Management.
Focus on One of a Kind
For Lisa Holmes of Tiger Lily Florist in Charleston, South Carolina, paying close attention to what people are asking and looking for is the key to success. “Customers wanted gift baskets with flowers and as many add-on specialty items as they could get,” says Holmes. She rose to the challenge, adding eight new “specialty baskets” to her website.
Redefine the Retail Visit
When COVID-19 hit, Deborah Orofino and Anne Morris locked the door to A Wildflower Shop in Edwardsville, Illinois, but their phones never stopped ringing. Adapting to contact-less delivery went smoothly, and Orofino and Morris leveraged the Google 360-degree video of the shop they had produced pre-COVID. The immersive visual tool showed customers who didn’t want to leave their homes what was in the shop for purchase.
Don’t Underestimate What People Will Spend
For Robin Heller of Flowers by David in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, her husband, David, and their staff, everyday business became a bigger focus. They learned to upsell better, not by relying on the gift of gab but rather by being smarter about how they placed and priced arrangements on their website. Another strategy Heller implemented during the pandemic was keeping their specialized Flowers by David Weddings Instagram/Facebook accounts separate from their regular store Instagram/Facebook accounts.
Leverage Your Online Investment
Increasing the frequency of marketing emails caused customer engagement to spike so markedly that “we are now pretty consistent about sending out three emails a month as opposed to only one or two pre-COVID,” says Molly Meulenbroek, of Studley’s in Rochester, New Hampshire. Email topics include product information and seasonal gardening suggestions.
It’s Not Just the Flowers—It’s You
Marci Rasmussen of Especially For You in Salt Lake City, Utah, grew more adamant about valuing the relationships that she has and she strove to impart that to her staff. “It’s not only about the flowers; I have to make myself a valuable resource,” she says. “I think COVID made me feel even stronger about that and about charging what I need to do it well.”
To read more about these and other lessons learned during the pandemic, read the September/October issue of Floral Management.
Molly Olson is a contributing writer for the Society of American Florists.
