Kevin Ylvisaker (left), AIFD, CFD, PFCI, CAFA, will share tips on designing efficient and profitable holiday arrangements; Melanie Spilbeler (middle) will share tips on automating email and social media marketing; and Derrick Myers (right), CPA, PFCI, will talk about creating incentive plans to recruit, motivate and retain staff at SAF’s 1-Day Profit Blast.
The labor shortage doesn’t appear to be improving much nationwide — or in the floral industry, where florists have been hampered by staffing shortages amidst a surge in demand for flowers.
The Department of Labor’s September jobs report, released Friday, showed slow growth with employers adding just 194,000 jobs. The floral industry is among those feeling the effects. About 60 percent of those who responded to a Society of American Florists’ survey in July reported difficulty attracting employees for entry-level and experienced positions.
It’s that labor challenge that’s driving the agenda of SAF’s 1-Day Profit Blast next month in Baltimore, Maryland.
“Everything we’re hearing – from SAF member surveys, to the recent roundtable discussions with SAF’s volunteer leadership – indicates that the tight labor market is a top challenge for our industry, forcing some businesses to have to turn down orders,” says SAF CEO Kate Penn. “We’ve recruited a combination of speakers who bring ready-to-implement solutions that allow florists to capitalize on the high demand we’re experiencing despite their smaller teams, and also create systems for recruiting and retaining talent.”
The Nov. 9 event at the BWI Airport Marriott will feature educational sessions on designing efficient and profitable holiday arrangements, automating email and social media marketing, and creating incentive plans to recruit, motivate and retain staff.
Those issues are especially important as one of the busiest seasons of the year approaches while florists are short-staffed, and thus short on time for tasks such as designing and marketing.
It was important to event sponsor DV Flora to provide sessions that would help florists flourish, says John Richards, vice president of sales.
“A lot of them don’t have the staff and the time” to bring in new designers and train them to make easy, profitable arrangements, Richards says. “If they can learn some things in that regard, they’d have a better chance of success.”
The design session, led by Kevin Ylvisaker AIFD, CAFA, CFD, PFCI, will teach florists new and efficient ways to produce and sell holiday arrangements at a profit. Ylvisaker will share his favorite time-saving tools and demonstrate techniques. His session will also put an emphasis on using sustainable materials.
Accountant Derrick Myers, PFCI, of Crockett & Myers Associates, will share how and why incentive plans can help achieve business goals, and how to identify areas in a business that an incentive program could improve. Myers will talk about how incentive plans can be scaled for businesses of different sizes, and even structured for different positions within the business.
Melanie Spilbeler, of FreshPath Marketing, will teach florists how to save time on marketing by streamlining promotional planning processes, automating email marketing, and using content calendars and other tools to focus social media marketing.
The event will also include a Supplier Showcase, offering attendees an opportunity to network with suppliers of hard goods and fresh product. (To exhibit, contact SAF’s Sheila Santiago).
Valerie White, owner of Flowers by Val in Fredericksburg, Virginia, says she’s missed in-person events and jumped at the chance to attend.
“Education is so important,” White says. “I just feel that we’ve all kind of been in this lull for over a year. We haven’t been able to go to educational events.”
As a business owner who also designs, White is looking forward to Ylvisaker’s session to give her inspiration for the holidays.
“I have to be top-notch, on my game designing,” White says, adding that her designs aren’t just about aesthetics, but also “about what I am buying and if it is profitable.”
Register for the 1-Day Profit Blast. Tickets are $159 for SAF members, and $199 for non-members. Additional registrants from the same company cost $119.
Amanda Jedlinsky is managing editor of SAF Now.