SAF CEO Kate Penn tees up the convention with a high-level overview of the state of the floral industry. Based on the most recent floral industry data, SAF member surveys and dozens of interviews with industry leaders across all sectors, Penn details the high and low points of the past year, challenges and opportunities going into 2023, and what SAF is doing to help the industry address them.
Forbes recently reported that 93% of customer service professionals say customers have higher expectations than ever before; almost 60% say they have higher customer service expectations than they did a year ago. Join this session to prepare your team for the fundamental shift in customer expectations and learn the approach they need to serve today’s customers. During this highly interactive session (get ready for role-playing!), you’ll walk away with strategies to ensure customer interactions don’t escalate to social media or a bad review online.
Great Expectations: Attracting and Retaining Today’s Flower and Plant Buyers
Speaker: Melinda Knuth, Ph.D., North Carolina State University
Most would agree: As an industry, we’re selling more flowers and plants. How is today’s flower-buying consumer different than five years ago? What about generational shifts? How has the flow of fresh product into and within the U.S. evolved? Most importantly, how should all of this influence what and how we sell moving forward? Consumer and market research expert Melinda Knuth, Ph.D., North Carolina State University, answers these questions and more, and then joins three other industry leaders for an “armchair analysis” of how to apply the information to your business’s operational plans moving forward.
Speakers: Sahid Nahim, New Bloom Solutions; Danny Sanchez, South Florals Group
The quality and quantity of your brand’s reviews on Google directly influence your SEO ranking and the likelihood that a customer will choose you. Google pays attention – and you’ll be ranked accordingly – and so do customers. A 5-star rating with 10 reviews isn’t as appealing (to Google, or customers) as a 4.5-star rating with 200-plus reviews. Just offering great products and services alone won’t generate good reviews. Find out how the team at South Florals generates hundreds of reviews for each of their locations and how it’s impacted sales and local brand recognition.
Profitability is at the top of everyone’s mind these days—and little changes can make a big impact to your bottom line. During this program, Derrick Myers will help you take a critical look your margins and how to improve them—all while adding value.
Speaker: Jazmin Albarran, Seed Your Future Panel: Lenzee Bilke, Madeline’s Flower Shop; Andy Fiannaca, Sparks Florist
Did you know that you have a wealth of talent in your own backyard—people who are seeking out the kind of creative, satisfying work that can be found in the floral industry? They’re there in local high schools, vocational academies and colleges. But more than likely, they know little about our industry. If you know how to reach them, you’ll reap the rewards.
Gaining and Maintaining Wedding Clients. Client Behavior Trends In Our Ever Changing Industry
Speaker: Zoe Gallina, Botanica International Florist
Welcome to the post-pandemic world of weddings: competition is steep, as are budgets (and expectations). How do you navigate these changes—alongside supply chain challenges—in a way that will preserve your brand along with your profits? Seasoned event professional Zoe Gallina pulls back the curtain on some of the strategies she uses to create an experience that will have clients and planners referring business for years to come.
Keynote Presentation: Gen Z to Boomers: Working Together for Success
Speakers: Jeff Kortes and Randy Wilinski
It’s a historic time for the dynamics organizations face: there are five generations side by side in the workplace. While this shift presents an incredible opportunity for organizations to capitalize on the strengths of employees from diverse generations, it also creates challenges that have never been experienced before. Jeff Kortes and Randy Wilinski present new strategies to turn your business into a finely oiled machine that leverages the talents of each generation—without the clashes. Through humorous anecdotes, live action role play, real-life stories and audience interaction, attendees will leave with actionable takeaways to bring out the best in employees of every generation.
Bart David has been showing floral companies around the globe how to bring out the best in people and companies for two decades, and he’s ready to show convention attendees as well. In the first of this two-part session, David details how to make the flower industry COOL again so you can attract top talent; what fuels people and how to spark their full potential and what a great onboarding and training experience really looks like. Bonus tool takeaways: Skill and Growth Map and Training Planner.
Speakers: Rodi Groot, Sun Valley Floral Farms; Kevin McCarthy, Family Flowers; Ryan O’Neil, PFCI, Curate
The pandemic has prompted many companies to put some aspect of their business under the microscope: their brand, product mix, staffing, even their overall mission and vision. Three floral peers – a grower, a retailer and a software company – share this discovery process: what they learned, how they changed their business as a result and how it’s benefitting everything they do.
The pandemic has accelerated a mental health crisis that existed long before anyone ever heard of COVID-19—more than 75% of our population is suffering from anxiety. Anxious, reactive, burned-out employees have a negative impact on every business metric, from productivity to attrition to customer service. Consequently, companies that put mental wellbeing as a priority are the ones that will persevere. Barry Gottlieb shares actionable steps and tools to enable you and your team to have a good day, every day.
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