LESSONS LEARNED FROM MOM

Mothers are often full of good advice and teach us many lessons as we go through life. Many of us grew up hearing things like; make sure you are clean inside and out; eat your green vegetables; they will make you strong and of course, always say please and thank you. All good advice that can be applied to the flower shop as well.
Keeping clean is essential for maintaining extended shelf life to your fresh flowers and foliages. Disinfecting the buckets that hold the flowers is as important as washing the dishes after each use. You would not want to eat or drink from a glass or plate that someone else had previously used. Same goes for your flowers. Bacteria build up clogs the vascular system and prevents proper uptake of water and food. Also, remember to disinfect the container the floral foam is hydrated in as well as the design bench and cutting tools. Keeping clean does not cost a lot of money and is a great way to help ensure continued care and handling.
While we may not want to eat the greens at the flower shop, they do make an arrangement stronger when used properly. As with food, serving your customers the same foliages day after day, week after week gets old, mundane and predictable. With so many wonderful choices of foliages available, try mixing up some different varieties to keep the interest of your customer. Remember that some are more suited to strong line designs while others have a softer more flowing appearance that work well in garden stylings.
Using please and thank you never go out of vogue and are often forgotten in today’s hurry up society. Taking the time to ask how you might help your customer express his or her sentiment through flowers helps to build a relationship for future patronage. Personal service is often lacking in our “order by number” retail world. Taking the time to listen, make suggestions and executing the wishes of the customer should be part of our everyday business model. But also as important are the two most powerful words; Thank-you! Letting someone know that they are important to you and your business means a great deal when said with sincerity. Taking the time to write a personal thank you to a new customer for the order that was placed is one of the strongest forms of advertising you can use. Take a look at how many new customers you encountered over this holiday and use that information to secure a relationship with those new customers.
While growing up, we often thought mom was just being difficult and unreasonable. Little did we know that her advice works well beyond our youth! Way to go mom!