TLC

When we hear those letters, most of us think of, Tender Loving Care, which is exactly what we want to hear at this time of year with Valentine’s Day being right around the corner. Everyone needs some TLC and flowers are no different than people. By now you have invested a large amount of time figuring out your featured arrangements for the holiday. It takes quite an investment of time to figure the prototype, research the sales history of past years Valentine’s Day sales records, project the amount of anticipated sales for each styling and then figuring out how many stems and bunches you are going to need before contacting your Account Manager at Florabundance to place your order. WHEW! That is already a large investment of time and energy, so it is even more important to protect your investment with proper care and handling.
Proper care and handling starts at the grower level. Since most flower shops cannot visit the growers first hand, it is vital to trust your Florabundance Account Manager to provide you with the best quality. Why trust your reputation to a company you have never heard of or dealt with prior to a major holiday over a few cents. It is way too expensive to attract a new customer versus maintaining your present customer base. Your customers come to you for many reasons; the biggest being your reputation and relationship with them. Think about it, would you go to a different hair stylist the day before a big event just to save a few dollars. The answer is of course you would not, so why would you do so with your flowers?
Once the flowers come to you, they become your responsibility for the TLC to continue. Flowers and foliage need several components to maintain their integrity. Food, water and a cool environment with a high humidity are the main keys for success. Other than tropical flowers and foliages, and a few specialty flowers, practicing good general care and handling will help ensure good performance for your customers.
Clean and disinfected buckets, sinks, coolers, and work surfaces and essential in maintaining prolonged shelf life for your flowers. Another key component in this equation is using a floral preservative that is mixed and measured properly. Just like humans, too little food is not good but neither is too much. Read the type of preservative you are using to ensure accuracy. Remember that different solutions react differently to different types of water, so find the one that performs best for you.
The last key consideration is proper storage temperature for your flowers. Most flowers do best when held at 33 to 34 degrees Fahrenheit. While we are not comfortable at those temperatures, flowers do best being held in a ‘suspended state of animation’.
Beautiful flowers that exceed your customer’s expectations are the best promotion you can possibly have! It is up to you to make this happen.