Real Flower Business

Education and Business Training for Floral Designers.

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If you want clients to value your work, you must do this first

As a floral designer, you want people to value what you do; your time, your art, your expertise, and your unique, quality blooms!….all these elements come together to create your own unique brand, and that’s what brings value to your clients.

If you want clients to value your work, you do have to provide a quality product, however, there’s a bit more to it in my opinion.

If you want others to value your time and your work, you must in turn value the work of OTHER creatives, including their time, art and expertise.

It’s much easier to “increase your value” in a genuine way if you walk the walk in your own life as well.

If you’re someone who feels like everyone else is “too expensive” or “not worth THAT MUCH”, then it can be a challenge to demand that clients value what YOU do.

Finding value in others should come with ease if you aim to be the owner of a brand with integrity.

 

What are you willing to pay more for?

What feels “worth it” to you?

What are you willing to invest in? For business? For pleasure?

What artisan/creative/specialty product are you eager to pay for?

Who do you tip more than 20%?

Who (or what brand) sets a price that you do not question?

Your ideal clients feel the exact same way about you/your business as you feel about the products & services you value and are willing to pay for.

Real Flower Business

Clients must experience value from your brand.

And a good brand recognizes the value in others’ work as well.

Whether that’s the photographer, the caterer, the venue, the invitations…

It’s just good for business to acknowledge the importance of other businesses.

Value your work AND the work of others. Click To Tweet

 

Here are some of the things I value (and will often pay more for):

Quality shoes

A “good” gin

Locally grown veggies and fruits

Eggs from my neighbor’s chickens

Fairtrade coffee

Freshly baked pies from the woman up the road

Gerard’s bread!

A great hair stylist

Education or workshops that help better my business!

 

When you “spend easily”, you’re an ideal client for the business you’re buying from!

What can you do to make your clients feel your value and, as a result, “spend easily” with you?

 

Find a full list of course offerings HERE. (including: 10 E-Mail Templates for Florists. Save $10 Off an Template Bundle HERE.)

Here’s the e-mail lineup:

  1. How to tell someone you can no longer “hold their date”.
  2. How to present a proposal that’s over budget.
  3. How to ask someone why they did NOT book with you.
  4. How to tell someone you’re not a good fit for their event.
  5. How to reply to a complaint.
  6. How to bill for damaged or missing rental items after an event.
  7. How to explain you won’t order flowers until full payment is received.
  8. How to tell someone that their most recent changes/additions will result in a price increase.
  9. How to tell someone you will not update their proposal (again) or meet (again) without a deposit.
  10. How to respond when a wedding is cancelled.

Plus a free bonus: How to Ask For A Testimonial.

Learn more about my templates HERE!

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What if a client’s budget isn’t realistic?

real flower business, floral design, education for florists, starting a floral business

If you’ve been in the floral business for more than a hot-minute you’ve probably experienced a client whose budget simply doesn’t align with their wishes.

Wedding pros tend to blame Pinterest for this “unrealistic budget epidemic”, but the truth of the matter is that all businesses experience this issue. Many skilled & experienced business owners manage to convert an “unrealistic budget client” into an “I’ll pay anything customer”….because there’s a way of selling and serving a client at the same time that establishes a level of trust.

Our clients rely on us to prequalify and educate whenever possible.

Unrealistic expectations around their floral budget does not mean the customer is “uneducated”.

An “uneducated customer” is an opportunity.

When a client understands the value of the service, they start to realize how much they actually want it.

Some florists may not be able to “get more money” from a client’s budget, however by expressing their willingness to do what they can to “make it work”, the client feels the value of service and expertise and proceeds with the knowledge that while her dream doesn’t fit their budget, they’re still getting the most “bang for their buck”.

There’s no right answer here…just for the record.

You don’t have to ALWAYS “do whatever it takes” to make it work…

You also don’t HAVE TO say “nope, this budget won’t work” if you want to make it work (as long as you can still turn a profit).

Learning to create your own boundaries is part of building your brand. Click To Tweet

We can’t do everything and anything a client requests.

We should choose to create rules that align with our business goals.

To paraphrase The Rolling Stones, “Time is on my side….yes it is!” …so the longer I’ve been in business, the easier it’s become to navigate these budget conversations.

If you’re not making a deliberate effort to streamline and improve communication, so your clients understand exactly “how this is gonna work”, you’re not doing enough to ensure your longterm success.

Standards and boundaries clear the path to reaching your ideal clients.

Click to watch a video I made for FlirtyFleurs.com where I share how I address the question, “Are these flowers expensive?”:

(Feel free to leave me a comment below and tell me how you handle the question, “Are these flowers expensive?”!)

And when it comes to unrealistic budget expectations, I must quote The Stones, yet again, “You can’t always get what you want. But if you try, sometimes, you might find, you get what you need.” (Awwww, yeah.)

Setting boundaries takes practice. And confidence. And more practice.

Thanks for taking some time out of your day to stop by my site.

Keep doing beautiful work, floralpreneur®!

With love from me to you,

Alison

 

P. S. Have you joined my Facebook group yet? Click HERE to join & I’ll see you in the group!

Additional resources:

 

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Is it time to lose your auto-reply?

As commander-in-chief of my one-woman floral army, balancing time between my design bench and my office means my commitment to prompt e-mail replies can be a challenge.

One way businesses attempt to provide a prompt e-mail response is, of course, the auto-reply.

It starts out as an “away message” for a winter break…and then, it turns into a regular habit…24/7 auto-reply.

As prompt as it may be, it’s not a personal reply…so while it’s prompt, it also feels impersonal.

The bottom line is this: An auto-reply is not customer service.

Click to watch:

There’s a time and a place for auto-reply, but if you pride yourself on customer service, then, limit your reliance on auto-respond.

And if you are going to use it make sure you remove your auto-reply once you are “back in the office”.

Click Here To Save $10 Off E-mail Templates

Keep this in mind…

E-mail is a crucial part of your customer service experience.

I streamline my processes while establishing authority and trust in my e-mail communication.

I created my E-mail Templates for Florists to help florists navigate some of our most frequent (& sometimes difficult!) customer conversations. Try ’em. You’ll like ’em.

Florists who use my templates….

  • Feel CONFIDENT when explaining terms to a client,
  • Forget FEARS about not being taken seriously,
  • Gain AUTHORITY and build trust with prompt, concise replies,
  • Make stronger CONNECTIONS so customers can actually understand your expectations,
  • Increase INCOME by stating minimums clearly so clients say YES to your next proposal, no questions asked!

Confidence. Authority. Connections. Income.

You can spend HOURS trying to figure out how to say something “just right” or you can do something that will change your life…which is what florists tell me all the time about my templates!

Click Here To Save $10 Off Templates

Melissa said on Facebook:

“Just downloaded the 12 email templates, wedding workflow, and how to write proposals that sell………ALISON! You are the flower fairy god mother we all needed! Information overload! Do it guys 😉”

Best price=Buy a bundle (click for e-mail template bundle pricing!

 

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How to get more testimonials

Testimonials are powerful tools in your business.

Great testimonials help do the work of establishing trust and building brand authority.

But before you can put your testimonials to work for you, you must gather rave reviews.

What’s the best way to get more reviews from clients?

Whether you send a survey from your company, or ask clients to review your work online on a service like Wedding Wire or The Knot, it’s worth taking the time to request the feedback you seek!

Today, I’m sharing a free e-mail template with an example of how you can approach your clients about writing a “rave review” for your business. (This template is free and there’s no e-mail opt-in required! Grab it below…)

Click to download: How to ask for a testimonial

Push yourself out of your comfort zone! If you’re not in the habit of asking for feedback, make it a part of your workflow process asap!

If your clients had a good experience with your company, you want to know about it!

And if for any reason they had a “less than awesome” experience, well, you should want to know about that, too….

Because your client’s feedback reflects the truth about what you’re actually delivering….

And if you’re especially good at what you do, there’s no better way to say it, than in your own customers’ words.

Want some more insight on how I build trust and authority? Check out my E-mail Templates for Florists here! 

real flower business courses, education for florists

 

P.S. Read some of my course testimonials HERE.