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.