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.

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

Note: If you’re not 100% confident in your current pricing formulas, my Flower Math course has the answers you’re looking for.

Sign up for Flower Math & SAVE $100!

To paraphrase The Rolling Stones, “Time is on my side….yes it is!” …meaning, 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.

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!

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Have you ever had a client tell you that you’re not charging enough?

I have. And it was a real eye-opener…

I’m always seeking ways to reach more ideal clients, so I’m familiar with the concept of “turning clients off” by not charging enough…

but it wasn’t until I experienced “pricing too low” up close and personal, that I was able to transform my mindset around always trying to give the “best possible price” (i.e. the lowest possible price) for each line item in a proposal.

Before I dive into my experience with “under bidding”, if you want to learn how to price with confidence & stop over-buying so you can increase your income, I teach you everything I know about pricing in my online pricing course, Flower Math!

Learn More

Now, back to my experience with pricing too low…

In this case, the mother of the groom was in charge of the wedding flowers and she gave me an estimated budget of about $7,000. When I quoted her a price for centerpieces based on the ideal budget, she came back to me with concerns that the centerpiece pricing seemed low for what we had discussed. And I had to agree!

She was right. I didn’t quote what she wanted. I tried to provide a quote within the budget she gave me, but I didn’t actually quote what she wanted.

She told me to up the budget a few hundred dollars per table and I updated her quote for what it would *really* cost to get the look she wanted and she ended up spending quite a bit more. And happily.

It didn’t bother her one bit to come in over budget. She was more than happy to pay to get what she wanted.

I’m very lucky to have met this client.

This gig was a big one for me and she was an ideal client. She was kind, yet particular. She had great taste and was more than willing to pay to get what she wanted (gardenias, peonies, sweet peas, lush floral table runners….you get the picture). She was creative, smart and no-nonsense. (In short, she was my kinda gal.)

I learned a lesson:

If this client was willing to spent this much more than her stated budget, then there must be other ideal clients out there who are willing to spend more than their stated budget, too.

It’s up to me to give customers a proposal that reflects what they actually want!

I cannot be confined by a preconceived notion of budget (whether that notion comes from the client or my own presumption!…You can’t wear your money shoes when presenting proposals to clients…Clients often wear a different shoe-size than you!).

If you’re a skeptic, I understand. I was, too.

Until I truly experienced this tremendous gap between what the client told me and what she was more than happy to spend, I thought all the business gurus who claimed that “low prices are a turn-off” were talking about “other businesses”….not flowers.

Moral of the story….

If a $7,000 budget turned into an $11,000 sale, then surely I can quote $25 or $50 more than the “average centerpiece price” for the clients who want more choice blooms or fuller-than-average pieces, even if it pushes beyond the confines of the budget they initially described.

If clients want elevated pieces, but don’t have the budget, I don’t feel compelled to figure out how to make something grand for $100 or less. I tell them the truth; it’s $350 per table and if that doesn’t work for the budget…if they don’t l-o-v-e this look so much that they’re willing to pay for it… then, we select a different option to suit their budget. Easy. I can work within their budget, but the choice was theirs.

If you want to do beautiful work for years to come, you must set a minimum standard for your work. Click To Tweet

Innovating and making deliberate business moves allows you to set your own standards for the work you choose to do.

AND if you’re really trying your best (i.e. you provide outstanding work so that you may charge more…because you strive to provide quality work and you deserve it!), then you should be making deliberate moves to enhance the value your clients experience.

If you deliver what you promise and your clients get the value they expect, then you’re doing the work of an integrity brand.

Keep doing beautiful work!

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog!….and please share it with a floralpreneur® you know and love.

xo. -Alison

More Pricing Resources:

And if you want to learn how to price with confidence & stop over-buying so you can increase your income, I teach you everything I know about pricing in Flower Math!

Sign up & SAVE $100!

Testimonial:

“In one wedding I felt more confident in my pricing & made my money back on the purchase of the class. This really has been a game changer for me!!

-Susan of Wild Blume

Remember:

If you want to do beautiful work for years to come,

you must set a minimum standard for your work…

And if you’re truly doing your best work,

then it should be worthy of a higher price.

If you struggle with pricing your work with confidence, check out my online course, Flower Math, The Florist’s Guide To Pricing & Profitability.

Learn to keep more of the money you’re already making! get all the details here. (SAVE $100 OFF RETAIL.)

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