I want to tell you about the worst business advice I ever took.
It was early in my career as a solo-business owner and even though I’d spent 8 years working in flower shops, I was eager to get new business tips….I was impressionable.
Can florists write proposals without a recipe?
When should florists write recipes?
Do you figure out stem counts before a client is officially under contract?
Even with a streamlined booking process, it takes precious time and TLC to put together a wedding proposal–and I like to turn my proposals around quickly–so I don’t write recipes without a commitment from the client.
I always write recipes for my weddings…
Over the years I’ve established “starting prices” for the floral elements I make most frequently (i.e. bouquets, boutonnieres, centerpieces, arbors, cocktail pieces, delivery & set-up, etc.).
My starting prices, or “minimums”, provide enough breathing room in the budget to create work I’m proud to deliver to my clients, without adding up each stem before we’ve actually established a working relationship (ie. a contract & deposit to secure the date), let alone finalized the design, color palette or specific floral choices.
Pricing a proposal takes far less time when minimums are established for each line item.
Whether you itemize an initial proposal for a client or simply offer a “lump sum total” when quoting a job, your established minimums will allow you to price as needed to turn a profit without having to write out recipes on every proposal before you get the job.
Here’s my process for booking without a recipe:
- I send an initial proposal to a client with a minimum spend requested,
- the clients commit to working with me (ie. a signed contract & deposit),
- within the next fews months/year, we modify our plans as needed (adjusting colors, table counts, floral varieties, etc.),
- and then, once final decisions are made, I’ll invest the time to create custom recipes for their event.
What if you’re pricing something you’ve never made before?
For example, what if you haven’t made an elevated centerpiece?
Well, sometimes you need to do some mathematics and imagining and spacial relations-work with your ruler and a loamy dish to determine a price on something you’ll be making for the first time…
But if you set some starting prices for your work, and you know that elevated centerpieces are at least 3x the price of a low centerpiece, you’ll automatically have a starting point to work from and instead of trying to make it for “less”, you can simply present the “starting price on elevated pieces”…even though you haven’t made it yet! (and then, you can offer alternatives to the elevated designs if their vision isn’t aligning with the desired budget.)
Click to watch, Can you price without a recipe?…
If you want to join my Facebook group click here!
P.S. The wedding I talk about in this video, well, I’m happy to report that it worked out GREAT!…she ended up being an ideal client after all.
Customers should get to “yes” easily.
It’s always easier to have a pricing conversation with a client if you’re being honest & transparent.
It can be as simple as clarifying: What are your customers willing to spend? and What can you provide at that price point?
Be confident in your pricing. Because if a client walks away after you’ve already offered your best price, then they’re just not your customer! They simply couldn’t afford you.
I used to be limited in my belief about how much I could charge…
Years ago, if someone said they had a $3,000 budget, I’d say, “OK, sure, I can make that work!” I mean, I should be able to make something beautiful for $3,000, right?!…well, that depends on what the client is requesting!
Once I get some preliminary details from a client, I can introduce a starting price based on the information I’ve collected.
The client’s requested vision may be “more than the minimum”–that’s the up-side of Pinterest….we can see immediately how elaborate and lush their dream/vision is, or get a sense of how clean, focused and simple their taste may be.
Are these flowers expensive? Yes, they are.
It’s not your job to try to replicate a $450 elevated centerpiece that your customer fell in love with (on Pinterest!) for the low, low price of $150. (I’d rather make a beautiful centerpiece for $150 that’s easy for your guests to see over, instead of feeling uneasy about the “smaller scale” of an elevated piece that was cobbled together for $300 less than the inspiration photo! That’s not your job.)
I want my customers to experience value when working with me.
Charge what you’re worth and then, BE WORTH IT.
Deliver what you promise…
If the inspiration photo is “more than you’ll provide at this price”, that must be clearly stated in all of your documents. “Your inspiration photo is $450, however, we’ll make a smaller, scaled down version for $275.”
Always deliver what you promise.
Your brand is what you deliver. Don’t promise something you can’t deliver.
Never forget the trust your clients put in you/your team.
Keep doing beautiful work!
With love from me to you,
Alison
Additional Resources:
- Should you book more luxury weddings? (click here to find out!)
- Get The Vault (just $13)
- Increase your income with Flower Math (save $100 off today)
Why Florists Cannot Compete On Price
Have you ever been pressured to lower your prices in order to book a job?
Today, a floralpreneur® in my Facebook group shared that a client slashed her prices in half and re-sent the new pricing back to the florist!…..needless to say, the comments on that one made for some good reading!
As a business owner and floral artist, it’s important to recognize that you don’t want every customer. You want the customers that want YOU…and are willing to pay your for your work!
Business guru and genius marketer, Seth Godin, talks about Competing On Price as a “race to the bottom”. As Mr. Godin puts it, what do you do when you win?…ie. when you’ve succeeded and you’re “at the bottom”!
The idea of “winning” based on undercutting, is a misconception. You cannot “win” if the only reason someone picked you is because you’re cheap-er.
The real reason you don’t want to compete on price….
A florist cannot lower prices and exceed expectations at the same time!….not unless you’re giving up your profit margin.
And if you’re going to sustain your business, you must respect your profit margin.
I don’t want to win at the game of “cheapness”.
I want to win at the game of quality work and amazing customer service.
Click to watch this quick video, “Why you cannot compete on price”:
What is your goal?…
Do you want to be the cheapest?
Or do you want to be better than the cheapest?
I hope you’ll choose option #2 above!
Don’t compete on price!…so you can keep doing beautiful work!
With love from me to you,
Alison
P.S. In today’s video I mention my Flower Math course, which is designed to help florists price with confidence and maximize profit margins! (click here for details on the course!)
More FREE Tips from the Blog:
You down with O.P.P? (Other People’s Proposals) Click HERE to read.
How much should florists charge for rentals? Click HERE to read.
5 Actions To Take When Business Seems Uncertain
Business Truth: Your business will face uncertainty.
As a small business owner who focuses on fresh flowers for weddings and events, you may experience a lot of uncertainty!…for example…
Kim asked in my Facebook group (to florists who’ve been in business for many years):
“Do you have “off” seasons where your booking rates are down? Is this a marathon not a sprint?”
The short answer is yes! Business ownership is a long game…and the path to success isn’t a straight line…
So what do successful business owners do when it’s an “off” year?
Here are 5 ways to Take Action when you’re not sure what to do:
#1. Streamline your “Systems”. A “System” is essentially a process for how you accomplish a task in your business. Typically you document your systems in writing (ie your operating procedures), and use them to identify inefficiencies or opportunities for automation in your business.
Systems are critical for a successful business, because they allow for you to:
- generate income with way less effort
- reply faster and more effectively with less stress
- automate and streamline to get more done in less time
I have a system for client communication (and you should too), and I’ve chosen to share my E-mail Reply Templates to help give you a shortcut and you can find there HERE!
#2. Assess your SWOTs. What are your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats?
If you only do 1 thing in an attempt to troubleshoot or plan ahead in your biz, I want to challenge you to take a few minutes to list out your SWOTs. (List as many as you can think of, but 2-5 per category is a good goal for a quick planning exercise.) What are you doing really well?…Which areas “need improvement”?
Now ask yourself:
- How can you address one weakness?
- And…What can you do to accentuate your strengths?
When things feel “off”, it’s essential to take an honest look at what’s going right and what threats or weaknesses you can address. You cannot improve what you do not measure!
#3. Update your website. I say this ALL THE TIME, but that’s only because it’s truly effective.
Here’s where to focus your website efforts before the end of the year:
- If you have your most recent pictures on Instagram, but they’re not on your website yet, make updating your gallery a priority!
- Does your About Page have a photo of you and/or your team? If not, then do that TODAY! I don’t care if it’s a professional headshot or a selfie of you in your studio or at your desk….just let me see your face! Your customers are hiring YOU….don’t be afraid to show your face.
- Improve your sales copy. This can be the trickiest aspect of website “stuff” for many florists, but the words you choose to use on your About Page, Weddings Page, Contact Page, etc. should be clear, concise and speak directly to your ideal customers. You’re not talking to “everybody”; you’re talking to the people who are most interested in what you do!
- Blog. Yup. Still this. Blogging. It’s STILL how you optimize organic SEO, develop the voice of your brand and share your most recent happenings with your fans and followers.
If you need some tricks to make your website more engaging, you can get my BEST website secrets HERE.
#4. Connect with other vendors. Perhaps it’s the mutual referrals that you’ll gain….or perhaps it’s simply a sense of friendship and camaraderie that benefits you both…but “seeking to get” cannot be the motivation. Seeking to connect should be the motive!
You can choose to seek out a new relationship or simply check in with an established connection (perhaps someone whose work you respect, but you haven’t worked with much lately). Fellow florists, photographers, caterers, venues, you name it….if they serve the clients you wish to serve, they have the potential to be a good connection…but make sure it’s a two-way street.
People can sense when you “want something”….we ALL can tell when someone is reaching out to “get something from us”, but your fellow wedding vendors should be connections that you value and nurture…it’s not about what “they can do for you”, but about how you can help each other.
#5. Shorten the turnaround time on proposals. If bookings are slow, it’s important to turn proposals around in a timely manner. The quicker you send it out, the quicker you book it, so don’t drag your feet on proposal writing! The trick is to give enough detail that the client can trust you, but not give away so much detail that it takes 5 hours to write and send a quote to a client who isn’t under contract yet.
You can get my shortcut for writing proposals in less time here: How To Write Proposals That Sell and Book More Weddings More Quickly!
Take some action in your business to plan for the future!…so you can keep doing beautiful work!
Remember: “Insight without action is worthless.” -Marie Forleo
After 17 seasons of running my home-studio business the reality of this is inescapable–at some point, every year, there is no “guaranteed” business for the next year. It may be a GREAT year in business this year, but next year’s success is still yet to be determined.
When you design wedding work, but you don’t have a brick & mortar flower shop, the idea of “repeat business” tends to be out of reach because someone planning a wedding this year, isn’t going to be back again next year!
And if you do run a brick & mortar shop, you have the ability to capture repeat business, but there’s daily stock & inventory to manage, employees you need to pay whether it’s a “good month” or a “bad month” and let’s face it, that’s a lot of pressure, too!
So no matter how you slice it, a business venture brings uncertainty, stress and responsibility….
BUT it also brings freedom, control and choice!…
I hope you’ll take action in your business TODAY to keep reaching for your goals.
xo. -Alison
Additional resources:
Do you want to spend less time on e-mail replies?
Do you ever track how many hours you spend replying to e-mails? I had no idea how much time I’d spend in front of my computer when I started my floral design business nearly 17 years ago.
For YEARS I found myself struggling with how to tell someone I couldn’t hold their date without a deposit,…or firmly explain that I will not reduce my price,… or how to strike a balance on how “tough” to *really* get when requesting a payment that’s overdue.
The reality of modern-day customer service is this: E-mail is a critical form of client communication; it’s how they get to know you!
Your customers can’t see your facial expressions or interpret your “tone”… so it’s critical that every word you choose is meaningful and accurate.
But it takes so much time to craft the perfect reply, right?!!
It took years to hone my voice so it felt professional, authentic and clear.
So let me ask you a question…
Do your e-mails increase your authority, grow trust with your clients, and make them feel well cared for?
What if you could…
- Feel CONFIDENT when explaining your terms to a client,
- Forget FEARS about not being taken seriously,
- Gain AUTHORITY as you build trust with your prompt, concise replies,
- Make stronger CONNECTIONS so your customers can actually understand your expectations,
- Increase the INCOME you’ll be able to generate when you state your minimums clearly so clients say YES to your next proposal, no questions asked!
Confidence. Authority. Connections. Income.
… Do you want these things in your business?
THEN START…
-
Confidently establishing your authority…
-
Boldly claiming your role as the leader your clients need you to be…
-
Seamlessly building trust with clients who “get you”…
AND STOP…
- staring at your computer screen searching for the “right thing to say”…
- wondering if you’ll ever hear back from a prospect…
- feeling like your clients are in the driver’s seat….
For my wedding and event clients, I often send the same basic e-mails over and over again throughout the season, so after about 15 years in business I created 12 E-mail Templates for Florists with some of my most frequent (& sometimes tricky!) customer conversations, as well as 10 More Templates with Difficult Client Conversations Made Easy!
Here’s what ya get in 10 E-mail Templates:
How to….
- Tell someone you can no longer “hold their date”.
- Present a proposal that’s over budget.
- Ask someone why they did NOT book with you.
- Tell someone you’re not a good fit for their event.
- Reply to a complaint.
- Bill for damaged or missing rental items after an event.
- Explain you won’t order flowers until full payment is received.
- Tell someone that their most recent changes/additions will result in a price increase.
- Tell someone you will not update their proposal (again) or meet (again) without a deposit.
- Respond when a wedding is cancelled.
And here’s what’s included in 12 E-Mail Templates:
How to…
- Say, Hello in an introduction e-mail.
- Present a minimum.
- Present a proposal, contract and invoice.
- Tell someone you’re unavailable for their date.
- Tell someone you will not lower your price.
- Follow up if you don’t hear back from a prospect.
- Tell someone you cannot hold their date without deposit.
- Confirm receipt of contract & deposit.
- Confirm receipt of contract, but missing deposit.
- Confirm receipt of deposit, but missing contract.
- Request final changes and final payment.
- Confirm receipt of final payment before event.
Plus These Bonuses:
- 5 E-Mail Etiquette Tips
- How To Ask For a Testimonial
This is the lowest price I’ve ever offered on templates!
…so if there is even an inkling of a desire to grab these templates, jump on it right now.
I’m closing the doors on this sale at 3pm EST on Oct. 31.
Templates save you time! You can customize your own e-mail templates by modifying the language and phrasing provided in my templates. Simply create an e-mail folder for your most commonly used conversations, then, copy, paste into a new e-mail and adjust as needed to suit your client!
Florists often tell me they use these e-mail templates the same day they buy them! Copy, paste, rinse, repeat!
If you have questions for me, get in touch! floralartvt@gmail.com
xo. -Alison