Real Flower Business

Education and Business Training for Floral Designers.

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Booking Clients With Confidence

I’ve been in the midst of my wedding season here in Vermont, but I’ve received some very relatable questions from florists recently, and I want to start with the following from a member of my Patreon community who wrote: 

“I struggle with really making the customer feel super confident in booking our services ASAP. Would really like to streamline the process so that it happens faster and with less or no follow-up on my part.”

I’m going to break this question down because this is exactly why I spent some time talking about improving your Wedding Workflow (aka your customer’s journey) in July with my Patreon members to encourage florists to revisit every single step your customers take so you can make the process as smooth as possible! 

Because an opportunity to start building trust & confidence begins at your first point of contact–and that’s where we started with Step 1 in my Wedding Workflow!

Remember, every interaction with your business needs to be designed specifically with your unique, ideal customer in mind!

 

So let me be MORE clear on what you can do to start to troubleshoot that first point of contact to help your customers feel confident in booking ASAP…

In order to move clients through the booking process more quickly, your customers have to understand the steps and feel confident that you are the BEST choice for them.

If the first point of contact happens via your website or social media:

  • What is the first phrase they will read on your site?
  • How easy is it to find your wedding inquiry or contact form?
  • How many clicks does it take to get to the contact page?

 

Once they get to your contact page or inquiry form:

  • What questions do you ask that are designed to invite a conversation with your ideal customers?
  • Are the questions written in the voice of your brand? (Do they sound like your/your company or are they cookie cutter questions?)
  • Do customers get excited about potentially working with you when they’re here?

 

What can you add or take away from that first interaction to make it better?

  • Should you add another pre-qualifying question or two to elicit more information?
  • What do you promise to the customer? (How do they know what to expect?)
  • Is there anything you’re saying that’s out of date/ out of touch/ no longer applies to your next-level client?

 

And briefly, to the second part of the original question regarding follow-up, while it sounds awesome to book great clients with little-to-no follow-up, the truth is that when it comes to closing a sale, some follow-up is as important to the sales process as that very first step where the client first discovers you!

 

If you have questions on how to fill in any missing steps in your customer choreography, you can get all the steps in my Wedding Workflow when you become a Marketing Maven on Patreon, or you can also just grab the Wedding Workflow as a stand alone course in my shop here.

And if you have any interest in working with me on improving your customer journey by working together one-on-one in a coaching call, get in touch and we can set up a time to talk.

Have a great day and keep doing beautiful work!

Very best,

Alison Ellis

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Starting A Wedding Business

I am so excited to share that I’m a guest on The Flower Podcast this week! Scott and I have talked a few times before (you can find all of my past episodes HERE!) and this week we’re talking to floral designers and farmer-florists who want to add weddings into their current business model. Click below to listen or head to wherever you get your podcasts to tune into Episode 204 today!

 

 

As a home-based floral designer who specializes in weddings, I have been booking wedding clients for over 20+ years and it’s been a long journey as I’ve worked to perfect my processes, which is why I share what I’ve learned with florists around the world inside my Courses, Coaching and Community for Florists!

Learn More About Alison Here!

 

Find Floralpreneur® Workshop Details Here

 

Find A Full List of Course Offerings Here

 

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Join Me On Patreon

Want to book weddings more quickly?

I’m hosting a new training on Patreon!

The intention of this 6-month training is to serve as a behind-the-scenes pass to the strategies I use to attract awesome clients year after year and help you improve your booking, marketing and branding efforts.

In this private subscriber-only forum we’re going to dive deeper into EXACTLY how you can pre-qualify clients, perfect your consultation process, book weddings more quickly, and build a long-lasting brand.

Let me tell you a little bit more about this new thing I’m trying….

Become a Patron!

Question:

Would you like to get a closer look at how I fill my calendar every year with AWESOME CLIENTS WHO TRUST ME and book me without a meeting?

Answer:

Now, you can join me in a NON-Facebook space where you get behind-the-scenes training on:

  • How To Identify & Pre-qualify Customers BEFORE investing time in a consultation and proposal.
  • Phone Consultation Tips & Scripts (so you don’t have to meet clients until you’ve been paid).
  • Branding Building & Marketing Prompts for 6 months of weekly blog posts, social media content, IG posts. (This is for anyone who says “I don’t know what to write about” or “I don’t know what to post”.)

Sound good? Join me & become a patron today!

In this new subscriber-only space on Patreon, we’ll hone in on your ideal customers, sales copy, marketing strategy, and increase your confidence when pre-qualifying clients so that you can LOVE your business (and your life!) as you set yourself up for business success in the long run!

From where to find the right customers to spending less time on consultations, members can ask me anything about streamlining your systems to help you gain more freedom and ensure longevity in your business.

Become a Patron!

Goals:

The goal is to create a professional, curated group that’s NOT ON Facebook so that I can provide off the charts value.

We’ll be focused specifically on attracting clients, booking clients and developing a personal connection with your brand (even if you’re not sure you have a brand yet!).

I am ALWAYS engaged in what I call “the art of good business”;

this means ALWAYS striving to streamline, perfect and hone my skills, not only in floral design, but in ALL the elements of business that make up a high quality brand.

The training starts November 18-20th and then, you’ll continue to receive monthly training sessions thru April. (You don’t need to attend live to access the training!) If I reach 100 subscribers, I’ll release 2 videos (or mix of video and live Q & A) per month thru April!

Become a Patron!

 

Your success is my #1 goal. That’s why I’m offering multiple tiers of membership on Patreon–you can choose which subscription meets your business goals & budget. The first tier of membership is just $9 per month.

If you haven’t been over to Patreon yet, it’s a super user-friendly space where creators, artists, writers and teachers share their work with the people who sign up to support them, or learn from them, on their creative journey (aka their Patrons!).

If you’re reading this, but you’re not familiar with me yet, I’m Alison Ellis, a floralpreneur® with over 25 years of design experience. And while floral design is what brought me to the floral industry, my passion for the art of good business is what’s kept me in business for over 17 years!

Ask me anything! Leave a comment on a post anytime and I’ll address your questions in the upcoming training. You’ll get 3 training sessions in November. This may be a mix of recorded trainings and live Q & A…your input will help shape the content I deliver to you!

Become a Patron!

This is a super up-close and personal look at how I “conduct myself in business” and I’m looking forward to helping you incorporate some of my tips and tricks into your systems, too.

I’d be honored to have you join me on this brand building journey!
With love from me to you,
Alison

Note: Payments for the current month will be due on the day you subscribe and then, on the 1st of the month for recurring subscriptions. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Become a Patron!

 

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Why you don’t want to book every customer

When you’re running a business, you don’t want to book every customer! You want to book the right customers.

When I first started out in my business, I thought the goal was to book every client–no matter what!

  • Lower the price on a few things to meet the budget? Sure.
  • Meet at a super inconvenient time for me? You bet!
  • Schedule a second call to go over “all the things” before you decide to work with me? Um, OK!

Whatever reassurance a customer needed to be persuaded that I was the right florist for the job, that’s what I’d do!

But over time, with experience and concerted efforts to understand who my ideal customers actually are, I’ve come to realize that I don’t want to book every customer! Not by a long shot.

Who’s “the right customer”?

Well, it’s someone who doesn’t need to be convinced that I’m the right choice because they can already feel that I’m the best choice from the preliminary experience with my company and my brand (via my website, consultation and e-mail communication).

By tapping into who my clients really are and what they really care about, I’m able to reach them on a deeper level and develop a level of trust before we even speak and that means that “the right clients” get to “yes” more easily.

I’ve learned to let go of the clients who aren’t an easy fit. I only want to book the right customers for me.

I share exactly how I’ve perfected this process over the past 20 years in my templates for florists!

 

“Alison’s email templates are an absolute life saver!

The email templates have taken off so much stress…just copy + paste, tweak a bit to customize with your own personality, and hit send. Client responses to the email templates I’ve used have been positive…the message is clear, and the tone is professional + kind. Absolutely worth the price in time saved!!” -Bethany

My downloadable pdfs, How To Write Proposals That Sell  and Wedding Workflow show you how to spend less time before booking a client and how to lay out the steps for clients from the initial inquiry to post-wedding day follow-up! Combine them with my E-Mail Templates and Wedding Contract, you’ll have my entire communication package, plus you’ll save $30 off when you buy all 5 templates here.

It takes practice to learn how to speak directly to the heart of your ideal clients.

I’ve streamlined my proposal process so that I’m not “giving away too many details”, yet I still provide enough detail that a client can trust that we’re on the same page.

And I clearly communicate the steps in our booking process, so neither one of us invests too much time before we’ve decided we’re a good match.

It may not happen over night, but with time and practice, the booking process starts to take shape and you’ll be able to prequalify clients before investing too much time.

You can take a shortcut with all my downloadable pdfs here!

Keep doing beautiful work!

With love from me to you,

Alison

P.S. If you have questions for me, don’t hesitate to drop me a line right here: floralartvt@gmail.com 

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What to do if customers are ghosting

How do you book more weddings?

First, you have to attract the customer, then you have to close the sale.

I’ve seen an influx of florists asking about “ghosting” in my Facebook group. Particularly the question, “What can I do to fix this?”

If you, too, are experiencing customers who “disappear” without a word, check out today’s video where I talk about 2 reasons this may be happening plus 4 tips to help you correct this problem in my live chat on “Closing the sale”.

Click to watch if you’re getting ghosted:

Find pdfs HERE!

The slow fade.

Every florist can relate to your frustration when a customer just walks away! You’re not alone.

At this point in my business I have an excellent pre-qualification process. I think instead of just “weeding out” price shoppers, prequalification serves as a form of “customer service” by letting potential clients know some important details before we move forward:

#1. My requested minimum for THEIR event (if it’s further away, the minimum is more, for example, if there are 8 bridesmaids, it’s more than if you have 2 bridesmaids, etc.),

#2. That our first contact is via phone consultation,

#3. I will provide them some preliminary details and a quote and THEN THEY CAN BOOK OR NOT, but we’re not going further down this road (with multiple revisions, meetings, etc.) unless we’re on the same page at this point regarding price, style and trust….and a deposit.

Now, that said, I really do feel your pain; it’s not easy to “start from scratch” each season as we do in the wedding industry. No “repeat business” from last year’s couples makes what we do in the wedding biz very uniquely, stressful and we must be resilient when faced with rejection. Which is easier said than done sometimes.

But here’s how I see it, anyone who’s price shopping and doesn’t choose you, is a GOOD loss. You don’t want that customer….OK, maybe you just need “any customers” at some point, but in the long run, the price shopper isn’t a “type of customer” you can truly try to court and make loyal to you/your brand.

Your ideal customer (not necessarily “high-end” or “luxury customers”, but YOUR customers, the ones who want the work that you enjoy doing!) have to “find you” because you show up for them in a way that’s clear and obvious to them.

As I always say, we have to speak directly to their hearts so they can find us….and what happens on the flip-side is that these price shoppers start to realize that we are not talking to them.

They “weed themselves out” because they can feel your honesty, your quality, your vibe, and they want you. Not “just anyone”.

You’re not “the cheapest”; you have something more to give…and they feel that.

Your businesses depends upon understanding what your customers need, then, you serve it up on a silver platter, and if it’s “not for them”, they know it…..just as much as we do.

But for your ideal clients, the clients who LOVE you and are excited to work with you, THEY GET IT. They get you. They want what you do. They don’t need convincing because you’ve already shown them WHO YOU ARE.

This is the work I do on-the-daily….and what I teach in The Art of Good Business….and it IS a long game…..

But it was only a few years ago when I was “doing my art of good biz work” and I was just not booking as many weddings as I needed. And I was bummed. And kinda stunned. ‘Cause I was working SO HARD. And putting SO MUCH out there…..yet a friend of mine who wasn’t “doing all the things” and wasn’t trying so hard, well, she was booking GREAT gigs, easily…..her customers loved her. And I was at the same junction you seem to be now; “WHAT AM I DOING WRONG?”

“Oh nothing”, my friend assured me. “You’re great. You’re doing everything right”…..but I insisted, “No. You’re booking. I’m not. I’m working hard to express myself (blogging, revamped website, and doing some of my best design work), but I must be doing something wrong.”

So I used this “less than busy enough” time to “do even more work” and in the end, the season was “OK, not great”…..BUT THE NEXT YEAR was my BEST season yet. The season after that, even better, Last year, best so far…..

That season I was down, well, I lost my mojo or my vibe was not jiving with the clients I wanted or I was trying too hard….because despite my best efforts, and I mean really, deep rooted best efforts, people weren’t digging me.

All this is to say, you’re smart to ask “What can I do to fix this?” Because it is up to you to fix everything around here! This is your dream, your biz, your struggle….and your ideal customer to attract and wow and attract again, and again, and again.

Keep working. Keep looking for holes, clues, signs, signals, mis-communications that you can fix.

Keeping the faith in the off-season is hard when we’re not booking. Keep moving forward.

Keep doing beautiful work.

xo. -Alison

Definition of ‘Ghosted’ (via Huffington Post).

The term “ghosting“ (sometimes known as the “slow fade”) refers to the anecdotally pervasive act where one dater ends a relationship by simply disappearing. The ghost does not give an explanation of any sort, leaving the ghosted wondering where he or she went wrong.

Find a FULL LIST of course offerings HERE.

 

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