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:
- Check out my first podcast interview on the From The Ground Up Floral podcast. Click HERE.
- Flower Math: The Florist’s Guide To Pricing And Profitability. Click to learn more about the course.