Hello and welcome! If you’re a retail florist, you’re in the right place! I’m here to share insights and strategies to help you grow your business without burnout. Each episode will be quick and focused on a single topic, and will come with an action step to get you moving forward. Are you ready to grow?
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My name is Kelsey Thompson. I’ve been a floral shop owner, bucket washer, delivery driver, marketer and designer for over ten years. Yep, I know you wear all the hats when it comes to your flower business. And it can be stressful and overwhelming and wonderful and fulfilling all at the same time! That’s why I created this podcast - to support fellow florists on this journey.
We are kicking off a series of episodes about the people who pay the bills - our customers. And to get customers, you have to do some marketing…. Today we’re going to do a big picture overview of the 3 reasons we are marketing.
To start: Take a second and think – who is your best customer? Like an actual person, not some make believe customer avatar. If you were discussing your best customer with your staff, who would it be? I’m sure a name came to mind, maybe even two or three or five names. Are those people new customers, or have they been shopping with you for quite a while? Odds are, your best customers are long-standing.
Here’s another question – how are you marketing to that customer?
Ummmmm, oops. Don’t worry. It’s easy to fall into the habit of casting a wide marketing net instead of focusing in on who exactly we’re trying to serve and why. Grab some caffeine, we’re about to look at some numbers. But don’t worry - I think you’re going to like the way this works out……so why are we marketing?
1) To Increase customers
This is the category that tends to be a go-to. We think to grow sales, we need more customers right?
Of course I’m never going to say no to more customers. But how do you attract new customers?
Think about attracting them as though you’re going on a first date. You want to impress. You may buy a new outfit, clean your car, and you are probably going to go out to eat or attend an event. You’re going to put your best foot forward. You’re putting time and money into this first date. Now I haven’t been on a first date in years…. Like 17 years actually…. So my date nights look more like this - no makeup, comfy pants, and sharing a bowl of popcorn and a glass of wine on the couch with my husband. Still a lovely experience, but decidedly less effort and money. Now I’m not saying treat your existing customers like an old married couple, but I think you get the picture. New customers - new relationships - are more expensive.
So again - how do you attract new customers, and how much is it costing you?
Hopefully you’ve got a great reputation, and word of mouth is getting people in the door. But oftentimes a NEW customer finds us through a paid channel – print, radio or social media ads or our website. Generally, their initial shopping experience with us is to fulfill a desire or solve a problem. They want a new plant; we sell plants. They need a birthday gift for Grandma ASAP, and we can deliver a bouquet. And that’s fine. But it’s costing you a higher ratio of time and money to bring them in contact with your business.
How much more? Advertising to gain a new customer can cost five times more than retaining our current customers, and the success rate of selling to new customers falls between 5-20%. On the flip side, selling to your existing customers has a 60-70% success rate. That is quite a difference!
Turns out your best customer is your current one! How can you shift your marketing focus to your current customer? This leads us to our 2nd reason for marketing.
2) To increase the frequency of purchase
Ok, you’ve gained a customer. Great! What can you do to serve and delight them? Any experience your customers have with your shop falls under the marketing umbrella. You are selling yourself and your brand from the second you pick up the phone or they walk up to your door. Our next episode will be all about customer experience, and how you can make it amazing.
But I think florists have a real advantage here. Our industry is very personalized, and we’re often assisting people with the highlights of a lifetime – celebrations, births, weddings and yes, funerals. We also have lots of “touchpoints” or interactions with a customer during the process of selling to them, more so than a traditional retail store.
Here’s an example of how just taking a phone order has seven possible “touchpoints” for one customer:
1 – Answering the phone
2 – Phone chats (get to know your customer!)
3 – Purchase personalization
4 - Order confirmation email/receipt
5 – Optional photo of the arrangement
6 – Delivery confirmation
7 – Thank you email
8 – Follow up survey or email marketing
If that phone call is an overall positive experience, there’s a good chance that customer will return. Another positive experience, they’ll come back again – and more frequently. According to Harvard Business School, just a 5% increase in retention can increase profits between 25-95%. This number continues to boggle my mind. So I’ll say it again. A 5% increase in customer retention can increase profits between 25-95%. Let’s play conservative and say it’s just 15%. I would take that, wouldn’t you? So how can we increase the frequency of our customers coming back? The customer experience plays a huge part. Consistently positive interactions build loyalty to you and your shop. Loyal customers spend more. And that’s the third reason we are marketing.
3) To increase the amount of a purchase
Repeat customer statistics show that returning loyal customers spend an average of 33% more per order as compared to others. That’s a lot! We’ve touched on creating a great customer experience. Now let’s talk about upselling and cross-selling. What can you do to increase your average sale?
One of my favorite tools is bundling. In-store, this can be done easily with store displays. We even merchandise our cooler to cross-sell items. So displayed next to a bouquet in the cooler is a complimentary gift or décor item. You’re buying that mug with flowers in it? Here’s a funny little sign about caffeine and chocolate. If someone orders a sympathy gift on the phone, offer a floral swag or wreath to go with it. At the checkout counter, make a suggestion for a pot upgrade to your customer's plant. Think of this as a service you provide instead of being salesy or pushy…. This can be a mindset shift for some people! But there are two questions to ask your staff (or yourself) when you’re training to cross-sell.
#1) What can we offer our customer to make their purchase even better??
#2) How can we educate the customer so they have more success with their purchase?
Educated customers are confident buyers. People like to feel good about their purchases, and connected to the person they purchased from! Returning customers have a relationship with your shop. They like and trust you, and often people just want an expert opinion. News flash – you’re the expert!
Again, the floral industry is set up for success in this regard. We are personally guiding most people through the purchase experience, whether that’s in-person or on the phone. What an amazing opportunity to nurture that relationship, educate, and gain a repeat customer.
More about this in future episodes - this is just a kickstart for some great tips to come. The bottom line for today is that we want more than just customers - we want loyal fans! We want a community of consumers that trust us. So let’s put this into practice and start reaping the results in both brand loyalty and profits.
Your action task for the week is to conduct a customer survey. You can’t give the people what they want if you don’t know what they want, right?
This can be in-store, a Facebook poll, or an online survey. Let your customers know you value their opinion and gain some great feedback on what they love about your shop or want to see more of. For a free example survey, head to my Facebook Page - Petals and Profits - and grab a copy of the Google Form template. You can tweak it to fit your flower shop and post it on your social media pages or send it to your email subscribers. Make sure you tune in next week as we dive into creating an amazing customer experience. I’ve got six practical ideas to turn customers into raving fans. I’ll see you then!
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