It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas won't be the merriest on record for retailers this year. With record-setting unemployment numbers battering consumer confidence and a Grinch-gripped Wall Street rattling global economies, the evidence is impossible to ignore (retail analysts certainly aren't, with their low sales predictions). But Santa hasn't hung up his boots for good (his 401(k) needs some time to recover) and Grandma hasn't canceled dinner. The holidays are coming ... whether they stop at your business is up to you — and SAF.

We're wrapping up the best sales tactics, promotions, training advice and any tips we get from florists gifted with holiday know-how. In the coming weeks, E-Brief will deliver a little extra holiday help in the way of idea-packed articles designed to help you increase sales during what promises to be a challenging holiday season. (We'll archive the stories in a "Profitable Holidays" page on safnow.org.) This week's advice comes from two industry veterans, who both led retail businesses through challenging times over the past four decades.

"No matter how hard the times, there was always a need for flowers and plants," says Joey Schwanke, AAF, PFCI, NAFD, recalling how her dad, during the Great Depression, grew and sold plants and flowers at the same location that she and her husband, Mel, an SAF past president and Floriculture Hall of Fame inductee, continue to run Greens Greenhouses & Treasure House in Fremont, Neb. 

Although the greenhouses are gone, the commitment to service and to selling the simple joys of flowers remains. Schwanke doesn't see another Great Depression coming but does see an end to reckless spending — and an opportunity to sell flowers as a highly personal luxurious gift, without the price tag.

"When folks can't buy that new car, new refrigerator, jewelry and bigger gifts, they turn to flowers," she says, noting that florists should remind consumers that a $25 poinsettia can brighten a whole house for weeks and a dozen roses can convey the same love as a diamond tennis bracelet, especially if it's unexpected.

Carol Caggiano, AIFD, PFCI, knows her stuff — just ask any shop, group or reporter who calls the industry educator and consultant and 2008 recipient of SAF's Tommy Bright Award for insight, inspiration and practical ideas. That "stuff" came from the front lines of running a successful flower shop for 37 years with her husband, Neil. Her advice:

1. Get busy planning and pricing, or get lost. Now is the time to plan your holiday arrangements. Taking control of inventory and sales is more important than ever. Be ready with specific suggestions for centerpieces and holiday gifts. Recipe all arrangements and have the designers stick tightly to them. Arm sales people with a script with design descriptions. Photograph every design for design-room consistency, your Web site and marketing materials. Consumers drown in a river of catalogs this time of year, so your visuals have to compete.
 
2. Score with "practical" gift baskets. When money is tight consumers think more practically — a line of thought that can lead to your edible products, such as gift and gourmet baskets. Be ready with suggestions that cater to their practical side, especially for your fellow bottom-line-watching corporate accounts.
 
3. Make your customer service recession-proof. There are no margins for error this holiday season. Every contact with the consumer must be perfect. Cutting back on payroll may be necessary, but don't risk being short-staffed.

4. Experience matters. With money tight, consumers are going to spend where they are "inspired," and while some of that inspiration might come from the deal they just scored, it will also come from being in a place where the product, by nature, is bright, uplifting and a proven mood booster. Pack your marketing materials with the facts about the emotional and creative impact of flowers, go to  aboutflowers.com or safnow.org.
 
5. Exceed expectations. You need every new customer you can get, so once you get one, do everything to hang on tight.
 
6. Kick up your marketing, don't pull it back.

Now it's your turn. Don't be stingy — share your profitability prowess and gift for thrift by sending an e-mail to along@safnow.org or chiming on the Holidays discussion forum.

--Amanda Long
along@safnow.org

 

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