Jan 21, 2012, Toronto - Sales and customer service experts Amas Tenumah and Tim Huckabee shared some sales gems with attendees at the second annual Canadian Florist Business Forum. This included four questions successful florists should never ask call-in clients.
"If you take one thing away from this day, ban this question from your shop," an animated Tenumah told the sell-out crowd of seasoned florists. "What were you looking to spend?" In what other retail experience would the salesman use that question," Teleflora's VP of operations asked the amused audience. "It's the number one mistake florists make when it comes to sales."
Tim Huckabee, founder of FloralStrategies and floral sales maniac, agreed with Tenumah on this point, adding three more horrible, never-again-to-be-used questions:
- What do you want to send? "There are three basic facts you need to know prior to picking up the phone: The client doesn't know what they want, you are the expert in their eyes, and they will do what you tell them to do. Ninety percent of your clients will not know the answer to that question, so you're making the process harder than it needs to be."
- What's the occasion? "Yes, this information is useful, but there is a better way to get it, and usually with more detail. Ask them what they want the card to say. This will often give the exact occasion (eg milestone birthday rather than just birthday), as well as their relationship etc...
- Do you want that to include tax and delivery? "There are rare occasions where you want to ask that - when it's a business purchase with a limited PO amount or perhaps a group buy. But for the most part, taxes and delivery are facts of life, and people expect them. Why talk your way out of that revenue?"
The experts shared a host of other take-away points, including knowing the difference between a first-time order and a loyal repeat client. Tenumah stresses that unless you provide the former with exactly what they ordered, they will be disappointed.
"The first time someone calls your shop, maybe after looking at arrangements on your website, don't mistake that person for a customer. You haven't earned that yet. They're an order. This is not the time to get creative, to "improve" the website arrangement they chose. Provide what they ordered, regardless of what you think of the arrangement. If they liked the experience, and become a repeat client, an actual customer, then you can start suggesting something different, using your creativity."
Huckabee stressed the importance of rolling with the clients' natural emotional momentum when they call. "Why are they calling you? Most of the time it's because something important, something emotional just happened in their life, they are excited, and they want to express that through your flowers. Don't bog that down extracting contact details from them right at the start of the call."
The 2012 Canadian Florist Business Forum was made possible through the generous support of sponsors Westbrook Floral, Oasis Floral Products, FTD, and Teleflora. For more tips and coverage from the 2012 Canadian Florist Business Forum, look to the next issue of Canadian Florist magazine and this site.
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