Marketing

The last few years have been tough for retail florists and - unfortunately - 2009 promises to be even tougher!

To help you get off to a good start we have collaborated with friends in the industry to prepare a six-week action plan. The goal is to help you make some changes that will help you out all year long but with a special emphasis on making the most of Valentines Day.

This information has been given it's own special section on the website.

Most FloristWare users want to take advantage of the advanced e-mail marketing features contained in the software. Unfortunately in order to take advantage of these features you first need to have customer e-mail addresses on file.

So, the process of e-mail marketing typically begins with the process of collecting e-mail addresses. This is something that is usually best done on an ongoing basis - each time you make a sale or take an order you should be collecting (or confirming) the customer's e-mail address.

I think you always have to look at is a little negotiation. The customer has something you want (the e-mail address) but - given that most people are tight with personal information in general and e-mail addresses in particular - they're reluctant to give it up.

You need to "buy" it from them by giving them something they want. And - of course - you want to pay as little as possible!

All of the ideas above are excellent. Here are the things I can think of, some of which overlap with what has already been said:

1. Points/Incentive Program

If you are running a points/incentive program you can explain that a customer has to share their e-mail address to take part. You can even copy the credit card companies (very good at this kind of thing - it never hurts to copy what works!) and offer something like a "new customer sign-up bonus points" - extra points for customers who are joining the program for the first time and sharing all of the information that you want. The thing I like about points is that they are "cheaper" than a straight up discount and tend to keep the customer involved.

2. Fundraising Program

Same as above - if you have a fundraising program and the customer wants to take part explain that your system requires you to enter their e-mail address for record keeping.

3. Reminder Service

If you offer an electronic reminder service to your customers (reminding them about birthdays, anniversaries, etc.) then present it is a valuable service you are offering them free of charge - once that requires you to collect their e-mail address.

4. Electronic Receipt/Invoice

When dealing with phone orders an electronic receipt/invoice sent to the customer can be very appealing. Not just for the records but to catch any mistakes. Tim Huckabee - a sales trainer I really respect - encourages shops to tell the customers to review the receipt/invoice for potential errors (delivery date, address, card message, spelling of names, etc.) very carefully. It's a great idea and you know what? It works - the customers often catch something!

5. Photograph of Product/Delivery

You can also use photographs to get their e-mail address. You might want to e-mail them photos of products they should consider during the sale process or you could promise to e-mail them photographs of the actual finished product and/or delivery.

6. Delivery Confirmation

Explain that if you have their e-mail address you can automatically send a delivery confirmation once the flowers have been delivered.

A thorough discussion of planning and implementing a successful points based loyalty/incentive program can be found in the public articles section of our website.