FloristWare Case Studies: Conversions

A few months ago we got a call from a florist who was using a POS system from one of the major wire services. It was the top-of-the-line offering from that wire service, is considered by many to be the greatest floral POS system of all time and came with a starting price of $35,000.

However, this florist just didn't get it. They found the system very difficult to use. It was also more expensive than they thought, because in addition to the huge up-front investment there were significant ongoing costs. Some of the costs were hidden - this system forced her to process credit cards through the wire service at a rate that was much higher than she could have obtained elsewhere.

She decided enough was enough. She walked away from her enormous investment because she realized that there was no point throwing good money after bad, and that with FloristWare she could have a system that she liked for less than what she was paying in ongoing fees for a system she had already "bought".

How did it work out? We'll let her tell you:

Hi Mark,
Just wanted you to know how awesome I think FloristWare is...
We (all of us here at Fred's Flowers) have been on the XXXX computer system from XXXXXXX for the last hundred years. Well, not really but it seems like it! When I decided to get a new system and go "another route," I was met with a little hostility from employees, and I was personally scared of the change.

So Sincerely,
Barb Watson
Owner, Fred's Flowers

Rich Ponzio of Ponzio's flowers is an informed and aggressive business person who really wanted to increase his sales and make his operation more efficient. He was well acquainted with computers and technology and knew that a Point-Of-Sale system would help him reach these goals. In early 2005 he began researching different systems. FloristWare was not yet in wide release at this time and he went with another very highly regarded POS system.

He bought the inexpensive version. This "lite" version would normally cost upwards of $12,000, but because Rich supplied his own hardware he was able to get it forjust under $10K. In addition to his initial investment there were also ongoing costs of $250 a month for as long as he used the system, and some specific types of technical support had to be paid for at $200 an hour.

He started using the system in July of 2005. Just eighteen months later he decided that the system was never going to do what he needed it to and decided he had to make a change. He restarted the research process and came across FloristWare. He decided to take advantage of the free Trial period and ran both systems side by side for about one month to see which one he liked better but after just a few days he had seen enough and decided to go with FloristWare.

By this point Rich had invested almost $15,000 in his original system but he was smart enough to see that there was no sense in throwing good money after bad, and the simple fact was that the total cost of running FloristWare was substantially less than the ongoing fees associated with the system that he had already "bought".

Rich is really enjoying the marketing tools in FloristWare. Like many florists he finds that customers are reluctant to provide the e-mail addresses he really wants (because he can use them in free e-mail marketing campaigns) but FloristWare gives him many tools to help him coax those addresses from the customer - things like e-mail delivery confirmations, receipts/invoices, reminders, the points program and more. All of these things put him in a position where the customer wants to provide their valuable marketing information.

He also no longer needs an internet connection at all times. His old system was hosted on a remote server in another city and he connected to it over the internet. If he could not connect to the internet he could not use the system. It also meant that he never really had possession of his customer information, sales history, etc. - it was all stored on the vendor's server. Neither of these things are an issue with FloristWare.

Rich also likes the fundraising feature. Like all florists he is constantly asked for donations and the fundraising feature allows him to turn this to his advantage. For example, let's say someone from the little local league comes in and asks for a donation. You can explain that instead of giving them something you will help them raise money by setting up a special fundraising program for them. Every time someone comes in and explains that they are taking part in the (for example) little league program, you will set aside a certain portion of each sale (you get to determine the percentage). Then, every once and a while, you run a special report to see how much business the program has generated and how much is owed. This allows you to turn the other group/organization into your sales force - if they want the program to be successful they have to get out and promote it! The best part? FloristWare completely automates the process and even allows you to run multiple programs at the same time.