Flowers Can Be Purchased Anywhere. Trust Has to Be Earned.

By Art Conforti

We got the order. But did we earn the customer?

Those are not the same thing. A customer may buy from us because we appeared in a search, had the right arrangement, or could make the delivery that afternoon. We should always appreciate that business. But we should never mistake a completed transaction for a relationship.

The more important question is this: Does that person now see us as someone they can count on?

Flowers can be purchased almost anywhere. What should make a local florist worth coming back to is the confidence that we pay attention, keep our promises, give honest advice, and understand the importance of the moments our customers trust us to help them recognize.

Too often, we put tremendous energy into getting the next order without putting enough thought into earning the trust that brings a customer back.

Service Begins Before the Order

Florists should be earning trust before, during, and after the transaction, not simply chasing the next order.

Imagine a customer realizing on Monday that Grandparents’ Day was the day before. They would have loved to send flowers, make a phone call, or spend time with someone important to them. They simply did not realize the occasion was coming.

Now imagine that their local florist had sent them a thoughtful reminder a week earlier. That reminder might lead to a flower order. But even if it did not, the florist still provided something valuable. They helped that customer remember an important person and an important occasion. That is service.

The message does not always have to be, “Buy flowers from us.” Sometimes it can simply be, “This day is coming, and we thought you would appreciate knowing.”

We should want customers to think, “My florist remembered,” before we expect them to remember us.

That is one reason I want to thank Teleflora for continuing to help its member shops stay informed and prepared for upcoming holidays.

Having created the Gravity Free Flower Manager websites, I was always comfortable updating holiday content when necessary, and in many cases I followed Teleflora’s lead. Since selling my business, I have continued to appreciate the attention Teleflora gives to helping florists prepare for the occasions on the calendar.

Grandparents’ Day may not make or break a flower shop’s year. But the way we approach occasions like it says something about the way we view our responsibility to our customers. Are we only there when they are ready to spend money? Or are we paying attention throughout the relationship?

A Holiday Category Is Not a Holiday Plan

Adding a “Grandparents’ Day” category to a website is not the same as helping customers prepare for Grandparents’ Day. A category without a current date, relevant products, useful information, thoughtful suggestions, or a timely reminder is a missed opportunity.

Our websites should do more than sit there waiting for someone to place an order. They should answer questions. They should explain occasions. They should offer ideas. Most importantly, they should help customers make thoughtful decisions.

A customer should be able to quickly understand when an occasion falls, who they may want to recognize, and what options make sense for their message and their budget. And we need to remember that not every useful interaction has to end at checkout.

I often hear people in our industry say, “Holidays are not what they used to be.” My question is: What are we doing to support them?

Easter, Sweetest Day, Grandparents’ Day, Father’s Day, and other occasions deserve more than a category that sits untouched until the calendar comes around again.

We cannot neglect the reminders, ideas, education, and personal attention these occasions need and then act surprised when customers stop associating them with their local florist.

Before we decide people no longer care about an occasion, perhaps we should ask whether we have given them enough reason to remember it.

Marketing Should Reflect a Florist’s Understanding

This responsibility does not disappear when a florist hires an outside marketing company.

An agency may know how to build a website, run an advertising campaign, improve search visibility, or write an email. But somebody also needs to understand the retail flower business.

Somebody needs to understand the customers behind those orders.

• Who is watching the holiday calendar?

• Who is making sure the information on the website is current?

• Who is thinking about what customers need to know before they are ready to buy?

• Who is looking at marketing through the eyes of a florist rather than simply checking another task off a list?

Whether that understanding comes from a florist-owned agency or from an experienced florist who is actively involved in the marketing, it needs to be part of the process.

For the shops we work with, holiday reminders and website updates are deliberate. They happen because someone takes responsibility for them. They are not supposed to be an afterthought. But marketing alone does not earn trust.

A thoughtful email may start the conversation. A useful website may make the buying process easier. But what happens afterward matters even more.

We have to deliver on what our marketing promises through honest recommendations, dependable service, good communication, and genuine attention when something goes wrong.

Marketing can give a customer a reason to call us. How we take care of them gives them a reason to believe us.

The Order Is Not the Whole Goal

Of course sales matter. We are running businesses. But getting the order should never become more important than earning the confidence of the person placing it.

I want customers to feel that their florist is looking out for them—not simply looking for another opportunity to sell something to them. I want them to trust our recommendations, I want them to rely on our promises, and I want them to feel comfortable putting an important occasion in our hands because they know we understand what is at stake.

That is the relationship worth building. Our websites are more than order machines, our emails should be more than sales pitches. Our marketing should be more than a constant request for another transaction.

Every one of those things is an opportunity to help people celebrate, remember, comfort, congratulate, and recognize the people who matter to them.

Flowers can be purchased almost anywhere. The reason to choose us again should be trust. And trust is something we have to earn.