The Floral Hustle

  📍 Hello, flower friends. This is Jen, and you're listening to the Floral Hustle Podcast. On this week's episode, I want to talk about one of the toughest things as a business owner that we deal with, and that is rejection. I am sure if you've been doing this for any amount of time, you've had the email in your inbox that says that somebody chose somebody else and you spent all of this time, like doing all this proposal.

And the reason why I'm talking about this is because I had it happen this, the actually today I got the email and I just, I wanted to share, um, The process like mentally that I went through, uh, so first the person, it was a cultural wedding, a Hindu wedding, and they had been dealing with a florist and then that venue parted ways with that florist planner.

And so even though for some reason their bid was 9, 000, and so they weren't really sure, but they just thought they were supposed to go with them because they were a preferred vendor, uh, you know, they decided they have to look elsewhere. And so then. She wanted to, because her wedding's in May, get on a call soon as possible to discuss everything.

And I said, no problem. We can do that. Hopped on a call, showed her all of my different containers and, and items. And then, you know, we're talking through color palettes. And I showed her my recent publication in Minnesota Bride, how it kind of had her colors, but had this really deep, dark purple pop, which I just thought would be a really interesting twist.

And she was totally game for it, had me text her a picture so she could show her fiance, just acted so excited. And so I'm thinking this is very promising. She, her munda is from another decorator friend that I work with it as well. But then like I did the revision. And then, you know, sent it over to her and she's like, Oh my God, I love this.

I'm going to talk to my family and then crickets. And I'm like, okay. So I finally, I reached back out with her. I said, I want to circle back up my estimate because, you know, it's been a few days and I just want to make sure you received it and took two days. And she replied and she's like, I met with my family and we reviewed.

All of the different floral choices, and I don't think that they were quite aligned with my family's wishes. And I was utterly confused because I had used inspiration photos of hers. Uh, so in that moment I was like, oh shit. I spent 45 minutes meeting with her. I spent 45 minutes on her proposal. I spent 15 minutes revising her proposal and then I spent, you know, 15 minutes, um, following up with thoughtful emails and et cetera.

So after reading your email, like I was like, shit, I've invested this time. So then that initial like rejection has happened. And so then I just go, okay, for one, like I just mental clarity. It's okay if she chooses someone else, but for two, Like I might have dodged a bullet because this woman sounds a tad bit crazy in her last email.

I don't understand how, or nor do I really want to work with someone that later on it, it appears that the family's opinion is more valuable than her own. And so I took that as a moment of reflect. Okay, what could I learn from this rejection? I learned That, um, I should have maybe asked her, because normally in that culture, their, their parents have input, but a lot of the driven force in the beginning is with the actual couple themselves.

Later on, the family usually intercedes their opinion, because then the pressure is on from relatives, the pressure is on. From a status standpoint, and then all of a sudden that's often when this cultural type weddings will add. I have had 10, 000 added a week before a wedding by parents. And it, it seems like, I mean, I last year, I think I had five of those instances where a, anywhere from a couple thousand to 10, 000 of flowers were added seven to 10 days before the wedding.

So, I, I would, I expect or am used to that interceding in the, the choices later on. So, okay, this is interesting, like, this is changing the order usually. And then I, I maybe think, I followed her wishes, so if she doesn't like the options, then her family potentially wasn't happy with her choices, um, of what her design and aesthetic is.

So I took that pressure off of me from failing as that the things aren't lined up with what that Couple was saying and I delivered what what they were saying and now they're saying something different So that likely would have continued to happen. So I am happy That I dodged potentially a very complicated and potentially high maintenance bride that wanted to spend around 5, 000.

So if this was a 000 wedding, I'd understand there's way more details and potentially way more, um, thoughts around and maybe wanting to go back and forth. But, with a 5, 000 wedding, this should have been very kind of simple. And not as drawn out as I felt like this client was making it. So I stepped back and that rejection, now I'm turning that into a positive, you know, interaction or positive thing that happened.

Because later on, I know that when an email would come in from this client, I likely would be like, what now? Already based on our minimal communication and her having confusing communication, It probably would have only gotten worse. And so I can step back and feel good that this happened. And that is a hard thing for most people to do.

They are going to start dwelling on everything that they think they did wrong. I don't think I did this. I didn't do this right. Blah, blah, blah. This person doesn't like me. This person doesn't like what I came up with. This person doesn't like my design. They start self attacking instead of reflecting on, Okay.

What would I have done different next time? And I should have potentially asked her, with a revision, I should have put a closing, you know, sentence in my email that just said, I'm happy to do the revision. Based on the current price points, does this budget and design, other than the colors, work for you?

And then just left it at that before I did the work. Then. Saw what her feedback is. So before I did more work, my reflection is, is I should have asked a closing question as long as You know, we adjust the colors to be in your color palette. We use a little bit less roses like your fiancee mentioned. Are you guys happy and want to move forward with me as your florist based on the numbers that I've provided?

And then I could have taken that from there and just walked away from it. Because I, I then wouldn't have probably done the revision. I wouldn't have had these several follow up emails that I were a little bit more lengthier because I was, you know, trying to touch base and, um, you know, making or saying kind things about, like, the design and how I'm excited about it and all those things.

So I would have probably saved that. If she would have emailed me back and said, Oh, well, we want to see the different colors. Um, removing or you know, if whatever she would have said, I would have then circled back to her saying, okay, that's great. And I'd love to do that revision. But before I invest more time, I just want to make sure that all of the other factors other than the colors and doing less roses works from you from a budget and a design standpoint.

And then I could have potentially saved another half hour to 45 minutes of interactions with that client. I still learned. I still think it is a teaching moment for me that I should have just put a harder close on because I had already done some work. I should have received feedback if that would work at that time before I move forward.

But, I'm not beating myself up. I am having... Um, you know, thoughts of almost, um, relief because I feel that that client would have been potentially a problem down the road. So I have now turned a negative into a positive and I am letting all of that. That normal panic that most people feel when rejection happens, just not even enter my mental energy because I am going to attract a better bride for that weekend.

I am going to attract a more profitable wedding for that weekend. I deserve an amazing wedding to come my way and this would have complicated it being at the price point that it is. Um, for me to take on the size of wedding that really would have served me and my business. So you can do that to step back, reflect on what, what don't beat yourself up, reflect on what I would have done different, change your inner dialogue and said, okay, this person didn't like what I came up with, which is the world.

Like the. The world doesn't like everything that everybody comes up with, and that is okay. You are going to attract a bigger, better client. And so, how can you do that? What could you have done to make this a more efficient process from a timing standpoint, from a volume of interaction standpoint, from a aesthetic standpoint?

Did this wedding even really serve? What you were wanting to accomplish from a design perspective in your business. And then you can just step away and say, okay, I would have changed this going forward. If you wouldn't have changed anything and that person was just, frankly, there are crazy people out there that you just, their interactions don't make sense at all, then that is great and we learn that too.

So, thank you so much for listening, flower friend. I hope going forward you can. Flip your narrative on what rejection really is to a learning opportunity, and I 📍 hope you have an amazing flower filled week.