The Floral CEO

  Hello flower friends. I wanna talk about client communication and how this can really make or break your business, because obviously you need to have great client interactions so that they inevitably book you so that you have weddings, so that you have income and it's just this big domino. But when I have seen.

Someone who is struggling in their business or when I have even personally ran into issues where something went sideways with the client in some way that I didn't book them, or I felt like those expectations weren't clear or whatever it is, like something broke down. It usually came down to these five critical breakdowns in the process and.

The first one is one that I've talked about on the podcast before, but if you are not familiar with it, I call it the Equal Energy Exchange. When someone is genuinely interested in you, hopefully they're acting like they really care in their emails. They are acting like they're really interactive.

They're answering your questions, they're, you can. Feel, enthusiasm. People who are price shoppers do not have that same enthusiasm of real, general, genuine interest in their emails. In my experience, they are very to the point, not really diving in, just giving you really minimal basic information. And then when you're asking questions, they're, you know, really not answering your questions.

They're being, being short and just not, you're not feeling it, you're not feeling like, God, these people are really interested in me. So you, you keep chasing them and trying to get them, it's like a puppy that, you know, you see a puppy and it's like, love me, love me, love me, love me. You do not wanna be that puppy that is like, love me, love me, love me, Mr.

Customer, when like they are, are really not showing any affection towards you, they're not showing that they're genuinely interested. So it is just sucking time, energy, and resources, uh, of what you could be using to really make some the difference in your business. So when someone. Sends you an email, like I'm always paying attention to the tone of the email.

Then I call it Serve and Volley. When I am serving over my reply, how is their response to my reply? Do they answer all of my questions? Do I feel like they really read my email? Did they do it in a timely manner? Like all of these little things make impact so. Are they doing an equal energy exchange?

Because if they are not, you're not a, they're not a puppy. Do not chase them. Make that energy that you have been expounding on. People like that really count with people who. Could make a difference that really care. Those are the people who are going to spend more money. Those are the people who are going to leave a review.

Those are the people that are going to make your business more successful. Then the next thing that to me really makes a difference when you get past that equal energy exchange is I'm making sure that I am not. Meeting with people way too soon. I actually, uh, have, you know, seen different wedding industry, uh, people's, like email templates, their selling and things like that.

And way back in the day, I'm, I was always like interested and thought that, you know, oh, I'd love to see what somebody else is doing. Well, in looking at some of these, a lot of people are going from initial inquiry and their response includes, let's get together. Let's meet. I do. I, I want to, for one, verify that equal energy exchange.

I want to make sure that this is a wedding that I'm interested in, and I want to make sure that this is a customer that I even wanna work with. So if we are not, if we are jumping in to this, Hey, let's just go and meet, and especially if you are an in-person meter, I do 90% of my consultations, if not more on Zoom.

I think it is hands down, a more efficient way. I'm not having to worry about. Especially now that I, I live further away. The drive, the getting cute, the, I mean, I'm cute in my shirt, you know, like I'm wearing a cute shirt, but I just, I'm not as worried about making sure that everything's perfect. And so when I'm doing that, I am cutting, like this meeting, I'm, I'm, and I've done episodes.

On my exact process of consultations, I make sure that I'm short to the point, but I build rapport. I make sure that I'm clarifying all of the necessary details and I'm being time efficient about it. So if you are meeting in person. I, I would reconsider doing that because the world likes convenience and that is one convenience.

Like they don't have to leave their home, they don't have to do anything. It is super easy for all. The next mistake that I see, and this is where my serve and volley starts, I'm sending back to them my initial inquiry asking all of my questions that I normally have, which those questions are usually like, how many bridesmaids do you have?

What is your wedding color? In addition to personal flowers, are you needing, um, you know, like, uh. Ceremony decor or reception decor. You know, what is your target floral budget? If they didn't answer that in the initial inquiry, and then I'm asking for their Pinterest board link or three images that, so I'm sending that over to them.

But then I'm also saying, Hey, I, um. You know, attached is my brochure that breaks down my two service offerings. 'cause I have full service in a la carte and includes my starting at pricing. If you are not providing some type of initial pricing guidance and you wonder why people are ghosting you, or you wonder why you're going to a meeting, you're doing all this work with a consultation and everything, and then you never hear back from them.

I am telling you this is probably why and it having some type of idea how much something or someone costs is so helpful. And if you're not doing that, this could be your secret ingredient. If you join the floral CEO Mastermind, you get all of my templates that include a brochure, my proposal templates, my onboarding guide templates.

Everything. This is a critical part of the process. I feel that this is like when I have helped Florist integrate a brochure into the process, like they started closing more. They started getting a better response. Like so much changed with this very simple thing. So if you are not doing this, figuring out a brochure to me would be critical.

Then the next one is no time expectations. So you are not going in and explaining to someone, um, that their quote isn't good for several months, or, you know, I, I am at the end of every call explaining to them next steps. So if you are not doing the next steps, you need to make sure that you start integrating this little two minute spiel because it's going to clear up so much and so they understand what is next.

They are not guessing. I mean, it's the worst that you wanna buy something or you wanna do something and you have no idea what the next steps are. So make sure that you are going and explaining these few small steps so that they know this is how I book. Uh, I also go in and. Kind of rephrase, resummarize, that same exact thing that I said, because I'm creating repetition in my email that I send them.

If you feel like it's a person or it's a busy date, put a timeframe on that and explain that to them. So, or if you are just like in really heavy booking season and you're just worried about keeping track of all of it. Just go in and say, Hey, uh, I, after I send you the quote, hold the date for seven days afterwards.

After that, I, I definitely will check in with you. Um, but then I have to open the date up just because it's really busy booking season. And I wanna make sure if you go a different direction, that that date, um, still, um, is available for others. So this is a way that you can. For one, create an automatic follow up cadence of, okay, three day, seven day, and then, you know, I'm removing you from the hold list.

Uh, people are often nervous to do that because they think they're being, you know, pushy. But I honestly like when you go buy a car, incentives change. We could have a new tariff, we could have a new whatever. You could be booked and then you need to get more help. Like there are so many variables that I think it's more than fair for you to just explain to someone that you can hold this date for like a week.

You can't just hold it in perpetuity. That's not fair to you as the business owner. So making sure that you're putting timelines, if you don't feel comfortable, at least tell them that, you know, I actually do not send contracts initially with my proposals, and there's a reason why do. Do that is because I don't want this contract mailed back to me or sent back to me in three months and I have a really booked weekend.

I have had that happen. Somebody didn't email me, somebody didn't check in with me, they just sent the contract 'cause they just thought I was available. You need to make sure that you're creating time expectations and really explaining what's next. Uh, and part of my process is, is not sending. That contract until they confirm they want to book.

I also don't feel very great about just having my contract floating out there with every single person, because I think it over complicates the process a little bit. Then they start nitpicking things. So I just wait until that person is agreed, because then they've made a mental commitment. They've made a verbal commitment out to me.

They've probably shared with someone that they're gonna, you know, like their spouse or future spouse, whatever, all of those things. Are making that person go one more step. So then sending the contract is just a little bit easier for you to get a, yep, let's just move forward. They're not gonna start picking apart the details.

Alright, those are my big five and I hope that was helpful. If you need help with any of these things, these are things that we talk about in the floral CEO Mastermind. Running a business, and especially if you haven't done it before, is not easy. And if you are struggling, let us be there to support you.

Head to floral ceo.com/mastermind. Thank you so much for listening, flower Friend. And you have an amazing flower filled day.