As a creative entrepreneur, I love the high-pressure periods of Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day + Christmas. I think it’s these periods that separate out the ‘good designers’ from the ‘great florists’ and the successful entrepreneurs from the starving artists.
When I first fell in love with flowers and toiled with the idea of starting a flower business, I had no idea how much expertise was required to navigate all the logistics and manage production. I was so swept up in all the beauty, the design mechanics, colour theory and trying to learn as much as I could about seasonality.
In our industry, no one really talks about the behind-the-scenes, the ins and outs of trying to sling that many flowers and manage a hectic trading period like Mother’s Day while still having your sanity stay somewhat intact at the end of it. So, finding Mother's Day Florist business tips can be like looking for a needle in a haystack, right?
When it comes to Mother's Day florist business tips, I like to think of it as a well-choreographed performance: it looks so effortless from the outside, but behind the scenes is a heap of plans, checklists and schedules.
Mother's Day Florist Business Tips: Get Your Website + Online Catalogue Sorted NOW
I liked to use the period leading up to Mother’s Day as a window to go in and make sure our online catalogue is up to date. If I'd been putting off a price increase or had an idea for a new product, I always used Mother’s Day as my deadline for new additions and updates. Anything I wanted to change, I'd make it my goal to get the updates sorted in the weeks before the big day.
Yes, of course, we’d make changes the other 51 weeks of the year but I liked to use Mother’s Day as an annual reminder to go in and evaluate our online catalogue more strategically and really make sure what we’re offering was still in line with our design aesthetic, flower availability, rising wholesale prices and evolving colour preferences.
So, tip #1 for florists looking to conquer Mother's Day 2022: put some time in your calendar this week to work through any updates you've been putting off. And yes, go in and raise those prices if it's been too long!!
Not sure what to offer in your online catalogue, here's my go-to approach.
Tip #2: Price Anchoring – Understanding Sales Psychology
I learned about the idea of price anchoring when I was doing my MBA. It’s something I keep coming back to time and time again and Mother's Day is the perfect opportunity to put it to work for your flower business.
Now, I'm not gonna lie, when I first learned about it, I was kinda sceptical. I didn’t really think this big business idea would work for our little flower businesses but I'm glad to report, it totally does!
The simplest way to explain the concept of Price Anchoring is as follows: What’s the easiest way to sell a $1000 watch? Put a $10,000 watch next to it.
In the case of the watches, the goal isn't to actually sell the $10,000 watch. Instead, it's there to make the $1,000 more appealing and sell more $1,000 watches.
In the case of floral design, we can do exactly the same thing. We can use a premium-priced design, placed next to our average priced design and more people will be more inclined to pay even more. Thus, increasing our average order value. Yeah baby!
The first time I tried this idea out was for Valentine’s Day 2016 (yes, that seems like forever ago now). We intentionally created a bouquet of 3 dozen Cherry Brandy roses and slapped a juicy price on it. I had no intention of it actually selling that bouquet, but instead using it as an anchor for price comparison – its premium price tag was there to simply make everything else feel cheaper. It worked so good!
That one 3-dozen rose bouquet made the 2-dozen roses look way more appealing and our average sales increased. From that moment forward, I have used this strategy in a variety of areas of my business. I love experimenting with it and playing around.
These days, with more and more customers ordering online, we can take this exact strategy and put it to work on our websites – and it's even easier because you only have to photograph it, add in your fancy description and throw it up on your catalogue. It's like a one-time effort that keeps paying off (as opposed to in the shop when you need to keep designing it with fresh product).
Throwing a $450 or $600 product into the mix makes a really easy point of reference for your customers to then compare and come to the conclusion, ‘Oh yeah, I guess $150 for that bouquet is cheap’. Versus just having the $150 bouquet there and then they default to the $65 option.
So, on your list of updates to make on your website, make sure you add a new product that has a juicy price point – something that is 3-4 times higher than your average order value. (And remember, when someone orders that product, go in and make an even bigger one!)
Want a step by step guide to setting up a more effective florist website? Come join us inside Flower Boss Bootcamp and get all the tools + templates you need to fast track your growth (including my exact approach to setting up your website). Click here to join us today.
Tip #3: Review Your Google My Business Listing Today
When it comes to getting yourself sorted for Mother's Day, don't overlook some of the most basic marketing tactics we have available to us. Your Google Business listing is one of the most powerful (and free!) opportunities we have to get on our customer's radar.
And, when it comes to Mother's Day florist business tips, if you’re one of the many florists traditionally not open on Sundays, but you are trading on Mother’s Day Sunday, go in and make sure your hours are up to date for the big day.
Go in now, add in the specific hours you'll be open (i.e. answering the phone) and capitalise on some of those last-minute deliveries.
Plus, if it’s been a while since you’ve checked over your listing details, information and photos, take a few minutes to make sure it’s accurate and up to date.
Hot Tip: upload a few new photos to show the Google algorithm your business is active. This will help increase the organic reach of your listing and keep you current in the search world
More Free Stuff: How to Smash Your Revenue Goals for Mother's Day 2022
At the end of the day, there is a lot to focus on, particularly in the lead up to crazy times like Mother's Day.
If you want more support, a little clarity on what really matters and where to spend your time and energy to make the most of Mother's Day 2022, be sure to listen to this week's podcast episode. I'm sharing five tips to help you grow your revenue and make more money for Mothers' Day 2022. I'm also passing along more super practical Mother's Day Florist business tips.
I still think back to my very first Mother's Day and laugh awkwardly about all the things I assumed mattered, all the mistakes I made and what I'd do differently. I want to help you avoid the same mistakes I made and ensure your Mother's Day is a little less stressful than my first few years!
What you'll learn from this episode:
✓ 3 sales tactics to help you increase your average order value
✓ Helpful strategies to follow to navigate the uncertainty and last-minute-ness of Mother's Day
✓ My #1 tip for sorting through deliveries and logistics
✓ My favourite tactics to implement to help you skyrocket your sales
Listen to the full episode here
Full Episode Transcript
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