The Question:
For those of you who do daily deliveries (ie – deliveries for birthdays, congratulations for a new baby, anniversaries, etc). How do you feel about taking a picture of the arrangement and sending the image to the sender prior to the arrangement leaving your shop? We’ve heard of more & more clients asking for this service. Pros & Cons?
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The Answers:
I find myself doing this more and more. Taking a photo with my phone and getting it to the sender is great for customer service ! Waiting to post photos on social media until the design has been delivered , in my opinion is important. The con…the time it takes.
Kris of KRISanthemums, Oregon
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I do photograph each arrangement and text or email it to the client when it leaves to be delivered. I have had such positive and appreciative responses about this added service. I used to order lots of flowers in my old life and never knew what was being delivered, so I thought this would be a nice touch. It is! Just snap a photo on your phone and press send.
Tara, By The Bloom, California
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More and more I’m getting requests for photos of arrangements and many times I will ask if they’d like a picture, especially if it’s a new customer. People almost always take me up on the offer and are usually delighted that I’d do this. I think that it shows a customer that you have confidence in what you’re producing, especially if they aren’t ordering something they’ve seen on your website. I always tell them that I will send the photo after delivery and also provide them with delivery information and a description of what was in the arrangement. The other benefit of sending pictures is that you now have an email to use for marketing purposes.
Anne of Hydrangea Bleu, California
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I like to take photos of each arrangement, but don’t send a picture to the sender unless requested. If I need to give visual proof of the arrangement’s quality or contents, then I have the photo to share. In my opinion, sending a pic before you deliver the arrangement opens the door to all sorts of issues that most shops or studio florists would not have time to address. The client should trust the floral designer they have contracted to make and deliver that arrangement.
Laurie of Fleurie, California
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If you have a flower shop you should have a policy on this “photo prior to delivery” request. If you choose to offer this additional service you need to do it well. This means having a dedicated spot/backdrop where you photograph the arrangement from it’s “best side”. I think the biggest decision to make is whether you wait for approval prior to sending your driver out the door. That seems ridiculous to me, personally since when I worked in flower shops it was always a hustle to get deliveries made and out the door in the right order. If I had a shop I would offer this service, possibly even charge a few bucks for the effort and time and make it clear that the delivery will be headed out the door at whatever time works for the driver. If it is for next-day delivery or the customer requests the ability to approve the design I would allow for 1 adjustment to the design and any subsequent requests will have a re-design fee.
Alison of Floral Artistry, Vermont
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In today’s tech and visual environment, it’s so important to take images of your client’s designs. I do this daily and clients absolutely love it! I have a small area in my studio with good lighting and a small table. I just take the design to the area, use my smart phone to take the image, text or e-mail the image to the client, and everyone is a happy camper. Then I send it to my Facebook page, Twitter, InstaGram, Pinterest, and anywhere else I can show my work…..all in a matter of minutes! I also have a higher quality (not that smart phones don’t have great cameras!) camera that I use as well just to have better focus for my website or ? What this does is reaffirm your relationship with your client…..that trust is worth years of client loyalty! Be well, and go create my friends….
Joe Guggia AIFD of JP Designed, California
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Do you have a question you’d like to ask for a Q&A session? Email it to me at: info@flirtyfleurs.com