Florist News

Right, shop is going good, sales are getting there, walkby trade is, well, ok, 3 weddings already booked, which might not sound like many but it is a brand new florists so happy with that.

what i need to do is increase my funeral wor. i have quite a bit of odd orders for delivery etc for funerals, funerals where the family order the coffin spray and thier pieces, but am struggling on getting whole funeral orders in.

how do you go about it, i think i need to be in cahoots with a funeral parlour? or is there another way to sort of advertise.

such a sensitive subject don't want to go about it wrong, just wondering how to raise awareness for funeral orders all together really.

the shops where i have worked before, it was thier bread and butter. if i want to take someone on it is the funeral trade which will give me the income.

any advice welcome.


Louise

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Never say never.

Well, unless your sure.

I think you have 2 give it time louise, you havent been trading that long, and i sure wouldnt give an undertaker a cut, we do work for an u/t and every so often we give him a cheque for the local childrens hospice, which you get tax relife on as its a charityMost of our work is word of mouth,what about contract vases? have u thought of that ? also local dental & doctors for there reception?is there a pizza express near you? they have table vases and a big cylinder vase in there restaurants, get out there girl, before someone else snaps it upgoodluck

thanks fm, i know you have to give it time, i am getting going with the contract thing, it's just a pain in the rear because i have no one to cover the shop whilst i go and search for these elusive contracts. the pizza place is good though cos i can do that after i shut. i might have an indian restaurant in the bag so i might be on the ladder

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Never say never.

Well, unless your sure.

Good luck, you are doing well for such a fledgling business

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www.floralpride.co.uk

You must, must, must get a web site ( don't know if you have one already).

Every time someone comes in or enquires about funeral tributes I give them my web site address. It is the Funeral Window Display I never had the guts to do and I get tones of funeral work from it.

Mine costs me twenty quid a month (less than a tiny newspaper add) I built it myself and have complete control over it's contents. Best twenty quid a month I've ever spent!

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Your Colchester Florist for Flowers in Colchester

Im making a portfolio at the moment of funeral work to try and win over the funeral directors in the next town. The local one already uses me but I want to expand and do more. They will already have florists they use and have probably used them for years so they are going to be reluctant to trust someone who is new so you have to offer them something you can do that the other florists would maybe refuse. This is why I am so interested in treens funeral work. She has developed over the years a method of doing funeral work - 3d and picture boards - that I have never seen before. I think if I can do this type of work then the funeral directors might use me even if at first it is only for unusal pieces. This will take time because Im having to do pieces just to take pictures, but I have done a 3d dog and put it right in the middle of the valentines window, it has created a lot of interest. We do give the local director a 10% discount and most of them will expect that, you just have to take that into consideration when pricing

just in the process of having a website built at the moment. kept putting it off but realise i have to have one.

hehe a funeral window display, it had crossed my mind, but oh god. could you imagine peoples faces hehe

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Never say never.

Well, unless your sure.

thanks appleblossom, i did know about the commision bit. i also am aware about the trust thing with funeral directors, it is something to be built on. it is just that in the possition i am, i am away from the main drag of the highstreet so need to increase my presence (sp) in the funeral flower dept.

good advice guys thank you

__________________

Never say never.

Well, unless your sure.

Also an idea lou is if u have a workroom, dont leavetrhe tributes out of sight, leave in shop so customers can see

i always start by laying in the shop then get worried incase someone's little darling comes running in and stands on them hahaha

__________________

Never say never.

Well, unless your sure.