Teleflora unit meeting Nov 6 2002 in Salem OR featuring Cathy Hillen-Rulloda AIFD, PFCI from Avante Gardens, Anaheim CA.

Program title "The Price is Right"

"One of the most difficult things we do is to recognize that our time is valuable and to charge accordingly", stated Cathy in her early remarks. "Labor is a key pricing factor and at least 20% should be added to the overall arrangement costs to cover it. Some shops go as low as 15% for simple and quick vase arrangements and then have a range of labor markups depending on how time consuming a piece is. Most Christmas pieces are fairly detailed so 25% is realistic while corsage work is extremely labor intensive compared to the price of the flowers so a 40% labor markup is a good working strategy." Remember, she said, "The cost of people is more expensive than the cost of product".

Tips:   Put a mirror by each phone so you can see yourself as you talk. A smile will be conveyed and the lack of a smile will also be conveyed.

Unless you know that the piece will be viewed from all sides, make your arrangements 3/4 style and use the flowers from the unfinished back to add more visual impact from the front. More impact for lower cost.

Always upsell by stressing what the customer wants- recognition from the receiver. "Someone calling for a "nice $35 arrangement" should hear a cheerful voice saying "yes, we can make a nice modest piece for $35 but we just received a shipment of _____(name of product) that is ____tall, showy, fragrant, brilliant color (benefit) and for $39.95 we can include that in a larger and more beautiful arrangement."

Designing is fun but arranging is where the profit is. Arranging is working fast from a set recipe with repetition.

Killer Filler: "The cost of filler flowers will kill you if it is not watched carefully."

Two pounds of Oregonia may have 5 large pieces and 20 smaller ones so pricing by the stem does not yield accurate results. It is better to figure on percentage of bunch used. "I used 1/4 of the total bunch so will charge $3 . (Bunch cost $4 delivered so 1/4 = $1 cost x 3 (markup) = $3)

Cathy called up 4 volunteers and asked them to "pick out $2 worth of filler" from various types of material. When the numbers were worked out using the bunch percentage formula, almost all were "giving away money" by using too much filler. " A bunch of Misty costs $7.50 so should retail for $22.50. If the bunch is split in half then split again and a third time (yields 8 equal parts) we see that $2 worth is just 1 ½ stems! Often we put more than that in "free" with a wrapped rose".

Photo captions:

#90 These 2 bouquets have the same costs to the florist in material and labor and illustrate the slogan that "height equals price" in the minds of the consumer. Arrangements that reach up and out will give higher profit returns than compact, short pieces. A vase of 30" roses is perceived as far more value than the same vase, same roses with stems cut to 15" tall.

#84 Cathy illustrates money issues- "As a general rule, a 3:1 markup on fresh items and a 2:1 markup on hardgoods should be applied along with the 20% labor markup. In some markets, because expenses are higher or lower than average, these will change but don’t price yourself short and work for nothing", she cautioned.