Do YOU Answer Your Own Phones 24/7?

No, not a secretary or an answering service.

I'm talking about YOU the business owner...actually answering the phone.

Because THAT was our niche.

We answered our own phones...24/7...365. Just call 1-800-705-ROSE(7673) and not only did you get a live body, you got the owner.

When we started with their website back in 1998, we were going to be different.


When you wanted us...you got us...at any time of day or night.

Which was fine during regular business hours.

But how about in the middle of the night? Yup, had to answer within 3 rings and try to sound intelligent when the customer in Singapore wanted to place a flower order for delivery in Kenora.

Washroom break? Not going to happen...the mobile phone & order pad went with me.

Watching my daughter's softball game? Mobile phone & clipboard with order forms attached. Sometimes I even brought my laptop & tethered to my cell phone to get wifi...so I could process the order and our customers didn't have to wait for an Order Confirmation.

Holidays? Nope...the phone went with me.

But did it work? Sure did! We built our internet business from 0 customers to a database of over 37,000 customers today.

But growth has its price.

Something had to give...and it did.

In 2004 at the ripe old age of 43, I had the heart attack. A stent and two angioplasties.

And two days after surgery I was back at my desk taking calls.

But the writing was seriously on the wall. Enough was enough.

We actually incorporated an online shopping cart AND started with an answering service soon after.

Today, I still answer the phones. From 6:00 in the morning to 4:00 in the afternoon Monday to Friday, and from 8:00 to 2:00 on Saturday and Sunday.

That's only 62 hours a week, but still better than 168, don't you think?

Are You the Closest #Florist to...???

Do you want the closest florist...or the best flower shop to deliver your gift?

Since when did proximity mean quality?

With over 18,000 florists in Canada & the U.S....

How do YOU know whether a shop is good?

The answer is...you probably won't have a clue.

 
There are three ways to find a florist in Canada on the 'net for nationwide deliveries:

1. Search for florist or flowers, plus the city you're looking for. This will give you a whole pile of results whether you're using Google, Bing, or Yahoo. There is no certainty as to what flower shop is good or not. Roll the dice & take your chances.
2. Go to a "monster" brand like FTD or Teleflora that have a number of members. They will chose the shop that will fill your order. Again, it won't necessarily be the best shop...it might even be the shop that owes them the most money that fills your order!
3. Use a trusted internet florist like Simon Says Roses. We know the best shops in all cities and major towns in Canada. We've developed a relationship with shop owners & staff all over the country, as we've been in the business for over 20 years. Many shops get hundreds of orders a year from us, worth thousands of dollars. You get a professional, quality gift...or it gets replaced. And the shop may lose our business if they mess up your order, so chances are small that it won't be done properly.

Our motto is "our job is to make you look good".

We take our job very seriously!

The Internet's Broken...I Can't Find a Florist!

So we take an order for birthday flowers in Princeton, B.C.

Shouldn't be a problem as we've sent orders to the only shop in town a number of times before.

The town is too small for the florist to be a member of FTD, Teleflora, or 1-800 flowers as there simply isn't the volume of orders to make it worthwhile.

But as a service to our customers, we end up putting these orders on our business credit card. We don't get any commission on these orders...it's simply a service we're providing.

So we start calling at noon yesterday. Once an hour until closing. Hmmm...no answer...so we start again at 9:00 this morning with the same result.

No answer...no voice mail....is the shop out of business?

So now I put on my detective's cap.

The order was going to a nursing home, so I tried phoning there.

"Yes, the shop that you've always used in the past is now closed. There's a new place that opened two weeks ago. Sweet Somethingorother. Nope...sorry...don't know the phone number."

Not exactly the answer I was looking for, but it was a start.

So we tried a Google search...no luck. Probably too new for a website.

Sat back & thought for a minute as to where else in Princeton might receive a lot of flowers. The hospital!!!

Did a Google search & called, but the operator had no answer...BUT...the hairdresser might know!

So she gives me the number for the hair salon and I call over there.

"YES...there is a shop that just opened a few doors down. Hold on a second, and I'll walk over there with the phone...Hi, it's Ron speaking...sure we'll take your order".

Long story short, we placed the order over the phone.

Gotta' love small towns.

Easiest Way to Order ANYTHING on the Internet

We all want an easy way to order things on the 'net. We want to do it fast...and keep it simple.

Is it online through a shopping cart with a bunch of information that you have to fill out?

How about picking up the phone? But you still need to recite all the information.

Or maybe the single easiest way to order anything on the internet might be...

EMAIL!!!

Just received this email from a customer...

"Hi, Frank. I'd like to order flowers again for my Mom (Julie Smith) on her birthday for November 12th. Her information hasn't changed, and mine hasn't either.
Please send the same thing as last year (she loved what you sent), with the same card message. Use the credit card we used for Mother's Day, ending in "4398". Please send me an Invoice by email once it's done. Any problems, let me know.

Thanks much. Jim Smith."


We pulled up Jim's file by searching on his name, together with his Mom's name, and we copied last year's order changing only the delivery date to this year.

Short...sweet...and all the information we need is there.

When you have a relationship with your customers, ordering can be REALLY easy!

Did We Miss Christmas Already?

And here I thought there was plenty of time.

Christmas was almost two months away, so I thought I could wait. NOT!

 

I had two reminders this week to update our Christmas flowers web page.

The first was an online order. Granted it was for a birthday and not the holidays, but the customer had ordered a Christmas flower centrepiece from last year's product offerings that I hadn't planned on putting out there for this year.

I changed my mind really quick. When somebody buys a flower arrangement, it tells me that people like the style and price, so it's going to stay on the site!

The second reminder came in a phone call. The customer had just ordered two sympathy pieces for Norway last week, and loved the quality of the flowers and the customer service we provided. She now wanted to order Christmas floral arrangements for Canada as she was leaving for a six month stay in Mexico, and wanted to get her shopping out of the way.

The problem with our website is that it had a couple of products with "Sold Out" on them. Thinking this was last year's Christmas catalogue, she called asking when this year's products would be available online.

I'm a little slow, and hate promoting Christmas way in advance. But I also get the message.

So effect immediately, our Christmas flower & gift page is now updated and active.

Thanks as always to our customers (you don't have to tell me three times to get things done)!