Mothering Sunday is on the 10th March this year, it’s only 3 weeks between one peak and another. A 5 minute read of this Mother’s Day checklist might just be the time saver you need.
THE BASICS
1, Get your website working for you! Have banner adverts on your home page linking through to the Mother’s Day products.
2, Make sure you have great images on all your social media channels – explain what set’s you apart! Gather wording and images now to save time later on and look out for our most popular hashtags via the BFA Instagram posts.
3, Email your customers to let them know about your Mother’s Day range is available to order now! Stress that customer pre-order is available. Pre-order everything you dare, from your wholesaler, especially as the prices are high around International Women’s Day.
4, Schedule your Facebook and Instagram posts, don’t suddenly go silent on your business page just when you need to be ‘out there’ get your posts done in advance! Pop into the members area for web images and Instagram images and stories.
5, We know a window display, for some businesses, is still a must but research suggests you need to change it regularly and if you’re in a studio don’t forget to display some samples as you never know who might pop round.
6, Use raffle tickets or a colour coded system for your drivers to find the orders quick and easy and which products have add-ons.
7, Spread the word to get customers aware of early ordering via social media posts and Facebook competitions.
8, Remember to cater for memorials – even if you have plants for graves, it’s an area not to be ignored.
9, Do you create your own range of Mother’s Day products? Be mindful not just of the pricing but the ease and cost efficiency to produce. E.g. is looping aspidistra better value than other foliage? Can you buy in bulk and get better savings still?
10, Supply posters, for company staff areas that are open and leave flyers & business cards. Members can download the posters we’ve produced.
11, Call your clients that ordered last year. You’re likely to have email addresses – if you’ve never tried it you’ll be pleasantly surprised how your offer to take the hassle out of the organisation is generally very welcome. Use an EPOS system to keep the data protected.
12, Have you planned all your designs, giving them names to each design to aid sales? Go to the members area to download our 15 free images.
13, If you’re short of space why not consider contacting your local council for an empty shop/ pub room/ village/scout hall or source an industrial unit to rent which will give you some extra space away from the shop to make-up orders.
14, Advice for the newer florists… Block your orders together, create all the spring hand-ties together, your Mother’s Day hand-tie in one batch etc.
15, Look back at your notes from last year (or your invoices) what did you have to restock on at the last moment?
16, Working or storing out of the usual premises? … be aware of dropping temperatures and check your insurance covers everything! Having extra space and no interruptions could sky rocket productivity and more than pay for itself!
17, Do anything that you can do in advance now – pre-fold wrappings for hand-ties, attach care instructions to cut flower food, make bows, pre-wrap vases for arranging flowers into, gift wrap items such as teddies and chocolates ready to display.
18, Are all your delivery charges up-to-date and up on the wall by the phone? More to the point have you updated them on your website?
BORING BUT NECESSARY
19, Check your stock levels: Ink and paper for the printer, pens, helium for the balloons, tea, coffee, loo rolls! As well as balloons, wine and champagne, chocolates, vases, care cards, cut flower food, cellophane, gift cards, envelopes and hand tie bags.
20, Are you a member of relay? Why not make a quick reference point for all cut-off times, order and add on codes, and delivery charges.
INVOLVING YOUR HELPERS AND STAFF
21, For ease make one person responsible for all customer queries. This way they know exactly the circumstances of each query. You wont need to shout ‘does anybody know about this?’ !
22, Have a mini meeting/get together with all your staff to discuss your & their ideas, get the timetables and preparation all set! Maybe they have some nice design ideas that don’t include pink!
23, Think about where your key staff will be, and who is responsible for which tasks. Keep your fastest workers away from the hustle and bustle of the main workroom.
24, Keep your staff working on one production line and then switch them over, this way they’re focused on their task, but it doesn’t become mundane.
25, Consider printing copies of recipes for each design you’ll create. Make sure every staff member has one.
26, What else should be on this list – Let your staff look at this and encourage them to add to what can be done to get organised.
27, How much can you all upsell? Could you introduce a sales incentive for your staff to encourage them?
28, Could you draft in someone to handle the phones and serve customers, a quick crash course with a sensible friendly helper could take the pressure off – you might know just the person or family member.
29, Take care of yourself and your staff. To get the best out of them give them breaks, food, plenty of drinks and take care of your athletes! a sweet treat does not go unappreciated. If you need support look on our Perennial page.
PREPARE YOUR DRIVERS
30, Have your vans serviced now before its too late!
31, Negotiate with your local taxi companies in advance if you need their support with deliveries. Find a courier company just in case your fastest driver falls ill.
32, Make sure every driver has an emergency kit. Give them something spare of everything to avoid them having to return to the shop, from cut flower food to a box of chocolates and even a balloon. There’s always one that flies away.
33, You might find the free app ‘Voyager: Route planner’ useful to work out the best delivery route.
DAILY TO DO’S
34, Don’t allow large sums of cash to build up in your till.
35, Don’t forget to ‘z’ at the end of each day of what is selling and what’s not.
WHAT IS THE BACK UP PLAN!
36, Always know what your plan B might will be! You know what might go wrong, just consider alternatives in those situations.
