The Business & Pleasure of Flowers
Join Vonda LaFever and Lori Wilson as they share expert advice, insider tips, and a whole lot of fun on all things floral. While everyone loves flowers, running a floral business can come with its fair share of challenges that might make you lose sight of the joy it brings. In this engaging and informative podcast, Vonda’s wealth of floral expertise pairs perfectly with Lori’s background in teaching, sales training, and life coaching to deliver valuable insights you can use right away.
From industry trends and the flower shop of the future to overcoming obstacles like boosting sales and building a stellar customer service team, they’ve got you covered. Discover how small shifts in your mindset and approach can create big transformations in your business and life.
Hit subscribe to put the pleasure back into your life, go back to loving flowers, find fresh inspiration, and bring the joy back to your business!
The Business & Pleasure of Flowers
How to Fix Your Employee Onboarding and Retain a Strong Team
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Episode 134: We often are relieved when we find the right hire, only to be disappointed when they leave after a short time. Vonda and Lori share some real life owner issues that many retail businesses are dealing with right now. The good news is they discuss a self check list you can implement right away!
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So number one is the only truly sustainable competitive advantage that a business owner has is the culture of your shop.
SPEAKER_02Welcome to the Business and Pleasure of Flowers. We're your hosts, Vonda LaFever.
SPEAKER_00And Lori Wilson, and we believe that business and fun are a perfect combination. Kind of like us, Vonda.
SPEAKER_01All right, so Vonda this week and last week and the week before, I just keep getting the same phone calls from um Flower Click members who are in our prep school courses. You know, the ones that use like the design and the sales prep for onboarding, right? And so part of my job is I create the accounts for their employees. But I'm telling you, and I don't know if it's just because summer, I don't think it is because I'm starting to see, I see a huge pattern. So many of them are like, hey, I have new, I need you to add, but I also need you to delete these three. Um, so much so that I got one this week was like one step forward, four steps back. And it meant like I got one new hire, but four just quit. I'm like, what is going on? So wow, I, you know, I go to research, you dig in, I gotta find an answer. And um the the article that I read, I want to preface it by saying the first sentence was, I'm a weird person, I have weird thoughts. And I was like, hey, me too. So I kept reading.
SPEAKER_02No, you say I have shower thoughts. Yes, I have shower thoughts.
SPEAKER_01Exactly, exactly. So, anyway, this article is by a man named Ted Bauer, and it's it was short, but it sparked a lot of truth for me and you and what we deal with every day. So I'm hoping um this will help, and it's all about how to fix your onboarding. So I think a lot of people, and and and many times this is true. We've been hearing over the last two years, people just don't want to work, they don't want to work, they don't want to work, and there is some truth to that. I I get it, but there's also truth to they just don't want to work at your place, you know.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and we did cover that a little bit.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we did when we asked that the internal, external, you know, are you saying work, yes, right? So this just takes it another step deeper. I think if whoever's listening, if this is something you're struggling with, I'm hoping by the end of this little half hour, you'll be able to walk away with like some some takeaways or some, oh, I'm gonna try changing just that one thing and see what happens. So, anyway, talked a lot about how it's expensive to hire, right? Because you hire, you start training, and then four days later they don't show up. Um, or what is happening, they come in for their second interview, and they never come back when it's time to start the training. So this article is suggesting that we need to make three assumptions about onboarding. Number one, so number one is the only truly sustainable competitive advantage that a business owner has is the culture of your shop. So true, so true, because in reality, whoever's working for you, it's not like they're gonna be a you know $500,000 a year salaried employee. So that's not you can't offer that, right? You can offer a fair wage, you can offer a fair right, but there's there's got to be a lot more to it than just because quite frankly, again, as one shop owner told me, they could go work at Taco Bell for that same amount of money or more for two dollars more. So the only thing you have, it let me back up a minute. A lot of us think, or a lot of business owners think, well, I am the best shop in town, I have the best reputation, we have the freshest flowers, we have you know, we have all of this, which is great, but think of that which is your product, external, it's right, it's the product. Yes, most people aren't gonna come work for you because you have the prettiest product. True, they're really not. I mean, in in this industry, maybe a designer, right?
SPEAKER_02Maybe a designer designer would want to be in um a world recognized shop. There's there's something to that, right? Especially when you're getting to learn more and grow more, you want to be in a reputable shop, right?
SPEAKER_01Right. So that that is going to be important, but you can't discount does everybody get along? Are they fun? Are they backstabbing? Whatever. So the first assumption your competitive advantage is the culture of your business of your shop.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_01The second assumption that we need to make is poor fit with the culture is the number one fail of a new hire by just and we've known this for decades, right? Right. It's so important that when we go into your onboarding steps, you put these questions in place to make sure they are going to be a good fit. Because if not, you're just gonna be, it's a waste of your time. Number three is effective onboarding is the way you reduce the risk of bad hires, and it's also the way you assimilate them into your culture. Yeah, that makes sense, right? Right, but this one, these three for some reason are incredibly hard for a business owner to understand. Um, culture for somebody that let's say you've owned your business for you and your husband own it, I don't know, for 30 years, and this is a new concept, it's gonna be hard to grasp. You're because you also you gotta own it, you gotta take a little ownership in why people keep leaving, right?
SPEAKER_02And that's the hardest part, right? It's like, oh, can't be me, right? I have to look internally and say, right, what am I doing? Or also sometimes it might not be you, it might be your other employees, and they're very clickish and they're not going to let someone else. Right, right. So that would be not inclusive, right?
SPEAKER_01So when you're focusing on your products, your service, your margin, you know, oh, we have 300 deliveries a day, or you know, all of these things, that's great. But what you really need to be focusing on are people, ideas, and listening to those ideas, listening to those ideas, staff, and training at a pace that's comfortable to them.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. Yeah, because I kind of went down that rabbit hole, right? Because when it was like, you know, the onboarding process is important, yeah, and because of the culture, but oftentimes we just throw them in there, right? It's just like this is what you're gonna do, and you know, you're gonna come in, you're gonna clock in. When you get done that, maybe you need to do the vacuuming, or else you're the one that has to process the flowers and then put them in the cooler. And then if the phone rings, be sure you're gonna answer the phone. And you know, here's your stack of orders. And besides doing these stack of orders, always continually see what else coming in and what's going on the next day, and then at the end of the day, you need to do this and do this. And now, by by now, I'm like, I don't want to do this, but uh we have to break them in slowly. Right, it's like, you know, today let's concentrate on this, and then tomorrow this. And then if you're trying to bring them into the culture of the shop, you want a really key employee, like you mentioned before, somebody who can mentor them that can take them through those steps and be the one that they're gonna model.
SPEAKER_01One thing this article talks about when you're hiring them, go over expect, you know, by the end of the first week, we hope that you can achieve this, this, and this. But you know who does this really well is um fry tags in Austin. When I was on that panel with the owner, he talked and I was like, wow, that's so smart because you're gonna overwhelm them. Yes, you're gonna overwhelm them. So do these little markers, like by the end of the first week, let's have that, and and then follow back up, right? If if you have a mentor that's helping them because you're not, you still need to come in and have that check-in with them and the mentor going, hey, how are we doing? Do we need a little extra time? I mean, and by that point, do you have any questions? Right. You have questions, concerns, comments, criticism, whatever, right? And by that time, you will know, you know what, they really are fitting in well. They're a little slow in figuring things out, but that's okay. I can you're gonna be able to figure that part out too, right? Or they're not fitting in.
SPEAKER_02Sometimes when you're in the process of on onboarding and you're turning it over to somebody else, and you get really busy and you can't get back to them, and then they're wondering what's going on, and you're like, oh shoot, I gotta get back over to here, and I've got to see how they're doing, and it really gets us kind of into what I think it's referring to as the busy track.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, well, it it absolutely does in our actions, it shows we're busy. The other thing, Bonda, and I've told you this before, it's one of my pet peeves, and I have a person very, very close to me that does this, and she's related to me, so she knows she does it, but every conversation, I'm so busy. Oh, I'm just busy, and just so much so sometimes you don't even want to talk to them anymore. But I'm just using as an example, it's it's a habit that a lot of people have. We're all guilty of it every once in a while, but when you're onboarding a new hire, be very careful of your words. If you go to them and go, I'm super busy, I can't, you know, but so-and-so's gonna help you. You just that's really not a good introduction. No, you know, because then they think that you're not approachable. Well, you're not approachable, and it also says, You don't really value me, you don't even know me yet. I was wanting to, you know, you need to take a little time and get to know them. Um, so that's why I was saying it's a good if you do have someone else there that can be that mentor for the day-to-day, but have those end-of-the-week markers, um, maybe um every couple days. Hey, how are you doing? Do you have any questions? You know, even if you take them into, you know, aside, don't always do it in front because you want them to know that you're approachable.
SPEAKER_02Makes so much sense because otherwise they're just like she hired me and she's gone, right?
SPEAKER_01Right. So in this article, it says, Do you know how awful it is to start a new job and on day two already have your manager barely paying attention to you and you're sitting there going, I said no to job B for this. You know, so again, we don't mean to be busy, we don't mean to do this, but perception is is everything.
SPEAKER_02And I think on hiring for somebody in the floral industry, the floral shop, it makes a difference if you've worked in a flower shop before or not, right? So if that employee's already worked in shop, yes, they know a little bit more. The onboarding is different. We have so many new people who want to enter our industry, and thank God for that, that we really have to be careful how we're mentoring them and how we are really using this onboarding process to make it a really good experience for them.
SPEAKER_01You know, it's uh it's always an interesting debate in our members only group about people, shop owners that they prefer experienced or a lot of them prefer no, especially when it comes to your sales team. Um you know, designer, of course, you want some, but they're like a lot of them come in with bad habits, and they're so it's so much harder to change than it is if they just know nothing.
SPEAKER_02Well, if they're bringing in a new person for sales, right? They could put them in sales prep school, which is Sharp Prep School, set them in there and learn how to sell without having those bad habits, right? Oh right, you know, when they're selling shoes, which is so different than selling flowers, exactly, and that's the key is giving them good habits to start with.
SPEAKER_01So I understand why our members are like, boy, I'd just rather have somebody, you know, I want to be real honest about sales prep school. I do I say this to every person I meet with that purchases it do not sit them in front of this computer the first day and have them go through everything and assume they're trained. No one can do that, that's impossible. So, one of the uh ways that we encourage people is to discuss the goals you want them to achieve by the end of the week and don't have more than two or three. I mean, you know, they need to be, especially that first week, they need to be easily attainable goals because you want them to feel good about look, hey, I did it, I got all those done.
SPEAKER_02And you also want them to be able to be working into the culture of your business, and if you have them just watching something and studying and doing this, they're really not getting the feel of what your business is about, what the culture of your shop and you as the owner and the other employees and the delivery driver, you know, the whole thing.
SPEAKER_01Well, right, and again, not to keep talking about our prep school, which I do love, but one really cool thing that our that would be easy for a shop to do with our flower design prep, but uh again, along with sales prep, put them in those positions of oh, you this is how you process flowers. The other part of that is they might love it, and all of a sudden something sparked and they're like, Oh my gosh, I do love this, or I love delivering, or you know, put them in with all of your rest of your staff too, the sooner the better, right?
SPEAKER_02Right, because then they feel like they're a part of that and they don't want to leave, they don't want to leave.
SPEAKER_01And and during these times, the other thing they say is asking them the question, like let's say they did something new today, let's wash buckets. Did you like it? You can be honest, be totally honest, you know, because maybe they did, or they're like, No, I don't, I don't. Okay, so you know in your mind, only put them there when needed, right? Or if that's what you hired them, so put them in all of these little pockets of your business to see what inspiration sparks.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you might have hired them for sales, which is what you need them for, but they're not on the phone, especially, you know, in your slower times. What is it that they have said, oh, you know what? I really didn't mind doing that, you know, or I I really did like processing flowers because I could see all the new varieties and the colors, and yep, you know, so yeah, paying attention, paying attention and another, another really important step in that hiring conversation after you've hired them.
SPEAKER_01And I again I learned so much when I was deep diving into these things, especially if they've never worked in a flower shop, they need to know how does this company make money? What is important? And what I mean by that is the difference between me going through Taco Bell drive-thru, they're just can I take your order? Yeah, okay, pull up to the window, right? If they're coming from that type of job, which there's nothing wrong with that job, but the higher price point you sell when you're offering things, the better. That's how the company makes money, it's very important.
SPEAKER_02It's how the company makes money and how the customer is more satisfied. You have to put those two together. You know, it's not all about us making the money. It's no we know that the customer is more satisfied if they purchase a nicer product, right? Right. And the other thing is that you for employees, you know, you're getting them onboarded, but knowing that they're there's education for them continually. Yeah, they always should be able to learn. Okay, and a lot of people, it's like, this is what you're doing, this is it. Uh no, here at our company, the culture is continuing education. We like you to know what's going on in the industry, it's not this little bubble we're in, and that's it.
SPEAKER_01No, and there's so much, there's everything from free YouTube or great videos to you know paid go and learn. I think um I've talked to a handful this last month of shop owners who they're not going, but they're sending their employees to the next gen summit um event for SAF. And I love that. And I think if I was a part-time employee at a flower shop and my boss valued me enough to want me to go, I would never want to leave that place. I would feel like wow, because they're investing that money, and that means they believe in me. Exactly.
SPEAKER_02I mean, that's the key.
SPEAKER_01That's very cool. Um, the last thing, there's so many of them, Vonda, but uh the the other thing I want them to really think about is again, this onboarding process should not be done in two to three days. I know a lot of people, that's your goal because you need employees, right? But it's this vicious cycle, you're cramming them full of expectation and training, and they're overwhelmed and they're like, I can't do this, I don't want to do it.
SPEAKER_02And this time of year, and until you get to crunch time before a holiday, you have the time to really mentor them, take the time to have them learn it correctly because it's to your advantage if you can really get them to understand not only how to do it, but why they do it. Yeah, it's the hows and the whys on that onboarding that really do make a difference and make people really embrace what you're asking them to do.
SPEAKER_01I think back to something Julie Poulter said to me when I was your scapegoat for the floral design school. But back when you know you guys were showing me different ways to do something as simple as bow tying, and she said to me, which by the way, she's the best teacher, she's so kind, not that you're not, but she's just so encouraging, she's very patient. But she said, um, when after the video was done, and she said, Listen, if you were in my shop, I would have you go in the back and spend the rest of the day making bows and putting them up on a corkboard. That's how you learn. So don't think the because I was like, I'm never gonna remember this because I don't have ribbon at home, I don't work in a shop, but she said it takes that amount of practice to feel for them to feel confident, right? Right, and I just loved that, and I think that's really in everything you do when you're on board, you show them, you apply on you show them the example, and then have them do it 20 times before until they feel good about it.
SPEAKER_02I mean, that's even with processing flowers because you want to make sure that's done correctly, and it's the repetition. It's like you know, and that's easy to repeat, right? Because you get flowers in every day or every other day. Right, right, having Like that, right? Or again, like you're saying, answering the phone. Yeah, well, practice.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, if they're still not comfortable answering the phone, have them be dialoguing. I mean, we've said that a hundred times. Practice. You know, it can be as awkward and silly as you want. Um, so the last few tips define who your employee is. Again, your avatar, right? We talk about the who do you want it to be. Define why they're valuable. Share with them. Hey, you've got a great voice, you are really peppy and energetic. You're gonna be great on the front part of our store answering the phone. This, you are gonna be so valuable. Define how you're gonna interact with me. So if I'm your owner, I'm gonna say I'm always here if you need me, but Vonda, my uh right-hand woman, is gonna mentor you around. That doesn't mean you can't come to me. That just means she's gonna be out here. I'm gonna be kind of all over the place. But if you need anything, so define that relationship and define how long, if you're processing flowers, you're gonna say, for this whole week, or whatever you decide, we're gonna put you back in processing flowers because it's a very important job. We really we think you can, we know you can do it, but you you know, or whatever.
SPEAKER_02And then I'm gonna check in with you at the end of the week and see. Yeah, so you're yeah, you let them know when you're checking, right?
SPEAKER_01I think the caveat to that is kind of common sense. If you're the mentor or the if you're in day two, let's pretend it's me processing flowers, and day two, you know, this isn't, this is not probably something she's gonna shine better elsewhere, it's okay to finish out the end of that day, and and then the next day go, you know what, we're gonna have you somewhere anyway. It's okay to transition it if you see either they're not doing it well, or if you see they seem really frustrated, right?
SPEAKER_02Watch for the signs, and as long as you didn't hire them for that specific job. That's what I was gonna say.
SPEAKER_01That's like if you hired me as the designer, you would quickly realize, well, that is just silly.
SPEAKER_02So that was not a good idea because she's chatting with everybody, and so you might as well put her out in the front room to wait on those customers because she really seems to know what she's doing, right?
SPEAKER_01Right. So, you know, that's really I mean, I hope we're providing some tips and ideas. The bottom line is if if you could just walk away with one thing, slow it down. Again, it's why flowershop owners are so amazing. They can multitask, they can get quick turnaround time, they get a call from a funeral home. Oh my gosh, we forgot to order a casket spray, it starts in 30 minutes, boom. I mean, it's unbelievable how they are, but to a new employee who isn't used to that, it can be overwhelming. And they're like, you know what, I can't do this. And and they don't come to you. That's the thing, it they're not gonna come to you and go, I feel like I can't do this. They just stop showing up. Yeah, so watch the body language.
SPEAKER_02Um, just watch for those because you want to create that culture that they want to stay there and be part of you. Yep, exactly.
SPEAKER_01All right, Vonda, our speech is over. Um, what are you getting inspired by right now?
SPEAKER_02What I'm getting inspired by right now is that they actually are doing some work on my house and they put in some new steps and they're looking pretty cool. I mean, it's like they had to take them out because they were like falling down. Yes. And so they poured some new ones and we're waiting for the stone to go over the top of them. So I'm kind of inspired by watching construction workers and how they're really so detailed in what they do, and I appreciate that they take the time to be so detailed. Yeah, and you know, they like what they do and they want to make sure that you're happy. I think that's kind of inspiring. You want to have somebody who takes pride in their work, yes, and I can really tell that they do. Yeah, that's what's inspiring me.
SPEAKER_01Very cool, very cool. What's inspiring me right now is the fact that Ellie LaFever and I will be heading to Next Gen in Miami, the end of this month, and we have been working on our presentation, and that always inspires me, it always fuels me almost to the point where I give too much information, but I always love partnering with her because she's so good at balancing all of my thoughts. Um, and I'm just excited. I'm excited to meet like younger generation of Boris, and I think she's excited too. So that's that's what's inspiring me.
SPEAKER_02I know I'm so excited for both of you, and I'm really anxious when we get back to hear how it all went.
SPEAKER_01We'll probably have to do. We'll have Ellie come on with us and do like a little recap.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, sounds good.
SPEAKER_01See you later. Thank you so much for listening to our podcast. We hope you enjoyed spending time with us because we enjoy spending time with you.
SPEAKER_00If you did, make sure you hit that subscribe button or add the Business and Pleasure of Flower to your Google morning routine or your flash briefing on Alexa. We look forward to seeing you next week.
SPEAKER_02So please come back and join us and discover how a bit of knowledge and one small change in your mindset can take you to new levels in your life and business.