Flower Delivery Driver Tips (Reminders) for the Ultimate Cupid Experience

Episode 164: We know that you are in the thick of designing and providing the best customer experience possible and there's not much we can offer you at this point. You've got this! These next few days, the delivery driver has a huge responsibility as they are the last leg of the relay.  We've talked with many shop owners and these are the common tips that we're passing along.  Short and sweet ~ less than 10 minutes!

Sponsored by:
Flower Clique
Flower Clique Prep School
Real Life Retail Florist

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:02

Okay, you're on the countdown. You have extra designs prepped and ready to go for customers to take out the door, as well as that last minute customer who's calling or putting the order on your website. So you can put that card on and send it out the door. So your delivery driver has a huge responsibility the next few days and we have prepared this podcast specifically for them.

Speaker 2 0:31

Welcome

Speaker 1 0:32

To the Business and Pleasure of Flowers. We're your host, fond of Fever

Speaker 3 0:35

And Lori Wilson , and we believe that business and fun are a perfect combination, kind

Speaker 1 0:41

Of like us. Wanda <laugh>. Hey clickers, thanks for joining me today. Today I have kind of an unusual episode, right? For one thing, I'm solo, which doesn't happen very often and we're dropping this on a Monday in preparation for Valentine's Day. Tuesday focus is specifically flower delivery tips. So welcome all delivery drivers. You're out there spreading love and happiness. These next few days, you are appreciated. In case you're not aware of that, you are delivering on the single busiest day or two of the year. For a florist, think of yourself as cupid . According to the myth, Cupid is the son of Mercury who is the winged messenger of the gods. And Venus, the goddess of love, he often appeared as an winged infant, cherub , carrying a bow and quiver of arrows whose wounds inspired love and passion in each and every victim. So those flowers you are delivering are much like the arrows of cupid . That's how important those flowers are that you're delivering. So don't forget that. So let's get right into this. First and foremost, know the policy of the shop that you're representing. They might have specific things that they will be telling you or have told you that override anything I'm saying today, but just keep these in your mind cuz it really important. First of all, if the address is 10 minutes away from your shop or generally speaking, you have to deliver a distance to get where you're going. Call the recipient before you go, or maybe somebody's doing that for you, but you wanna verify the address and make sure someone's there for you to connect. It's terrible to drive a long distance and get there and nobody's home and you have to bring the design back. Time is of the essence and anything you can do to prevent a return trip is pretty important. Another one, think about treat your flowers like a baby. They're fragile, right? Protect them from the cold, from the, the heat, from the wind, from the rain, from the elements. So they're fragile. Protect them . Be sure you have a delivery list or a log in the vehicle with you as you're going. I'm sure you have the stops in what order you're supposed to go. That's really important for you to be the most efficient you can be during any delivery trip. So depending on the policy of your shop, you might require a signature. But be sure and note the time you took that delivery because that's gonna really be helpful information for the shop. When a customer might call and say, Hey, have my flowers been delivered? Can get me an idea? What time? Boy , if you have that information form is really helpful. You might be working a shop that requires you to take a picture too, which has a timestamp on it and gives all the information that you need. So either way, just having information that you can supply to the shop who can pass that along to the customer if it's necessary, is super helpful. Don't leave the flowers unless you've been instructed to do so. Like the baby, you wouldn't leave the baby on the steps . So keep in mind, protect the flowers. If the recipient isn't home, leave a door tag, which you've probably already been instructed to do, but that usually says, call us when you return. We have a gift for you, or something like that. And make a note of the time and the place that you left the door tag. So those things are helpful. A couple things that are really helpful to have in your vehicle. Of course you'll have a cell phone , some way to communicate with the shop, then a jug of water, a towel, some type of a clipper and a few extra flowers. Now if the vase tips over for some reason and maybe somebody pulled out in front of you, you had to stop suddenly and the base fell or just came over a little bit and you lost some water. It's always good to be able to dry off that face , refill it before you take the delivery to the front door or whoever you're taking the delivery. If something breaks during that mishap call or send a picture to your contact at the shop. Just let somebody know, right? Things happen. But sometimes shooting a picture will allow them to decide if you need to take the design back to the shop or if there's just one little flower maybe that broke off. If you can use your clipper, remove that blossom and complete the delivery. A few extra flowers are nice to have with you for this reason. If you're leaving the flower arrangement with a neighbor, yeah , if the person's on home but you've found a neighbor and that's part of your policy that you can leave it there, then it's nice to take the flower up to the neighbor and say, Hey, thank you for um, agreeing to give this to the neighbor when they get back. So here's a little flower just for you. Or if you're in an office building and that person lets you in the door, for example, or goes the extra mile, somehow getting you through someplace you're not supposed to go. Or sometimes you can tell when somebody's just having a bad day and maybe they need a smile. And if time permits, it's great to have a business card tied to that flower to remind them of the source of the happiness that's been extended to them . And let me state the obvious, it's too late to tell you this. Maybe if you're already delivering today, and hopefully someone already shared this with you today. You are a reflection of the shop that you're delivering for your every action is a reflection. Yeah, right? That's a big responsibility. It's all about maintaining a neat personal appearance, being polite, courteous and smile. You're delivering a gift. Drive cautiously and carefully and follow the laws. Yes, that's speeding too. And don't play the music in the van or your vehicle too loudly. You need to be able to hear what's going on around you. And think about when you open the door of the vehicle, what are others gonna hear? And it all comes to you are a moving billboard and every little thing you do is being watched from all around you. As a former shop owner, I have to tell you, I would get calls from people in the community telling me if my driver did something wrong and I had high school kids driving, so it happened a time or two, let me tell you . But the community is watching. So remember, you are a moving billboard and then communication is key. If there are any special requests by the logistics engineer, okay? The person at the shop who's routing your deliveries, be sure to note those. Note those on your delivery log or whatever you need to do to have that remind you of that special delivery. And you want to text or call back whenever necessary, right? A friend of mine, Chuck, he texts back to the shop when he finishes that delivery like it was a timed delivery or specific delivery in it . He always writes, the eagle has landed on Summit Street or wherever that specific one was, so everybody knows it's there, which I think is kind of cute too. So you might have some kind of communication back and forth with the shop that really makes sense to you. Don't forget to keep an eye on your fuel. You're covering a lot of ground and the last thing you need to do is run out of gas. So keep your eye there. And one thing I want you to be aware of is how important you are to the success of the team. You are delivering an important message. Think about this. One of your team members took the order from the customer with that special request to impress somebody to show their love. Or it could even be to show condolences. But then the designer created the design and now you're executing the final step. The delivery of the flowers, the gift, the message. Some of your customers have never been in the flower shop and you're the only physical connection the customer and the recipient have to your shop. Wow. So make a good impression. Remember, you get to spread the joy. You will make a lot of people happy today. I'm not denying it's a lot of work. You're putting a lot of miles on those feet. However, picture yourself as cupid and smile. Absorb the smiles you receive , collect the positive energy and pass it on. Happy Valentine's Day. Keep spreading the love .

Speaker 3 9:31

Thank you so much for listening to our podcast. We hope you enjoyed spending time with us because we enjoy spending time with you. If you did, make sure you hit that subscribe button or add the business and pleasure of flowers to your Google Morning routine or your flash briefing on Alexa. We look forward to seeing you next week.

Speaker 4 9:52

So 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 .