Unveiling the Art of Exceptional Customer Service with Sam Bowles: Rewind

Episode 247: Vonda and Lori are on the road and picked a great rewind for you. It's a rewind from last summer of Episode 185:  Join Lori and Ellie as they sit down with our good friend, Sam Bowles, the General Manager and Creative Director of Allen's Flowers in beautiful San Diego, CA. Get ready for an inspiring episode that will leave you motivated and eager to take your floral business to new heights!

In this captivating conversation, Sam shares his incredible journey from being a middle-school educator to diving headfirst into the world of flowers. Discover how he experienced personal growth and embraced the evolving floral industry, becoming a true expert in his field.

But that's not all! Sam also reveals the hard-hitting truth on delivering exceptional 5-star customer service. Whether your customers purchase flowers online, over the phone, or in person at your shop, this episode will provide you with valuable tools, ideas, and concepts to elevate their experience and surpass their expectations.
Attracting and retaining customers is crucial in today's competitive market, and Sam's expertise will guide you on how to ensure your business stands out. Learn how to demonstrate your unrivaled knowledge, readiness, and commitment to superior customer service, making your business the go-to destination for all things floral.

Don't miss out on this opportunity to gain valuable insights from a veteran floral business educator. Tune in to this enlightening episode and discover how you can exceed customer expectations and create an unforgettable floral experience!

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

Transcript

SPEAKER_06 0:03

Welcome to the Business and Pleasure of Flowers. We're your hosts, Vonda LaFever and Lori Wilson. And we believe that business and fun are a perfect combination.

SPEAKER_05 0:12

Kind of like us, Vonda.

SPEAKER_06 0:19

So Lori, here it is. The night before the podcast has to drop, and we're just spinning. We forgot, honestly.

SPEAKER_05 0:29

And the look on your face yesterday when I said, Hey, do we have to do a pod? Here's our excuse, though. Yep. We're traveling. We are. We've taken the pod on the road, if you will. Oh, there you go. But we're not doing a podcast. We are getting ready to do a presentation in Nebraska, right? With Ellie at the an open house for Bill Doran. Yes. And we're super excited.

SPEAKER_06 0:54

But we've already uh refilmed sales prep school. Yes. We've had a photo shoot for Christmas and Valentine's Day. Yes. And this is our third. So we're over it. We no, we're not over it.

SPEAKER_05 1:06

We were like mentally exhausted. So but since part of the presentation is about selling and customer service and all of the things, I was like, why don't we rewind and replay the interview Ellie and I had with Sam Bowles from Allen's Flowers in San Diego because he is the selling slash customer service guru who I love and adore, as do you. So I think it's worth a listen. And my recommendation is to have your staff listen to it. He's got so many great tips. Some of them, yes, are just for managers, but a lot of them, you know, I would want my whole staff to listen to it. Okay, so let's take a listen. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:57

We have a fun guest. Yes, we do. Welcome, Sam Bowles. Our friend Sam Bowles from California.

SPEAKER_05 2:06

Hi, Sam.

SPEAKER_00 2:07

Hi, ladies. It's good to be with you today.

SPEAKER_05 2:10

Well, we're excited to have you. We've been trying to get this going, and we ran into you again at NextGen. And we've only been I've only been talking to you about this for a year. So we finally got you on. And you are my fellow ex-teacher with me. Well, we have a lot of stuff in common that we could go to. But you also love customer service sales training. You manage like 700 flower shops. Is that what you're up to now? Or I don't know how many.

SPEAKER_00 2:43

We have we have uh five locations currently, and we're we're gluttons for punishment. So the sixth is opening the summer.

SPEAKER_05 2:49

Oh my gosh. Wow. Congrats. Okay. All right. Well, you are delightful and you are such a good speaker um slash storyteller. So we're excited you're on. So we have some questions for you today. Sure. And uh let's just kind of see where this whole thing goes. Absolutely. So what I would love for you to share is how you even got into this industry in the first place.

SPEAKER_00 3:17

Yeah, I came into the industry, I think the way many people do, actually. As a part of my own personal project this year, I wanted to make sure that I was celebrating every single team member's both their birthday and their employment anniversary. So, you know, birthdays are random, that's cool. But when you start to make employment anniversary charts in a flower shop, you start to notice some common trends. There are a whole lot of people whose date of employment starts in early February or late January.

SPEAKER_02 3:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:48

There are a whole lot of people whose whose first date of employee is like early May. And I realize how many people have the same kind of story that I do, which I think we'll come back to given some of the things we're going to talk to. I started in a big old flower shop on like February 1st, and they needed extra help specifically just answering the phone. So I did have a unique experience that my very first flower shop I started in was a pretty big one. And I was just doing phone sales. So I was upstairs, never really touching the flowers. Um, I had to learn on the fly. So I was that annoying salesperson who comes into a flower shop and really is like yitty. Like everyone else is just showing up and they need their costume in my ooh, what's that?

SPEAKER_01 4:30

Ooh, what's that? Weren't cheated yet. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:34

Yeah. It is important because, you know, honestly, the day I started, I had about the flower knowledge of the average human being, which is like I probably knew what a rose was, I maybe knew what a lily was, but I had to learn everything on the fly. So um I was in grad school, it was just a side hustle, but I I really realized I had a knack for it, I loved it. I kind of became the right-hand guy to the general manager. And this was at Nansencraft in Louisville, Kentucky, by the way.

SPEAKER_03 5:01

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 5:01

Um so I did that all through grad school as my side hustle and was kind of semi-managing, helping manage their call center by the time that I um finished grad school. And I wanted to move to New York City no matter what. And so I was looking for teaching jobs after I finished up my master's degree in English. I was looking for flower shop jobs, but I just wanted to move to New York City, you know, like a small town boy who wanted to move to Man.

SPEAKER_05 5:26

Born into City.

SPEAKER_00 5:27

Kind of the same way I got the flower shop gig. Um, my good friend Tim Huckabee, who is a family friend outside of the flower industry, and many of your listeners will recognize his name, I'm sure. Um, Tim knows so many people that like when I got ready to move to New York, he said, Hey, now I have a guy who I've worked with before who I know is looking for a manager for his shop. And so I connected with that guy and ended up managing that business in Queens for a couple of years.

SPEAKER_05 5:51

Before you even got a teaching job.

SPEAKER_00 5:54

Exactly. Yeah. So I'm still in flowers. Then I went full time actually doing what Tim does. Uh he kind of taught me all his tricks of the trade, uh really helped me as a as a young manager and as a salesperson in the industry. And so, given my teaching background, he said I think you could be really good at doing what I do and traveling and training and consulting. So I actually was full-time with traveling the way that Tim does with Foral Strategies for the better part of a couple of years. And then finally, I kind of wanted to put the brakes on, not because I wasn't enjoying what I was doing, but really because there was a part of me that was like, you know, I always thought from the time I was in high school that I wanted to be an English teacher. And so maybe I need to give this a good college try before I let flowers run away with my life. So an opportunity presented itself for me to teach at a high school, a charter school in uh Manhattan in my neighborhood, actually. I had a dream commute. It was 200 yards from my and so I taught juniors 11th grade composition for a year at this charter school. And it was actually during my spring break uh at teaching high school that I came back out to California to do some more sales coaching with Allen's Flowers because like a common thread of my story is I'm a hustler, so I'm I'm you're a teacher, so you have to have a second income. So exactly. So while I was out here in beautiful Southern California, um Brad, the owner of Allen's Flowers, and I kind of just started having a conversation about what his goals were and what his aspirations were, and realized very quickly that he couldn't do it by himself and he needed he needed a partner. And um he he in that moment on that day was like, Well, what if it was you? And so it started a conversation, and within three months, my girlfriend at the time and I had loaded up our little Scion XB with the littlest U-Haul trailer that they offer, and we drove all the way from Manhattan to San Diego.

SPEAKER_02 7:48

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 7:49

Which is one of the longer driving commutes you could make in the United States, I guess. Yeah, I've done Boston to LA, and it's took our time, we saw friends along the way, we went to the Grand Canyon. It was it was almost surreal when we actually pulled into our apartment complex in San Diego after all that driving. It was like, where this is it, this is where we live now. That was seven years. Like, what was the I think we were really I think we were really excited. It was bittersweet because um Chelsea's story was similar to mine that she moved to New York City just as a Midwestern girl who always wanted to live there. So she's from Cincinnati, about two hours away from where I grew up in Indiana, but we met in we lived in the same neighborhood in New York City. So it was bittersweet leaving New York behind because I don't know if either of us had enough time to get it out of our system. But we were both excited about the opportunity of experiencing the the glorious West Coast. Um August 1st will be seven years that I since I started at Allen's. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 8:50

And did you ever like question uh your ability to like walk in and just start managing a flower shop? Or was it all intuitive? Because it's not like you had a ton of managerial experience.

SPEAKER_00 9:04

Yeah, you know, I I have such a I had such a diverse um experience in dealing with people. So I know Lori, you and I have talked a lot about um my background and being raised in the church, very involved in my church. I ended up working back at my home church. It was supposed to be for a summer, but I ended up there for like three or four years in between undergrad and grad school.

SPEAKER_03 9:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:28

And so, and it was it's a pretty decent, pretty decent sized church. And so I was a young person already there that was leading a lot of people in different ages, even though they're mostly volunteer capacity. But it taught me a lot about interacting with people that served me very well and has served me very well in those roles. And I also think it's my style when I came to Allen's, and I know this now because they've shared it with me. Um, employees who had been with Allen's for over a decade were petrified when I came because it really represented a new chapter. The company had only ever been a this is the family that owns the flower shop. There are bosses, this is a small thing, and now this this intimidating idea of bringing in this young hotshot general manager, it scared a lot of people. And I think very quickly they realized that I don't think that I know everything. I took a lot of time just to be a part of the team and to dive in and learn the processes before I just started making changes willy-nilly. Um I earned their respect before I really had to assert myself, let's put it that way.

SPEAKER_05 10:34

Right. Well, and they probably once they got to know you, realized how great you are and how kind you are, and you have this natural friendliness about you. Um, and maybe their fears were alleviated. Um, because you really do. I'm not trying to be weird or anything, but you do lighten up a room everywhere every time you walk in, you just make friends. You're just very easy to be around. Um, and I would imagine every employee that meets you is like instantly, oh wow, I'm so glad.

SPEAKER_00 11:10

You know, that comes from the church world. Um my mama would tell you early on that when I was a five or six year old, she was more likely to find me in the kitchen with the old ladies.

SPEAKER_03 11:22

Well, that's where the free food is.

SPEAKER_00 11:24

To say just as likely because I also hung out with the kids, but I was always comfortable with older people as well. So I think you know, we talked about it at Next Gen last year. I think that an advantage that younger bosses bring can bring to the table is that maybe we're a little better equipped to lead with empathy and um instead of ego. Exactly. I think my my employees, I presented myself to them as I kind of view myself still as an ambassador because I kind of have one foot in the ownership camp where I'm working with the owners to achieve their business goals and and achieve our shared goals, but I still also have a foot in the employee camp. And so I'm constantly kind of feel like I'm representing the interests of both and trying to make us the best company we can be from a business perspective, but also make us a good employer, a place where people um could see themselves making a career.

SPEAKER_05 12:18

I see that in you. You model it, you model it well. So um, okay, so I've got questions for you. These questions are coming from a lot of our members that ask me these. You know, there's a huge attrition issue in a lot of parts of the the world right now in flower shops. For some shops, it's just a revolving door, they can't keep, especially during the pandemic, but even coming out of it, some shops just have a really hard time keeping employees for whatever reason. I some have my own thoughts on some of them. But for some of them, I truly can't figure it out. So when you're hiring somebody or onboarding someone, talk to me about some of your red flags and some of your green flags when it comes to hiring people.

SPEAKER_00 13:08

Yeah. You know, and the list of questions that you sent me, this was the one that I probably thought was the toughest one to come up with answers with because I naturally, my personality, I think, is that I assume the best of everyone. And so it's been a hard lesson for me to learn managing that you can have really great interviewees that just don't work out. And on the other hand, you can have people that maybe aren't not that they're bad interviewees, but maybe they don't bring that kind of energy, but they turn out to be reliable and good employees. So even after 10 plus years of interviewing and hiring people for various roles in a flower shop, I really don't have a great answer to the question that there is a surefire way to know this is gonna work great and this is not. What I think is more important are two things. One, making really clear to the employee during the interview what your expectations are and what the position's even going to consist of and what kind of opportunity they might have for growth.

unknown 14:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:06

And I'm also a big fan of um the trial period. So again, going back to that earlier point I made, the holidays are a perfect time to bring someone in and say, look, all I can commit to right now is five weeks or four weeks because we got to get through Valentine's Day and this is gonna be your role. However, and I often tell seasonal employees this like many of us around here started as seasonal employees, so this is an opportunity for you to figure out if this is a good fit and it's something that you're interested in, and it's a good opportunity for us to see how you will work and jive with our team as well. Because honestly, what better time than the intensity of the holiday to see if somebody can roll with the punches? And it's not that I expect them to come in and know, like, how could they know our system? How could they know? Even designers who are great have to learn like how do you make this arrangement? What's the recipe, all that jazz. But you can still see and tell during that time, like, okay, I think this this could be a good long-term fit.

SPEAKER_03 15:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:06

I would just say to other managers, don't think you're doing something wrong because it happens to all of us that you have someone who interviews great, you talk about the future, it's all fantastic, and a month later it fizzles out. And that doesn't even mean there was something wrong with the other other person, you know, like life happens and it takes people in different directions. So I trust my gut. I do try to make the most of it. Uh, I do look at the background. Obviously, you can see red flags if they've had six employers in the last year and haven't been at any blog for less than three months. So I would give them an opportunity to address that question, you know, like why has this happened? Because you know, if an employee's honest and says, you know, honestly, I just kept getting into them and I was bored. I didn't like it. I didn't like any of those jobs.

SPEAKER_03 15:47

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 15:48

It can naturally lead to like, well, what if we try this as a trial basis for a month and then we check back in and see?

SPEAKER_05 15:54

Right. Right. Do you trust your other employees to tell you, hey, I don't know, I get a bad feeling about this person.

SPEAKER_00 16:04

Yeah, I actually like empowering my managers to interview for their positions that are going to be working under them anyway. Um when I got here, it was pretty much at the top we did all the hiring. Do you know if I'm gonna be hiring somebody to work at a retail store, then they actually start with the manager of the retail store. They may still come interview with me or with the assistant general manager, but I like empowering them because they know better than I do what the day-to-day is gonna look like in that position and kind of what they're looking at, looking for. And I think it goes along with those managers that they feel like they're heard and their opinion is valued uh during that process as well.

SPEAKER_05 16:43

Yeah, no, I think it's I think that's that's great. Okay, you were talking to a whole group of managers. What would you tell them they should tell their employees? Like, if you can only give three customer service tips, like these are the three main things you need to have locked into your brain every time you're on the phone or a customer walks in the door, like these are the things.

SPEAKER_00 17:11

Yeah, I tried to pull three kind of unique and yeah, and a little bit abstract points that I think can really spread across the whole philosophy that I have. And obviously, to give credit where credit's due, um, Tim Huckabee is a great friend, and I also learned most of everything I know through his various training and working with him, and then he and I tweaking it as as things change. So a lot of this is very, very floral strategies inspired. But here are my three tips. My first one is good customer service is about being a good listener.

SPEAKER_05 17:44

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 17:45

And that applies to both selling because again, you know, from my presentation in NextGen, a lot of us when we think customer service, we only think about after we've messed up. Customer service is the problem fixer, which that's a pro a part of it, but customer service is also the entire journey. Customer service is also how do you take care of the customer when they call and place the order over the phone. 100%. That's still customer service, too.

SPEAKER_03 18:08

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 18:08

And so the first point is being a good listener because inappropriate suggestions aren't just bad sales, they're actually really bad service. If if in the process of me, you're like, Oh, thanks for calling uh Flower Click, how can we help you? I'm like, Oh, uh I'm really hoping you can help me out. Um, my best friend for my whole life, who means the world to me, just got a big promotion at work, and I really want to wow her with some flowers and blah, blah, blah, blah, whatever the case may be. And then you still go through your same rope, well, our arrangements start at $65. You're not listening. That's not good service. You know, when I walk in a restaurant and I tell the server that it's my anniversary and I've chosen to come here to celebrate it with my wife, they don't say, Oh, that's so awesome. Well, let me point out the least expensive thing on the menu, because that's just how we start things here. Like, I love using the restaurant analogy because you realize really quickly how it's not just bad sales, it's actually can be insulting. You're not you're not listening. So I think the first tip is be a good listener.

SPEAKER_05 19:12

Yeah. Yeah, 100%. Vonda and I always talk about that too. My t tip is almost that exact same thing. And it's like listen to their story, especially if you're on the phone. And even if you have to write down little buzzwords that they're saying, like my brain, there are days it doesn't really retain well. But if they're saying pink, or if they're saying, like you said, promotion, you know, big job. Exact. I'm thinking, oh, big dollar signs, a big desk. This is gonna be a big thing. Like anything like that where you're gonna be able to regurgitate back a big beautiful design. Anything that's gonna help you describe back to them using some of those same words, because it's almost that subliminal messaging when you start giving them back some of the same words that you they said to you.

SPEAKER_00 20:13

Here's a really tangible and practical way that a shop can implement this immediately. If you're an owner and a manager and all of your salespeople don't have a chart that tells them a price for every single arrangement from a dozen roses to 100 roses.

SPEAKER_05 20:30

Right.

SPEAKER_00 20:31

So, like you make a simple chart that's like if I sell an arrangement that has 56 roses in it, this is the cost. If it has 70 roses in it, this is the cost. And the reason why is because that's a great way to show you're a good listener. You can say back to the customer, latching on to numbers, for example. What I heard, what I heard you saying is we're celebrating a 25th anniversary. So, what if we have our design team create a custom arrangement featuring 25 long stem roses made extra special by the addition of other premium flowers?

SPEAKER_03 20:59

Right.

SPEAKER_00 20:59

Because customers, they're not insulted by the fact you just offered them a $300 arrangement. No, they're flattered that you listen and you had this idea and they latch on to the symbolism numbers. So that's a good tangible example of here's the tool you provide your team because they need it, so that on the fly they don't have all this pressure, like uh, what would it cost to do 39 roses? Because this is a exactly so make the chart, make the tool, tell them how it's used, and it empowers them to use that.

SPEAKER_05 21:32

Yep. No, I love it. Great, great tip.

SPEAKER_00 21:35

Tip number two is give more advice. And I think this one is a really good one. If you want to present yourself as an expert, which is what we is how we want people to see us, because whether we like it or not, our customers are already seeing us as the experts. Yes, we're we're already hearing people from day one when little Sam went into a flower shop and didn't know what a flower was. Customers were already. Already saying back to Sam on the phone, well, what do you think? What would you want to do? Just like we do in any shopping experience where we're outside of our expertise. We're looking, I'm looking at the baker at the cake shop to tell me some recommendations for the cake that I'm ordering for my wife's birthday. I'm looking at the solar installer who's surveying my home. I don't know how many panels I need. I need you to tell me you're the expert.

SPEAKER_02 22:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:25

So by giving more advice, it's the best way to present yourself as an expert. And that's a good one because it applies on the phone, it applies in store, it applies to selling weddings. Suddenly it becomes really good service and it empowers you when instead of saying, Well, how many bud bases do you think you need to put down this farmer style table? Yeah, a customer could answer that. But maybe it's better service to say, Well, your farm style table seats 30 people with 15 on each side. If we're going to go for this bud base, look, I would recommend that we scatter at least 25 individual bud bases down the table and blah, blah, blah, blah. You expert should present your suggestion.

SPEAKER_05 23:07

Your recommendation. Right. 100%.

SPEAKER_00 23:10

There are some power phrases, things like, well, what I recommend or what I might suggest. And it even works on the floor in the shop. You know, Lori comes into the store. Instead of just saying, How can I help you? or let me know if you need anything, I engage Lori on what are we celebrating today? And Lori says, Well, I'm not really celebrating anything. My colleague Ellie just kind of having a bad week, and I just want to bring something to work that brightens her day. Oh, well, here's what I might recommend. We have this beautiful display of hands-high bouquets that were just made fresh this morning. It'd probably be the perfect thing to, you know, people see that as really great service. Yeah. And it it also results in higher sales. It's a it's a win-win-win.

SPEAKER_01 23:53

And it's not an open-ended question. I think that's where people fall short, too, is they ask an open-ended question and then the customer's like, oh, I'm good. I'm good. Shuts it down fast.

SPEAKER_05 24:05

Yep. It sounds confident, and confidence is what sells. Yeah. A salesperson talks to me in confidence. I was like, ooh, they know what they're talking about.

SPEAKER_01 24:13

Yeah. That establishes trust and then that establishes dollars.

SPEAKER_00 24:18

Another really tangible, concrete example of this is Valentine's Day. I get tired of hearing florists who are like, oh, guys just order the same thing. They just order a dozen roses, a dozen red roses, it's so boring. Well, let me tell you why a dozen red roses is the most popular thing every Valentine's Day. Because the vast majority of florists ask the customer who we already established doesn't know anything about flowers, what do you want to send? And they say back the only thing that they know.

SPEAKER_03 24:47

The only thing they know.

SPEAKER_00 24:48

What has culture and society told anyone they should send on Valentine's Day? Red roses. A dozen red roses. I agree. Even when a customer calls and says, I just want to order a dozen roses, you could just take the order for 90 bucks for a dozen roses or 100, whatever you charge. Or you could be the expert and say, Awesome. Well, what most customers are doing this balance it up is sending our premium dozen, which is that same 12 long stem roses made extra special by the addition of blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

SPEAKER_03 25:21

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 25:21

No customer gets mad that you're offering them the version that costs $50 more. They think it's awesome when their wife comes home or their partner comes home and says, you know, like everyone else in the office just had a plain old dozen roses, but mine are like special with all these lilies and cool things coming out of it. Like it's good service and it's good business. So be a good listener, give more advice, and it brings me to my last point, which is look for opportunities to offer the wow.

SPEAKER_02 25:51

Offer the wow.

SPEAKER_00 25:52

By the wow, I mean those those special things that sometimes we're afraid to talk about because they come with high price points and we think we're gonna tick people off. Yep. You know, like when I go up to a nice restaurant and I'm celebrating last night, we went to a nice restaurant and it was just because it was date night. And the server came up at the beginning and he told me about this really cool special they were having, and they even had a special appetizer that featured caviar, and the appetizer itself was pretty expensive. Now, do you think that when he told me about it and gave us the opportunity to start our meal that way, that I slammed my hands down the table and said, How very dare you tell me about this?

SPEAKER_05 26:32

Right, right. I will never enter this space again.

SPEAKER_00 26:35

Exactly. I said, Well, you know, that sounds really awesome, and we might try it when we come back, but it's just a Thursday night and we're not gonna do it tonight. Like the worst that can happen. Exactly. Exactly. So going back to the rose idea, it's the same thing. If you say to a customer, well, what I heard is we're celebrating that your aunt has been a teacher for 15 years, which is really awesome. So what if we create this arrangement featuring 15 beautiful roses? The worst that can happen is they say that's a really awesome idea. It's a little more money than I was looking to spend today. But they're not ticked off by it.

SPEAKER_05 27:13

No, no, and you know what the thing is, what I always tell our clickers, if they are, you probably don't want them as a customer because they're gonna either not be happy with the product, they're one of those type of customers, so it's okay. I mean, one in every 100 that do get ticked off, let it go. Then if they hang up on you, it's okay. It's okay. Just move on.

SPEAKER_00 27:40

And you know, another tangible example of this, which we talked about at conference, is offer the stuff on your website too. There, it literally costs nothing. You know, I talked about how often I look at florist websites and the highest priced arrangement is $125.

SPEAKER_03 27:55

Yeah, I know.

SPEAKER_00 27:56

You know, and and the florists will say back to me when I'm doing training, like, yeah, but we're in Bum Fizzle, Kentucky. We don't have customers like you do in Manhattan or in California. Like, no, no, no, no. I've been in this business all over the country. There are still the the quote unquote big ballers from California and New York whose family is living in your small town.

SPEAKER_05 28:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:16

When they look at the website, maybe they're gonna send the $300 arrangement.

SPEAKER_05 28:20

We had something, was it Mother's Day or Valentine's Day? That was is it a $300 or $500 big thing of roses? And a whole bunch of our members still have it on there. And every once in a while, like somebody will post in our members only site, I sold another one of these, like randomly, and it's so much fun, and it's an exciting day, just a small town who they just kept it up.

SPEAKER_00 28:48

That's actually why I call it the Wow, because we have an arrangement called Wow Roses, which is 100 100 roses in a vase the size of a toddler, and we sell it for $500. And we used to only turn it on at Valentine's Day.

SPEAKER_03 29:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:04

And then I realized like it cost me zero dollars to leave this product turned on.

SPEAKER_03 29:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:09

Built a luxury section on the website where we put things like that. And honestly, there are weeks that we sell five or six of them, and it's just a summer week.

SPEAKER_03 29:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:18

So it costs nothing to offer it. And you know, another tangible example in our downtown store, which gets a lot of foot traffic, we sent some big event bases that we were done with, and we told them, like, just make big focal arrangements just to look good in the store. And we honestly kind of thought, like, we kind of viewed it as marketing. We're like, we're gonna make these big $300 arrangements just to look cool, and it's fine if they're they don't sell. Well, what do you think happened when we started that practice?

SPEAKER_05 29:46

People wanted to buy them.

SPEAKER_00 29:48

They'll make them and they don't last for two days. So look for opportunities, whether it be in store, online, over the phone, to offer those special things, to think outside the box, because your customers will appreciate it. And the worst that can happen is they say, No, tell me about something else.

SPEAKER_05 30:05

So, out of all of these, I think you've probably even mentioned it. Where do you think most florists fail when it comes to customer service?

SPEAKER_00 30:14

I think that too many um become order takers. I see a difference between what I call an order taker and somebody who is actually prepared to be the expert. And so I interact a lot of times with florists, especially back when I was doing a lot of test calls for people who were part of that training program. Yeah, we would make it so obvious, like some big special celebration, and the customer is literally using every word like, I want to do something grand, I want to make a splash, I want this to be special.

SPEAKER_02 30:44

Right.

SPEAKER_00 30:45

And when it was their turn to talk, the associate had their script that they had memorized, like, well, our arrangements start at 55.99 and go up from there.

SPEAKER_03 30:53

Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 30:55

Like that, it was sometimes it's it's literally a non-sequitur that's almost off the thing. So I think that that that is a big one, which really I'll give you a sub point, and it's kind of related to what we were talking about earlier as well. I think that too many fall into these bad habits because they allowed the exceptions to dictate the rule. So, like Lori, you were talking about when we do these kind of things, you know, like maybe one out of a hundred customers does say, like, are you crazy $500 for a fire arrangement? Like, oh my gosh, you're too expensive. Blah, blah, blah, blah.

SPEAKER_05 31:27

Yeah, and that's where they land, that's where they stay.

SPEAKER_00 31:29

And it leaves such a mark on some people that's like, you know, I'm not gonna risk it anymore. I don't like the confrontation. And so they allow themselves then for the other 99 customers to not provide good service.

SPEAKER_05 31:42

Right. Right. No, a hundred percent.

SPEAKER_00 31:46

I tell my team all the time, and it's even something I do with my customer service team as a manager. So they handle almost everything that comes in. Um, not that I don't help them and guide them, but as a get out of jail free car, they know that once a day, if they want, honestly, they don't even end up doing it once a week because they pride themselves on handling it. But I have told them and empowered them to say, you know what, if you're having a bad day, or even if you're not having a bad day, you could give me the worst of the worst customer service tickets and I will take care of them because I I don't want it to take a toll on you. And again, my team in the beginning, it really made them comfortable doing the job because they knew like no matter what I open, if it gets too hairy, I Sam has it has told me I could hand it off to him. And it allowed them through us working those problems together, they've developed the confidence to know how to deal with them. And now, like I said, they almost err sometimes on the side of like, well, you could have sometimes pulled me in.

SPEAKER_05 32:44

Should have pulled me in, right? Right. But they know you're the fallback plan, so it gives them power, it empowers them.

SPEAKER_01 32:51

Yeah, I was gonna say it it does empower them, even though it it's a fallback, it it gives them the the mental space to be able to deal with the week and the day and the hour. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:04

And going back to leading with empathy, I even try to take those opportunities to teach my employees how not to let this ruin their day. You know, like when I was younger in the industry, boy, a bad call from a customer could really just sour my stomach. I would be at home in the evening and still feeling a certain kind of way about how this person spoke to us. And um, not that that doesn't still happen, but I've I've also tried to help my team understand just generally how human beings are wired. And you know, like we say hurt people, hurt people a lot.

SPEAKER_03 33:35

Right.

SPEAKER_00 33:36

So I take I take opportunities a lot, you know, like this happens all the time that a customer is an absolute terror to a salesperson, like terrible. And I pull up the order and I look at the card message, and the card message says basically, I'm so sorry, I'm a terrible person. I'm sorry for what happened last. And it is empowering to point that out to your team so that they know that's that person is the person with the problem. It wasn't you. You did everything right. But look, this is a this is a pattern for them. They're literally sending flowers to say, I'm sorry for being an a-hole. So it's no surprise. And that seems like a little funny thing, but I do take every opportunity to point that out to my customer service team because it has helped them become wired to understand like I'm not responsible for the psychology of of the incoming person. I'm just responsible for dealing with with them with empathy and and handling them with great care.

SPEAKER_05 34:31

Yep. You need to read this book. We've had her on our podcast, Dr. Nicole Price. It's called Spark of the Heart, Engineering Empathy in Your Organization. She's so good. Last question, and then Ellie's got something fun for you. When it comes to this industry, it can be specific to your shop, it can be big industry, it can be small, whatever. What's your biggest pet peeve?

SPEAKER_00 34:55

I'm gonna give you two. One is a real one, but it might not be very valuable to florists, and then I'll give you one that's really valuable to florists. Okay, my biggest pet peeve when I'm taking a flower order is when a customer calls and says, I'm sending flowers to this guy to brighten his day or whatever the case may be, and then they say, But I don't want it to be too feminine.

SPEAKER_03 35:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:20

So basically, what I'm really saying is the whole concept that you can't send flowers to guys, that flowers are yeah. As a as a male florist, I find that it really sweets my nerves. First of all, it annoys me when a customer says that because I'm like, I want to say, well, if you think flowers are only for women, then why did you call me to send flowers to a man?

SPEAKER_03 35:39

Right.

SPEAKER_00 35:40

I mean, I can't say that. What I always say is, well, you'll have to help me understand what you mean because I'm a guy and I love receiving flowers and I think they're difficult. And usually when I say that, then they do a bunch of backtracking and they're like, oh, okay. I think what they think they mean is they just don't want to send a bunch of pink stuff, which we probably wouldn't do anyway.

SPEAKER_03 35:58

Okay, okay, got it.

SPEAKER_00 35:59

But it is a pet peeve to me because as a society in a culture, it's just not something we do. And I'll tell you, when I was, I think it was like maybe my 20, I don't even remember, maybe my 25th birthday. I had started working in the flower industry. I remember, I don't remember what birthday it was, but it was during that period where I was in grad school and I had just kind of started working at the flower shop. And actually, Tim and his partner, Martin, right, sent me. I there was a day when I had a knock at my door and I answered the door, and it was this beautiful bubble bowl with whatever birthday it was, I don't remember, 22, 23, 24, whatever it was, that's how many free spirit roses were in the bubble bowl.

SPEAKER_02 36:39

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:40

It was that whole number symbolism thing.

SPEAKER_02 36:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:43

Honestly, I was so taken aback to have been sent flowers that I mean it left a mark that was 10 years ago. And I still I can still picture that bubble bowl of free spirit roses opening up over the course of a week or two on my little coffee table in my grad school room. And so that's I could talk to them.

SPEAKER_02 37:04

So special.

SPEAKER_00 37:05

Yeah, but that that's a pet peeve.

SPEAKER_02 37:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:08

And then my my pet peeve, honestly, which I've already mentioned it like five times, but you can't say it enough because people do it every day at flower shops, is that phrase, well, our arrangements start at lobby. You almost should never have to say it. I it could sound like I'm beating a dead horse, but I can tell you from my experience doing test calls to hundreds of shops that like more than half, that's the way it works. Is no matter what you say about your reason for calling, or no matter what your card message is, when we get to the point where we sell stuff, we either ask you what you want to spend, or and or we say, Well, just so you know, the starting point is $55.

SPEAKER_04 37:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:49

Those are my peppies.

SPEAKER_01 37:51

So everybody listening, take note.

SPEAKER_04 37:53

Take note. Okay, Ellie, quick, quick couple questions for him. It's a little fun rapid fire.

SPEAKER_01 37:59

Yes, these are the same 10 rapid fire questions that I've been asking when I'm on. So they'll be just super quick. And here we go. So genes or athleisure?

SPEAKER_00 38:13

Ooh, tough. I'm gonna go athleisure.

SPEAKER_01 38:16

Love it. Are you I think I know this? You said it earlier. Early bird or night owl?

SPEAKER_00 38:22

I'm definitely an early bird. Basically, when I moved to the West Coast, I didn't change time zones. So when I live when I lived on the East Coast, I naturally would get up around 9 a.m. And now I just naturally get up around six. I've just never changed.

SPEAKER_01 38:36

Amazing. What is your coffee order?

SPEAKER_00 38:41

I like just um regular coffee with a little bit of milk.

SPEAKER_01 38:46

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 38:46

Or if I'm in a city that knows how to do coffee well, uh a cappuccino.

SPEAKER_01 38:51

Love it. Spicy food or not?

SPEAKER_00 38:55

Oh, that's tough. I like a little bit of spice, but it doesn't always love me. So if I had to choose one or the other, I guess I would go not, although I wouldn't want it to mean there's no flavor. I'm one of those people that's not I'm not very good at giving uh just one-word answer to these questions.

SPEAKER_01 39:11

That's okay. I like it. Texting or talking on the phone?

SPEAKER_00 39:16

Oh, totally texting. Really? I hate it. Yeah, yeah. I don't like talking on the phone, honestly. Especially if it could have been a could have been a text.

SPEAKER_01 39:25

Yeah, that makes sense. What is your favorite music or favorite artist?

SPEAKER_00 39:32

Wow, that's tough too.

SPEAKER_01 39:33

Um if I gave you a ticket to see a show tonight, it could be anybody you want. Who is it?

SPEAKER_00 39:40

Yeah, even still, that's pretty tough. I I really am into everything from like I I we went to a live show of Sting and Earth, Wind and Fire this year. So stuff. We're going up to the Renaissance tour with Beyonce, so even my range. Yeah, we're into a little bit of everything. I like Greta Van Fleet, if you know that. Yeah, cool. And and I'll say um proudly that I'm pretty into the new Jonas Brothers album.

SPEAKER_03 40:10

I love the Jonas Brothers!

SPEAKER_00 40:11

Yeah, I think this new one's pretty boppy, it's good for the summer.

SPEAKER_02 40:15

So cute. They're so cute.

SPEAKER_05 40:28

Oh, love an old myth.

SPEAKER_00 40:30

And I just start singing not only the chorus, but then if the scene moves on, and I start singing verse two or verse three of self-assurance.

SPEAKER_03 40:36

Yes, that's the third and fourth stanza.

SPEAKER_00 40:39

How do you know that? Well, it's ingrained. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 40:44

Wow, okay. Well, that is the best answer I've gotten for sure with music. I love I love the range. Okay, this one you can only have one answer for. What is your favorite number?

SPEAKER_00 40:56

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_01 40:58

Lucky number, favorite number.

SPEAKER_00 41:02

Nothing stands out.

SPEAKER_01 41:03

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 41:04

Except honestly, uh the the first number that comes to mind, I'll tell you without telling you. It's um it's a four-digit number that we use, and by we, I mean me and Chelsea use for almost anything. So, like if we go into a hotel and you have the safe where you make a code, we only have to talk about it. She can access the safe and get her iPad out because she already knows what I'm gonna make the code. And the fun part about that, that number is also our garage code, but it's also our garage code because it was the garage code on my family home growing up.

SPEAKER_05 41:35

Oh my gosh, that's funny.

SPEAKER_00 41:36

It was the garage code on my family home growing up because when Sam, the nerdy 13-year-old, programmed the garage door um at the family home, he used the last four digits of the phone number of my of my grandparents' general store.

SPEAKER_02 41:53

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 41:54

Which was a long defunct phone number because the business. But it was like back from the age where people my age, you know, in the beginning, we did have to memorize numbers.

SPEAKER_02 42:04

Like we memorize cell phone numbers.

SPEAKER_00 42:06

We're the age group who got cell phones, and now I don't even know anyone's number. No, but I still remember my grandparents' both sets of grandparents' numbers. I remember the number to that general store. And so the last four digits are the code we use for almost everything.

SPEAKER_01 42:20

Once again, not a straight answer, and I love it.

SPEAKER_05 42:23

That's a great answer. That's my favorite answer. Yes, you are you are me. You are just the male version of me.

SPEAKER_00 42:33

I like this segment because it reminds me of um, you know, Colbert, Stephen Colbert, who I love the Colbert questionnaire. Yes, we asked the same questions to every single guest, and there are guests who are probably what you're more thinking. It's like, what's your favorite sandwich? And they just say it. Yes, but then there are a lot of them like me and Lori, who they can never answer. No, there's no everything a story.

SPEAKER_01 42:56

Everything is a roundabout, so much more exciting.

SPEAKER_00 42:59

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 43:00

Okay, so I'm a little nervous to ask this. This might be another anyway. What did you want to be when you grew up?

SPEAKER_00 43:07

That's actually an easy one. A teacher. I was very confident. So coming coming from a small town in my in my little rural part of Indiana, there's one high school in the whole county still. And so I had a really unique experience where from the seventh through twelfth grade, so six years, I had the same English teacher because she taught all of the honors uh English classes, and fortunately, having the same teacher for six years, she was an awesome teacher because that would have been really bad if she wasn't. But she made such an impact on me that shoot, by the time I was a freshman in high school, I was pretty confident that I wanted to major in English and be a teacher. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:48

I love that. What is your biggest pet peeve? Let's go not related to flowers, since you already said those.

SPEAKER_00 43:56

Just in life in general.

SPEAKER_01 43:57

Just in life, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:58

Oh my gosh. I'm basically Like a a young Larry David, so that's really fucking the Ellie loves Larry David. He's my spirit animal. The things that annoy him about humanity annoy me too, but um gosh, what are some well I'll share a really obvious one that's not super common. I have a really hard time with chewing gum. Like I just don't like it. I would totally do well in a society where gum is outlawed, but I didn't even notice you were chewing gum, by the way. So you won't say that's hilarious. I have self-diagnosed misophonia. Have you ever heard of what that is?

SPEAKER_01 44:36

I have that as well.

SPEAKER_00 44:37

No, I'm very good and diplomatic about keeping my mouth shut, by the way.

SPEAKER_01 44:41

But it makes you like filled with rage.

SPEAKER_00 44:43

Yes. There will be someone in a movie theater who's eating popcorn loudly and without their lips sealed, and like it ruins the movie for me. And I I asked Chelsea, like, to me, it's like an earthquake happening. Yeah. She hasn't even registered it, like, didn't even notice it.

SPEAKER_01 44:59

So sometimes I'll like look at Tyler and he'll know, and he's like, stops chewing. He's and I won't even like he just yeah. It's like you just want to punch them in the face, but you don't. It's a real condition. We have a condition, burden. It's a burden, the two of you. I do have one Larry David question though. Say I'm walking my dog down your street and my dog poops, and I pick up the poop. It happens to be trash day, so all the trash are out. Is it okay for me to throw it the trash bag in the neighbors or whoever's on that path?

SPEAKER_00 45:33

Yeah, so I've given a lot of thought to this question, and I have a I have a somewhat complicated answer. If their if their trash can is down by the curb on trash day and has yet to be collected, then I think it's fair game for anything when you're walking on the sidewalk.

SPEAKER_03 45:48

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 45:48

What I don't tolerate is like my trash cans when it's not trash day are are 15 feet back off the curb, up in my driveway.

SPEAKER_01 45:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:57

Like, no, you better not be walking up my driveway just because you're putting the dressing one.

SPEAKER_01 46:01

What if it the trash man just came and so the trash can't empty?

SPEAKER_00 46:06

That's where I that's where I get really Larry David about it because it's probably an unreasonable, but then I'd say no. If you open the can and you see that trash has already come today, then no, I don't want your stinky dog poop in my can for the next week or two weeks.

SPEAKER_01 46:20

Yeah, okay. For I that's an internal battle I have almost every time I walk my dog. I'm like, I don't know.

SPEAKER_05 46:30

I would I I never even on trash day, I would never put it in my neighbor's trash.

SPEAKER_00 46:36

I probably I probably would not either, honestly.

SPEAKER_05 46:39

Uh-huh. Yeah, no, I really trash. It's trash. It's poop. It's poop trash. Yeah, I would only put it in, and because I've had this dialogue in my head, it's I don't want them to put it in my trash. Yeah. I put it either in my own trash or the park trash. Or you just hold on to it, right?

SPEAKER_01 47:00

Just hold on.

SPEAKER_05 47:00

I hold on to it and put it in my trash when I get back home. Yeah. I don't ever put it in the neighbor's trash.

SPEAKER_00 47:06

But if the choice is picking it up and putting it in my trash or not picking it up at all, then I guess I would err on at least you're picking it up.

SPEAKER_05 47:13

Right. Yeah. Oh, 100% pick it up.

SPEAKER_00 47:15

I used to fantasize about, especially in New York, about having a machine where I could just magically make any pet um residue that was left unattended. Like I just want to make it teleport to the pillow of the person who was too lazy to their pet stuff. That would solve that problem really, really fast. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 47:35

That is a good idea. Or even, you know, honestly, New York City, human. Human. I remember w having to step over that one too many times out of my uh fifth story to walk up above the Chinese restaurant. And one last question. What is your death row meal?

SPEAKER_00 47:57

Okay, I have uh an immediate answer to this. Um a pastrami sandwich on rye from Katz's delicatessen in New York with their steak fries. I might take a little bit of deli mustard because they don't frown on that. I've tried the versions that add this or that, and you don't get any better than just their pastrami piled up on the rye. It's my favorite meal.

SPEAKER_03 48:20

It's so good.

SPEAKER_00 48:21

I've been, you know, Ellie like you, we're foodie. We've been to, you know, treated ourselves to some nice restaurants, and I'm not discounting that experience, but there's no meal I love more than the pastrami sandwich from Katz's.

SPEAKER_05 48:34

I love it. Hey, will you come back sometime? Because we just love ya.

SPEAKER_00 48:39

Oh, yeah, anytime. I love it.

SPEAKER_05 48:41

Hey, where are you gonna be next? You're gonna be doing a profit blast, right?

SPEAKER_00 48:45

Yeah, so I'm um I'm presenting. Let me pull up my calendar so I can tell you. I'm gonna be at the Profit Blast in Boston.

SPEAKER_03 48:51

July.

SPEAKER_00 48:51

It is July 23rd, a Sunday, the SAF Profit Profit Blast in Boston. I'll be there presenting kind of a take on what I did at Next Gen. So it's about five-star customer experiences and how you can provide those website, phone, and store delivery all across the business.

SPEAKER_05 49:10

All right, great. So if anyone's listening, that that is a great topic, a great presentation for if you are a shop owner for not only you, but you to bring your employees, like bring a whole staff, like a team building session, because it'd be for everyone. So um think of it that way.

SPEAKER_01 49:32

Um driving distance. You gotta especially if you're in within driving distance. Yeah, go to the website, right?

SPEAKER_00 49:38

Yeah, yep, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 49:40

Thank you, Sam. We appreciate you taking the time to talk to us.

SPEAKER_00 49:44

Oh, it was my pleasure. I had a blast.

SPEAKER_05 49:47

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.

SPEAKER_06 50:05

We look forward to seeing you next week. 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.