Interview with Rich Salvaggio: Changes in the Floral Industry

#009: Vonda interviews Rich Salvaggio AIFD, CFD, PFCI about changes in the floral industry, educational opportunities, and suggestions on areas of your business to focus on to maintain a strong viable business.
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Transcript

Vonda 0:03

What do you think are the three most important things for a flower shop to focus on to keep in business in this environment?

Rich 0:12

Ok we have to knock it down to three.

Vonda 0:18

Welcome to The Business and Pleasure of Flowers. We're your hosts, Vonda LaFever.

Lori 0:22

and Lori Wilson and we believe that business and fun are a perfect combination, kind of like us Vonda.

Vonda 0:34

Today, I have a special guest with me, Mr. Rich Selvaggio past president and fellow of The American Institute of Floral Designers. He is a member of The Professional Floral Communicators International and the recipient of numerous awards from State and Allied Florist Association. Rich has recently retired from many years as vice president of industry relations that Teleflora. He has actually devoted his life to the flower business and has contributed so much over the years. I've asked Rich to share his insight on some of the changes that happened over the years and boy, we know there've been many but specifically about state and allied florists association. Hey Rich, thanks for joining me today.

Rich 1:18

Well, thank you for asking me to be here today, Vonda, I'm very excited about it.

Vonda 1:23

You know, years and years ago, Rich, we were at this convention or you are on the main stage and then you and I presented steps to AIFD membership. Do you remember that?

Rich 1:34

I do, but it was a very long time ago.

Vonda 1:37

Oh I know. What really sticks out in my mind is that the trade fairs were like packed with vendors and so well attended. Where was that? That we were hanging out?

Rich 1:47

I think it was in Texas because they were probably one of the associations that had the biggest convention every year. It was always so well attended. It was unbelievable.

Vonda 1:58

What happened? You know, we look at that and that was kind of the peak years I think. Right , and then it seems like the interest went down or something just stopped.

Rich 2:08

I don't think it's the interest that went down. I think what it is is that people have realized, and this economy of florists has so many barriers that they have to cross. There is 800 numbers and there's all so many other places you can get flowers that people finally have realized that they need to spend time in their shops doing work. That's what's caused for the lesser amounts of peoples. Now there's still lots of state conventions, but they're not all attended the way they used to be.

Vonda 2:39

Do you think it's because they feel like they need to be in their shops more than out networking?

Rich 2:45

Right. I think that's one of the reasons why the attendance and there are still some that have very good attendance.

Vonda 2:53

Which ones have attendance now would you say?

Rich 2:56

Well, I think Texas is still one of biggest.

Vonda 2:59

They've done a whole restructuring, haven't they?

Rich 3:01

They have. They do a whole lot of things a lot of different ways. They bring a lot of vendors in, which is very, very helpful. If a shop is there and they don't buy enough things, say to go to market, this is a convenient way for them to see new products and even buy new products at the convention.

Vonda 3:20

It seems like they have one big expo and then they have smaller educational events throughout the year.

Rich 3:26

Correct, all through the year and of course the other place where you can get lots of education. Teleflora has a lot of programs across the country at wholesale houses as well as in hotels. We also have the scholarship Academy, so there are many places still where you can get education.

Vonda 3:43

And I think more economically, sometimes.

Rich 3:45

Yes, much more than it used to be. Yes,

Vonda 3:49

I hear, the attendance dropped, then of course vendors drop. What happened first, the chicken or the egg.

3:54

Right. Because once the attendance goes down, then the vendors are like not willing because for them it's a big task to pack all that stuff in a truck and get it there and open it and show it and they usually have to bring two or three people with them, so it's expensive and if they're not getting a return on it, I think one of the most important things, you always have to support your local wholesaler as well as companies that you buy a lot from because otherwise they're not going to be able to exist anymore.

Vonda 4:24

Yeah. I think as you know you used to be in charge of the education specialist and I'm an ed spec and so we know we're out there in the field. Sometimes we see huge attendance at one of the events. Then the next one it's like, or there's very few. It depends I suppose on the shops themselves.

Rich 4:39

Right. And you know we had, Teleflora has a very big budget for education, but it also has to , as the person who was running that you always have to make sure that you've got people coming cause otherwise that's money that is going to get taken away and moved to something else. It's important because people are coming to learn, but it's more, it's almost as important for who's sponsoring it because they've got to get a return too. So it's a combination of things. I think it's a negative dropping in attendance. I just think you got to take care of your house first. You know, you don't want to come into a dirty house, you've got to be clean and you have to work on it. And I think that people are making the choice of do I go, do I not go? Where do I go? Why do I go and when do I go?

Vonda 5:27

Do you find there's a bigger draw for a certain subject?

Rich 5:31

Well yeah, in subjects, I mean wedding is always the one that gets the most, but it's interesting because sympathy does too because when you look at most businesses, they probably have 35% of their business is funeral work. Even though funeral work is changing, it's still a big item in shop. So those two always get people, friends, it gets good attendance. If you say it's to be basic, nobody comes, cause everybody thinks they're above basic and that's good. That's good. It's good to have that attitude, but it's just very strange how things that we think sometimes will be the best attended program in the world, are not.

Vonda 6:12

Let me ask you, I remember when I just started to be an ed spec, when we would do a business program, nobody would come. Right now it seems like you do a business program and people are there. It's better attended . Is that, is that just my thoughts?

Rich 6:26

No, it's actually true because we used to hide that there was business. We never really talked a lot about the business end of it. In all of our information that we send out about a program. We low keyed, because we know that people want to come see design, but they also have to learn the mechanics and they have to learn the reasons why and they have to learn about how to price it and there's all those other things, but if you announce that they think it's going to be boring, and the team of Teleflora teachers are so fabulous that it's never boring. It's always entertaining.

Vonda 7:01

We try to be entertaining right?

Rich 7:03

Right, yes.

Vonda 7:05

But now you don't have to hide it as much. It seems like

Rich 7:08

Right, we don't we make sure that the business end of it is always in the information packet about it ?

Vonda 7:14

And what about the Academy classes that you're doing? There's four or five across the country and those are hands on?

Rich 7:24

Yes, they're hands on all of them. There's business. We've been changing it around a little bit. I believe right now you start Friday night and then you're all day Saturday and half a day on Sunday. So that's an enormous amount of time and we limit it to 40 people and we have one main instructor and then we usually have two assistant instructors, so there's an enormous amount of hands on and it's really interesting. Over the years we started that, I guess five years ago I was still working then and it was just so interesting to see names in the industry that were very big and I thought, why would they take this class there ? They've been doing this for 30 years and every one of those people eventually sometime during that week and got me aside and said, Oh my goodness, this was phenomenal. I learned so much. And that's, that's the whole thing about it. And it works.

Vonda 8:19

I remembered, I think it was our very first one, so it had to been five years ago and we sat in the room. There was a person there who we just kept thinking, Oh, we can't get to her. We can't get to her. Oh my gosh. And at the very end we always go around the room and ask what you got out of the room? How was it? And, and she said this was the most amazing class she has ever taken in her life and that she learned so much and she made so many new friends and we just both went, what? Because it was so unexpected because of the personality. We didn't expect that.

Rich 8:53

We get letters all the time, after every one of the Academy classes, we get multiple letters and thank you's . And it was so magnificent. It was so wonderful. Teachers walk around and as you are doing the project, they show you like if you move this flower a tiny bit over, it's going to be stronger or this and that. I mean, there's never a point where you can't learn and that's the most important thing.

Vonda 9:21

Yeah, we didn't really mean to go into that, but it just makes a difference. I think we often times don't give enough credence to what a hands on class can actually do. To any degree. I mean Tom Bowling was teaching and I sit there and went, wow, just learned so much. Just being there . So where do you think, I mean obviously hands-on class, are there other places that people are going for that education and new products?

Rich 9:45

I think inspiration is a big part of what we do every day . I mean we're business people, we're designers, we do everything, we sweep the floor, we cut the flowers. And I think that people get inspiration from various different things. It's really interesting. Since I retired, I have less opportunity to be inspired because I'm not at work every day and I'm not working with florists all the time. And I do a thing now in the morning I go outside and I sit on the edge of the pool and I look up straight ahead in front of me and I see the most beautiful mountains that are so inspiring. And about nine months out of the year, I could be sitting by the pool and it's 80 degrees, 90 degrees, 115 degrees, and I look up at the top of that mountain and there's snow on it. And I'm like, how does that happen? I can't figure that out, but Oh my goodness, is that so beautiful.

Vonda 10:49

and inspirational?

Rich 10:50

It's inspirational. Like makes me want to make an arrangement for something, even though I don't do that every day anymore.

Vonda 10:58

I think people find inspiration all around them . Sometimes it's not in the shop, right? Sometimes you go out and you see a piece of artwork and you're like, wow,

Rich 11:06

Right, look what that does. So what does that inspire you to do? The whole thing about knowledge for me, I've probably said this a million times in my life. It's important to get education. The more education you get, the better. All things like that. And then the biggest thing, once you've received that information, teach somebody else, because just because you know it now, go back to your shop and show them everything you learned and then have them teach somebody else because otherwise it just stops. The reason you're getting it is to better yourself and to better everyone else you come in contact with.

Vonda 11:44

The old pay it forward.

Rich 11:45

It's always pay it forward. Yeah , absolutely.

Vonda 11:48

I remember, gosh, so many years ago when I was inducted into AIFD, Kearney Burchard, after I was inducted he said, now you have your license to learn. Which I thought was kind of neat because it was like sometimes designers think, Oh, I've achieved this. I know everything, no, that isn't it.

Rich 12:08

and he was , he's 100% right because it is just the beginning. I don't want to admit the year I was inducted into AIFD, but I will say it was in the early eighties and I have never stopped learning and always been part of anything that I can where I can learn something more. And then the most important thing is go back to somebody and show them what you learned . Cause thats what keeps it going.

Vonda 12:32

Yeah, and that's so satisfying, isn't it? It's so exciting to be able to share something like that. All right, so now I'm going to put you on the spot. Okay. What do you think are the three most important things for a flower shop to focus on to keep in business in this environment?

Rich 12:50

Okay. We have to knock it down to three?

Vonda 12:54

Yup, we're going to try three .

Rich 12:55

So number one is your staffing. Most shops when they come to a holiday, they put people on and then they end up keeping them when it's not a holiday. So you have to know that what you're spending on designers has to bring its money back from that and it's not going to bring as much the rest of the year. Which means you don't, we need as many people. So that's number one, keep your staff slim and working.

Vonda 13:25

All right , I like that .

Rich 13:26

The second thing is you have to watch your cost of goods. Cost of goods is one of the biggest ways shops loose money. You know, Mrs. Jones came in today and she's such a nice lady. Remember she brought us a cake last Christmas and she didn't want to spend more than $50 but I was making this arrangement and it's real pretty, but I think it needs a few more roses cause we really like her, and that's a big danger. So it takes time. But I think it's really important for designers to learn that when they're making arrangement, they price at what they're doing and then they make it pretty. The pretty is important. Pretty is very important because if it's not pretty, nobody's buying it, but it can't be sold for less than what you put in it. And that's the trick

Vonda 14:17

I've always said. And I think you too, that a good designer can make pretty with whatever's in front of them .

Rich 14:23

Absolutely. Absolutely. I have been to conventions where there's $2,000 worth of product in one arrangement and you look at it, there's 200 Calla lilies and in the center there's 400 orchids. And when I look at that and I say, well a monkey could do that. It's just like stuffing them, that's all it is. And so, it's the beauty of the flower that people like to look at and the way you make your composition more beautiful, but you have to do it at a price point. It's, it's a very simple rule. You know, we have to watch that, and Mrs. Jones is really nice.

Vonda 15:01

The ones who are most guilty of that are the owners of the flower shop. The employees aren't usually doing that because they know they're being watched. It's that owner who loved the cake.

Rich 15:12

Right. But you know, when I had my shop, which was the year 1970 I really was a learning designer, but everybody thought that Rich had to make it. And so one of the things you need to start to do, especially if you have a designer who's really cost conscious and a good designer, start telling people, even if you made it, tell them somebody else made it , one of your staff, give them the credit and all of a sudden two, three times that happens, that person's going to come in and look for them. But it doesn't matter now because they like Shirley and so they go to Shirley now all of a sudden it least , it takes a little off of view and it gives them, it gives them a really good feeling that somebody wants them to do it. And that's real important. It's again , it's raising the confidence level. You know, sometimes you just have to step back as the owner and say, I maybe the owner, but I'm not the biggest chief here. Everybody's a big chief.

Vonda 16:12

So yeah , it's a good way to empower others. For sure. Okay, so that's two, one more.

Rich 16:20

You have to keep your eye on every market. If you want to talk about keeping in trend, that's an important, it's easy to do because people say, well, how do I figure out? Well, there's lots of ways. I used to look at the clothing market. I used to look at paint companies because they dictate color. It's so interesting. Why am I looking at this can of paint because it's a fabulous color and what can I do or what flower is close to that? It's all part of that inspiration thing, clothing, cars, all of those things dictate color and I guess part of that also is to then share that with somebody else.

Vonda 17:03

I think you hit that Rich because if we don't embrace the trends or know about them, then when people are coming into our shop, they'll like, Oh, this is yesterday's flower shop, so to speak, right ? To keep yourself relevant and really important in the marketplace, you really have to embrace the trends.

Rich 17:20

I can tell you a really funny story and I'll make it quick. In the 80s I studied in Europe. I studied in the Netherlands. It was when new convention and hand tides were invented and I came back to my shop in New Jersey and I taught the staff everything I learned, had one design in the refrigerator of each type. And a week later we threw them all away and a week later we made them again cause I was determined I was going to teach the trends New Jersey. It went on for like two months and not one of them sold. And everybody looked at me like I was crazy and they're right for looking at me like I'm crazy. I go with that. But what I learned was two months later a family came in and I had done three of the children's weddings and they were doing a 60th birthday party for daddy. And she said to me, you had in the fridge, I saw this really cool arrangement and all the flowers were standing straight up in a row and she said, we're having a 60 foot long buffet table for the party. Oh can you make one of those 60 feet long? And the day after that one arrangement of every style I learned was back in the refrigerator and I never stopped that.

Vonda 18:39

Wow. That paid for those two months easily.

Rich 18:45

It certainly did, It was just wonderful.

Vonda 18:47

That's great. And that's all about educating the consumer,

Rich 18:50

Keep doing it, you know? I mean, if it never sells in a year , you can probably stop. I was very like, wow. I spent two weeks in Europe studying and nobody's buying it and then it happened and then everybody was buying it and then it's all over. So its perfect.

Vonda 19:07

Yeah. You just have to continue on like you said. Okay. So we're going to move on with just a couple of personal questions. What do you love most about the flower business?

Rich 19:18

I love the fact that two days in a row are never the same. For the last 26 years I have sat at a desk, but every day I find something different to do and usually a couple of times in the week I get down to the flower room and make some arrangements. Even if its just that somebody's birthday and I want to give it away. To me, it's important to do the business side. It's very important to do that, but it's also very important to keep your design style moving. Even all those years that I was in corporate, it was very important for me. I needed that push to say, this is why you do all the things you do. Isn't that great? Or even if you have a shop, go with your driver one day, make a couple of deliveries, and look at the look on people's face when they get flowers, when they're not expecting them, they just glow. They glimmer, they shine, they giggle, they do all kinds of things, and then they look at you and say, thank you. This is beautiful. And then you know you've done your job right.

Vonda 20:23

You know, sometimes you'll call a shop, I'm sure as I do, and they say no, he's out on deliveries or she's out on deliveries and you're thinking, Oh my gosh, you're the owner of the shop is out on deliveries. They should be doing something else.

Rich 20:34

But not always. Every once and a while, and you don't have to, don't do it every day, but once a month, get that rejuvenation thing going and just see what it does for someone.

Vonda 20:46

It reminds why we do what we do.

Rich 20:48

Yeah. Why don't we move those buckets 42 times a day because we love it.

Vonda 20:53

Right, exactly. How about what is your favorite flower?

Rich 20:58

I have a favorite flower and it's a very simple flower, but I think it is so gorgeous. I love sweet peas and you know, unfortunately they're not available all year long, but I just love the way they flow and they're delicate, but they're just so gorgeous. I love the colors. They come in and I love using them

Vonda 21:23

and the fragrance.

Rich 21:25

and the fragrance is just magnificent. Yes.

Vonda 21:26

That one actually surprised me. I didn't know what you were going to say, but I didn't know it was going to be sweet pea. That's great. This is one question that Lori usually asks and since she's not here, I'm going to have to ask you. It's the end of our podcast we always say, what is the one thing giving you life right now? It can be a simple thing. It's not breathing right. It's nothing like that because we know that's important, but sometimes it's you know your flower or something.

Rich 21:51

Well, at 71 it's very important to be breathing.

Vonda 21:53

True. That's true. No matter what age you are. It's important.

Rich 21:59

I think the thing that keeps me like really happy is sitting outside and looking at the mountains. They are just gorgeous, but to have gotten to this point in my life, moving from crazy busy LA, it's a very different area to be in and it's just so beautiful to sit there. It just calms me and it makes me like happy that I woke up one morning to see them.

Vonda 22:25

Yeah, that's beautiful. I love that. The thing that's giving me life right now, Rich is actually friends and you being here with me. I mean that's really, I think sometimes we overlook that. The importance of friends. We've been through Texas state to now, you know a lot of, a lot of peaks and valleys and thanks for joining me today. This has been great.

Rich 22:44

Thank you for having me. It's been my pleasure.

Lori 22:48

We have certainly enjoyed our time together today and we look forward to being with you guys. Again, if you have any questions, concerns, comments, anything we would love to hear from you, you can always email Lori@flowerclique.com also, if you enjoy our little podcast, go ahead and click that subscribe button. That's very helpful for us and you can even leave a review and we hope you join us next week.

Vonda 23:14

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.

Speaker 4 23:44

[inaudible] .