Should I Give the Customer a Refund??? 😒 How to Manage Customer Complaints As a Florist

[@eleonoracollareda7856]

That is a great video that helps me in my worst accepting times. Yesterday i recieved a non direct bad review on a platform, while no one of the couple never complain about their wedding day directly in months . 😅 So i wrote under their comment my apologize for something that they don't felt good with , i politely write the clarification about the logistic organisation that concerned me and the church and i encourage them to talk to me directly about all their situation problems, to help me to manage better the next situation, while they never said anything about that day. (Also in this case for us and other people the flower design was great).

[@eleonoracollareda7856]

And yes i think Is my third time in two years that someone Is disappointed on my work, and is the First Time for a wedding situation. I know It Will happen again (maybe not so often) and i Hope people get the right decision to tell me personally and bot writing a general bad review on somewhere without First explain me all the problems.

[@nicomyth]

Thank you this is such helpful advice!

[@LittleBirdBloom]

I'm happy to hear you found it helpful! 🌸

[@firehorsewoman414]

Kathleen, you have fantastic content in your videos. I am learning so much from you. In the next year (or two), I hope to be a fantastic supplier of beautiful flowers to florists like you.

[@LittleBirdBloom]

This is so awesome! I'm glad that you are finding my videos helpful during your flower boss journey. You've got this! 🥳

[@firehorsewoman414]

@@LittleBirdBloom thanks. It is helpful content for a lot of industries really, not just being a florist but applicable to many creative avenues. I have an office career for now who likes to garden and also am glass artist (fused glass and stained glass). I have managed to sell a couple of thousand overall, not much in the grand scheme, but it tells me it can be done. Flower growing is going to be my day career and in the evenings, it will be glass. I think my (future) business and my art will come together quite well actually. God, I can’t wait to “retire”. I have given myself 10 years to get this launched and prove it viable. I am 57 so 10 years until full retirement. I own the land, and I have the know-how on how to form a business and insurance etc., so I think I am off to a great start. I think my biggest obstacles are Texas weather and the details of this specific industry such as who am I selling to, how do I plan my inventory etc. but I have time to start a bit slow. I know what I want to make a year, I just haven’t determined what that translates into as far as # / type of stems overall. I am pretty sure though that I don’t want to be the florist, I want to be the person who supplies the florist. My strength is growing pretty things, not putting them together in arrangements. I am binging your videos and then watching again at a slow pace to take notes in order to perfect my business plan. You are also now on my list of paid classes to sign up for in the near future.

[@wesleysmithForklifts]

Great advice, Do you have a video or suggestions about how to plan for and minimize waste for fresh flowers in your inventory.

[@LittleBirdBloom]

Hi Wesley, It's on my plan for the coming few weeks!

[@firehorsewoman414]

Wow those wedding flowers looked amazing. People get so caught up with weddings (I did for mine and my daughters so pointing the finger at me too), but at the end of the day its all beautiful and quite frankly no one remembers the details anyway unless its a real disaster. What you showed was definitely NOT a disaster. Out of curiosity, do you think they were truly unhappy and not just trying to scam you to get out of paying for your services?

[@LittleBirdBloom]

I mean there is always that very rare possibility. However it's their word against yours when it comes to whether they are happy or not. We can only hope that people do the right thing 🥰

[@johnolson5661]

I am interested in learning the skill and working with these. You mentioned a few times that the flower business is very secretive. Just wondering what you mean when you say that. What types of aspects are secretive in the industry? Thanks much

[@LittleBirdBloom]

When it comes to floristry everything on the business side of things can be quite secretive, especially anything to do with the words pricing, money, profit and loss. 💰💸🤑

[@firehorsewoman414]

I have a question on fulfilling an order from grower to a florist. Is it an industry standard or even a best practices approach to give more than exactly what is ordered. Of course from the florist’s standpoint it would be yes because who doesn’t want more for less or a bit free thrown in, so I am trusting you to give me an unbiased business opinion on this. Say 10% more put in a florist’s order to compensate for any that might get damaged while they are setting up a wedding etc. Not really sure how this works, so sorry if its a silly question. I know that could get quite expensive on a very large order, so not really sure that makes good business sense. But it seems like a nice customer service touch at least on the filler flowers and foliage at the very least.

[@LittleBirdBloom]

This is such a great question! 🥰 From my perspective, as the florist, it's my job to manage breakage and wastage and I account for that when I do my order and plan my recipes. When it comes to getting extras from the growers, I've had that from a few of my favourite growers...but that's after building a great relationship, paying my bills on time, being kind to them and telling them what an awesome job they do. I'd totally keep it in mind but use it as a way to spoil your best customers. 😄

[@OrioleBeagle]

How do you deal with customers that constantly try to get things for free? Are there customers that you refuse to do business with?

[@LittleBirdBloom]

Great question! Two things I find super helpful in this instance is (a) decide ahead of time what you are willing to do and what you're hard no's are and (b) write out a script for yourself. I used to get so thrown when people would ask for stuff but I realised it's that I wasn't prepared (so then I felt on the defensive all the time). 😊