As the co-owner of a brand new up market florist shop in small town Rotorua, New Zealand, My business partner and I decided that to stand out from the crowd (seven florist businesses catering to a city of only 65,000 residents), we would offer an email service to our clients so that when they rang to order flowers for their loved ones or ordered through our website and email, we would send them an email with a photo of the flowers that were sent. The feedback was outstanding from customers all over the world. Our customer base grew rapidly through word of mouth and with customers showing off to their friends and colleagues the photos of the flowers they had sent.
Very rarely when a customer purchases an item or gift straight out of a catalogue, can it vary so much as what flowers do. I cannot think of any other retail product/service that the customer pays his/her money over in such faith as with the floral industry. You wouldn’t order a blue shirt, size XL, send it to your friend and then have to contact him and ask what is was like, if he received it and perhaps if he might like to send you a photo of it. So why then has this been so acceptable in the floral industry when it probably costs as much, if not more for that bouquet of flowers that are usually for a special or rear occasion?
Our clients from Rotorua wanting us to send flowers around New Zealand (this had to be done through other florists) were extremely disappointed that they were unable to receive the same service from these florists as it was not offered.
The current process makes it very difficult to know what you are going to get. When ordering flowers in New Zealand to go to 'Aunt Sally' in the UK through a glossy generic brochure at the local florist store, you have no idea of the availability of the flower varieties you chose, the style of work that florist does (another common query we had from our clients/"will they be as stylish as yours?"), and of course neither you or the florist sending the order have any idea of who is filling the order in the UK for you, as head office does the choosing. (I guess this is how they justify their horrendous fees). Are you aware that you can easily loose up to 40% of your order value to the relay services and their affiliates, all the time thinking that you are ordering directly with a real florist?
So....
From the back of our store we came up with www.Vuzien.net We looked at ways in which to make this work. What we came up with was a fantastic website/software package. The software was designed to make the photo sending process much easier than the generic photo sharing/modification software that we were using in the shop.
We employed a local website design firm to develop the site and software to our specifications. Next an intellectual property lawyer was engaged to trademark the name Vuzien and protect the intellectual property. She also told us that most people have a great idea in their life time but don’t follow through with their idea for various reasons.
Our original direction for this business was to license this package to one of the 'Big Boys' of our industry so as we could continue to build our florist shop (floristry is our #1 passion). Needless to say we were 'laughed out the door too many times to mention, mostly due to the fact that it would highlight just how much value the consumer is loosing through relay fees, (to reduce the charges for their relay services obviously is not an option, even though it costs next to nothing to communicate to others throughout the world).
We are now happily on a path where we have started from scratch and are building our own unique brand of Customer Focused, Independent Florists.
This in hindsight is a much better path for us and our industry. Every florist that joins Vuzien receives immediate 100% payment for every order they receive through the Vuzien website. No commissions, No relay fees, just a group of like minded business people wanting the best for their businesses and their clients. We believe so strongly in these principals that we sold our shop in February and now work full time on developing and marketing Vuzien to both the consumers and the florists. With using this service to build our customer base, we were able to then sell our 16 month old shop within 5 weeks of advertising it privately.
With Vuzien customers are guaranteed to connect directly to an independent florist's website or email to place their order and receive confirmation of their flower delivery via an email link to view the flowers that were sent on their behalf.
Currently we have 39 florists throughout New Zealand, we are gathering momentum throughout Australia and word is slowly getting out to the florists in North America and the UK. I welcome feedback from all.
Jocelyn Wasley and Emily Stevens
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jocelyn_Wasley
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Would You Let An Employee Going Through A Crisis Represent Your Company To The Public?
If your employee was going through an emotional crisis and seem unable to suck it in and do their job, would you let him/her represent your organisation to the public?
The easy answer is that professionals do their job, regardless of the circumstances or their personal feelings. But recently, while touring a technology equipment exhibition, I met one of the unhappiest, most unprofessional frontline person it has been my misfortune to meet. She made me consider the kind of damage an employee in crisis could wreak on an organisation.
The prestigious, very well-advertised technology equipment fair was bustling with more than a thousand people, many of them talking, demonstrating products or trying out some gadget or another.
But somehow this company’s stall was empty, the air around frontline person almost still. She sat at a table at the corner of the stall, her body hunched over, figuratively screaming for people to leave her alone.
On closer inspection of the company’s banners and posters, I realized she represented a small, lesser-known financial institution funding business start-ups. I would have been remiss in my own duties if I didn’t approach her and ask for more information so I could tell my business readers about it.
She did not respond verbally when I asked for information about the company’s financial services. She simply stood up, stomped up to a shelf to grab a brochure and pushed it into my hand. Then she stomped back to her chair, glared at me as if daring me to ask for something else..
I was furious, and my gut response was to take the brochure and write a blistering column about the company’s customer service. I also felt a bit sorry for her – clearly she was in the middle of a big emotional crisis (I refused to believe that was her normal state!). But whatever the problem was, this woman had no right to be interacting with the public.
What I did was note the name of the company and contact details, to send them my complaint later. Then I put the brochure right back on the table. “My mistake,” I said to her. “I don’t want to know your company and I certainly won’t be recommending your services to my readers, unless your company responds to my complaint and convinces me your unprofessional behavior was an anomaly.”
I did send a letter of complaint to the company, outlining the circumstances, but they failed to respond. That's the one company I won't be recommending to the 35K+ daily visitors ( mostly chief executives, senior managers and entrepreneurs) who read the news portal I write for.
Damaria Senne is a journalist and author based in Johannesburg, South Africa. She writes about the telecommunications industry in South Africa and Africa, including cellular, mobile and wireless technologies and messaging news and trends.
Read her business related articles at http://www.itweb.co.za She blogs about parenting/writing at http://damariasenne.blogspot.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Damaria_Senne
The easy answer is that professionals do their job, regardless of the circumstances or their personal feelings. But recently, while touring a technology equipment exhibition, I met one of the unhappiest, most unprofessional frontline person it has been my misfortune to meet. She made me consider the kind of damage an employee in crisis could wreak on an organisation.
The prestigious, very well-advertised technology equipment fair was bustling with more than a thousand people, many of them talking, demonstrating products or trying out some gadget or another.
But somehow this company’s stall was empty, the air around frontline person almost still. She sat at a table at the corner of the stall, her body hunched over, figuratively screaming for people to leave her alone.
On closer inspection of the company’s banners and posters, I realized she represented a small, lesser-known financial institution funding business start-ups. I would have been remiss in my own duties if I didn’t approach her and ask for more information so I could tell my business readers about it.
She did not respond verbally when I asked for information about the company’s financial services. She simply stood up, stomped up to a shelf to grab a brochure and pushed it into my hand. Then she stomped back to her chair, glared at me as if daring me to ask for something else..
I was furious, and my gut response was to take the brochure and write a blistering column about the company’s customer service. I also felt a bit sorry for her – clearly she was in the middle of a big emotional crisis (I refused to believe that was her normal state!). But whatever the problem was, this woman had no right to be interacting with the public.
What I did was note the name of the company and contact details, to send them my complaint later. Then I put the brochure right back on the table. “My mistake,” I said to her. “I don’t want to know your company and I certainly won’t be recommending your services to my readers, unless your company responds to my complaint and convinces me your unprofessional behavior was an anomaly.”
I did send a letter of complaint to the company, outlining the circumstances, but they failed to respond. That's the one company I won't be recommending to the 35K+ daily visitors ( mostly chief executives, senior managers and entrepreneurs) who read the news portal I write for.
Damaria Senne is a journalist and author based in Johannesburg, South Africa. She writes about the telecommunications industry in South Africa and Africa, including cellular, mobile and wireless technologies and messaging news and trends.
Read her business related articles at http://www.itweb.co.za She blogs about parenting/writing at http://damariasenne.blogspot.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Damaria_Senne
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