How to Use Floral Client Consultations to Avoid Being Ghosted
Every florist has a similar routine to respond to inquiries. We open the DM or email, craft a friendly response, click send, and cross our fingers. Sometimes, we get “ghosted.” These Ghost Brides give every florist goosebumps! Is the Ghost Bride watching from her corner of the Internet? Maybe she’s going to pop up at any second! Who you gonna call? Ghost-Bride Busters!
You can do five easy things to turn these ghost brides into booked clients! It all starts with consultations. If you aren’t having consultations with every client, now’s the time to start! Consultations are the easiest (and most inexpensive) way to get to know your client and avoid being ghosted.
1. Ask for Inspiration
When you get an inquiry, sometimes brides are just price shopping. We all know costs vary depending on the season, flower choices, quantities, and so many other factors. When you ask the bride for her inspiration pictures, you can explain these factors and let her know a consultation will help pound out the details to make a more accurate price quote.
2. Coffee Shop Consultations
If you don’t have a pretty place in your shop or studio to meet with clients, you can always meet at a local coffee shop with a great atmosphere. Pick a time that isn’t a morning or lunch rush. When your client arrives, offer to buy them something to sip on! It’s a great ice breaker, and she’ll appreciate the hospitality.
3. The Power of Pinterest
Sometimes, your client isn’t local to your area. If you must schedule a phone consultation, use Pinterest to your advantage! Ask the bride to invite you to her Pinterest board to see her inspiration. Then, make a separate board and pin pictures of ingredients, colors, or details to show her during the consultation. You can get really organized by separating the board into sections and labeling everything, so it’s easy to understand. This is the best way to make a mood board for her to play with and use for reference. It also requires absolutely no Photoshop experience or investment like a mood board or proposal creating systems. You can even use Pinterest in-person by bringing a laptop or tablet. Seeing or hearing your client’s reactions to ingredients and design ideas is easier than trying to guess her feelings over email or DM.
4. Ask about details
Getting to know the bride’s personality and style will help make the design decisions easier. Little details like the bridal party’s wardrobe, linen colors, and venue style helps contribute to the overall wedding-day atmosphere. Your client has carefully curated their big-day, so she’ll love showing you these details! As you see the big-picture design of the wedding day with your client, she’ll trust you to bring her vision to life!
5. Close the Sale by Serving
This potential client will choose you based on your selling skills. You might not think of yourself as a salesperson, but you are pitching a product (floral design for a wedding) to a customer. If you’ve ever been to a car lot, you know how it feels to have a pushy salesperson pressuring you to buy. It’s awkward, so you “ghost” the salesperson. Now think of a time you bought something because you liked the product AND the person selling the product. The best sales strategy is being genuine in serving. During the consultation, have the goal that the client should talk 80% of the time. If they are talking about themselves, their fiancé, the wedding dress, their family, you will hear their needs if you are listening. Aim to serve them; then you will close the sale.
You can email or DM a client back and forth for months, but talking on the phone, Skyping, or in-person establishes connection and trust between you and the client. They will be less likely to turn into a “ghost bride” and will remember you when deciding on their florist. A good consultation will suck the ghost brides in better than any backpack vacuum could! Now you can say, I ain’t afraid of no ghost…bride.
