The Wedding Florist
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Episode 12 | 5 Ways I improved my Quoting and Proposal Process as a wedding florist 

Have you ever looked back at your past enquiries and quotes to see how you quoted your customers, what helped you book your clients, what was it that converted your lead into a client and what sort of an experience you gave to your customers.

So in today's episode I will be delving into what I found out when I did this for my own wedding florist business. Grab a pen and paper and sit down with me to make notes so that you can also do this for your business.
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TSo last month, while i was transferring data from an old laptop to my new one, I came across a list of email addresses from a wedding show I did in 2018 and I sat down to see if any of the customers materialised from this list, what I charged at the time, what I was doing and how much time I was spending on quotes compared to what I have been doing in more recent years.  

Reflecting back on this and some of the quotes I sent made me realise  that I wasn’t charging enough for the work and sometimes not even the product I was using, i didn’t have different pricing tiers at the time and left money on the table, i didn’t have an easy to buy option, i was spending so much time and energy on converting clients that it was draining me and I didn’t really know how to quote and the strategy behind quoting.  

Over the years I certainly found and learnt better ways to resolve these and better quoting meant more creative freedom and more happier customers and customer reviews. So I wanted to share these with you so you can take a look at your processes and make the changes that you need to or if you are just starting out then you can make a start on the right foot.
 
Step 1 - PRICING 
What you should be doing is setting your prices based on what your work is going to look like and what your ingredients are and what you are wanting to create. One mistake I made was trying to make things work within the client's budget (which was what they thought was a good amount to spend). They would come with swoon worthy pinterest images, their requirement needs and a measly budget and I thought my job was to make that work. NO. You need to be looking at each of the items, the material and time it takes to create and then pricing it up accordingly. But better still if you create the products in your business beforehand, work out your materials and then price them up you will become more confident with both your pricing and your products because you will be putting out into the world what you want to create and do.

STEP 2 - DELIVERY SETUP AND COLLECTION 
 For those that are not doing this - why not! These are additional charges. Every venue is different and comes with its own set of logistical challenges from staircases, no lifts, winding access routes through kitchens, back entrances, parking, the time they give you to setup and pickup and so on.

What I like to do is charge this cost separately because it helps to be more transparent to the customer and it helps you to make sure you have charged correctly for this item. And, iIf you need to do a site visit beforehand to understand the venue or speak with the  events team, then not only is this a service where you go over and beyond for your customer but it helps you get yourself out there and make connections, especially if you want to continue working for a specific venue or want to be on their approved suppliers list.  
   

STEP 3 - BUDGET FOR EXTRA STAFFING 
 So when I first started my business I used to try and do everything myself and a lot of the time I took my daughter with me at the weekend when she should have been studying and enjoying her childhood.  She would be a little helping hand but then couldn’t be left alone if I needed to go off site so she wasn’t really the best person to accompany me.  Then I learned about freelancers and how valuable they can be in the business because they are trained and able to make the right decisions and work independently of me. Employing freelancers needs you to charge for them when you are quoting because this is an added cost in your business.

STEP 4 - REFLECT BACK ON WHAT IS WORKING AND WHAT IS NOT 
Whatever stage of your business you are at, you need to always be looking at what is working, what is not working.  It’s not about being perfect. The idea is to evaluate what you are doing so you are continually learning, adapting and improving yourself and your processes. Until you don’t go through something and then reevaluate it you can’t understand how you can improve it.  

STEP 5 - CREATE A WORKFLOW THAT WORKS 
 Everyone has some sort of a workflow based on what they are currently doing.  There is no right or wrong process or workflow - it is what you are making work for you.  The idea is to navigate and progress your enquiries so that your customer receives the best client experience and you are not getting drained in the process because creating quotes and proposals can be time consuming and not guaranteed to convert the client for you.  

So by creating a workflow and mapping out the process you understand what your customer journey is and touchpoints so that you can add your personality and values and give your customers an invaluable service that they are raving about afterwards too. Also a workflow helps you become more consistent so you’re not second guessing what you are doing. It creates a repeatable system which can help you to grow by employing additional staff when it's the right time to do so. It is time saving and uses less energy and makes the process easy and quick whilst giving all your customers the same high level experience. By creating this system it will help you make more money and increase your revenue.  

When you are doing this and mapping it out don’t be afraid for the process to be messy at the beginning because you will make it all fit in and align nicely as you start developing it. Make it easy for you to follow and easy for your customers to understand.  

So over the years I have undercharged, I have not had enough staff and then sometimes had too much staff, overlooked things because I've not taken that step back to reflect and done a freeflow system where I am not in control and the customer has been calling the shots. So over time this has changed step by step and you can also do the same.  

In the Wedding Florist Academy I cover this in detail and share my step by step process and workflow. If you want to learn my workflow and process so you can strip years off your business growth journey then you will definitely consider joining the Wedding Florist Academy.  

If you've enjoyed listening to my podcast please show me the love and give me a review on i-tunes. it would mean the world to me.

Take a photo of this podcast and post it on your instagram stories tagging me in and I'll be sure to share some love back. If you think this podcast will help your biz bestie then be sure to share it with them too.    

So, here are various ways you can work with me.

I have free resources to help you in your business -  
Get your Complete Guide to Write Winning Proposals and
The Ultimate Social Media Kit with a social media calendar, florist specific hashtags and strategies to grow your audience.  

I know how hard and time consuming it can be to have the right resources in your business and that's why I have created various digital templates and resources that you can use in your business and these are available for instant download in the Etsy Store  

Watch the free training on how I went from hand ties to installations and grew my wedding flower business to a 6 figure profitable business.    

That’s it for now -  if there's a topic you want covering in the future let me know and I'll get it sorted for you.    

So until next week, stay blooming and take care  

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Hey there Wedding Florist

I'm Sarita B 

I'm the founder of Wedding Florist Academy. After qualifying in City and Guilds level 2 in 2014, I started my wedding flower business and learned how to sale my designs from hand ties to installations and grew a 6 figure business. I now enjoy helping other florists do exactly the same thing.  

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