WF&FSA netWORK, 6-23-09 Issue

WF&FSA's Free Electronic Newsletter

June 23, 2009

Management Institute August 20-22 Scholarship Deadline in One Week
The deadline for getting letters in for the Mike Garcia and Laura Kantakas scholarships is June 30 one week from today. It's an easy process. Find Out More (Scroll Down)

The 2009 Management Institute is designed for people who manage sales people and sales people. Key Topics covered in this course include: Sales Department Foundation and Structure; Documenting and Selling Company Value; Customer Relationship Management (CRM); Listing, Grouping and Prioritizing Accounts; Major Target Accounts; Pre-call Planning; Territory Management; Reporting and Activity Reports; Prospecting; and Forecasting. Register Now

WF&FSA Open Talk - Audio Conferences
Tuesday, June 30th - Professional Sales Training - One week from Today
First, we will look at what objections are and learn the dynamics surrounding them. Then we will learn a proven methodology for how to respond using the "SELL defense". All participants will receive a detailed handout and a worksheet to help develop skillful responses to the objections they are facing! Learn More & Register Now

Tuesday July 7th - Data Mining - Knowledge is POWER!
Panelists: Hans Brand - B & H Flowers, Brad Beck - DESIGN MASTER color tool, inc. & Bill LaFever - Bill Doran Company

Data mining is the process of analyzing your own data from different perspectives and summarizing it into useful information - information that can be used to increase revenue, cut costs, or both. Learn More & Register Now

Wholesalers Diversifying Customer Base but Florists are Mainstay
The typical wholesale florist is diversifying their sales, but the traditional retail florist remains the key customer base for most wholesale florists, according to a recent WF&FSA study. Nearly half (45%) of wholesale florists make 71% to 100% of their sales to retail florists.

Sixty-five percent of wholesalers said that they expect their sales to retail florist to decrease and 31% expect their sales to retail florists to increase. Most wholesalers (78%) expect their sales to party & event planners to increase. Nearly half the wholesalers expect to increase their sales to supermarkets and interior designers.

Nearly 90% of wholesalers do not sell to the public and have strict policies to prohibit sales to the public. WF&FSA members may request a copy of the complete survey from Ken Hess khess@wffsa.org.  

Supermarket Sales of Easter a Split Decision
"The Economy" was the primary issue driving negative sales for Easter 2009, according to the Produce Marketing Association's Easter Floral Market Watch. Fifty-two percent of supermarket retailers reported that their business was up from last year, while 43% reported that their business was down.

Retailers are using a number of strategies to counteract the economy: emphasizing value in ads and in store merchandising, managing price points, and adjusting quantities purchased. The average expenditure per customer is down. Customers are still shopping the department, albeit with fewer dollars. Other bright spots include 43% of retailers reported an increase in bouquet sales. For more information or a copy of the survey, contact Becky Roberts at PMA broberts@pma.com.

Conduct Your Own Customer Research - It's Free, Easy and Valuable
WF&FSA has seven open-ended questions you can ask your customers that will provide you with information you can act upon. Have each of your sales people ask these questions to at least five of their customers.

This is called "qualitative" research which provides more depth and richness to the information collected because it offers the opportunity for participants to contribute more of their thoughts and feelings. While the results are not statistically significant, tremendously valuable insights can be gained through qualitative research. Access Sample Customer Audit . If you are not a wholesaler you can easily modify the questions to meet your specific needs.

If you would like a copy of this customer audit to personalize for your company, email Amy Orange at aorange@wffsa.org and we will email you a copy in Word format.

SHOP TALK - Wholesalers, Get Your Customers Involved!
Shop Talk is a conference call designed specifically for retail florist participants. They will have the opportunity to listen to panelists (their peers) discuss what made them a category winner in The Florist of the Year contest. There will be an opportunity for questions, answers and discussion. All they need is a telephone to participate.

This is a great opportunity for you, the wholesaler, to engage your customers! Send them the information so they can register with WF&FSA or invite them into your offices to listen to the audio conference.

Shop Talk Audio Conference - Merchandising & Display, July 21, 2009 @ 3:00 pm EST
Only $45 per phone connection. Access the Registration Form and send it to all your customers.

Number of Weddings Stable
Weddings in the U.S. have been relatively steady from 2005 through 2008 with 2.19 million weddings in 2008 according to The Wedding Report. That is down from a high of 2.44 million weddings in 1990. Read More

Holiday Season Color & Trend Tips from TrendCurve
Silver & gold metallics are as important as ever. Deep. dark jewel tones dominate the trends, while pastels are reserved for confectionary ornaments and accessories. Animals abound as a trend - from costumed dogs to fish and butterflies. Eco Christmas trends are made more chic with metallic finishes accenting such earthy tones as Frosted Evergreen and Potting Moss. You cannot go wrong with Polar Blues, ranging from watery to a near-navy. For more trend information visit www.trendcurve.com.  

2009 Wholesale Operating Ratio Survey - Deadline August 15
In turbulent times, financial benchmarking information is more important than ever. The best source for financial benchmarking information in the industry is the WF&FSA Operating Ratio Survey. This report provides a wealth of financial and operating guidelines. In addition, it is arranged to provide direct comparisons with your firm. However, the information is available only to WF&FSA wholesale members that participate in the study. It is free. The deadline is August 15, 2009. To Participate

Floral GTIN Initiative Moves Forward Quickly
Momentum is building toward a change that will make the floral delivery system dramatically more efficient, accurate and less labor intensive than ever before. Driving that change will be in the implementation of two data standards, the Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) at the box level and the Universal Product Code (U.P.C.) for bunches and bouquets. The GTIN (pronounced (gee-tin") and U.P.C. are part of an internationally recognized data standard behind bar-coding systems that allow supply chain partners to eliminate redundancies, reduce manual labor and minimize the chance for human error in the distribution process. For More Information

Wholesalers who want to scan in and scan out product can show their support by endorsing the Floral GTIN Initiative. By endorsing the program you are saying that you will make every effort to use the system once it is in place which is March of 2010. To endorse the program, Click Here

NORCAL Asks for Comments on Box Standards
NORCAL, the operational name for the California Association of Flower Growers and Shippers, announced the release of a box standardization study for a public comment period ending on July 15, 2009. Over 1,000 box sizes have been commonly reported over the years.

The final recommended standards will be announced at the member meeting on August 11th. The study is posted on the NORCAL website at www.cafgs.org.  Interested parties can contact Chris Johnson at the NORCAL at 760-533-5580 or via email at chris@cafgs.org

Colorado Wholesalers and Retailers Form New Organization
The Wholesale Florists of Colorado and the Colorado Retail Florists Association have joined forces in the newly formed Floral Association of the Rockies. "We worked side-by-side for a number of years but we felt we could get more done by combining forces," said former WFC President Larry Hagen. "We had mutual interests and goals and it was the right time to do it." Read More

Canadian Firm Vyn Flowers out of the "Fresh Business"
One of Canada's largest field flower growers: Ontario based Vyn Flowers Inc is no longer growing field flowers for the fresh market. "This step was necessary to focus the entire company on our core line of permanent botanicals, " said Lawrence Hopman - National Sales Manager.

Similarly their Colombian operation C.I. Vyn International SA, has been converted from a farm to a sales office/warehouse in Rio Negro, to serve south American bouquet makers and retailers.

Cronquist Recognized Young Influential Leader
Kasey Cronquist, Executive Director/Ambassador for the California Cut Flower Commission, was recognized by Produce Business as one of the 40 influential industry leaders under the age of 40 in their June 2009 issue. Kasey was the only floral industry member recognized. Read More

Mid America Airport Adds Vegetables to the Mix
MidAmerica St. Louis Airport adds vegetables to the menu of products being flown to St. Louis from South America. For the past year flowers have been flown from South America to St. Louis. Read More

Mexican Truckers Sue U.S.
About 4,500 trucking companies represented by Mexico's National Cargo Transportation Association are suing the U.S. for $6 billion after Congress cut off funding for a pilot program that allowed Mexican truckers access to U.S. highways, according to a report from Reuters.

Directory of California Growers and Shippers Available
The 2009-2010 Membership Directory of the California Association of Flower Growers & Shippers is now available. It includes a comprehensive listing of the state's growers and shippers, a floral availability section and a seasonal availability. To purchase the directory contact Linda Long at linda@cafgs.org or (831) 479-4912.

Strategic Pricing for Distributors: Tools and Rules for Building Higher Margins.
This book can be a real game-changer for wholesaler-distributors. Experience shows that most wholesaler-distributors are leaving at least two percentage points of gross trading margin on the table. This translates into 2% of total sales. Many companies can ultimately achieve more. The improvement is attainable fairly quickly and has proven to be sustainable.

Read More . Discounts are available to WF&FSA members.