The heartbeat of any business is its customers. That sounds rather cliche but it does not make it any less true.

Without someone to buy your products… you are not in business.

Being a small business owner with natural products, having customers who come back to purchase you over the season and years is imperative. Even for custom orders that you may not get a repeat customer from, building a trusting relationship with your customer is no less important.

Word of mouth and reviews is incredibly powerful in making new sales but there are two sides to that coin: they can work against you if you have a customer dissatisfied with their experience.

Today, we are going to talk about how to build that trusting and positive relationship with your customers whether they are subscription members, florists, wedding couple or other. We are going to prepare you to navigate customer relations in such a way that you should be able to limit dissatisfied customers and gain continuing support from them.

We are going to cover:

Is the customer always right?
Communication is King!
Setting healthy boundaries
What you are really selling (hint, it’s not just flowers!)
How to keep educating of customers upbeat and pleasant
Dealing with different personalities
Additional tips

A little on my background. I am a people pleaser, sometimes this bites me in the behind but more often, has been a benefit. Before being a flower farmer, I have always had a job that put me on the frontlines of dealing with customers… a fancy way of saying retail! Dealing with various personalities of co-workers and customers (both in manager and subordinate roles) along with some bizarre situations… I guess you could say that it laid the groundwork for my approach to our own customers.

Even with my background in dealing with customers, it became a whole new game once I was the boss. The business owner. The farmer. The designer. The sales person… situations that would arise while working for someone else hadn’t stung like they did when suddenly, I began facing similar situations in my own business. On the flip-side, the good experiences never felt so amazing either! It became the two extremes of what I had previously experienced now being the business owner (and farmer-florist).

Let’s tackle something that is of great debate amongst many businesses…

Is the Customer always right?

The answer lands somewhere in the middle. I wouldn’t say “always” but most definitely not “never”. It’s not that absolute.

I want you to take a step back.

I want you to think of the various situations you have personally experienced as a customer.

I am sure we have all been there where perhaps we were unhappy with an experience at a store or restaurant. What did you do in that situation? Did you talk to the person about the experiences: provide feedback or allow them the chance to fix it? Or did you leave seething in silence swearing off the location? Did you share with your friends that experience the next time they recommend going there? On the times you addressed the business owner about your dissatisfaction and they tried to make it better, didn’t it make you feel better?

On the flip side, when you were incredibly happy with an experience did you share that with the person? Perhaps you had an employee of the business you where a patron at give beyond amazing service, did you share? I bet even if you didn’t share it with the business themselves… you shared it with your friends!

I will tell you, if you have a customer communicating they are dissatisfied: that is a win! It may not feel like a win, it actually may feel rather more like a pit in your stomach but it is a win nonetheless. The customer is presenting you with an opportunity to rectify the situation, educate them and flex those awesome customer service muscles.

You will face a customer saying something that will ruffle your feathers. It is bound to happen. They may have a request or negative feedback even a suggestion of improvement that you may or may not agree with. It is also important to not to quickly dismiss what they are communicating to you. In the past, I have written down their suggestions or feedback. If it is something worth following up and addressing, I give myself some time before responding. Meanwhile, I do make sure to thank them and that we will take it into consideration. The customer needs to know they have been heard and are appreciated.

So, is the customer always right? Perhaps not… but ultimately, it is more professional to approach a dissatisfied customer as such. They are unhappy. Whether it is truly your fault or not, it is worth the few stems to fix the situation. If a particular customer continues to have the same complaints multiple time, which is incredibly rare, then it may be time to reassess the situation. Replacing a product, giving a refund or just simply taking the time to hear your customer out will reward you in the long run much more than shutting them down. The customer may not always be right but they should always feel they are heard.

This leads me to the biggest part of customer relations…

Communication is King!

Communication is key. Communication is king. Communication is life… literally the lifeline between you and your customers.

When you dive into being a flower farming business owner, I would estimate about 80% of your job is actually in communication. Really, that’s probably a conservative estimate. Whether it is marketing a product, talking through your Bride’s vision for her wedding day or letting your bouquet subscription members know their blooms are ready… there is a lot of communication!

I know, you got into this for the flowers but hopefully you like people too, because you will be dealing with a lot of them. Even if you decide to focus on wholesale, you are still communicating with your outlets or florist customers.

You will need to decide the various methods of which you would like to be able to communicate to your customers. For us social media, email campaigns and our website are huge areas of communicating with our customers. Especially potential customers. During the season, texting or emailing with Brides, subscription members and florist friends is our main methods of communication. I am not a huge phone person, call it my generation or whatever but I don’t love being on the phone with random people where they may put me on the spot. This why I do not list my phone number on our website or social media sites. Instead, I push people wanting to contact me to email first, so I at least have an idea of what I am about to walk into to.

Do not approach communication with your customers as a burden, it is too important of a puzzle piece to the entire picture of your flower farming business. There will be times when you are sunburnt and exhausted, as burn-out may begin to settle: communication fatigue can happen. Communication fatigue is something to be aware of, particularly where you are mentally and your ability in being prompt in responding to customers while giving yourself some time to formulate an answer; especially to a question that may be slightly annoying, practice is so important. There are going to be times where you are tired of repeating the same conversation. It can be difficult to keep up the same enthusiasm and energy but remember: it is the first the customer may be having the conversation with you.

Especially when you begin to start experiencing that communication fatigue setting some healthy boundaries is important to avoid burn out.

Healthy boundaries: accommodating (within reason)

Set boundaries up front whether that means price minimums for event florals or wholesale orders. Best methods of communication and expected turnaround time on those communications. Set terms and conditions, lay out how your customers can expect their engagement to run with you. Provide educational materials whether physical or digital. Give your customers the resources they need to take responsibility for the products once they are in their possession.

In the planning phases of your business, you may have already begun to explore what you want to do in the realms of your flower farming business and perhaps areas you really aren’t interested in. This could be certain outlets or product offerings, customer orders, etc. Perhaps you have some experience in running a business and customer relations and you already had your lines in the sand, kind of mapped out… then the opportunity to make a sale presents itself and you think “maybe I’ll bend just this once…”

Bending is totally fine, as long as you truly feel okay with the situation. There are going to also be times where perhaps you bend a little too much and it ultimately did not work in your favor, perhaps you even felt taken advantage of. It happens. It’s frustrating. On the other hand, it helps you to fortify your lines in the sand for the next round.

There are many different types of personalities out there and when you are looking to capture a group of people to sell to: you’re going to catch an array of personalities. Hopefully, with the messaging, descriptions and your general ethos: you are attracting your ideal customers. Sometimes, you snag some who aren’t what you consider ideal. Sometimes you snag some who lands in the middle but maybe need more hand holding than you anticipated. Your ideal customers will respect boundaries. The customers who are not ideal will challenge you to stick to your guns. The customers that are a little bit of both will have you bending some but may be worth doing still.

If you are not the personality who checks their email throughout the day, give yourself “office” hours to respond. Communicate to your customers that outside of those hours, you will not be able to respond at the drop of a hat. Set expectations of when a customer can expect a response from you. At night, put your phone on do not disturb. There is not avreason, good or bad, you need to respond to a customer in the middle of the night.

Price minimums are a huge game changer. The biggest area we saw a positive effect come on was setting minimums for our different wedding options. Once we established minimums, this set the expectations for the potential client. They knew up front what it was going to take for them to have us as their wedding farmer florist. This has essentially put an end to “price shoppers” which has ultimately saved us a lot of time in putting time into: consultations, proposal creation and invoices. It was frustrating to put time, hand over your intellectual property then be ghosted. Since having set minimums, we have essentially eliminated price shoppers. Setting minimums allows you to be transparent and give you the confidence needed to stick with what you feel is the base amount you need to take on an engagement; whether an event, wholesale customer (such as a florist or shop owner) and special requests.

As flower farmers, we often forget that the knowledge that lives in our heads does not mean it is common knowledge to everyone…

Educate your customers, with humility

Educating customers never goes away. When you are talking to a bride, though this may be your hundredth wedding: it is most likely their first wedding. You may be selling your fiftieth bouquet at your market booth for the day, but for that fifty-first bouquet customer, it may be their first ever farm fresh bouquet. They need to be educated on how to take care of them the best they can.

When it comes to educating customers there are two main practices for you to avoid: making assumptions and getting on your soapbox.

First, let’s cover assumptions. Can I just say how incredibly distraught I get over people placing assumptions? Assumptions can add fuel to a fire in a bad situation. Assumptions easily can lead to miscommunication and even hurt feelings. Don’t assume your customers know how to care for fresh flowers, that they know your processes, or even your backstory. Without coming across in a patronizing fashion, I try to at a base level not assume the person I am talking to knows what’s in my head. If you remove your assumptions, you become more open and prepared to properly communicate with your customers.

Second, step off the soapbox, instead, educate in a positive and uplifting way. We are passionate about what we do! We are working hard physically and mentally. Sometimes though, when talking about what we do we can come off a little… preachy. We don’t want to berate our potential or actual customers. Flowers are pleasant, we need to maintain being pleasant. For example: a newer customer sends you a photo of a bouquet dead within two days of them getting the flowers from you. On your own kitchen table or perhaps photos from another customer: the flowers look great, what went wrong? You notice that the flowers are out of water. Instead of getting bristly, obviously the customer didn’t take care of those flowers or read the care guide. You can basically tell them sorry, not sorry the flowers looked poorly cared for and that person is out of luck. Sure, you can go that route… or…. Respond:

“I am so sorry your flowers died prematurely! I do notice that the water is low. Local flowers have such personality and they also think they are still very much alive (unlike imported flowers) and are very thirsty the first few days! Can I replace the flowers for you this time and we try again?”

You were empathetic, you educated in an uplifting way and you provided customer service. What you ultimately did: you took a bad situation and made it more positive.

Why shun a customer who may potentially be a lifetime customer with you when all it takes is a few minutes and some stems of flowers? Most of the time, the customers insist on not wanting a replacement and instead wanted to be heard. Though personally when I have a complaint, especially a one-off one, I replace. If this becomes a pattern with a specific customer, then it is time to reassess.

Each customer is a unique individual which means dealing with different personalities, this may take a unique way of communicating, educating, etc. Let’s talk different personalities!

Dealing with different personalities

Ideally, you are mainly attracting the personalities that you see as an ideal customer through your marketing techniques and sales outlets. Even within the realm of “ideal customers” there are different personalities that have different needs. Some customers need incredibly thorough information up front, they need routine and consistency. Some customers are go with the flow (flower?), they are just happy to have pretty blooms to look forward to. Some customers are more outgoing and will be more bold in sharing you, your flowers and their experience on social media or at the very least with you. Some customers, happy or not, sit in silence. Always check in on the silent ones to make sure they are doing okay. I feel this rings true for our subscription members, wedding clients and market customers. Some personalities will push you out of your comfort zone, know that’s okay and it will present lessons good or bad. You grow through experiences outside of your comfort zone. When caught off guard by a customer or request, take a step back. Give yourself time to think and respond, especially if you find yourself really uncomfortable. You don’t have to say “yes” to every request but you also don’t have to say “no” in the moment, you are allowed to say : “let me think on that and I will get back to you!”

Final Thoughts

Without customers your flower farming business is a hobby garden. Much like the care and nurturing we give our flowers, we also extend that to our customers. As you go through the seasons and interact with customers, you will find your responses and verbiage. What we offer has become more popular but it is still a niche service which requires clear communication and educating. Customers are wonderful, they are there to ultimately support you. There are cheaper flowers that are pretty just about anywhere that are more convenient to snag. Not every customer is supporting you for the local or eco-conscious approach. They may just love your story, your journey, the uniqueness of the products, the experience. You have control over a majority of that. Even when tired, don’t forget to nurture your customers. If you are finding yourself in a sticky situation with unhappy customers, we will be releasing that blog next week.

We will see you tonight over on our YouTube channel for the last livestream we will be doing until after tax season. Come ready with your questions and we will see you there at 6:30pm pst.

Real Talk: Customer Relations