ALEXANDRIA, VA — Gretta Boehme of America's Florist in Bound Brook, New Jersey, said her decision to attend the Society of American Florists' 1-Day Profit Blast in Philadelphia on March 25 was simple: She wanted "fresh, new ideas" and a dash of "inspiration."
In all likelihood, many of the 115 attendees shared that goal — but by day's end, Boehme said she'd gotten something even more tangible from the all-day program that featured four expert speakers.
"Many people here have a broad wealth of knowledge and lots of different angles on how to make our customers more excited about our products, how to market the products and how to market them profitably," said Boehme, a first-time attendee (although America's Florist has been an SAF member for 50-plus years).
Different, informed perspectives on challenging issues, new products and lots of networking time have become hallmarks of SAF's 1-Day Profit Blast series.
The Philadelphia event, underwritten by DVFlora, packed design, sales, technology and management education into an eight-hour program, along with a Supplier Showcase where floral industry vendors shared their newest products. (Smithers-Oasis sponsored the day's design program.)
Speakers included:
- Laura Daluga, AIFD, owner of Department of Floristry, dissected five key design movements;
- Derrick Myers, CPA, CFP, PFCI, president of Crockett, Myers & Associates turned financial management into an entertaining and engaging workshop-style exercise;
- Tim Huckabee, president of FloralStrategies showed attendees how to build better sales scripts; and
- Crystal Vilkaitis of Crystal Media dished on how to move beyond posts and paid advertising on social media.
Karen Laich of Flower Girl Florist in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, said she "had a blast" at the event.
I started the day with fresh new ideas [and] learned some tips to get a better bottom line," she said, adding that she also took notes on how "tweak" sales script and market her business more profitably online. "I caught up with old friends, made some new friends [and] got to check out new products in person. I don't remember the last time I had this much fun on a Saturday."
The event brought information that was helpful to both newcomers to the industry and seasoned pros.
Andrew Ragusa of Plaza flowers in Norristown, Pennsylvania, said he's fairly new to the business but found Huckabee's sales training "very helpful."
Meanwhile Debra Harrow said she hoped the event could help her combine her long history in business and floral design with her relatively new position as general manager of Carl Alan Floral Design in Philadelphia.
"I'm educating myself on the ins and outs of the floral industry," she said, adding that her goal for the day was to "[broaden] my knowledge and [open] up new doors for the business and better ways for us to succeed."
Janet Gould of Gould's Flowers in Lockport, New York, brought along a family member and an employee to soak up the knowledge. She said she found COGS-related info from Myers particularly pertinent, along with Vilkaitis's tips on social media use and Daluga's insight on design trends.
"Cost of goods sold was very good because you have to keep up with that," she said.
Noreen Gorka of Yardley Florist in Yardley, Pennsylvania, called the session "the best eight hours you can spend."
"[It was] jam-packed with information every florist can use and apply immediately to improve your business and bottom line," she said. "Educational and energizing."
Since launching the 1-Day Profit Blast series in 2014, SAF has brought events to Atlanta, Baltimore, Seattle, DesMoines, Austin, Cincinnati, Denver and Columbus, in addition to Philadelphia.
"We developed this event so we could give SAF members affordable and schedule-friendly access to the kind of high quality education we offer at our annual convention," said SAF CEO Peter Moran. "But in order to keep the registration rate low (between $99 and $139), we rely on wholesaler partners to help underwrite the costs."
The next 1-Day Profit Blast is in St. Louis on July 22, sponsored by Baisch and Skinner and DWF; additional events will be held this fall in Boston (Sept. 23), sponsored by Jacobson Floral Supply, and Louisville, Kentucky (Nov. 4), sponsored by Bill Doran Company.
Find out more and register today at safnow.org/1-day–profit–blast
About SAF
The Society of American Florists is the leading organization representing all segments of the floral industry. SAF is proud to provide marketing, business and government services to its members, including growers, wholesalers, retailers, suppliers, importers, educators, designers and allied organizations. The association was chartered by an act of Congress in 1884. To learn more about SAF or to join, visit safnow.org.
Source: The Society of American Florists
