Sporks ... using the power of humour (well we laughed!)
Read More.

New Interflora owners talk to me
Read More.

I'm being elitist ... are you?
Read More.

Why staff have to be bovvered!
Read More.

And finally ... the full story on why I chose Manuka joggers
Read More.

The monthly, weekly and, depending on what's happening in this mad, mad industry of ours, sometimes daily views of Caroline Marshall - Foster, Managing Editor of Florist & Wholesale Buyer, the only independent trade magazine for the £2.1 billion retail flower industry in the UK.

Never known to hold back, she comments on what's happening, what's got her goat and even what's made her happy ... yes it does happen!

Have something of your own to say? Want to vent your feelings? Got an idea you want to share.  Then let her know by e-mailing editorsletter@thewordhouse.co.uk

They all go straight to her computer so anything you say is strictly between you and her ... unless you want it made public!

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Sporks ... using the power of humour (well we laughed!)

Why Fun has to be included in marketing

Who the heck cares what the weight of an un-laden sparrow is? If I had a choice I’d always choose a kitten over a badger because the cow in my back garden needs to be saved from TB, and I know very well who put the ram in the ramalama ding dong.

OK it may sound as if I’ve gone mad but if you read my editorial in the magazine you’ll know that that’s how I teased you to come on-line and see what I was saying here.

Now you might have done it because you were genuinely interested as to whether the Spork was going to make a comeback. You might have done it because you just wanted to see if I had finally flipped. Or maybe, just maybe a bit of barking mad humour attracted your attention enough to take the plunge. Whatever it was it worked and actually proves that going down the fun/mad/silly route can play dividends. 

You see the world is a fairly dire place at the moment and while I wouldn’t echo the silly MP who said we shouldn’t be depressed just because petrol was rising higher than a helium balloon (assuming you can afford the helium) or that house prices were crashing so everybody was cutting back, I do think that it is very easy to talk ourselves into a depression/recession.

And that’s why a bit of levity is essential. People want a giggle … they want to think that there is something fun out there. Why not be the one to give it to them. Use the phrase Credit Crunch to create a range of Credit Bunches under a tenner, follow the Sainsbury’s Meals under a fiver campaign and create plants under a fiver, or an ‘Every flower helps’ collection.

You’re going to have to work double time to get customers through the doors … be a little different and it could play dividends. 

Oh and by the way the Spork has made a comeback. However to find out more you’ll need to sign up for the e-bulletin because the story is embargoed for another couple of weeks and I wouldn’t want you to miss out. Simply click here, leave your name and postcode and I’ll make sure you know all about Sporks. 

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New Interflora owners talk to me

Wordhouse and Interflora ... friends again I hope

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I'm being elitist ... are you?

Why it's time to get picky

Doing my Top 250+ has been a phenomenally pleasing experience. Because while I know it is elitist/selective and will seriously cheese some florists off, the fact is it's got to the stage where I cannot, hand on heart, say the industry I serve is perfect and I am fed up of praising all florists when I know some of them are seriously rubbish and let the side down.

Now Master Florist shops will always take top position. Because they’ve not only been prepared to put their necks on the line by submitting a portfolio but been independently checked by other external experts as well.

But doing my Top 250+ means I’ve also been able to include some fabulous shops who either haven’t been allowed to apply to the Master Florist network or who are in areas where there already is a Master Florist. What’s more it means that anyone searching on Master Florist.com can find far more ‘approved’ florists that I am happy to put my name to than they could before which makes the site far more user friendly.

But if you’re not on it and think you should be don’t sit there seething. Let me know. Because while I probably know more florists than most I’m not going to claim I know everyone. Which is why I, and my team, need your input. Because at the end of the day, my Top 250+ is for the benefit of everyone.

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Why staff have to be bovvered!

Why Catherine Tate impersonations don't work

Get me on a bad day and my sweetness and light will go out of the window. However it’s virtually guaranteed to go AWOL if I get grunted at by a shop assistant, especially if all I’ve done is dare ask if something is in stock or available in other colours.

Excuse me. Am I not the person paying their salary? Is it not due to my bothering to go into their shop that they have a job at all? But maybe that’s the problem. It isn’t their shop and so they don’t have the passion to treat every customer as King, they’ve been brought up in an era when manners are so un-cool that you’d rather die than say thank you and service is a non-existent thing in today’s world of retailing.

Now it all makes me sound like a rather ghastly Mrs Angry but actually I don’t think I’m the only one that feels this and probably why I increasingly favour small, local shops that may cost a bit more but are a heck of a lot more pleasant to buy from.

Like most busy working mums I don’t need a huge conversation, I’m not wanting to become the sales person new best friend but if I’m going to spend my hard earned dosh then I do want to think I have a slightly better position in life than a gnat.

Customers are precious commodities these days and need to be treated as well as they can be. If you’ve any doubts about your customer interactive skills then please do something about it. Once a customer has voted with their feet it’s bally hard to drag them back in again. 

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And finally ... the full story on why I chose Manuka joggers

How a tiny piece of paper made me buy.

Having exercised so hard that I ended up needing both new knee and new jogging pants I found myself surrounded by Lycra and hoodies the other day as I replenished my sporty wardrobe. Ye gads this sports kit malarkey is a minefield. Gone are the days when a pair of plimsolls and baggy shorts was sufficient. 

Now I have to choose from a plethora of styles, cuts and colours and of course make sure everything co-ordinated as well so I can hold my head up high in the gym and avoid ridicule as I plod my way along the towpath.

In the end I ended up with a selection from Manuka. But given black joggers are black joggers are black joggers why choose them rather than Nike, Reebok etc. 

Quite simply because of their branding and the very pretty finishing touches. Not just the pink and white stripes that fortuitously elongate my legs but the label attached to them.

Elegant without being scary, modern without alienating an aging gym goer like me but most of all the clever addition of a rice paper like tag bearing the Manuka mantra - My life is a creation of my mind. Corny? Yes. OTT? A bit. Clever? Undoubtedly. Because that teeny tiny piece of paper seduced me into thinking that by just wearing the damn things I would feel better and so a sale was made.

The lesson for florists? Customers want to be seduced and courted into spending their money. They want to feel they are buying an experience as much as a bunch of flowers. They need to think that your bouquets will give them a greater pleasure experience than anyone else’s.

As Manuka have proved it didn’t take much in terms of additional expense to get my money. What it did take was a little thought and effort … something florists should have in bucket loads given we deal with nothing but emotions. 

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