“If you can provide services that are not only useful but also unique, people will naturally come looking for you.”

Joy Flower Shop is the premier flower shop in Carmichael, CA. With over 20 years of experience in flower décor and design, this family owned business arranges and delivers flowers for all events and occasions. Joy Flower Shop proudly serves the cities of Carmichael and Greater Sacramento.

BusinessInterviews.com: What are the two questions that you ask yourself before implementing any kind of service or product?

Yo Sup:

1. Would I want to use it myself?

-Businesses across all industries are constantly thinking of ways to implement new services and products for their customers. However, your business should not make a change for the sake of change. I know countless young, new, and aspiring entrepreneurs excited to launch “new” services and products that add little, and if anything, less value to their businesses. Only add services and products that actually add value to your business, and there is only value to a service if it is useful.

2. Does this fill a need because I know that no one else does this?

-You want your business services to be not only useful but also novel; this doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be the first to come up with a certain idea. For example, there are florists who like to send photos of the finished products to their customers before delivery. However, only a handful of florists provide this service. Although this idea isn’t new, you could be the first flower shop to implement this kind of customer service in your local area. This question will help you find ways to differentiate your business from your competitors and, hopefully, bring a unique customer experience that locals cannot get anywhere else.

BusinessInterviews.com: Since the start of this year, you’ve experienced a nearly 100% sales increase every month on non-holiday flower orders. Can you share why you’ve experienced such an impressive jump in growth in such a short period of time?

Yo Sup: With the help of BloomNation, we’ve experienced a huge jump in sales and local exposure in the last several months. Without a doubt, the world is changing very rapidly, and I believe that any business that wants to do well in the long-run needs to adapt to these changes. With more and more people buying flowers online, it was imperative for us to set up a store where people can buy our flower designs online. Because we post actual photos of our flower designs, our customers know exactly what they’re buying. Better yet, we also offer the option to send photos of the finished products before delivery. These services, all provided through BloomNation, helped us to not only differentiate ourselves from our competitors but also, and more importantly, gain the trust of our local customers. And I believe that if you can provide services that are not only useful but also unique, people will naturally come looking for you.

BusinessInterviews.com: Can you talk about the impact of constantly thinking about different ways to make your business more customer-oriented?

Yo Sup: I believe that if you place your customers first, they will reward you by not only purchasing your services but also by encouraging others to do so as well. I’ve had countless customers call to thank us for our amazing customer service. Marketing 101 will teach you that the best way to gain more customers is by word-of-mouth. Keep your customers happy and they will do your advertising for you. And with so many false and misleading ads out there today, more and more people are becoming more accepting and persuaded by word-of-mouth advertising; this is why sites like Yelp are growing at an exponential rate. People trust what other people are saying, and if you leave your customers feeling happy, they will say great things about you to their friends and family. By making customer satisfaction our main priority, we’ve experienced a rapid increase in local sales.

BusinessInterviews.com: What advice would you give to someone contemplating opening their own flower shop?

Yo Sup: In order to run a successful flower business, you need to understand the people in your local community. With so much information on the web, it’s very easy to find basic demographic information about your city and its surrounding areas. Do you know your local community? What’s the biggest age group in your city? What’s the average income for a household in your local area? Knowing the average income for an individual in our city, we decided to create a line of flower arrangements that were not only beautiful but also affordable for some of our customers. Going on Yelp and other social review sites, we found out what our competitors’ were lacking. For example, we found that the flowers from our competitors’ wilted very quickly and hence discouraged the locals from buying flowers as gifts. With some research online, our flower shop tested conditions and products that would increase the life-span of our flowers. I cannot tell you how many times our flower recipients have called us to thank us for flowers that were not only beautiful but also long-lasting. In summary, find out what your local community wants and give it to them.

BusinessInterviews.com: What are some trends in the floral industry that you’re excited about?

Yo Sup: More people are ordering flowers online and I believe that this is a good thing. I believe that giving the consumers the ability to order flowers online will encourage more people to buy flowers. People can now order flowers conveniently from their desktop computers or mobile phones. Florists can now proudly showcase their unique flower design through BloomNation. People who generally don’t know what kind of flowers to buy can now shop online by price, occasion, and even color. Whether we like it or not, this trend towards online flower shopping will continue to grow. It is our job, as local florists, to stay afloat with these ongoing trends and make sure we give the customers what they want.

BusinessInterviews.com: How important is social media to your overall marking strategy?

Yo Sup: Although it does have its limits, social media has played an important role to our success as a local business. As our world becomes increasingly more “connected,” online scamming has become more prevalent. Consequently, many people are hesitant to order online. Social media has helped us to ensure our legitimacy as a business. When people can visit your Facebook page, see photos of your staff, and read actual customers reviews, customers will know that they’re ordering from a real local business. We also use social media to promote our products and special deals at the shop through tweets and Facebook posts. More importantly, however, we use social media to stay actively engaged with our customers by posting interesting facts about flowers and photos of our recent designs.