At Easter, Remembrance Day and on occasions when famous people pass, a tribute window is a great way to honour them and promote our funeral work at the same time.


able to tell their friends and relatives they’d like a beautiful cross/heart/Betty Boop/horse’s head like the one they saw in the window of that fl orist down the road may actually be helpful to them and you. And don’t be afraid to use


what you’ve done to spread the word. We really liked the response from Corrine Turner in Wimblington. Not just because she gave us the perfect lead in to the story but because she uses a whole mix to promote what she can do. “I married our local independent funeral director! It’s a bit drastic just to get his work I agree! I had a shop on the high street and made an appointment to meet him to off er our services! I think he got a bit more than he bargained for! 19 years and two children later I no longer have a high street shop but run my business from a workshop and use the funeral business which is in our town where we regularly change window displays depending on the season or Remembrance Day. I also post our work on our Facebook page after a few days of the funeral happening and get lovely feedback.”


We also asked about pricing…


both for traditional designs like crosses and letters as well as the way people costed out the more bespoke work like a Betty Boop or horse’s head. The answers were actually far more consistent on the subject of pricing. Letters averaged at around the £35/40 per letter mark depending on whether based or loose although one fl orist admitted she could only charge £25 as her nearest rival charged £20 per letter. A fi ve foot cross ranged from £90 to £200, again depending on content and if based or loose. Interestingly the highest prices


were those based on the new eFlorist guide which we noticed caused a bit of furore on the social networks when it was launched a few months ago as being priced out far too high and totally out of kilter with common sense and what customers would pay. However there were a lot more


positive reactions than negative with a lot of fl orists saying they were glad to have a guide that showed a realistic price structure for the work involved. “We were never going to please everybody” says Lorraine Key, General Manager of eFlorist, “But the vast


majority of our fl orists were really pleased with the Tributes guide which not only featured some exquisite work but comes with promotional literature that they can use in the shop as well. In fact most felt the £80 it cost well worth it as it gives them a selling tool that shows customers not just the creativity possible but a sensible price structure as well so they can make a good margin on each design.” And having gone through our


own funeral experience recently we would tend to agree that the more consumers realise the value of fl owers the better. Because compared with all the other costs - fees, church, casket, cars and so on - fl owers are still woefully low for the work involved. Which neatly leads us on to the thorny question of how to charge out for the more bespoke designs. A lot of fl orists admitted it was a tricky one. The hours spent were hard to account for and we particularly loved the response from Steph Eynon of Bettys Florists in Cardiff who wrote, “I fi nd that the type of people who want novelty are the type of people who don’t want to pay for it! They come in wanting a bingo card and end up ordering a cut fl owers! Do they really think they’ll get a bingo card for £25????” No, more likely £250 we


reckon. Because whilst bespoke designs are gaining in popularity – letter tribute sales are phenomenal these days – you need to make


F&wb Autumn/Winter 2013 >> 63


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