RING RING!
Who’s there?
Ida.
Ida who?
Ida gone ahead and delivered the flowers to your door but I didn’t want to “leaf” them outside!
Should a florist call the recipient prior to delivery? Every florist faces this decision: should we call the recipient before delivering the flowers or keep the delivery a surprise? Often times this can depend on the occasion, senders intent, and the recipient’s situation.
In such cases where the sender in unsure as to whether the recipient will be home, calling prior to delivery does help to ensure a successful delivery. Often times the occasion may warrant this uncertainty, such as in the case of a sympathy arrangement. But in such cases where a close family member is sending flowers for the occasion of a Birthday or Anniversary, they may already know that the recipient will be home to receive the flowers. In this instance a call to the recipient is less warranted and a surprise delivery would be more appreciated.
Whether to call or not to call can also depend on the Weather, and leaving flowers on the doorstep can be risky. Our -30 Winters and +30 Summers can affect the floral quality within minutes. Alternatively flowers may be left with a neighbor, which has been proven successful in most cases; but in the off chance that schedules do not align, it could be hours before the flowers are finally received.
When faced with the decision of whether to call or not, Calgary Local Florist tends to examine the options on a case by case basis. We have a list of corporate clients who we serve regularly, and the request is that we always call prior to delivery. For our less frequent customers, we provide the option of providing a special instruction at the check-out page of our website. Customers may indicate to our team whether they would like the delivery to be a surprise or whether they would prefer that we call prior to delivery. And here are a few cases in which we may indefinitely call the recipient prior to delivery; a missing unit number to a delivery going to an apartment complex; a sympathy order for a funeral which could be time-sensitive; a same-day delivery order is placed later in the day and we want to ensure that the recipient will still be in office by the time the flowers are delivered.
Calling a recipient before delivery has clear benefits for ensuring successful, timely handoffs and protecting perishable goods; but it can spoil surprises. Calgary Local Florist feels that the best approach is to be flexible, and when in doubt we will contact the sender to ensure that the best delivery practice lines up with the expectation of the customer. Our aim is to find the perfect balance between satisfying the customer’s desire for surprise, while keeping in mind the practical delivery realities.
We are always interested in the opinion of customers and recipients that do like to participate in the traditional act of floral gift giving. So for all of you out there, what do you think with regards to floral shops calling recipients prior to delivery? Is it best to call first to arrange delivery, or leave it as a surprise? We would love to hear about your experience with this.
