With every day that passes, you’re potentially missing out on having those dream, bigger budget clients reach out to work with you.
I used to believe those customers would just magically appear out of thin air – while I was busy busting my butt with $50 bouquets and $1,500 weddings, somehow a bigger budget client would read my mind and just KNOW that I was waiting to work with them.
I thought that for a long time.
But then I decided to run an experiment, to put my own theory to the test and see what happens.
What if I decided ahead of time who my dream customer was? It would be brides who want to spend $7,000 and customers who want $150 bouquets. And then I could build my marketing specifically with those customers in mind.
You don’t need to leave your customers to chance. In fact, you get to decide who your business is in business to serve.
You get to decide who your dream customers are, which may include bigger budget clients. And then get to work on marketing that speaks to them.
The power of your website
You’ve heard me say this before, but your website is hands down the single most powerful marketing tool you have. It’s more important than your Instagram feed and way more powerful than your physical shop front.
But so many floral designers don’t know that. We don’t appreciate the power of our websites and their role in landing bigger budget clients.
We don’t realise they can actually work for our business – they can do the job of a top notch sales executive plus a kick ass customer service person.
In fact, so many florists are missing out on working with their dream customers because they just don’t realise the impact a great website can have on influencing exactly WHO you work with.
When you take the time to sit down and decide who our dream customers are, it becomes so much easier to put the pieces of the puzzle together. To craft a website that directly aligns to what they’re looking for.
Friends, it’s 2021. It’s time to get your website in line with your customer’s expectations. And with the likes of Squarespace, WIX, Shopify and even Fivrr.com there really is no reason to not have a kick ass website that appeals to bigger budget clients.
So, if you’re anything like I was and wondering why those dream customers are not knocking on your door, take a good look at your marketing. Does it show the type of work you want to be asked to create? Is it jiving with what your dream customers are looking for?
Remember, we can’t just sit around and wait for those dream customers to hopefully, hypothetically red our minds and find us one day.
No ma’am. We need to make it happen.
3 tips to attract Bigger Budget Clients
#1 – Sophistication counts
The usability and aesthetic of your website matters to bigger budget clients. It matters a lot. And with all the DIY solutions and templates available to us, you can pull together a super-sophisticated website without being a fancy designer.
Most of the time, the real issue isn’t our vision for our website. It’s our own self belief – or dis-belief. We think we need to “start small” and work our way up some fictitious floral design ladder.
But that’s not how it happens. Those designers who you admire, those designers whose business’ you wish you owned…they made it happen. They decided that’s the kind of business they wanted to create and they made it happen.
You get to do the same thing.
Set your sights higher and dream bigger baby!
#2 – Talk about budgets and pricing
Yes, it is possible to book a $7,500 bride with 2 emails, no consultation and no face-to-face meetings.
And yeah, you can be getting regular $200 orders on your website that don’t come from your friends and family.
How? The trick with attracting bigger budget clients is to feature bigger budget designs.
This means your online catalogue needs to have a great selection of bigger budget options. For instance, if you have 16 products, then 1 or 2 are under $60, 4 are between $60 – $120, 4 between $120 – $180 and 4 above $200.
If you’re focused on weddings, provide your clients with inspiration photos that align to their $10,000 budgets. And when you talk about pricing (because you ARE openly talking about pricing), you’re providing guidance on $8,000 / $10,000 budgets…not $1,500 budgets.
Remember, you need to flip the process on its head: you don’t wait for clients who align with your ideal budget to magically appear. Set up your content in line with what’s most relevant to your dream client and they’ll want to work with you.
#3 – Ditch the epic image galleries
Image galleries, homepage ‘sliders’ and epic photo collections are a thing of the past.
Save all those photos for your Instagram feed. Link your feed into your website and you’ll kill two birds with one stone.
And be super aware of the types of work you feature – focus on the bigger budget designs (the lush bridal tables, the abundant bouquets, the beautiful ceremony pieces) and skip over anything cheap.
Big budget customers want big budget design. Follow their lead and provide them with inspiration on what’s possible. They will reward you.
More website tips for florists
And finally, learning about business and marketing doesn’t mean you need a university degree or fancy-pants corporate experience. I do have these things and am happy to share everything you need to know.
If you want to learn more about my Flower Boss Bootcamp and see if it’s right for you, sign-up for a free 20 minute Mini-Session with me.
💖
Kathleen
P.S. I’ve done a podcast on this topic which you may like. Find it on Spotify here or listen on the player below.