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Sometimes you deserve the best. When it comes to your wedding, your
anniversary, or other occasion, why not use the best florist? How do
you know a florist is the best and would also be the best for you? I
recommend a simple set of criteria to evaluate florist: customer
service, flexibility, reliability, and product. Selecting a florist
for a big event can be stressful and it does not have to be. If you
use the three steps that I recommend, it will become very easy. For
my wedding, I chose the best florist in Northern Virginia ??" who
coincidentally was the best choice for my wedding. |
The
list of clientele is impressive. Does that mean the florist is right
for you? A high priced set of customers is not always a good
indicator for how the florist would treat you. In many businesses,
when a customer with a 7 figure income or a celebrity status comes
in to make a purchase, they are given preferential treatment. That
is understandable. My question is how is the average customer
treated? When I walk into a good florist shop, they are always busy
but not too busy to handle my business. The owner or another florist
will come over to greet me and handle my business. Everyone that
deals with the customers knows flowers. My purchases are generally
small ??" a dozen roses, some orchids, or a bouquet of something
that they recommended. Despite the size of my purchase, I am always
treated well. 
Do
they have what you want? If not do they suggest something that is
reasonable to your budget and your taste. Do they have variety? If a
florist can service high volume customers or the very rich, does not
mean that they can service the average customer. On the other hand,
if some of the more prestigious restaurants in the area or some of
the local celebrities use a florist that can be a good sign. A four
star restaurant would only deal with the top florists in the area. A
four star restaurant could not afford to be supplied by an
unreliable florist as their restaurant rating and their business
depends upon appearance as much as it does on their food. However,
even if the florist has high volume prestigious customers, does not
mean that they are flexible enough to provide the same high level of
service to the individual customers. A florist shop should provide
the same high level of service to all its customers. 
Only
one thing is more devastating than having flowers delivered to the
wrong building or on the wrong day. That is having flowers delivered
that are dead, petals falling off in your hand with only the stems
remaining. I have had flowers delivered to the wrong state, wrong
person, a week late, and flowers delivered that were clearly dead (as
they sat overnight in some garage in August before they were
delivered a day late). If something did happen that was unfortunate,
I need to know that they would try and make it right. Occasionally,
my floral mishaps have been made right by either resending the
flowers or a refund. Mistakes happen. Why not go with the best? If a
problem occurs it would be very rare and taken care of very well. If
their restaurant clients use them, they know the mistakes are very
rare.