No Dancing Required

Some mornings I wake up and feel like I don’t know what the hell I’m doing.

I’ve been running ACME Floral Co. in San Francisco for 16 years. We have a thriving business. Our clients trust us with their events, weddings and weekly flowers. I’m not trying to be a famous florist—I’m perfectly content being a solid B+ designer who can dazzle most clients. And still, I stare at the ceiling and think: Is this the day everyone figures out I’m making it up as I go?

Entrepreneurship is hard. There are a thousand plates spinning and some days, you’re the plate. And yet here I am, telling you how to build better client relationships. The audacity.

First, let’s talk about social media. Am I really supposed to sing and dance online so people will buy my flowers? No. I’m not doing it. And I say that as a 55-year-old gay man who loves to dance.

Here’s what I believe instead, maybe because I need it to be true: People connect with us more when we drop the act.

We can be humble without disappearing. We can have opinions without being obnoxious. We can say when something is great—and when it could be better. We can admit we don’t have all the answers. That kind of honesty—creative honesty, human honesty—is what deepens relationships.

You Can’t Manufacture the Moments

A few years ago, I was on a client site switching their weekly floral arrangement. As I was tossing old flowers into the van, a passerby stopped. We started chatting and five minutes later, I was inside his restaurant. Ten minutes after that, I walked out with a key and a plan for weekly flowers at his Michelin-starred spot.

I cannot script a moment like that. But I can try to be the kind of person who’s paying attention. I can be the person who engages, the person who is genuinely interested in others and open to opportunities to be helpful. So, stay alert. Be useful. Listen.

Your future clients are out there, quietly waiting for you to show up like a real human being.

What Actually Works

Most days, I aim for a few simple things:

·   Be of service.

·   Have a little fun.

·   Listen more than I talk.

·   Learn something new.

·   Celebrate other florists’ accomplishments.

Here’s the cosmic joke: if I’m truly myself, some people won’t like me. That’s fine because the right people will. They’re the ones who come back. The ones who trust me. The ones who tell their friends. The ones who quietly become fans.

The trick is knowing how much of yourself to show. Not everything. Not all at once. And never performative. Show just enough humanity that the person across from you—or on the other side of the screen—feels like they’re working with someone real. Someone who cares. Someone who occasionally screws up. Someone who’s in it for the long haul and wants to make them happy.

That’s what makes people call you back. That’s what makes them stay. That’s what makes them refer you—for their mother-in-law’s second cousin’s daughter’s baby shower.

What You Can Do

Be yourself—curious, helpful and engaged. Do good work. Photograph it well and sprinkle it around social media and search engine ads.

Deliver what you say you’re going to deliver. Talk about money and budgets early and often with simple clarity. Hiring a florist can be tricky for the average human who now sees flowers at big-box retailers and grocery chains.

Oh, and yes—raise your prices. Right now. Go to your website and raise them 25 percent. I double dare you. There are a thousand reasons, but here are two:

1. Lower-budget clients tend to ask more, push more and complain more.
2. You need yummy budgets to do yummy work.

And here’s the part people don’t say out loud: Better work attracts better clients. It’s a loop. You raise your prices → you get better budgets → you do better work → you show better work → you attract better clients.

And around it goes—a very real, very necessary, never-ending (and yes, gorgeous) entrepreneurial loop.