WF&FSA netWORK, 12-20-11 Issue
WF&FSA's Free Electronic Newsletter
2012 WF&FSA Management Institute March 1-3, 2012 in Nashville, Tennessee
They Can Always Sell More
How to Lead Your Team to Increased Selling Success
Advanced sales leadership training for the experienced WF&FSA sales manager
How effective are you as a sales manager? Are you leading your floral distributor sales team to consistent competitive wins or are you just managing the "administrivia" of your selling environment?
Specifically developed for the experienced front-line WF&FSA sales manager or leader, this information-intensive program will focus on the unique problems and opportunities inherent in coaching and leading a team of outside selling professionals. You will learn proven ideas and the sales management "best practices" to equip you, as an experienced sales leader, with the skills necessary to increase your team's sales volumes, market share, and profitability.
This day and a half program will also help you improve your leadership skills, retrain your salespeople, and lead your team to a position of market dominance. You’ll learn how to implement a simple, yet effective improvement planning process that benefits even your most successful salespeople, because no matter how much your team is selling, they can always sell more.
Who Should Attend: Front-line sales managers and principals who have salespeople reporting to them.
Expected Attendee Outcomes:
- Sales managers improve their motivational, coaching and leadership skills.
- Sales managers become stronger coaches of your team’s selling and account planning efforts.
- Sales managers will implement ongoing in-house (free) sales training for your experienced sales team.
The brochure will be speeding its way to you shortly, but in the interim, you may register by clicking here.
To secure your hotel accommodations, please contact Embassy Suites Nashville Airport, click here or phone 1-800-362-2779 or 1-615-871-0033. If you call, please indicate that you are attending the WF&FSA meeting to secure our specially negotiated rate of $109 per night.
2012 University of Industrial Distribution – Forget the Industrial!
March 5-8, 2012,Indianapolis,Indiana
I know, I know. Why would WF&FSA promote a University of INDUSTRIAL Distribution? Despite the name, this program is designed for all distributors and wholesalers – here is a sampling of the courses offered during this four day program:
Marketing Strategies
Pricing Strategies
How to Improve Any Sales Force
Creating a Winning Marketing Plan
Creating a Competitive Distinction
Profit Myths in Wholesale Distribution
Branch and Operations Management
Managing the Account Portfolio
How to Get Paid for Service Value
And more!
Presented by the leading industry trade associations, including WF&FSA, and delivered by content experts and nationally recognized university faculty members, the UID program is now in its seventeenth year and is recognized as "the source for distribution management education and cross-industry networking."
To learn more about this program, please click here.
WF&FSA Announces Essentials of Profitable Warehouse Operations Coming Soon to A City Near You!
WF&FSA, in conjunction with the Association Education Alliance, is offering a new one-day warehouse training program which will travel soon to a city near you! This one day course is based on the Essentials of Profitable Warehouse Operations© course, originally conceived by the American Supply Association. The course is intended to give managers a framework to teach essential warehousing functions to the teams they manage. The content also serves to refresh old concepts and introduce additional operating efficiencies. Topics include:
- The role of the wholesale distributor in the supply chain
- Inventory as cash
- Warehouse security
- Inventory accuracy and cycle counting
- Preventative maintenance programs
- Employee safety
- Facility layout and storage systems
- Inventory movement analysis
- Dead Stock
- The order transaction
- Functional roles in the transaction
- Team leadership and supervision
This course will move around the country to fit the needs of members. To view the list of cities for the first six months of 2012, or to learn more about this course, read more.
Mayesh Wholesale Florist Announces 2nd Annual National Event
In celebration of “The Art of Flowers” and floral artisans across the country, Mayesh Wholesale Florist is hosting its second annual National Open House and Design Contest. During business hours on January 18, 2012, Mayesh will welcome customers and guests into all 15 locations for the open house and kick off its coast to coast design contest.
The centerpiece of the national event will be the design contest, which will focus on using flowers as art. The contest is open to all current Mayesh customers. Free registration for the first 300 entries begins December 9th and continues until December 28th. Contestants may choose between two different contest boxes containing different combinations of flowers and are encouraged to push the design envelope.
On January 18, 2012 Mayesh Open House guests and customers will crown a local winner at each location by popular vote. Each local winner will score Alicia Schwede’s debut book, “Bella Bouquets” and move on to compete nationally with a grand prize that includes full registration to the 2012 AIFD National Symposium plus the flight toMiamiand hotel stay. The 2nd prize is an iPad 2 and the 3rd Prize winner will take home a 1 year subscription to Fusion Flowers Magazine and a $200 Mayesh Wholesale gift certificate. Read More
Floriculture Report Spared
Reprinted Courtesy of SAF Washington Week in Review, December 16, 2011
The floriculture industry can still rely on the droves of data in a yearly Agriculture Department report that businesses use to make key decisions thanks to SAF's efforts.
USDA announced Dec. 9 that it would reinstate the Annual Floriculture Report, along with several others that had been slated for elimination because of budget cuts. The agency’s decision came after Congress directed the National Agriculture Statistics Service in mid-November to reconsider ending the surveys, as part of USDA’s budget.
Upon learning that the report would be cut, SAF went to work immediately informing members of the House Appropriations Committee about the specific ways the crop report was used in the industry. SAF also highlighted how the report benefits the industry by providing important data on sales and production. Read more.
Pantone 2012 Color of the Year: TANGERINE TANGO!
The 2011 color of the year, PANTONE 18-2120 Honeysuckle, encouraged us to face everyday troubles with verve and vigor. Tangerine Tango, a spirited reddish orange, continues to provide the energy boost we need to recharge and move forward.
“Sophisticated but at the same time dramatic and seductive, Tangerine Tango is an orange with a lot of depth to it,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. “Reminiscent of the radiant shadings of a sunset, Tangerine Tango marries the vivaciousness and adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow, to form a high-visibility, magnetic hue that emanates heat and energy.”
Over the past several years, orange has grown in popularity and acceptance among designers and consumers alike. A provocative attention-getter, Tangerine Tango is especially appealing in men’s and women’s fashion. Fashion designers featured in the PANTONE Fashion Color Report Spring 2012, including Tommy Hilfiger, Nanette Lepore, Cynthia Steffe by Shaun Kearney, Elie Tahari and Adrienne Vittadini, are incorporating this attractive orange into their spring collections. A fun, lively take on a traditional autumnal hue, Tangerine Tango will surely carry through to fall fashion as well. Read more.
Third Quarter Economic and Christmas Outlook Survey Results
Reprinted Courtesy of SAF Floral Trend Tracker, December 16, 2011
Ira Silvergleit of SAF reported that the corrosion in florists’ confidence over an upturn in the U.S.economy that we saw in the second quarter of 2011 persisted into the third quarter. The proportion of retail florists who predicted a weakening situation on SAF’s 2011 Third Quarter Economic and Christmas Outlook Survey jumped from 17 percent last quarter to 27 percent. Even those at the midpoint, who predict the situation will remain unchanged, fell 7 percentage points (from 60 percent of respondents to 53 percent). The percent saying the economy will improve remained about where it was a quarter ago at 12 percent. To learn more, click here.
Canadian Florist Business Form Announces Speaker Line Up for January 18, 2012 Event
Canadian Florist is excited to welcome Tim Huckabee and Lenny Faustino to the CFBF education line-up. The event takes place on Jan. 18 at the Hilton Garden Inn Toronto Airport West/Mississauga, Ontario. To learn more about this event, or to register, please click here.
PJ Vermeer of Westbrook Floral Ltd., a WF&FSA Board Member, will be presenting at this event. Here is a summary of his program:
Working with Your Wholesaler
Florists need wholesalers and wholesalers need florists. The relationship between the two parties needs to be one that’s open, honest and full of constant communication. What can florists do to better work with their wholesalers? What can wholesalers do to build a great partnership with the florist? P.J. Vermeer, president and general manager of Westbrook Floral Ltd. will share how both these groups can benefit by cooperating and establishing a solid relationship.Bio: P.J. Vermeer
P.J. Vermeer is the president and general manager of Westbrook Floral Ltd. with responsibility for all aspects of the wholesale and distribution arm of the company. Since 1976 and as a part owner in this family business, he has worked in all aspects of the company including sales and marketing, purchasing, inventory control, delivery and various management roles, thereby gaining his experience in the school of hard knocks. P.J.’s greatest strengths are his commitment and enthusiasm to Westbrook and the entire floral industry. Equally as important, P.J. enjoys his career, particularly because of the people he works with day in and day out. P. J. currently serves on the Board of the Wholesale Florist & Florist Association (WF&FSA).
A Rosy Future for Pakistan's Cut Flower Industry
Roses are one of the leading cut flowers in the global floriculture trade. In the last few years, cut flower consumption and the market for high-quality flowers has increased in Pakistan as a result of the country's rapid economic growth, improved living standards, enhanced access to electronic media, and increasing demand from the country's growing hospitality industry.
In Pakistan, where seasonable climatic conditions provide ideal environments for cut flowers, rose production generates employment opportunities in rural areas where few other jobs exist. But industry challenges, including a lack of standardized production techniques, limited availability of greenhouses, and lack of professional education for growers, are delaying efforts to put Pakistanon the map as a cut flower exporter. A study published in HortTechnology reported on the present status and future prospects of cut rose flower production and postharvest management in Punjab, Pakistan. The researchers found that although cut roses were the leading flower crop in the area, production systems and practices were outdated and primitive, and the quality of cut stems produced was not acceptable in international markets. Read more.
Kenya Flower Industry to Set Up Carbon Pool Scheme
The flower sector is setting up a pooled carbon credit scheme.
The Kenya Flower Council chief executive officer Jane Ngige, says the industry is looking at counting all trees cultivated in each farm to form a "flower industry forest".
This will then be fronted as a single carbon sink. "We are auditing clean energy schemes to replicate these farms to collectively earn credits that would be ploughed into more activities," she said. The Ministry of Environment is working with two growers on a pilot scheme to convert farm waste into biogas.
If successful, the firms – Simbi Roses in Thika and PJ Dave in Kitengela – will be replicated elsewhere. PJ Dave Farm Manager, Peter Kiarie, said flowers produce substantial waste, which, if converted into biogas, would save the country considerable hydro-electricity. Read more.
2012 Northeast Floral Expo Set for March 10-11
The nation’s 4th largest florist trade show, serving all the floral industry inNew England,New York,New Jersey, and beyond.
See why up to 1,000 floral tradespeople come to the Northeast Floral Expo every year from more than 9 states.
The Expo provides the best education in design and business, and shows you more new products in one place than anyplace else. It’s very affordable, and you and your staff will return to your flower shop full of enthusiasm and re-charged.
The 2012 Northeast Floral Expo will be held Saturday, March 10, and Sunday, March 11 at the Sturbridge Host Hotel in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, at exit 3 off I-84 in the center of New England. Just 45 minutes from either Hartfordor Boston. Easy to get to from anywhere. Read more.
Thank You to Recent President's Club Contributors
WF&FSA would like to thank the most recent contributors to the President's Club. We would like to thank one of our Platinum members, Kennicott Brothers Company, Armellini Express Lines, Inc., Diamond Line Containers and Jacobson Floral Supply for their generous donations. We received a donation from one of our Gold Member contributors: Carson & Gebel Ribbon Company. We would also like to thank the following Silver member for their President’s Club donation as well: J.B. Parks Wholesale Florist, Inc., FernTrust, Inc., Pacific Floral Exchange Inc., Reeves Floral Products Inc., and Golden Flowers. Thank you to all who contribute to the President's Club. Your contributions make our Wholesale Marketing Campaign possible. To contribute today, click here.
WF&FSA and Fuelman can help you simplify the process of controlling fuel and maintenance purchases. Fuelman makes it easy to monitor spending and identify hidden costs, such as unauthorized fueling. The savings can quickly add up -- with average annual savings of 10%.
There is no application fee and no annual fee. In addition, as a member of the Wholesale Florist & Florist Supplier Association you will receive a two-cent ($0.02) discount off of the posted retail price for all fuel purchases. There are no weekly or monthly fees! You'll only pay for authorized fuel purchases. Upon approval, Fuelman will help you set up purchasing controls for your vehicles and drivers, as well as provide training and assistance to help your company get started quickly. Read more.
On behalf of the WF&FSA Staff, best wishes for a wonderful holiday season. We have been truly fortunate for the opportunity to represent your great association and industry this past year and look forward to serving your needs in 2012. May you, your families and colleagues have a terrific holiday and a happy, healthy and prosperous 2012.