Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Struggling to turn your floral design talent into a profitable, scalable, and stress-free business? Welcome to The Floral CEO® Podcast—the ultimate audio destination for wedding and event florists, flower-shop owners, and creative entrepreneurs who want to book bigger budgets, price with confidence, and lead like a true CEO.
Hosted by Jeni Becht, award-winning wedding florist, event designer, and floral business coach with 25 + years in the industry, each weekly episode dives into:
Profitable pricing strategies: markup formulas and minimums fine-tuned for weddings & events
Magnetic marketing & local-SEO hacks: social posts, blogs, and Google tricks that attract high-budget couples and planners
High-converting sales funnels: inquiry replies, proposals, and follow-up scripts that turn curious leads into dream clients
Streamlined systems & smart outsourcing: workflows, templates, and hiring tips that free you from the design bench
CEO mindset & sustainable growth: leadership habits and eco-friendly practices that keep both you and your business flourishing
Jeni pairs real-world success stories with actionable strategies you can implement today, so you’ll spend less time hustling and more time designing breathtaking bouquets, installations, and arrangements.
Ready to scale your florist business and reclaim your life? Follow, subscribe, and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or your favorite podcast app. 🌸
Connect & learn more:
Website & free resources: http://floralceo.com
Instagram & Facebook: @thefloralceo
Turn your passion for flowers into the six-figure floral business you deserve—one episode at a time.
Website- floralceo.com
Social @thefloralceo.com
Hello flower friends. Have you ever felt weird about following up with someone? Have you worried that you were gonna come off pushy or, you know, like sleazy? I wanna talk to you about 10 ways to not feel sleazy in your follow-up. Because we are business owners, we are not wanting to obviously feel sleazy.
We want to f- feel like we're leading conversations. We're professionals, and we are helping people get what they need, which is a florist for their wedding day. So 10 ways to follow up with a couple without feeling sleazy. First, make sure your follow-up is super professional, not like a beggar, not like, "Love me, love me, love me."
This energy matters in this. There is a huge difference between, "Just wondering if you saw my email, and I wanted to check in and see if you had any questions as you review the proposal." "Hi, I'm a boss, and I am waiting for your answer" or, "Please pick me, I'm hoping you saw my email." Which sounds better? One sounds insecure, and one sounds like a professional guiding someone through the process.
Two, use a timeline from the beginning. Do not be vague. Vague does not help anyone. Example, when you're sending the proposal, "I'll send the proposal on Thursday. I'll hold the date for seven days. I'll check in in a few days and after you've had a chance to review it." Now you- your follow-up feels normal because you've already told them it's coming.
All right. Follow up with value is number three, not just checking in. Nobody gives a shit if you check in. Try, "Hey, I had another idea for your ceremony design and wanted to share it. I was thinking about your venue, and one more idea that I thought could be really beautiful. I saw something that was really inspiring on Instagram and just thought of you and wanted to share it."
Anything like that, that you're, like, changing, you know, not just, "Hey, do you remember me? I did a bunch of work, and I'm waiting to hear from you," to, like, "Hey, I am a collaborator with you, and I'm coming up with ideas and still thinking about your wedding, and you should pick me." Four, make the next steps obvious.
Sometimes brides ghost or couples ghost because they genuinely have no idea what they're supposed to do. "Okay, now what?" If you spell out, "Hey, if this feels aligned, I can send your contract today." My go-to is If you would like to move forward with booking the day, please let me know and I'll send the contract over for you to return with the whatever amount of deposit and that will get your name booked on the day.
Like I'm telling them exactly what to do next and page three of my contract tells them exactly what to do next and what to expect next. Spell out the details. Not everybody is a mind reader. Number five, follow up with the right cadence. Not too much, not too little. A good cadence could be like three days, seven days, 10 days, or whenever you put a deadline to things or final follow-up before you open the date back up.
That feels organized and calm and not pushy. You're not in their inbox every day going, hey, you decide yet? Hey, did you decide yet? That is not going to be helpful. Six, use urgency without pressure. Urgency is not sleazy if it is true. You can say, I'm holding the date through Friday. I wanted to touch base with you before I reopen the date to other inquiries.
Because this is a popular wedding weekend, I wanted to check in before I release the date. You could also say, it is heavy booking season. I've received six inquiries this week and I'm really excited about your date and I just want to make sure that if you're interested in moving forward, I am available or whatever similar to that, that sounds like you.
I also set this up during my consultation. In the end, I review next steps. Next steps are so critical and you are teaching your people in your consultation what is next. All right, seven, match the follow-up to the couple you met with. This is where emotional intelligence comes in. Very budget conscious could be follow up with exact clarity.
If they are very, like, vision and Instagrammy and Pinteresty, maybe follow up with more inspiration. If they're very analytical, follow up with something really organized that lays out the next steps. If they're... You know, if you felt warm and connected with them, follow up with like, "I've just felt like so great about our meeting, and I'm- would be so excited to be a part of your day, and I really loved your..."
whatever detail that you wanna exactly share, "And I, I just wanted to check in because..." And lay out like, uh, that you've received a bunch of inquiries or, you know, you are... it's a heavy weekend for you usually, or it's usually booked. Whatever it is, like, make sure that you're following up with that couple's tone in mind.
Then stop fo- making follow up mean they hate you. This is a huge mindset mistake that so many people make. If a couple is not responding right away, that does not mean they hated you, they hated your proposal, your pricing is wrong, they think you're expensive, you're bad at what you do, she thinks you're annoying, she super hates you, um, he, uh...
You know, whatever stories you're telling yourself, or that you're not good enough, or they are also meeting with ABC Florist, so that florist is way better than you, so how could they ever like you? I mean, it could go on and on. They might realistically be busy, overwhelmed, waiting for another estimate, talking to their parents, avoiding decisions in general because maybe they just have decision fatigue.
Maybe they're overwhelmed at work. Maybe something happened in their family. Like, I literally was waiting for a follow-up from somebody, and I started to be like, "They're not wanting to book me because whatever." Their grandma died, you guys. Like, I was like, "I am so sorry." I had one that her dad died. Like, I mean, you never know.
Crazy stuff happens, and we are all humans, and we just need to be full of compassion and empathy because we never know what is going on in somebody else's world. All right. Number nine, use confidence in your wording. Avoid language like, "I hope this isn't annoying," and, "I'm sorry to bother you. I just wanted to see..."
Instead, say, "I would love to answer any questions. I'm happy to revise things as needed. I wanted to make sure that you had what you needed to decide." And honestly, my, another great one is, "I just want to make sure you got my last email," because honestly, the Gmail struggles are real, and business emails go into spam.
"I wanted to make sure that my email, that you received it." That is a total, v- like, to me, a viable thing because emails are, struggles are real right now, you guys. And I just... It is so helpful for you to just say, "Hey, did you get it?" Then number 10, know when to stop. A professional follow-up process also knows when to let it go.
You do not want, need, nor want, realistically, to chase someone forever. After your final follow-up, you can say something like, "I know you're super busy, and wedding planning is so busy. So, if now isn't the right time, that is totally fine," or, "No worries at all. If you decide you'd like to move forward, I'm happy to recheck availability."
This power phrase gets people who are just being lazy assholes usually off their tuchus because they're finally going, "Oh, shit." Like, they're opening my date up, and I can circle back with them to recheck availability. I, I can... I mean, countless and countless and countless times, this exact phrase has helped me finally rein someone in to get the date booked.
So, very strong, but I'm not going to email three days later and say, "Hey, I just want to check in and, and see if you decided." Like, we don't want to edge on stalkerness. Like, that is not cool either. So, make sure that you're really trying to be firm. Make sure you have your own boundaries. Make sure we're being honest and forthright and also helpful.
I hope this episode helps you get over some of the blues in follow-up so you don't feel like you're being super sleazy. Instead, you're being your super wonderful self. Thank you so much for listening, flower friend, and you have an amazing flower-filled day