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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.
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Hello, flower friends. I wanna talk about a plague that many florists struggle with, and it is the plague of the $1,000 inquiry. This is something that in my kind of beginning years and when I really wanted to grow my business, I was really struggling with, 'cause I was like, "Why am I getting all these $1,000 inquiries?
I want to do the big, 5 to 10 to $15,000 weddings." And I, just struggled. It was so frustrating because at $1,000 for all of that work, 'cause honestly, those clients are often really big pain in the asses, and I just was like, "This sucks." So I wanna talk about some things that I really discovered to help back into why or how you can escape getting stuck around that $1,000 mark.
So the first thing I wanna talk about is your brand. Your brand is indicative of the probably like the monetary inquiries like you're getting the numbers th- those inquiries are coming at. Your brand is probably a direct reflection of what is happening. So when you look at your brand, and I have gone through this exercise with coaching clients, and they often are like i- i- because you're so close to it, your brand is probably way farther off from that ideal inquiry that you want to be at than you're aware of.
So when you look at your brand, what does your brand say to you? What does your when you look at it, how does it make you feel? You are probably very close to that feeling. But I would really test you to go and ask maybe some people that are just your friends or acquaintances or somebody that you know is somewhat business-minded that potentially could give you honest feedback.
You do not want to ask anybody that's going to make you feel all the warm, fuzzy feelings, because all of those warm, fuzzy feelings are not really going to help you move forward. They, of course, feel good and they love you probably, and so they want to validate you and make you feel good about where things are at, but that is not going to help you get the momentum forward.
So if you are really like, "Well, I don't really have anybody," even post it in your Instagram stories and just say, "Hey, I'm looking for honest feedback. What does my brand say to you or what do you think of when you think of my brand?" And try to get people's honest opinions because that's where growth happens is when people are honest.
I actually met with a wedding planner, a very high-end wedding planner years back, and she told me that she thought my social media was very TikTok-ish, which I was... I'm not... I wasn't even on TikTok. I was like, "What are you talking about?" But it was because I did a lot of videos, a lot of branding videos, and to her for the clients that she's dealing with, it is a totally visually driven thing, and she needs pretty pictures.
She doesn't really... Of course, she's the one that's interacting with the client, but this is what she's showing her client, and that has to be really pretty pictures. So when you look at your brand, what does it say? What do your fonts say? What does the quality of the images say? What is the level of the work that you're putting in there?
What does all of that say? Because if it says, "This person easily does thousand dollar weddings all day long," then we need to start there with building a portfolio that really matters. And that is a game changer, because if our portfolio, which represents our brand, speaks to thousand dollar clients all day long, that's what we're gonna keep attracting.
And if your portfolio is just stuck At people can't see beyond that you are even capable of doing a bigger inquiry, then again, we're stuck. So what does your brand say to you? What does your brand standards say to you? If you're somebody who is chasing... I often will have a coaching client that is stuck in they're chasing a million different things.
They're doing funerals, they're reaching out to wedding planners, hopefully trying to connect, but they're doing daily orders. They're doing a million different things. Then they are upset that they are not getting these big inquiries. Well, again, their portfolio, they're showing $75 arrangements on their portfolio.
They're focusing on all of these really small little revenue sources, and that energy on those revenues... or on those revenue sources is diluting the message that I am a floral badass at weddings, and I deserve and should attract and have the capabilities of doing big weddings. So your portfolio is showing that you are scattered in your efforts, and that your focus isn't what they're looking for.
So again, portfolio is so important, and even if your portfolio is just, images of one wedding, to me, as long as you're strategically breaking that up, that would be way better than posting some... I call them DIY photos. DIY photos to me are photos that you have taken yourself, that you are not a skilled photographer, because I'm not a photographer, but I have learned to take and use editing software and not AI.
I am not taking out backgrounds and putting a arrangement or a bouquet in some situation. I know that that seems like a really great idea right now, but we are in a trust recession, you guys, and so if we are putting images of our work in scenarios that do not look real- We do not look like we pulled that work off.
People question whether something is AI, and it's happening all the time. You look at something, my daughter will even look at something and go, "That's AI." We do not want people questioning if our flower arrangements are AI, because that is discrediting our work and our potential, and honestly, it's making people not trust you.
It's making people not trust that you do y- I mean, you do beautiful work, because you had to remove whatever and place this AI backdrop. So I know that some educators right now are talking about using AI backdrops, and I get the premise of it. But inevitably, if you're a brick-and-mortar store and you are needing some images for your website, that might be a totally appropriate moment to use AI.
But if you are using that to put on your Instagram and you are trying to market weddings or you're trying to market events, to me that is not building trust, which trust is something that we need to build. Trust is an ongoing battle in being a business owner, because this person, if we think about it, this person who is searching for someone to be involved on one of the biggest days of their lives and is searching for a florist, they don't personally know anybody's of these people that they are finding.
They potentially could be getting referrals, but then their, their portfolio has a bunch of images that look like AI on it. Or their portfolio potentially has images that look lower end, and maybe they're getting married at a really nice wedding venue, or maybe flowers are super important and a focal point in their special day, and they're questioning if you're capable of pulling that off.
That, to me is huge red flags, and we wanna make sure that we get all the boxes checked of I'm the right choice. And if you are not building trust, that, those checkboxes are even harder. In the era of AI, we need to work so hard on building trust. That's why if you are also getting the $1,000 inquiries plaguing your inbox, we need to work on building trust in you as the creative entrepreneur, as the expert- So that you can start positioning yourself as I'm the right choice.
In the Floral CEO Mastermind, we were actually just talking about positioning statements. Positioning statements in... especially in a consultation is I'm an expert. I'm gonna make this as seamless and easy as, as possible for you. I'm gonna execute this flawlessly, and make that person feel like so confident that this person's got you.
I got you. I'm gonna take beautiful care of this. This is gonna be amazing. I'm so excited. I have over 30 years of experience and 1,700 weddings under my belt. Saying I'm an expert at something with their venue or their color palette or if it's a cultural wedding, I'm a cultural wedding expert.
Whatever it is, you are in the driver's seat of how somebody views you by how you're positioning yourself on a constant, constant level. So if you're in your social media going and positioning yourself as an expert, again, that's only solidifying, again, that you are the right choice. And when somebody not only looks like they are an expert, that means that they're worth more than $1,000 inquiry.
So look at yourself. Step one, let's look at our brand. What does our brand say? Let's survey people to see what they think about our brand. Let's look at the fonts that we're using. Let's look at the photos that we're using. Let's really audit what our perception is because i- until you ask somebody or even ask a wedding planner that you've worked with once that you'd really like to work...
You know, when you look at my brand, I'm really trying to level up. When you look at my brand, what do you think? What does my brand say to you? And if she, or he says "You know, I send my budget clients to you," or, you know, I... whatever. If any of the words like budget, cheap, basic, a- any of those things or when someone looks at your brand and has those feelings you need to go, "Okay, how am I going to change this?"
Because you will be plagued with the $1,000 inquiry unless your brand levels up, unless you as a person levels up in showing the world that you are an expert. So another way that I feel like you can really build trust as a business owner is, of course, showing up on your social media and introducing yourself People can trust a business more when they see the owner or know who the owner is or have a direct kind of connection in some way, shape, or form.
And watching a video is a level of connection So if you're in a video and you're going, "Okay, I really you know, I, I... Hi, my name is," and you're introducing yourself, and you're explaining, like, your love of flowers and how passionate you are about flowers, what you love about flowers how long you've been in business, why you're doing this.
Like, you know, I'm doing... "I am a studio florist because I love being able to get my kids off the bus every day, but I absolutely love being a part of that special moment and handing that bride bouquet over and having her so excited because it's exactly what she had envisioned her whole life." That shows I'm als- I'm not just going to Nancy's Florals, I'm going to...
I like... I feel connected with Nancy. I feel like Nancy really cares and is, like she talked about her experience, and she has tons of weddings. And even if you don't have a ton of experience necessarily, because this is something a couple of my girls in the Floral CEO Mastermind ran into, you're an expert at floral flowers in some way, shape, or form.
If you have done... Uh, like I am an expert at cultural weddings. I have done hundreds of them, you guys. Hundreds. I am an expert at color. 90% of my weddings, no shit, 90% are color. I rarely do white and green weddings. It might be white and green with pop, but the majority of mine are, like, color, color, color. I do a lot of color.
Dark and moody, citrus vibes. I do a lot of, like, soft and romantic pastels. So I am a color expert. I work really hard to curate color palettes. But do you feel, like, how I'm even talking about those things and that confidence coming out? So that's really the next step, is positioning yourself as an expert, but being so fucking confident.
Confidence will kill the $1,000 inquiry. So if you also have been struggling, check in on your confidence. I have met business owners that are at three-quarter of a million dollars and don't see what I see, the badass business owner that they are. They are so humble I'm like, "You do not see the f- dragon that I see.
You are a total badass business owner that I wish they could see what I see." Because the, that confidence- Is going to make them a million dollar business. That confidence is gonna spill and they are gonna be just unstoppable. 'Cause confidence equals cash. And I've done an episode on confidence equals cash because I feel like confidence is so directly related to the l- the dollar mark that you're making in your business, but also the dollar mark that is what you're receiving.
If you were keep getting $1,000 inquiries, like, how is your confidence? I am so confident. I am so confident in my responses to things. I am so confident about my skill level. I am so confident about my execution of anything. I even joke and I say something, and you might have heard this before, but I religiously say it.
If they're younger, I say the zombie apocalypse could happen, and you would still have wedding flowers. 'Cause I am that confident I would figure it out. Confidence equals cash, you guys. So if you're plagued with $1,000 inquiries, do a confidence check-in. That confidence check-in could be your missing link in what is happening with you perpetually getting those $1,000 inquiries.
Next thing, having a page that clearly breaks down your services. If you keep getting $1,000 inquiries, go and look at your services page, if you have a services page, and look at how you're positioning your services. Look at how your, your language on there. Does it seem desperate? Does it seem kind of half-assed?
Or are you like, "These are our two service offerings. We have a la carte and we have full service. Full service starts at X, and this is the different what full service..." and explaining the differences. And, you know, even talking about average investments. Any of those things. That is going to position yourself at higher than $1,000.
And honestly, if somebody is at $1,000, they can directly be funneled into the a la carte process, which should be easy and, very, very low work on your part, and you still have the same revenue coming in. So if you're like, "I need the revenue from the $1,000 inquiry. I need the revenue," you can have it, but just funnel them into a simpler process, and so that we don't have to spend our time...
It's like ticks. If we have... Or leeches. If we have 50 ticks and leeches on us, we are not gonna be super healthy to go climb run a marathon or climb anything, 'cause we have all these little things sucking the life out of us. But if that little thing is so easy that you're just like, "Got an order on your website"- Like, it wasn't sucking the life out of you 'cause you weren't meeting with them, you weren't doing all this shit.
You were just like, "Here you go. That's it. Easy peasy." So if that is something that you're struggling with, just check in and go, "Okay, how am I gonna get over this? How am I gonna get through this? Because I want this to change." My services page is probably one of the easiest places to start, because it's something that people can go and see very easily, and it sets the tone.
Even throw your, your, your text and say, "I am a florist" in ChatGPT. "I'm a florist, and I really wanna start attracting 5 to $7,000 weddings. I keep getting inquiries of $1,000. This is my services page. This is my About Us page." Copy and paste the text into there. "What would you change to start positioning myself as more of an expert, as someone who easily has $5,000 weddings coming in with regularity?
And what suggestions or whatever?" You know, just ask questions to ChatGPT or Claude, because that could be your secret sauce to the beginning of the funnel. When somebody's entering into your funnel of learning about you, you are setting the tone right away for what they should be expecting in working with you.
But we need to make sure we have all the supporting documents, the photos, the confidence. 'Cause if we don't have those two things to match it, then, it's, it can be lost. You can snag them in your... In... You can hook 'em. You're fishing, you hooked 'em, but they got away 'cause your hook was way too small.
All right. Then finishing this off, we need to make sure that we have a process, a process that supports having $5,000 inquiries. Because if you are half-assing your communication, half-assing everything, then it's going to be really hard for you to show someone that, "I have my shit together. You can trust me.
I am confident you are going to be well taken care of," all of those things. If we are missing that trust factor, that is gonna be way easier for you to lose that inquiry just based on how you're responding. I know I just had Carol, if you haven't listened to her episode. After 35 years, she quit her job working for a corporate floral institution, and she now has 19 weddings booked.
When we tweaked her communication, sh- her bookings went up. Her closing rate on those bookings went up because her confidence and also her as a person and as a brand was coming through so much more that it just resonated with people. And yeah, does she have some thousand dollar weddings? Yeah, but she's got some bigger ones, and she's just getting started And that is the help that you get in the Floral CEO Mastermind.
I'm helping you look at these things because I know how important it is to really make sure that every single little touch point along the way is like somebody's just saying, "Fuck yes." You are... Like, they're so excited to work with you. They're so excited to, to just collaborate with you. So make sure all of these systems...
You need the portfolio. You need... And, and if you don't have a portfolio that is speaking to this, you guys, I have an opportunity and I will be doing an episode. I am re tooling the, Floral Rockstar Retreat because, , after seeing how people were using the branding photos, like it just m- made me want to give them more variety in your portfolio.
So I'm actually putting two photo opportunities into that experience, and it's going to be amazing. I'm so excited. So we are going to have a strawberry fields themed luncheon, so you're gonna have this really fun, picnicky vibe, red gingham with soft pinks and a bold green. And then on top of that, we're having a styled shoot with an epic dinner on day three.
So we're gonna have a welcome party on day one where we're actually going to have a cowboy hat bar, and we are going to have s'mores and get to know each other, and I'm gonna show you guys around the farm. Day two is going to be like our amazing luncheon, and then building everything, and then we're gonna do some yoga.
And it's... this workshop is gonna be so amazing, you guys, and you need to check it out. It is at floralceo.com/workshop. These workshops, like I pour my heart into, and I know how amazing this is going to be, and I would love to see you there. So check it out at floralceo.com/workshop because if you need some portfolio, you're gonna get two sets of amazing images just out of one workshop.
And most workshops are like one look, one everything. This you're gonna get two, which is going to be a game changer. So then- If you are looking to refine and tweak your processes, the Floral CEO Mastermind is the place to be. Like, the success that has come out of this mastermind is amazing. Carol is a shining example, but there are so much more.
People who have quit their corporate job, people who have tripled their wedding bookings, people who have let go of parts of their business because it just no longer serves them. The examples, I could go on and on, but I would love for you to get on the path, and you still have time even though we are six months into the year.
You still have time to make... You're setting the, really the foundation for your floral business's success. So thank you so much for listening, flower friend, and you have an amazing flower-filled day.