How Flowers Can Help Close Deals

Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the flowers gone?
Girls have picked them every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
– Pete Seeger

Lets face it, it’s hard to stand out. Buyers are bombarded with phone calls, emails and in-person approaches at conferences. Sellers are desperate to get time with decision-makers. I’ve been on both sides—a buyer and a seller. When I go to print industry conferences, I’m looking for new strategic partners that manufacture products in new or growth categories. I’m there to talk to heads of procurement about their print spend and the potential benefits of outsourcing their print procurement.

For those of us who don’t look like a Victoria’s Secret model or Jimmy Garoppolo (hottest quarterback in football; I drafted him on my fantasy football team), we need a way to get recognized. To get the proverbial foot in the door or remind a buyer that I exist, I like to send a “little surprise” to his or her office. I know I love getting little surprises in the mail, and my favorite surprise is a bouquet of freshly cut flowers. I have a wonderful boyfriend who sends me flowers often. I may keep him around a while.

So, I’ve started sending flower bouquets with personalized notes to my female prospects. Scenario: You are in the middle of a stressful meeting. Your bottom line is being questioned, outgoing is too high and in-coming too low. HR is on your back for who knows what. You return to your office forlorn and forsaken. A bouquet of beautiful flowers is perched invitingly on your desk. A smile appears on your unsuspecting face. You gently pull the card affixed to the bouquet and read the kind words. All your worries disappear. Life is good again. The above scenario may be a bit hyperbolic, but you get the idea: Flowers are nice to receive.

When I attend a conference, I choose three female prospects or contacts I have met and order them flowers. I try to make sure they arrive their first day back. I include a short, funny and personalized note referencing something we discussed. I always keep it personal—I don’t reference Procureit5 or our outsourced print management service. I don’t want to come across as a hard sell.

“Ovaltine. Ovaltine? A crummy commercial? Son of a bitch.”
– A Christmas Story

I attended a procurement conference in October. My friend attended as well. She’s a director and oversees a sourcing team and large spend. She had been traveling a lot and was having a stressful and difficult month. I ordered her flowers from the conference to arrive her first day back in the office. I received the following text:

Hi Sarah, thank you for the beautiful flowers. You brightened up my day and made me feel so good. You are kind, thoughtful and classy. You are a stand-out person and anyone would be lucky to work with you. Big things are in the future for your company.

When creating my 2018 budget, I included a line-item for flowers. That’s how impactful I feel they are.

I love the flower girl
Oh, I don’t know just why,
She simply caught my eye
I love the flower girl
She seemed so sweet and kind
She crept into my mind.
– The Cowsills

What gift do I send men? So far, I’m at a loss. I’m working on a mailing campaign for my 20 top prospects that I want to send in January. I need to get my male prospect gift figured out quickly. Do you, dear reader, have any ideas? The gift needs to be unique, clever and memorable. My mom thinks I should send flowers to male prospects, too. My dad thinks it should be a “Red-Ryder, carbon action, 200-shot, range model air rifle, with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time.”

What do you think?