How To Get Your Phone To Ring More Often

Yesterday I spent over two hours trying to find flowers to have delivered to someone on the other side of the country. The big-box national brands of the retail floral world offered decidedly unsplendid options. Google and I also had differing opinions of what defined "stylish flowers for delivery."

Someone on Twitter asked if I could call a florist, give them my budget and direct them on which flowers I wanted. My answer was no, and here's why:

I am a millennial so I want to see my options online, compare pricing, select something in my budget, play around with any customizations or upgrades, click, pay and be done. The thought of calling them without any idea first of what they can do gives me slight anxiety.

I am a millennial on the cusp years, so I am more willing to use the phone than younger members of my generation. However, I will only call a company I trust (again with the anxiety). After looking up dozens of retail florists in the city I needed delivery in, I decided I couldn't trust any of them. I decided this because all of their websites were terrible and the photos of their work were subpar. My first point of contact with them -- their website -- didn't give me the trust I needed to pick up the phone.

I will be the first to admit I am tough to impress, but I am certainly not impossible to impress (case in point: Spruce in Minneapolis gets it right. Their flower arrangements are pretty and the ordering process is easy and guess-free). The millennial generation makes up more than 83% of global wedding clients today and is one-third of the global population. My behavior in relation to the phone is right in line with the majority of this generation.

Here's something I often hear from people in the industry: "If I could just get the potential client on the phone, I could book them. People LOVE me on the phone." Here's reality, regardless of your stellar personality: if your website is outdated or if it doesn't work (especially on an iPad or iPhone), you're not going to get that potential client on the phone. If you want your phone to ring, make sure your website is designed to build trust.


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