Sympathy Series #2: Must Know Tips to Increase Your Sympathy Sales
What would your shop look like if sympathy made up half your sales? For this second installment of the sympathy series, Vonda and Lori bring on two Flower Clique members who have done exactly that: Ralph Giordano AIFD, fourth-generation florist and owner of Giordano's Floral Creations in Fort Pierce, Florida, and Steve Rogala, third-generation florist at Especially for You Florist & Gift Shop in Freehold, New Jersey. Between them, they service dozens of funeral homes — and they held nothing back.
The numbers: sympathy at nearly 50%
Ralph's sympathy business now runs about 45% of his total delivered sales — nearly a 50-50 split with everyday and event work — with roughly half of that coming directly from funeral directors. It's been growing steadily for years, with a five to ten percent boost from direct funeral home sales since COVID. Steve works daily with about a dozen funeral homes (and twenty more in surrounding areas), and three locations alone send him half of his family orders. His area's sympathy business had been declining since the 90s, but since mid-2020 it's been "going gangbusters" as people send flowers in lieu of traveling to services.
It all comes down to the relationship
How did they cultivate that business? Ralph's answer opens the episode: "It's the relationship that you make with the funeral directors and the service that you provide them, and going above and beyond what they need on a daily, weekly, monthly basis." That means being available late at night and on weekends, stocking inventory and forms a funeral home might need the next morning — the extra service most shops won't commit to.
Steve adds that every funeral director has unique likes and dislikes: don't lead with "this is how I work" — ask "how can I work with you?" He participates in his funeral homes' fundraisers and dinners, and once recreated a 1950s-style casket piece with a mirrored open square for a retired funeral home owner's own family — the kind of response that deepens a relationship for years.
And one story every owner should share with new employees: a funeral director once sent Steve orders because another shop put him on hold too long — so he hung up and called Steve instead. Funeral homes are calling with big-ticket orders once or twice a week or more. Treat them as VIPs, every single call, and make sure every new hire knows it.
The Celebration of Life book pays for itself
Both guests use Flower Clique's Celebration of Life book — a custom-branded design book presented to the funeral home (never just dropped off) with the funeral home's name and the shop's name, plus a commission arrangement for orders they send. Steve says the finished book is professional and beautifully organized — "it's not a three-ring binder with little stickers on it" — and his funeral directors love it. Ralph's math on the cost objection: the book typically pays for itself within the first order or two, and after that it's profit. One of his funeral homes saved $15,000 in a year by sending him the work — and he texts his top funeral homes those numbers every year-end as a thank-you and a reminder of why the partnership works. One nervous first-time member took her new book to a funeral home on a Monday and had three orders by Friday.
Finding your sympathy niche
With cremation rising everywhere, Ralph designs pieces that dress the room and surround the urn, giving families a beautiful last vision even without a casket. Steve's niche is custom tributes built around the person's passions — a grand piano, sports logos, vehicles — organized into browsable categories on his website with Kami's help, plus his own Shutterfly book of custom work in funeral homes. His proudest piece: a fully three-dimensional tobacco pipe for his own uncle, with lights glowing in the bowl, red carnations, and real tobacco sprinkled in so his cousin could smell it as she walked by. Ralph's standouts include a six-foot pineapple and a detailed acoustic guitar. Both men offer the same invitation: message them on Facebook with questions — no permission needed. "That's the only way you learn."
Key takeaways
- Sympathy can be nearly half your business — but only if you earn funeral director relationships with exceptional, flexible, around-the-clock service.
- Never put a funeral home on hold and forget them. Train every employee that these calls are VIP.
- A presentation book pays for itself within a few orders — and sharing year-end savings numbers with funeral homes cements the partnership.
- Custom tribute pieces personalized to the loved one's passions are a growing, profitable niche; start simple and practice.
- Remember it's a privilege: you're giving a family their last send-off. As Ralph says, be a successful, profitable artist — not a broke one.
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