Valentine's Day Countdown! Steps to Success
The members are calling, the web team is slammed, and there are still Christmas decorations on Lori's office floor — it must be Valentine's countdown season. This episode is the annual prep walkthrough, and the hosts suggest using it exactly this way: play it in the back room with your whole team, pausing to add the things your shop does that nobody else does. It hits different this year for Vonda, who realized mid-recording that this will be her fiftieth Valentine's Day — starting as a little girl pulled out of school to prep flowers. Back then, marketing meant newspaper ads, radio interviews, and walking arrangements around to the downtown businesses. Websites didn't exist. But one thing hasn't changed: it's always February 14th.
Start with a team goal (and clean your computer)
Before the tactical list, Lori's opener: before every big holiday, set a collective team goal. It can be monetary — or it can be "we get through this week with nobody having a meltdown." Vonda takes it further: let each employee add their own goal — sell five $500 arrangements, zero bad reviews this holiday — write them all down, put them on a bingo card in the back room, and attach an incentive for hitting them. During the insanity of Valentine's week, walking past that card and thinking "I'm still hanging in there" is a genuine motivator, and watching a coworker check off "$300 roses" makes you want your square too.
And one item that wasn't on the outline but should be on yours today: unplug your computer and vacuum the dust out of it. A computer that dies during Valentine's week is a catastrophe; a clean one runs cooler and faster. (Same goes for your dryer, apparently.)
Your people are the brand — including the two-day helpers
Next: make sure the entire team is educated on exemplary customer service, because during the holiday, their face is your brand. Everything they say and do reflects the shop — from the phone to the delivery driver to whoever's taking the trash out through the alley. Vonda's math makes it urgent: most customers only buy a couple of times a year. Alienate someone during the Valentine's crush because "they don't understand how busy we are," and you may never see them again; treat them like the only customer you're serving, and they'll remember that too. Lori adds a modern twist: if your Instagram reels show a fun, joyful shop and a customer walks in to find aloof, evasive staff, that's a false brand — and it's devastating. Everything has to align.
Then there's holiday help — often a friend of a friend who's "just doing you a favor." The rule: nobody touches your phone until they're confident in role-play. A shaky, unconfident voice answering "Lori's flower shop" can lose a customer forever, and unlike in-person interactions, the caller can't see that someone's new — they just wonder what's wrong with your shop. Pair new helpers with your best salesperson for a day of role-playing, sales scripts, and delivery process. And for the mindset problem — "why do I have to learn all this for two days?" — Lori's fix is theater: for two days, we're going to pretend this is your full-time dream job. To the customer, it is. (And if they're not up to it? Front room, sweeping, and dusting — away from the customers.)
Website, pricing, and the designer's choice debate
Your website is what brings people in, so it needs to be ready: fun designs you can actually reproduce, priced appropriately. Vonda's mantra bears repeating — if holiday designs aren't priced right, the more you do, the more you lose, and it happens more often than shops realize. The website also drives your flower order, so lock it down early.
That sparked a spirited question from Lori: what about shops whose Valentine's website is only designer's choice? Vonda sees both sides. For the shop owner it's easy — a few color palettes and price points, total design freedom in the back. But flip to the customer's view: someone in another state ordering for a person they love has never seen your work. Designer's choice with no pictures makes them back away and find a shop that shows its style. The fix: show at least some designs that represent what you're capable of — then customers who like your $150 piece will happily trust your $99 designer's choice. As Lori puts it, we're visual people, and a designer's-choice-only site is probably hiding fabulous designers. One more data point from Vonda: don't assume the Friday holiday means down numbers — members she's helped are seeing Fridays even with or slightly ahead of past midweek Valentine's Days. Check your own numbers before you cut your buy.
Prep like a production line
The rest is execution. Add-ons: shop your own store — leftover Christmas candles, chocolates, jewelry, and especially greeting cards; members who stock nice (and funny) cards can't keep them in stock at an easy $7 add-on. Prep containers now: cut leaf wraps to length, tie bows, ribbon everything. When can you start designing? Vonda's rule of thumb: if the flowers are in your store and in water, they might as well be in water in a design — flowers arriving the weekend before can be 50% designed by Monday and waiting in the cooler. On production day, run a real line — 10 or 20 arrangements at a time — so sale day is tags-on-and-out-the-door.
Finally, the delivery driver: tell them plainly what a huge responsibility they carry, because that driver can make or break your day. Cover the policies — what to do if it tips over, what to do if nobody's home — and communicate everything. Vonda learned that one the hard way in Iowa: a sweet volunteer driver was sent to Iowa State with 50 dorm deliveries and was never told the dorms have post offices that sign for flowers. He hand-carried every single one to individual dorm rooms. Communicate, communicate, communicate.
Above all: mindset. Some shops see the Friday holiday and talk about closing; others are gearing up like it's the Super Bowl. Challenge or opportunity is a choice — and Valentine's, Vonda insists, is the easiest holiday of them all: prep, prep, prep, three days, done. Go make a lot of memories — and a lot of money.
Key takeaways
- Set a team goal before the holiday — monetary or "zero meltdowns" — post it where everyone can see it, and attach an incentive.
- Every person is the brand, down to the driver; train temp help via role-play and keep them off the phone until they're confident.
- Get the website ready first — it drives your flower order — and price everything so the more you sell, the more you make.
- Show real designs online, not just designer's choice: out-of-town customers can't trust a style they can't see.
- Prep everything prep-able ahead — containers, bows, wraps, even arrangements in water — and run production-line style.
- Brief your delivery drivers like the make-or-break players they are.