Cross Fertilization

Healthy Competition

Brainstorming about ways to drive more traffic is one thing. Handing over your coveted customer list over to the competition, no matter how friendly, is another. "We all knew that by trying to get more customers into this area, we would all grow. We all understood the more customers from out of state, the more tucks rolling out of here. That was the easy sell," Kister says. "The hard part was convincing everyone that an effective direct-mail campaign wouldn’t threaten their own individual marketing tactics."

To ensure privacy, the association hired a third-party mailing house to create one master list and handle all direct mailing. Still, participants were very resistant and it took several meetings to get everyone in agreement.

"Consensus on everything is the only way we can do this," Kister says. Not only did they have to agree on what to do, the participants had to agree on what not to do.

"I knew people would be tempted to pull their best customers off the list, so we addressed that head on," she says. First off, they’re probably on someone else’s list, so they’re going to get an invite anyway. And if they’re not and you don’t invite them … Well now you’ve just offended your best customers."

- Floral Management, October 200

Amanda Temple is the managing editor of Floral Management. Email: atemple@safnow.org