There are a lot of florists out there that are struggling with keeping either their retail shops open or still being in love with the wedding industry. And they are curious, how do we actually break into the hotel world? What is the hospitality industry all about? I interviewed Martin Ostermann, a hotel development expert from Prediam and he shared all about how hotels determine their floral budget for a lobby design.
The first thing he had to say was: “They don’t.” This answer was quite shocking, as florists who are always pitching and negotiating with hotels for floral contracts, it was surprising to know that hotels don’t actually have a set budget in mind when it comes to their lobby design and hotel flowers.
What Should Florists Keep in Mind When Working With Hotels?
There are a few pointers that Martin gave, one being that we florists have to remember that we are dealing with people. Yes, they can be big scary executives and big hotels, but the reality is they are still people and we shouldn’t let that intimidate us. The second thing is they are not florists, they are hiring you because you are the expert and you will help them convey their brand standards to the guests for an overall flawless guest experience. That’s why the lobby design is so important to the hotel, as it is the first thing guests see.
Flowers add so much to this and hotel executives know this, however, they also know they are not the expert, so it’s up to the florist to convey to the hotel why they are an expert and what value they can add. As florists, we love working with flowers because they are beautiful and we can be creative and do nice things with them. Flowers have the ability to transform space —and what is the point of that? Well, it is to make a big impact on the guests. To create that incredible, very memorable arrival experience that guests will be remembering long after they’ve checked out.
How do Hotels Set a Floral Budget for the Lobby Design?
They come up with a number by pretty much looking around what flowers cost, what people charge, what others are doing, and then create their own set of numbers. They don't have the luxury of having a florist being their advisor, which would be the advice of this hotel development expert. The budget that they do come up with is going to be determined by their brand standards. Do they have a minimalistic style where flowers are sparsely laid out throughout the lobby or are they going for a really big floral budget and have it look something similar to a live jungle. What type of flowers do they use? Dead or alive? Fake or real? And how big of an arrangement do they want to have. You can get a feel for what type of a budget the hotel has by simply stepping foot into the hotel and looking at their lobby design.
Usually, when a hotel is developing its brand standards it’s more of an architectural design exercise rather than a budget exercise. Then they usually come back and ask the question, How they can make this happen? What do others charge? What type of flower do they want and what are the costs? It’s a very fluid process when it comes to creating a hotel floral budget for a lobby design.
A great way that a florist can add value is to demonstrate to the hotel that they understand the hotel’s budget process and that they are experts when it comes to the different prices of flowers. Florists know exactly how to set a budget for a lobby design install that will either have a huge impact or a very subtle background impact depending on the brand. Another great opportunity when it comes to new hotels being built is to step in and help the hotel by offering your knowledge of flowers. When a hotel is in development the topic of flowers tends to fall to the wayside because the managers are busy and sidetracked dealing with other aspects of the construction. But hotel flowers are important and they want a big experience focused around flowers, but usually, it’s a last-minute scramble to come up with a budget and find a florist. So to make the hotel’s job easier, take away some of the burdens of setting a floral budget, when meeting with a hotel, be sure to convey your expertise when it comes to hotel flowers for a lobby design.
The fact of the matter is, is that hotel floral budgets are kind of like a smokescreen. A lot of times florists will go in and ask what the budget is and they'll get one of three answers: They'll get a, “I'm not telling you”, which was literally what happened to a student of the Hotel Florist Profit Method last week, or they’ll say “make me an offer”, or “we don't have a budget”. So a lot of times hotels use this budget as a power play because they don't actually have a number, but it can be very intimidating for a florist. But keep in mind, we are the experts, we know what things cost. It is up to us to ask the right questions. This is an amazing opportunity to educate this potential hotel client on what things cost and how they meet their brand standards, and whatever else they have in mind for florals for their hotel lobby design.
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