What Is WF&FSA's Value Proposition?

Alan Tanouye, Floralife

For all of us these days, thinking about and clarifying our company/organization/personal “value proposition” is essential for our success and for clarifying our communication strategies to our markets, customers, employees and other stakeholders.  WF&FSA is no different, and that’s why this year your executive committee and board decided to take another look at WF&FSA’s value proposition to its members.  Along with John Donati of Ocean View Flowers, Alvaro Crespo of Lihmil Wholesale and the WF&FSA staff team at Thompson Management Associates, we updated and sharpened what WF&FSA can mean to its members and stakeholders.  I’d like to focus on the three that I think are the most important. 

Networking:  If you’ve been in the flower business for any length of time, you probably already know that it really is built on relationships.  We depend on each other to make sure that we’re getting the flowers and hardgoods we need at the quality we need when we need them, and because flowers are so perishable the only way to do that quickly is to trust the person at the other end of that phone call or email.  WF&FSA is the best platform for wholesalers and their suppliers to get to know each other, and build those durable relationships, so that when an unfortunate disappointment happens we all have someone on which to rely.  Building strong relationships is also a great way to learn from others, and to know how you are doing relative to your peers.  Relationship building permeates everything we do at WF&FSA.

Education:  Let me ask you: is your business getting easier or harder to run these days?  I don’t know about you, but it sure seems to me like the world keeps moving faster and keeps getting more complex every day.  So the question for all of us is how are we supposed to keep up?  Well, if information truly is power, then we need to commit ourselves and our company to continuous learning and growth.  WF&FSA’s education strategy, which is one of its core functions, is to use all professional speakers to deliver the best and latest educational programming possible.  We have partnered with the University of Innovative Distribution (UID), in conjunction with Purdue University, to identify the speakers and topics we will be using each year.  Also, WF&FSA delivers learning programs more cost effectively than any one company can do on its own.  Education is an investment in the future, so you should be investing in yourself and your team.

Third, WF&FSA membership means good value.  Did you know that WF&FSA members pay anywhere from 25% to 90% less than nonmembers for its programs?  So, by participating in WF&FSA activities, members will very likely save more than their cost of membership. 

When you put it all together, and add in exclusive member benefits like our weekly newsletter netWork, the Emerging Leaders Group for younger folks, benchmarking statistical reports and savings through partner programs, you have a unique value proposition for being a member of WF&FSA. 

For me, over many years, WF&FSA has also been the source of great friendships and a whole lot of fun.  Come and join us at an event and experience for yourself all the benefits of being a member of WF&FSA.