Online, or e-learning, is a growing trend in many industries, with large companies including IBM jumping onto the bandwagon. Given America's love of the online world and informational sites like Wikipedia, it's not surprising to hear that computer-based learning has become a major part of the training offered by many companies. In fact, organizations in the floral industry, including FTD and the Society of American Florists (SAF), have begun offering online learning so that those who work with flowers can offer customers even better products and service.
In October, 2006, FTD introduced FTD University, its own web-based training program for its members. FTD University offers people in the floral industry short classes dealing with subjects like customer service, general flower knowledge, order and delivery handling, and the care and handling of cut flowers. Each course concludes with a short quiz that allows users to track their progress. Those who take advantage of FTD University will, hopefully, find themselves being of better service to their customers and learning new ways to make their businesses run more smoothly.
One FTD University user, Jim Clifford of Clifford's Flowers (Quincy, Massachusetts), found the program to be of great benefit. He cites the customer service course as being particularly helpful saying that it was good "not only for florists who are new to the industry, but also for those who think we already know everything."
SAF has also begun offering its members online training in a partnership with TrainNow.net. Classes offered by SAF include The Perfect Sale and Plant and Flower Care in the 21st Century. Many of the courses, available via the Internet or on CD-Rom, are interactive, which helps to keep users engaged. Users of SAF's training program are also able to track their training activities and save records so that their employers can see their progress as well.
These new online training courses for florists are great not only for the florists themselves, but also for their customers. Their newfound knowledge translates into fresher flowers of better quality and excellent customer service. So, florists may be able to learn a great deal about different plant and flower varieties on Wikipedia, but they can take advantage of online training to put those facts to work.
Copyright: Copyright © 2006-2008 Wesley Berry, AAF
About the Author:| Wesley Berry is member of the American Academy of Floriculture (AAF) and President of Wesley Berry Flowers, a successful multi-million dollar floral business that was established in 1946. He is also the developer of Localnewsdelivery.com a website that delivers local news to over 40,000 communities across the country. Recently he also launched a website providing information about various places of worship throughout the United States. Visit Wesley Berry Flowers on the web at www.800wesleys.com.
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