Corine van Egmond

Why do you think marketing and communication is important for a wholesaler like Heemskerk Flowers?

Communication with our customers is essential. We have so much to share! Through social media, we post daily inspiration and stay connected with our customers. There’s a lot of interaction, which keeps us well informed about what’s happening among florists. That mutual engagement is one of the things I enjoy most.

But internal communication is just as important. For example, it’s crucial that our buyers share their knowledge and information with the sales team. That way, everyone knows when a certain product is temporarily unavailable or when the quality is exceptionally good or rather poor. All valuable information that our salespeople can pass on to their customers.

What do you enjoy doing most in your role?

I like to seek connections with the various links in our sector, such as with growers, suppliers, florists, promotion boards and the auction house, Royal FloraHolland. That keep me informed about what’s going on in the sector, the issues that growers or florists are encountering. And then I can translate that into the communication. You can achieve more together than on your own, so it’s great to brainstorm together about how we can respond to particular questions or issues.

We work with Meet & Greet, an online item whereby we talk to these various parties within the sector about a particular flower species, with the aim of informing and inspiring our customers. For example, we are currently in the middle of the Meet & Greet Alstroemeria, whereby we have interviewed Alstroemeria growers, have asked a florist to create arrangements as inspiration, and are also urging our customers to create an arrangement starring the Alstroemeria. The top 5 best creations will win a voucher worth € 60 to spend in our webshop and an Alstroemeria clock.

What opportunities can you see for our customers?

Obviously offering products online. Consumers are already shopping online a lot, and that will only increase. I am not worried that there will be no flower shops in the future, because it will still be an experience to visit a flower shop, to examine the fabulous flowers in all the various colours and have a beautiful personal bouquet created. But online sales will nonetheless continue to grow. I think it would be a shame if florists didn’t take advantage of that. As a wholesaler we are also keen to respond to that, since we have already launched a service in the Netherlands where we help florists to start selling their products online. We are planning to roll this out other countries as well.

Operating sustainably is also becoming increasingly important. It is currently still an added value, but I am convinced that it will become essential in the future. I would therefore advise florists to find out about this now and move towards operating sustainably step by step. That can be small things, such as separating waste or using environmentally friendly cleaning products, but buying sustainable products is also an excellent step. Our webshop offers a sustainability filter with which the customer can filter for products with particular sustainability certificates. This makes it very easy for them to purchase sustainable products.

Finally Corine stresses that she has the best job in the world. That is also shown by the enthusiasm with which she talks about her work.