Flowers can do more than decorate a room. They comfort families, honor memories, and can sustain a business. For Jeanna Furst AIFD, growing the sympathy side of her family’s 120-year-old floral business introduced a thriving revenue stream, now representing nearly 27% of sales. In this post, she shares the strategies, tools, and team practices that helped her turn compassion into consistent business growth — and how you can do the same.
When Jeanna Furst AIFD married into the Furst family, she joined a floral legacy. What began in 1905 as Joe Furst’s flower wagon has flourished through 120 years and five generations as a retail and wholesale florist, garden center, and gift shop in Dayton, Ohio.
Furst Florist is known for its amazing wedding work, but Jeanna discovered that growing the sympathy side of the business could provide stability, steady revenue, and year-round employment.
As much as we love the parties, galas, and fun stuff, funeral work is what keeps everybody working here,” said Jeanna, as she explained why she took on the challenge.
Today, sympathy flowers account for 25–27% of their gross sales, compared to just 7% from weddings. On an average day - Furst delivers 10 - 20 casket sprays to local funeral homes.
Photo: Furst the Florist
Why Sympathy Flowers Became a Focus
Sympathy flowers weren’t always a major part of their business plan. But, Jeanna saw an opportunity: while weddings and events were seasonal, funerals happened every day.
“We were at a point in our organization where we needed stable business to keep a staff working and our product mix turning quickly.”
Photo: Furst the Florist
By building relationships with local funeral directors, Jeanna expanded their reach from a few directors to more than 25 funeral homes. Furst supporting their websites and creating consistent design options meant directors could place large orders in minutes. Saving time and increasing profits.
Make Cold Calls to Build Relationships
A self-described “introvert,” Jeanna took steps outside her comfort zone to make their sympathy flower business bloom. She started with a call. “A cold call, which felt horrible to do,” Jeanna remembers. She called and asked to meet with a director that she knew slightly.
Jeanna shook his hand and asked for their business. “I promised him that if we don't do it right, we’ll make it right.” Jeanna handed him her cell phone number adding, “I don't care if it’s a weekend, evening, you call me if you need something.” Jeanna went back to the shop, gathered her designers and said, “we have an opportunity to grow.”
Jeanna had watched her salespeople do a beautiful job of selling sympathy tributes to families in the store, but it was time consuming. “With one phone call, funeral directors can place a $500 - $700 order in a matter of minutes,” says Jeanna.
Jeanna views these directors as her salespeople. By offering commissions tied to volume, directors had an incentive to sell more flowers. The approach worked. Relationships - not ads - grew their sympathy flower business.
Create a Sales Tools That Sells for You
To make that process easier, the Furst team created a sympathy sales book of design photos with three price points. Instead of browsing endlessly, families can point to a design. These inspiration photos help designers create similar pieces, with flexibility for substitutions.
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Photo: Furst the Florist
The first book was raw and rough, but it worked. Directors loved it and asked for more copies.”
The first order was for 50 books and the next order - 100 books. They are out of books again and reordering. This sales tool is a huge success. It helps the director know how to sell, and the florist know how to buy. Furst keeps on hand an inventory of fresh flowers and hardgoods that compliment what’s in the selection guide.
In addition to physical books, Furst Florist is now developing a digital catalog for directors who sell from large screens in their offices. This allows them to appeal to funeral directors of all ages.
“Never be stingy with marketing materials,” Jeanna advises. “Give them as much as you possibly can. The easier you make their job, the more they’ll sell for you.”
Furst designers are asked to prioritize the sympathy orders. “This is someone’s family, they’re grieving. These flowers are important.” All 16 designers are trained to make casket sprays that are both beautiful and profitable.
Offer Popular On-Trend Designs
Customers often prefer “traditional with a flair” - organic, classic styles.
Photo: Furst the Florist
Smithers-Oasis Sympathy products are always in stock, see the new Solace Sympathy Catalog here. The Mache Cross, Mache Wreath, Jumbo, and Tribute Cages are popular for standing sprays. The Sculpting Sheet is used to make shapes, names, or logos. “Deluxe foam is used in all Casket Saddles we really feel that that holds things together through the delivery process,” says Jeanna. “That's very important.”
They added designs that blended fresh flowers with a keepsake. Customers began asking for more green plants, they focused on foliage, plants, and gardens that sold well on the websites.
• Customers began ordering green plants to sit at the head, foot, and even in front of the casket. A uniquely beautiful look.
• An English garden - a collection of blooming plants and green plants.
• Small plants or blooming plants tucked into casket covers that can be removed afterwards.
• Plants delivered to the home, in the case of cremation.
Compassion Meets Business Growth
Even as cremations increase, most families still want flowers for memorial services, Celebrations of Life, or dinner gatherings.
Flowers are uplifting. They give people something to talk about. Flowers speak when there are no words. A gift of flowers says to the bereaved, “I share your sadness” or "I loved them too." A room without flowers can feel sad and empty.
Jeanna works with her funeral directors to help families in distress, with a tight budget, or no money for flowers. “When that family comes to you, call me. If they have a hundred dollars, fine. If they have nothing, fine. We don't want you to have a family without flowers,” she explains.
The funeral homes do occasionally call to say, “Here's the circumstance. What can you do?” Furst Florist always takes care of them, and that goes a long way with the director. “It feels like we're a team,” suggests Jeanna.
Become the Preferred Florist Online
Another growth strategy? Becoming the preferred florist on funeral home websites.
When families read an obituary, they often click the convenient “Order Flowers” link - without knowing which florist fills the order.
Jeanna’s Approach?
Furst was listed as ‘preferred vendor’ locally. “Although, your funeral director may not even know they can list you as their preferred vendor. You have to ask.”
As three national funeral home groups moved into her area, Jeanna called their corporate offices to ask. “How do I get listed as your preferred florist?”
It took multiple calls, and some patience, but eventually Furst secured the listings with the three major groups. The amount of business generated for Furst was unexpected.
“I had no idea these websites would generate this amount of orders. Now we're taking family work plus a dozen pieces, making deliveries more profitable,” Jeanna adds.
Instead of relying on each funeral home’s website offerings, Furst uploads their own curated catalog of floral designs, plants and keepsakes.
Teamwork Keeps the Business Blooming
Jeanna knew she couldn’t grow the sympathy business alone, she needed her team to buy in.
“I had made a big promise on behalf of a lot of people. They had to feel part of this plan.”
Photo: Furst the Florist
How Furst the Florist Built a Strong Team
• Training: Phone staff learned funeral lingo, item numbers, details and spelling. Designers were taught to treat every sympathy order as a top priority.
• Responsiveness: If a funeral director forgot a casket cover, Furst delivered in under an hour. That goodwill built long-term trust.
• Appreciation: Every Christmas, directors receive gifts. In summer, Jeanna brings lunches or treats. The relationship goes beyond business. It’s a team effort.
• Relationships: Take care of directors in both their professional and personal lives. When they have weddings or family events, support them. It builds loyalty that lasts.
After 20 years, some funeral directors now have a “go-to” Furst salesperson they trust as much as they trust Jeanna. When Furst makes a mistake, they fix it. That’s what keeps directors calling back.
Expand Through Technology
Today, many funeral directors are changing how they sell. Often presenting services on large office screens instead of flipping through books.
Jeanna’s solution:
• Physical Catalogs for traditional directors who prefer something tangible.
• Digital Catalogs for younger directors or tech-forward funeral homes.
Her advice: flexibility wins. “Offer both formats.” Hand out printed books generously and provide digital copies for directors who want to share designs on-screen.
“Meet each director where they are - whether that means a stack of books or a digital file for their computer. “
For over 120 years, Furst the Florist has proven that tradition and innovation can thrive together. Jeanna’s success in growing their sympathy business comes down to a clear formula:
• Step out of your comfort zone, make the cold calls.
• Build relationships, treat directors like partners, not just clients.
• Create sales tools, like catalogs that make buying simple.
• Invest in your team, train, appreciate, and empower them.
• Adapt for the future, offer both physical and digital tools.
Sympathy flowers do more than decorate a room. They comfort families, honor memories, and sustain a business year-round. By combining heartfelt service with smart business strategies, florists like Jeanna Furst prove that the sympathy flower business can truly bloom.
Jeanna reminds us to “always listen to what they’re asking for. If you’re not giving it to them, someone else will.”
What ideas do you have for growing your sympathy flower sales?
Bonus Tip: Efficiency with AI
Sometimes florists are better at arranging flowers than photographing or writing about them. In a previous podcast, AI & ChatGPT for Florists with Brandy Ferrer, we learned how AI can help create for website posts:
• Product descriptions
• SEO keywords
• Hashtags for social media
• Intro and promo blurbs
“What used to take hours, AI does in seconds,” Brandy shared. Pair your photos with AI-generated content to make your sales materials faster and more effective.
Don’t forget to share the Floral Hub Blog (for readers), and How We Bloom podcast (for listeners), with your fellow flower lovers. The podcast is available on Buzzsprout, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more.