Over the last 30 years, Nic Faitos has grown Starbright Floral Design from a small delivery startup to a staple of the New York City flower industry. Under Nic’s leadership, Starbright has expanded its roster to large corporate clients, opened new revenue streams, and grown demand from a dozen orders a day to dozens of orders an hour.
What’s behind Starbright’s steady growth? Like the flowers it’s famous for, the business required careful nurturing, attention, and time to grow to its full potential.
“Starbright as a business obviously did not start the way it is now,” Nic said. “The creativity, the volume, the ability to turn large projects on very short notice—all of that has become part of our brand. But you learn these things over time, and you learn them through developing good customer service skills, making sure that your clients know what to expect, [meeting] their expectations, and [keeping] all of your promises.”
To celebrate 30 years in business, Behind the Review’s first-ever guest revisits his entrepreneurial journey and shares three key lessons that helped his business flourish.
1. Look after your customer, not your bottom line
Although Starbright has scaled up over the decades—taking on larger orders and more corporate clients—its relationship with customers keeps the business grounded. Nic firmly believes a culture of customer service flows through his entire team, and it starts with him.
“Whether it’s the way you dress, the way you talk to customers, the product that you deliver—a driver who has his final eyeballs on a product and says, ‘No, I’m not gonna deliver this. It does not look right. I’m gonna take it back to the store, fix it again, and bring it back out’—that’s all part of the inner workings of the organization, and that’s where we become a well-oiled machine,” Nic said.
“We really do live by a philosophy that if you take care of your customer without having dollar signs in your eyes, the world is gonna be a magnificent place for you, and it’s gonna come back to you one way or another.”
Nic has baked this expectation into his business model by establishing a loyalty program, the Frequent Flower Program, which rewards customers for every sale at Starbright and sends discounts and reminders on important dates: birthdays, anniversaries, and more. It’s a way for Nic to stay connected with regulars and show his appreciation for customers who make Starbright a part of their life.
“When somebody acknowledges my [loyalty] email in a passionate way—they say, ‘I just signed up, I’m very excited’—we throw a whole bunch of points into their account as a welcome gift,” Nic said. “It’s just a little something special that we will do for our customers.”
2. Refunds are an investment in your reputation
When a customer has a complaint, Nic doesn’t get defensive. He starts by telling them: “Buying flowers should be a happy experience, never a frustrating one. You choosing to spend money with us is an honor for us, and my only goal right now is to make amends. How can I do that?”
What makes Nic so confident that addressing these complaints is worth the risk? First, he believes in doing whatever it takes to help a customer in their time of need—even if it means providing a refund or an entirely new arrangement. Second, he sees every complaint as an opportunity to demonstrate his customer service and commitment to quality.
Nic said: “You listen. You accept the fact that situations like this come up. You want to minimize [them] by doing your job right the first time. And if you are doing your job right, it becomes such a small percentage of your refunds, replacements, and everything else.
“If I’m sending out a hypothetical 1,000 orders in any given period, and of that 1,000 orders, two orders result in those kinds of interactions, I’m gonna look at those two interactions and say: ‘It’s the cost of doing business. It’s the cost of my reputation.’ And I’m not gonna let go of that until I know that it’s come full circle and the customer has been fully satisfied.”
3. Trust your team, and your team will come through for you
Over the years, Nic has figured out how to build a business that can run without him. At first, he found it hard to step away from day-to-day operations—but by honing in on business management and hiring employees he can count on, he now sees this time off as an opportunity for his team to shine.
“For job satisfaction, for creativity, to flourish, everybody needs to know that they’re trusted. Everybody needs to know that they have a job, a goal, something to work forward to that doesn’t necessarily always involve supervision. And the more independence you give to your team, and the more you trust your team, the more the team will come through for you.
“With time and by bringing in the right people and people that not only want to learn, but also know before they get here—you’re developing an organization that has the backbone to pretty much accomplish just about anything.”
Another aspect of trusting your team is empowering them to do their best work. At Starbright, Nic ensures that every team member has their own dedicated work space—a deviation from the norm in the florist business—which Nic said helps keep turnover low and employee satisfaction high. It also means customers can get to know designers for their own individual styles and personalities. “That’s when we’re building a relationship. That’s when we get to know one another,” Nic said.
These lessons come from an episode of Behind the Review, Yelp & Entrepreneur Media’s weekly podcast. Listen below to hear more from Nic and Emily, or visit the episode page to read more, subscribe to the show, and explore other episodes.
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