The other day when I walked into the YMCA, I noticed something different; there was a bouquet of flowers on the front desk. I went and had a closer look; a florist had left them there, with one flyer identifying the company, as a promotion. I've since been back and the florist changes the flowers regularly; a different bouquet each time and it always looks fresh and beautiful.

This is a brilliant idea. The clients at this particular YMCA are well off and the sort of people who buy luxury items, like flowers, frequently. The positioning is prominent (people have to walk by the flowers every time they come into the gym) and the quality of the flowers is high.

Here's the problem, though. How many people walk into a YMCA with a pen and paper in hand? The florist did not provide anything to take away. I've noticed and admired the flowers many times, but I wouldn't know how to go about ordering from that particular florist (or even be able to say who the florist is).

One simple solution would be to provide a stack of coupons (for perhaps 10% off) beside the flowers that potential customers could take away. The coupon would need to be small &mdash maybe similar to a business card in look and feel &mdash so it could fit inside a pocket or gym bag and would have the phone number, address and URL, as well as the offer.

The placement of the flowers is brilliant. Without something for people to take away, though, I suspect the florist is not getting nearly the results that they might. I know it's an old idea in marketing, but it should always be as easy as possible to become a customer. The fewer barriers there are to a purchase (such as trying to remember the florist's name and then working out how to contact them), the more successful a promotion is likely to be.