The trick is to keep the counting in a spreadsheet and let Claude do the adding, the rounding and the writing. You stay in charge of the numbers and press send yourself.
What you need
- A list of this week's events with the stems each one needs. A Google Sheet works well.
- A price list with how many stems come in a bunch for each flower.
- Claude, connected to Google, so it can read your Sheet and draft in Gmail. You connect it by signing in, with no code.
Step by step
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Set up two tabs in your Sheet
A Stems tab with one row per flower per event, and a Prices tab with stems per bunch. If you already track recipes somewhere else, Claude can help you reshape them into this.
| Event | Stem | Stems needed |
|---|---|---|
| Patel wedding | Garden rose | 60 |
| Patel wedding | Ranunculus | 45 |
| Hollis anniversary | Garden rose | 18 |
| Café refresh | Sweet pea | 40 |
Example rows. Your Prices tab adds a "stems per bunch" number for each flower.
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Ask Claude to total and round
Paste this into Claude and swap in your own dates, rep and wholesaler:
Look at my event tracker for events between [Monday] and [Sunday]. Total the stems needed across all of them from the Stems tab, round each up to full bunches using "stems per bunch" on the Prices tab, and add 10% extra for breakage. Show me the totals table first so I can check it. Once I approve, draft an email to my rep [name, email] at [wholesaler] listing each stem, the number of bunches and any colour notes, and asking for pickup on [day]. Don't send it.
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Check the totals before the email
Compare Claude's table with a quick count for one event. If something's off, it's almost always the same flower spelled two ways ("garden rose" and "garden roses"). Fix the spelling in your Sheet rather than the prompt, and every future order comes out right.
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Review the draft and send it yourself
The email lands in your Gmail drafts. Read it, add anything only you know (that you'd take a substitute for the peach ranunculus), and send.
Once the prompt works, ask Claude to run it as a scheduled task every Thursday morning. The draft is waiting for you before your order deadline, and nothing goes out until you send it.
Common snags
- A flower is missing from the total. It's probably not on your Prices tab. Ask Claude to flag any stem it can't find a price for.
- Prices are out of date. If your wholesaler has an online price list, Claude's browser extension can read it and update your Prices tab, with your approval.
- You want a different buffer. Change "10% extra" to whatever you usually order. Some florists use more for delicate flowers.
Want the whole flow set up?
This is one lesson from On Autopilot, an AI course for florists. It takes you from inquiry to invoice, in your own voice, with no coding.
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