70 



The Weekly Florists' Review, < 



JUNE 14, ISOO. 



Program Advertising. 



Is there any value in it? Does it 

 pay to buy sucli advertising because 

 Mrs. Good Customer is a member of 

 the committee? Is there a way of 

 avoiding the issue without losing your 

 customer? How do you act in such 

 cases? Tell us about it. "A Tired 

 Florist" wants to know, and we be- 

 lieve "there are others." A postal card 

 suggestion is just what we want. 



Competition. 



One reader writes: 'The grower 

 who grows every flower and plant to 

 its highest finish knows no competi- 

 tion." 



That is very true. Competition has 

 no terrors for the man who produces 

 the best, providing he can produce it 

 at very little increase of cost over 

 that of ordinary grade and he has a 

 free and open market. 



Improvement in quality is undoubt- 

 edly the way to successfully meet fair 

 competition. But how about unfair 

 competition such as we mentioned in 

 our last? Have you no suggestion to 

 make in that connection? 



Credits. 



In interviewing a leading New York 

 florist some years ago we asked: 

 "Suppose a customer said he wished 

 to have as handsome a dinner table 

 decoration as you could supply for 

 $100, what would you sug;gest?" His 

 reply was: "Before making any sug- 

 gestions I would first find out whether 

 he had the $100." 



He didn't say how he would find 

 out and the answer was undoubtedly 

 given to discourage further inquiries, 

 but there is a pointer in the remark, 

 which, if acted upon, would consider- 

 ably lessen the retailer's list of over- 

 due and bad accounts. 



And even if the customer has the 

 money it isn't always a sure sign that 

 he will pay it to you. 



How do you find out, first, whether 

 the customer has the money, and, sec- 

 ond, whether he is pretty certain to 

 pay his bills when he has it? Mail us 

 a few words on this. 



Pay Ore. 



Pay ore is generally hidden. Yoti 

 may be standing on a rock that will 

 assay a thousand dollars to the ton 

 and be in blissful ignorance of the 

 fact. And you may at the same time 

 be spending money freely to develop a 

 worthless vein. Thai was the posi- 

 tion of a certain florist who was spend- 

 ing a lot of money in an effort to in- 

 troduce the Puritan rose to the trade 



when the whole stock of the now well 

 known Meteor was in his possession 

 and he saw no special value in It. 

 Other men discovered the great value 

 of the Meteor as a forcing rose and 

 the Puritan is now little more than a 

 memory. We have often wondered 

 what sort of remarks that florist made 

 to himself when he found he had been 

 the owner of a rich mine but failed to 

 profit by it. 



Look over your possessions. You 

 may have pay ore without knowing it. 



Keeping One Price. 



Puzzler Writes: "A makes arrange- 

 ments with B, C, D and E to introduc? 

 a new plant at a certain price the fol- 

 lowing season, to which all agre?. 

 When the catalogues appear A finds 

 that B and E have put the price 25 

 per cent lower than C and D. At what 

 price should A sell this article in or- 

 der to keep on good terms with B, C, 

 D and E?" 



From the way the above is worded 

 it would appear that B and E have 

 broken an agreement. If, however, the 

 agreed price was merely that at which 

 A was to supply stock to B, C, D and 

 E, the case is different. It is usual for 

 the owner of the novelty to name the 

 price at which it shall be offered by 

 all who catalogue it. And such an 

 agreement is essential to avoid the 

 difficulty "Puzzler" describes. 



A's only way out of the present dif- 

 ficulty would be to make his own offer 

 at the higher price and thereby avoid 

 antagonizing C and D. Or, if he feels 

 that this would result in serious loss 

 for him he had better write a frank 

 explanatory letter to C and D and get 

 their consent to his offering the stor'k 

 at the lower rate. The action of B and 

 E has, as we understand it, already 

 greatly lessened C and D's chances 

 of making large sales, and in view of 

 the circumstances they would in all 

 probability be willing to allow A to 

 save himself from the difficulties of 

 his position it the matter was pre- 

 sented to them in a proper light. But 

 by no means offer at the lower rate 

 without the full consent of C and D. 



Can any reader suggest a better so- 

 lution? 



Keeping Help. 



"Why cannot I keep my help?" is a 

 question suggested to one of our read- 

 ers by the note in last issue regird- 

 ing discharging help. He thinks there 

 is a good deal to be said on that side 

 of the question. No doubt there is. 

 The employer who can keep help only 

 a short time needs education as much 



as the employe who can hold a place 

 for only a brief period. 



A man who changes employes fre- 

 quently is making a loss. An em- 

 ploye who is familiar with the es- 

 tablishment and its methods is worth 

 a good deal mere than one who has 

 yet to acquire this familiarity, other 

 things being equal. There is no ques- 

 tion but what it pays to devote a lit- 

 tle thought to ways and means of 

 encouraging employes who make an 

 effort to please. Such should not only 

 receive fair pay for their services, 

 but a kindly word of interest in them 

 will often go a long way in keeping 

 up their enthusiasm. No really good 

 work can be done without enthusiasm 

 on the part of the worker. And a 

 disagreeable, complaining manner on 

 the part of the employer can kill the 

 most exuberent enthusiasm. 



If you have a shirker on the place 

 get rid of him as quickly as possible. 

 But it will be money in your pocket 

 to treat good men so well that they 

 will be looking ahead to a long stay 

 and be studying bow they can make 

 themselves more valuable. 



But let us have your views about it. 



Style. 



A florist in illustrating his views 

 that the high class florist sells his 

 skill as a decorator rather than the 

 materials that enter into the decora- 

 tion, said: "I paid a hundred dollars 

 for this suit, because if ha3 a certain 

 style that other tailors can't put 

 into a suit. I could have got a suit 

 containing as good material and well 

 made for fifty or sixty dollars. The 

 difference was what I paid my tailor 

 for his style. And my business is 

 to put into my decorations a style and 

 effect that can't be had elsewhere, 

 and for that I make a charge. It is 

 my main stock in trade " 



The story served a 3 an illustration, 

 but it considerably amused the writer. 

 The suit the florist wore was one of 

 ultra fashionable cut which the writer 

 wouldn't have worn had he been of- 

 fered a hundred dollars to do so. And 

 our humble opinion is that a man who 

 pays more than thirty-five or forty 

 dollars for a business suit is more or 

 less of an "easy mark" for the tailors. 



A better illustration would have 

 been that of the artist who takes a few 

 dollars' worth of paint and canvas 

 and makes a picture worth several 

 hundreds. We refrain from saying 

 thousands because there is a whole 

 lot of balderdash in the prices that 

 some paintings bring. 



But how may we create a style that 

 the people will pay for? Let us have 

 your ideas in the matter. 



Color Harmony, 



A. H. will find his question fully 

 answered elsewhere in this issue. 



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