May 23, 1908 



HORTICULTURE 



S89 



Memorial Day 



BIGGEST FLORAL HOLIDAY OF THE YEAR 



\X7E are now booking shipping orders and if you will place them early 



we will fill them. 

 We offer a splendid stock of Beauty, Kaiserin, Carnot, Brides= 

 maid, Bride, Killarney, Richmond and Chatenay Roses. 

 Carnations, Stocl<s, Spiraea. Lilies, Sweet Peas. Lily of the 

 Valley, Late Tulips, Lilacs, Cape Jessamines, etc., etc. Also 

 Hardy Ferns, New Crop. 



LOWEST PRICES ON Letters, Emblems, In- 

 scriptions, Folding Boxes, Wire Frames, Ribbons 

 and other Florists' Supplies in complete assortment. 



Welch BrotKers 



City Hall Cut Flo^ver MarKet 



226 DevonsHire St., BOSTON 



A FEW THOUGHTS ON THE ART 

 OF SELLING. 



(A pnper read before the Gardeners* aud 



Florists' Club of Boston by 



K. E. Palmer.) 



The important, in fact tlie funda- 

 mental elem.ent in a successful sale, is 

 ifiat it should be of advantage, or 

 in-ofit, to hoth parties. This simple 

 proposition has, I fear, an unimportant 

 place in the mind of the average sales- 

 man; it is nevertheless true and should 

 be made the basis of every transaction 

 b>^tween man and man. Any exchange 

 of services which necessarjally involves 

 los3 to either party cannot be called 

 legitimate business. 



A second basic principle in all com- 

 merce, and one that should be under- 

 stood by both buyer and seller, is that 

 demand precedes supply. 



In the process of evolution from the 

 simple barter of goods between our 

 forefathers to the complexities of trade 

 in modern civilization, the above two 

 axiomatic truths have become some- 

 what obscured. Derangements have 

 also crept into the body politic which 

 have aggravated the confusion, and re- 

 versed the natural order of things until 

 the man who sells has come to be 

 looked upon as the obsequious servant 

 of him who buys. This attitude has 

 become by custom so much a second 

 nature that we take it for granted the 

 seller is always under obligation to 

 the buyer, and that labor shall for- 

 ever bow the knee to capital. Volumes 

 have been written, and more doubtless 

 will be, on this important phase of 

 economics before the subject is ex- 

 hausted, and no more fruitful study 

 could possibly invite the consideration 

 of business men, especially salesmen. 



Consistently with the above princi- 

 ples, the relationship between buyer 

 and seller should be entirely of a 

 friendly nature, and the appreciation 

 of this tact constitutes the primary 

 lesson in the art of selling. 



In some simple kinds of trade little 

 is reriuired of the salesman but to 

 hand over the article called for and 

 take the amount determined upon as 

 payment. In such cases little special 

 knowledge is required and cerlainiy no 

 determination of values. When, how- 

 ever, it comes to the selling of flowers, 

 plants, seeds, shrubs and trees, the 

 supplying of decorative schemes — from 

 the simple bunch destined to cheer a 

 sick friend to the elaborate display 

 for ball room or dinner table — the sim- 

 ple potted plant or the varied collec- 

 tion for the garden, the mysterious 

 seed package, or equally doubtful dor- 

 mant tree and shrub, then the sales- 

 man comes in touch with one of the 

 higher requirements of humanity and 

 the satisfying of these aesthetic needs 

 becomes indeed a fine art. In such 

 cases how many elements can enter 

 into a sale, possibly every one of which 

 may have to be supplied by the iiUel- 

 ligent salesman! Most likely the pur- 

 chaser has a very vague picture in 

 mind as to what he wants, also an 

 equal uncertainty as to the amount to 

 be expended. Imagine a customer in 

 such a frame of mind, also somewhat 

 fastidious of taste and exacting in 

 lequirements, and it will readily be 

 seen that a very different problem is 

 presented than in most other commer- 

 cial transactions 



Perhaps the first requirement of a 

 salesmaii will be that delicate tact 

 which makes his patron feel at ease, 

 and will so gracefully convey infor- 



mation — or correct an error — that not 

 the slightest sting of confusion or 

 mortification will be felt. This trait 

 in a salesman, or in fact in any man, 

 is one of the rarest assets. Next to 

 tact comes enthusiasm, that earnest 

 spirit of service which quickly dis- 

 covers the customer's needs, cheerful- 

 ly gives information, evinces a willing- 

 ness to show every flower in the place 

 if necessary and is never tired out. 

 This quality is as rare as tact and gen- 

 erally goes with it, perhaps being born 

 in a man rather than acquired. Add 

 to these the ability to arrange the 

 flowers artistically so that a very com- 

 mon thing may become one of beauty, 

 to deftly and rapidly pack and tie the 

 box in order that the flowers may not 

 suffer, and the time — which up to this 

 point has been used to advantage — 

 may not be wasted on mere details. 



It is easy to conceive, as the custom- 

 er is courteously dismissed, the satis- 

 fying effect that all this intelligent ef- 

 fort has upon him. Not only has he 

 been educated and pleased, but the 

 \alue of a simple dozen of roses has- 

 been enhanced in his eyes possibly one 

 hundred fold. In this way a value has 

 been created and credit has redounded 

 both to the house and to the salesman. 



Stress has been laid on the philo- 

 sophical side of the art of selling rath- 

 er than on its material and technical 

 as])ect. This is because of the firm be- 

 lief that the qualities mentioned, be- 

 sides conducing to the elevation of the 

 florists' and other kindred businesses, 

 have an immediate and cash value, 

 and that hig'her ideals will ultimately 

 prevail in trade relations. Indeed the 

 day of the "Deaconing" of the apple 

 barrel, the sanding of sugar, watering 

 of milk, "salting down" of flowers, and 



