Silence Is Not Golden 



Thomas E. Sartini 



Slow cash receipts have troubled 

 many experienced customer rela- 

 tionships in the past two seasons. 

 However; your best customers an- 

 ticipate a call from you when you 

 don't receive payment in a reason- 

 able time. Customers want to as- 

 sure you that they have no major 

 problem. It is appreciated when an 

 oversight is identified for their at- 

 tention. 



Your silence could be costly to you 

 unnecessarily if: 

 / Your customer never received 

 an invoice or statement of ac- 

 count. 

 / The accounting office for your 

 customer could not match an 

 order to your invoice. 

 / Completion of the order was 

 not understood by your 

 customer's accounting office. 

 / The invoice was filed and 



never paid. 

 / Billing errors need to be cor- 

 rected. 

 / Payment was made weeks 

 ago but never appeared in 

 your office. 

 You can do something about each 

 of these illustrations. It will only 

 take a call or a note to the man- 

 ager. 



Silence is not golden when it comes 

 to generating cash flow. You may 

 wait forty-five days only to find 

 that early contact would have 

 quickly released a check. 

 You can do a favor for yourself and 

 your customer. Take the initiative 

 to perpetuate a dialogue with your 

 customer to promote your expecta- 

 tions and learn how to service his 

 record-keeping requirements. At- 

 tempt to determine how and where 

 your customer does his work for a 

 better understanding of his rev- 

 enue source. Maintain the rela- 

 tionship; you will become confident 

 contacting customers about pay- 

 ment matters on a regular basis. 

 Partial payment may become nec- 

 essary occasionally, and the "half 

 loaf is certainly an improvement 

 over no loaf. Accept the partial 

 payment and make the customer 

 aware that you will call again in a 

 few days to determine if his finan- 

 cial condition has improved. 

 24 THE Plantsman 



♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ 



Do you have a precious customer mailing list? 

 Keep it from the day you go mto business or start 

 tomorrow. Cultivating your current customers is an 

 essential marketing tool. It takes 6 times as much 

 financially to acquire a new customer as it does to 

 cultivate a current customer. Set labels out on the 



counter for people to sign themselves (and keep 



copies!!) or if you have access, computer mailing list 



software is very inexpensive. - — Tina Sawtelle 



A broadly-held opinion identified 

 that more sales calls produced 

 more sales. It is not unlikely that 

 more contacts for payment will 

 product more payments. 



Prepared by: Thomas E. Sarliiii, Credit 

 Manager, Gold Star Whole- sale Nursery. 

 Inc., Lexington, MA. 



Doubly Safe 

 Investments 



Salvadore Morgani 



There is not a week that goes by 

 that I am not asked by clients how 

 can they invest in environmentally 

 responsible companies. The en- 

 dangered environment is not a new 

 story. Day by day , year by year, the 

 media has chionicled the scope and 

 consequences of global warming, 

 air and water pollution, ozone 

 depletion, acid rain, hazardous 

 waste, and numerous other envi- 

 ronmental perils. 



But the story is changing. Today, a 

 gi-oundswell of grass roots protest 

 is spreading wider and wider as 

 the ill-effects of environmental 

 damage strike closer and closer to 

 home. This vocal outpouring of 

 mass sentiment is fostering a new 

 climate of legislative will and in- 

 ternational cooperation. In the 

 years ahead, government and in- 

 dustry around the world must mo- 

 bilize manpower, machinery and 

 money on an unprecedented scale 

 to save the planet and ensure the 

 quality of life as we know it. 

 How can we invest in environmen- 

 tally responsible companies? First 

 we must realize that there are 

 three classifications of companies 

 which exhibit environmental sen- 

 sitivity. Certain companies are di- 

 rectly involved in pollution control 

 or abatement, including waste dis- 

 posal services, environmental en- 

 gineering and consulting services. 



cleaning services, manufactures of 

 equipment, and recycling. Others 

 are independent of any environ- 

 mental protection product or ser- 

 vice, but have demonstrated a 

 commitment to the environment in 

 their corporate policies and prac- 

 tices. Still others are committed to 

 developingandmarketingproducts 

 that consumers can use with less 

 harm to the environment. 

 Before you consider investing, you 

 must also realize that environ- 

 mental responsibility is nolonger a 

 local issue. World leaders are pro- 

 posing new measures that will lead 

 to environmental spending world- 

 wide. With almost 70% of all stocks 

 now issued outside the United 

 States you should also consider the 

 international scope when you in- 

 vest. 



So, what is the answer to what ap- 

 pears to be complex question? The 

 answer is mutual funds. With mu- 

 tual funds you can get a high level 

 of investment expertise that will 

 monitor and evaluate the hundreds 

 of companies both local or interna- 

 tional. Another important charac- 

 teristic of mutual funds is diversi- 

 fication, which may reduce the 

 risks that might be associated with 

 this investment. 



Before you choose a mutual fund, 

 whether local, international or 

 both, check the three and five year 

 track record of the fund. If the fund 

 you are interested in is relatively 

 new, check the three and five year 

 record of the portfolio manager on 

 similar stock funds. 

 Be wary of buying last years best 

 performing mutual fund. Chances 

 are last year's winner will be this 

 year's looser. 



Salvatore Morgani is an Associate Vice 

 President of Investments with Dean Witter 

 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. If you 

 have any questions feel free lo call him at 

 800-735-5811. 



i*- 



