14 



The Rorists' Review 



OCIOBBR 26, 1817. 



RETAIL STORE MANAGEMENT 



WHAT THE LEADERS IN THE TRADE ARE DOING 



TATE'S TIPS. 



r 



Employees and Employers. 



There is no phase of the retail flo- 

 rists' business that is more important 

 than the selection of. those who have 

 charge of the sales. In selecting sales- 

 women or salesmen, too much care can- 

 no^^e exercised, for on the salespeople 

 in most cases will depend the success 

 or failure of the business. Your store 

 may be all that is desired in attractive- 

 ness, and your stock may be of the 

 best; yet, while these are most impor- 

 tant factors, you must remember that 

 there are plen^* of stores in your local- 

 ity that also have these factors. From 

 my experience, . the most important 

 thing to be reckoned with in order to 

 attain success as a retail florist is the 

 personality of those coming in con- 

 tact with the customers. 



As I write this, I recall the skill of a 

 saleswoman of one of the oldest and 

 best establishments of the city in which 

 it was located. She possessed an apti- 

 tude for studying her customers, and 

 she got to know just what their tastes 

 were. She acquired all the qualities 

 of an efficient saleswoman; she was 

 courteous, kind and painstaking, and 

 always made it a point to see that 

 each customer left the store entirely 

 pleased. She had a good eye for color, 

 with good ideas of the artistic, and a 

 capacity for unremitting toil. Com- 

 bined with these qualities was a dispo- 

 sition that was bright and cheerful, 

 one that made and held friends. 



Tbere Are Many Jobs Open. 



The customers of this establishment 

 got to feel that when they placed an 

 order with this woman, all worry about 

 that particular order ceased. It made 

 no difference who really executed the 

 order, the customers felt that under her 

 careful supervision they would get 

 what they had ordered. 



The day came, however, when this 

 young woman conceived the idea of bet- 

 tering her condition, an idea that usu- 

 ally comes to every individual in the 

 same circumstances. Therefore, especi- 

 ally in these times when labor in all 

 lines is in such demand, it behooves the 

 employer to see that his help is satis- 

 fied. If you have someone in your em- 

 ploy who is taking an interest in your 

 business, who has your business at heart, 

 who is trying to work in new ideas for 

 the advancement and success of the 

 business, encourage him in this valu- 

 able work and reward him accordingly 

 for his untiring interest and labor. Do 

 not put it off until it is too late, and 

 perhaps let someone else derive the 

 benefit of this eflficient saleswoman or 

 salesman, who, nine times out of ten, got 

 his or her experience at your expense. 

 Help the worker and, in turn, you will 

 derive the benefit. Let him know and 

 feel that you appreciate his efforts, for 

 there may be someone watching your 



man, someone who would be glad to 

 make him a better offer. Anyone who 

 has the ability and forethought to take 

 an interest in your business, can be de- 

 pended on to look out for his own per- 

 sonal interest at every turn. 



Ambition Works in Two Ways. 



In these strenuous times workers who 

 are willing to. go along under old 0*91- 

 ditions are B^ worth any more than 

 you are paying^ them. In othe» words, 

 they do not know the value of the serv- 

 ices they are giving you, and are not 

 to be depended on to build up your 

 business. If they are lacking in ambi- 

 tion for themselves, it is only natural 

 that they would be more so in another's 

 interest. 



The young woman referred to opened 

 an establishment of her own, and all 

 the customers of her former employer 

 seemed to follow her, for in a compara- 

 tively short time the house with which 

 she had been associated was obliged to 

 close its doors, while her business pros- 

 pered from the start. The proprietor of 

 this store should have appreciated the 

 value of this young woman's service to 

 his business, and should have made it 

 so interesting for her that she would 

 not have thought of leaving. 



I could, if space permitted, tell of 

 several cases of similar nature. The 

 good business man is the one who can 

 select and hold a good staff of sub- 

 ordinates. His position is an executive 

 one, to be quick to see the worth of an 

 employee and to develop and encourage 

 the employee to greater things. It is 

 more to his own interest than to that 

 of the employee. Some will say that 

 this applies only to a large business, 

 but it applies to the small place just as 

 much, and maybe more. 



Rewards for Those Who Will. 



Now, let us look for a moment at the 

 employee. There was a time not so 

 long ago when the majority of those 



engaged in the florists' business really 

 were born in the business and therefor© 

 most familiar with it. At the age of 

 14, for instance, I gave up school and 

 went to work in my father's green- 

 houses, so that there is no part of the 

 business that I have not had some ex- 

 perience in. In those days the busi- 

 ness was in its infancy and the individ- 

 ual business, in most cases, was a 

 close corporation, the members of 

 which were the florist and his immedi- 

 ate family. But this is no longer the 

 case — the florists' business has forged 

 ahead until it is one of the recognized 

 industries of the day. Young men and 

 women from other lines are entering it, 

 and for those who possess the qualifi- 

 cations I know of no better field in 

 which they- can place their abilities. 

 The retail florists' business offers, to 

 anyone who is willing to work, a good 

 opportunity to succeed. 



The young men and women in the 

 florists' business find that in the ma- 

 jority of cases their work is the indi- 

 rect result of births, deaths, marriages 

 and the anniversaries of happy or sad 

 occurrences. The idea is to put your- 

 self in the position of the customer 

 and think of the sentiment attached to 

 the occasion, whatever it may be. En- 

 ter into sympathy with that customer, 

 and you are binding him to you with 

 hooks of steel. It will not be long be- 

 fore it will become a custom with him 

 to ask for you. It is the little things 

 like these that go to make the success- 

 ful business. 



I recall an order at the beginning of 

 my store career which turned out to be 

 one of the best advertisements we ever 

 had, and at the time when we needed it 

 most. The daughter of a family, mem- 

 bers of which had been good customers, 

 was to be married, and as this family 

 was in reduced circumstances the 

 young lady and I arranged a scheme of 

 decorations, with economy in view. I 

 entered into it with a youthful enthu- 



Second Entry for Priority as Florists* War Chauffeuse. 



