14 



The Florists' Review 



OCTOUBB 25, iyi7. 



RETAIL STORE MANAGEMENT 



WHAT THE LEADERS IN THE TRADE ARE DOLSIG 



TATE'S TIPS. 



Employees and Employers. 



There is no jiliasc of tlie retail llo- 

 rists' business tliat is more important 

 tlian the selection of.tiiose wlio liave 

 charge ol' the sales. In selecting sales- 

 women or salesmen, too mucli care can- 

 not be exercised, for on the sales])eoi)le 

 ill most cases Avill (lei)en(l tlie success 

 or failure of the business. Your store 

 may lie all tliat is (lesire<l in attractive 

 ncss, and your sto(dt ma>' be of tlie 

 best; yet, while these are most impor- 

 tant factors, you must remember that 

 tliere are plenty of stores in your local- 

 ity that also have these factors. I'lom 

 m>' exjierience, the most imjtortaiit 

 thing til be reidconed ^vitli in order to 

 attain success as a retail florist is the 

 persoiialif y of those coming in con 

 tact witli the customers. 



As I wiite this, I recall the skill ot' a 

 saleswoman of one of the oldest and 

 best establishments of the city in which 

 it was locateil. She jiossessed an ajtti- 

 tude for studying lier customers, and 

 slie got to know just what their tastes 

 were. She acquired all the (lualities 

 of an eflicient saleswoman; she was 

 courteous, kind and painstaking, and 

 always made it a j)oint to see that 

 eacdi customer l(d't the store entirel>' 

 pleased. She had a good eye for color, 

 with good ideas of the artistic, and a 

 cajtacity for unremitting toil. Toni- 

 bined with these qualities was a disjio- 

 sition that was bright and cheerful, 

 one that made and held friends. 



There Are Many Jobs Open. 



The customers of ttiis establishment 

 got to fe«d that when they jilaced an 

 order witli this woman, all worry al)0ut 

 that particular order ceaseil. It made 

 no difference who really executed the 

 order, tlie customers felt that under her 

 caret'ul su]KM\ision they would get 

 wliat they had ordered. 



The day came, however, wlien this 

 young woniau conceived the idea of bet 

 tering her condition, an idea that usii 

 ally comes to e\ery indixidual in the 

 same circunistaiices. Therefore, esped 

 ally in these times when labor in all 

 lines is in such dcmainl, it beliooves the 

 employer to see that liis hcdp is satis- 

 fied. If you have someone in your em 

 jdoy who is taking an interest in your 

 business, who has your business at heart, 

 who is trying to work in new ideas for 

 the ad\ ancement and success of tlie 

 business, encourage him in this \alu- 

 able work and reward him accordingly 

 for liis untiring interest and labor. |)(. 

 not jiut it off until it is too late, and 

 jierhaps let soin(>one else deidxc tiie 

 benefit of this ellicient saleswoman or 

 salesm.'iTi, who, nine times out of ten, got 

 his or her experience at your expense. 

 Ilelfi the worker and, in turn, you will 

 derive the benefit. Let him know and 

 feel that ymi appreciate his efforts, for 

 there may be someone wat(diing your 



mail, sonieoiie 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 (dd con- 

 ditions are not worth any more than 

 you are paying them. In other words, 

 they do not know the value of the serv- 

 ices they are giving you, and are not 

 to be dei)ended 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 

 tills store should have apjireciated the 

 \ alue 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 ])erniitted, tell of 

 several cases of similar nature. The 

 good business man is tlie one who can 

 sidect and hold a good staff of sub- 

 ordinates. Ilis position is an executive 

 one, to be quick to see the worth of an 

 employee and to develop and encourage 

 the em}doyee to greater things. It is 

 more to his own interest than to that 

 of the cmjiloyee. Some will say that 

 this apjdies only to a large business, 

 iiut it applies to the small jilace ,just as 

 inu(li, and maybe more. 



Rewards for Those Who Will. 



Now, let us lo(d\ for a niouiiMit at the 

 (•iii|)loyee. 'riieic was a time not so 

 long ago when tli(> majority of those 



engaged in the florists' business really 

 Avere born in the business and therefore 

 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 i)art 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. Rut 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 1 know of no better field in 

 which they can ]dace 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 liappy 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 hail 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 vouthful enthu- 



Second Entry for Priority as Florists' War Chauffeuse. 



