August 21, 1919. 



The Florists'^ Review 



29 



are you doing to advance the work and 

 scope of your own organization, the 

 r. T. D. Association? What are you 

 doing to help the small florist in the lit- 

 tle town take the care of your orders 

 in a manner that your customers ex- 

 pect? And you of the big little towns, 

 are you supporting this movement the 

 way you should? And florists of the 

 big cities, what are you doing to take 

 care of the little fellows' orders' when 

 they send them in for $1 or $1..)0? 



Don't rave and swear and stamp 

 around because you receive an order for 

 a dozen roses at $1.50 when your cheap- 

 est are $3. Doni take too seriously 

 the fact that your delivery costs nearly 

 fifty cents, and, above all, do not leave 

 the order unfilled. Eemember there are 

 florists in your town somewhere on the 

 outskirts who will gladly fill the order 

 at the price, or you may substitute, but 

 notify the recipient as well as the corre- 

 spondent that you have done so. 



Help the Others. 



And then get busy and educate the 

 ■other fellow. You owe it to him. Think 

 back; there are few but who will re- 

 member the day a dollar looked big and 

 profitable. 



That these orders come to us, that 

 they are filled at a loss are facts, but it 

 is our duty to lift up the smaller men, 

 not crowd them down and discourage 

 them with a return of their unfilled or- 

 ders because they are not up to our 

 standard. This thing with your help 

 will right itself in time, but be careful 

 iiow you try to right it or you may find 

 you have thrown a monkey wrench into 

 the wheels of your own progress. 



Too many of us are inclined to want 

 to occupy the center of the spotlight. 

 We are much like the fellow who shows 

 his bank book to prove he is a gentle- 

 man. 



We meet many interesting types in 

 the flower game. I have a fellow in 

 mind who told me a short while back 

 that he "would not advertise the F. T. 

 D. because his competitor was so do- 

 ing." 



Another said he "did not like some 

 of the association officers;" another 

 "allowed he had gotten along pretty 

 well without membership, so guessed he 

 would not join the society;" another 

 said he "never expected to receive any 

 orders, so what was the use of bothering 

 his head trying to send any? ' ' And still 

 another, the worst of all, said, "We are 

 big enough and independent enough not 

 to join." 



Oh, Mr. Ostrich, with your head 

 in the sand, beside such as these your 

 sagacity is like unto a Solomon. 



Strength of the F. T. D. 



My topic should be "Selling Flow- 

 ers," not "Selling Flowers by Tele- 

 graph," if we are to reach any of the 

 above. » 



The biggest single customer for flow- 

 ers today in the whole world is the F. 

 T. D.; it outbuys any other customer 

 many thousand times; it makes of the 

 smallest florist in the tiniest hamlet a 

 merchant of international repute; it per- 

 mits him to say to his customers, "See 

 that list of over 1;000 reputable busi- 

 ness houses, scattered throughout the 

 United States, Canada and many foreign 

 countries. All are agents of mine, all 

 under guarantee to me. If they send me 

 an order, I can collect the bill. If I 

 send them an order, they know they will 



Fred CW . Brown. 



(Vlce-presldent-elect. Society of American Florists.) 



be paid. I am guaranteed against their 

 not filling my order properly just the 

 same as they are guaranteed against 

 me." That sounds like powerful talk, 

 doesn't it? The beauty of it is, that it 

 is absolute truth. v 



My answer to the nmn who would not 

 advertise the F. T. 1). because his com- 

 petitor did, had bett?r be left unsaid. 

 Time alone will right him. The man 

 who criticises the officers of the society 

 I would ask what he has done or is do- 

 ing to better the conditions he thinks 

 exist. 



Progress Bars Criticism. 



Mr. Critic, your vote counts one just 

 the same as that of others. I, as a mem- 

 ber, have not had any constructive effort 

 offered to me in the form of direct sug- 

 gestion for the change of any conditions 

 that do exist. It seems to me that those 

 conditions are not so bad after all, when 

 you take into consideration the ad- 

 vances we have made during the short 

 period of our existence. I hold no brief 

 for our officers; I hold no brief for their 

 methods of procedure, but I do realize 

 the wonderful things that have been 

 done by those gentlemen. I did know 

 of a mistake or two, but they have been 

 crowded out of my memory by the 

 myriads of successes. 



When I calmly consider the situation 

 and try to figure where we would be to- 

 day had our pilots not taken hold of the 

 ship, but left it to the tender mercies of 

 those who now freely (but always below 

 decks) criticise their actions, it seoms to 

 me thaft the millions spent for flowers 

 through the F. T. D. agency would still 



be going into the pockets of other mer- 

 chants or remain out of circulation. 



In our business we frequently find 

 well-meaning employees who are prone 

 to point out the mistakes of others. On 

 tliese occasions our feelings are always 

 one of elation. We say to ourselves 

 of the subject, "Here is a man worth 

 watching, one who displays initiative, 

 a man worth while; one who dares." 

 We forget the man who made the com- 

 plaint in the pleasure of the knowledge 

 of our having the other who at least 

 tries. 



Reply to Critics. 



If you are not satisfied, come out in 

 the open, and if your complaint is just 

 you will have the backing of your fel- 

 low members, but in Heaven 's name 

 don't steal into our chicken coop while 

 our back is turned and try to kill the 

 goose that is laying our golden eggs. 

 Please remember she belongs to each one 

 of us just in the same proportion that 

 she belongs to you and there are none 

 of us entitled to more than our share. 

 If you can prove that she hasn't the 

 proper kind of a coop, we are all, every 

 man jack, willing to help build a new 

 one, provided you can convince us you 

 know of a better kind. 



To the man who says he has gotten 

 along pretty well without joining: In 

 our memory we know business men who 

 thought they could get along without a 

 telephone or advertising; they have 

 pass':>d unnoticed from the business 

 world. The F. T. D. brings our retail 

 store nearly as much business as the 

 telephone. These two statements should 

 be sufficient answer to that man. 



To the man who never expects to re- 



