Mat 12, 1921 



The Florists^ Review 



25 



THE RETAIL STORE 



A PAGE OF HINTS AND HELPS 

 FOR THE RETAIL FLORIST 



COMPILING A MAILING LIST. 



Eliminate Waste. 



"Quality, not quantity," is most de- 

 sired in a florist's mailing list. Per- 

 haps more so in the florists' business 

 than in any other is it necessary to 

 achieve, as far as possible, the apex of 

 quality in the list of prospective cus- 

 tomers. The mailing list, to be of any 

 value to a florist at all, must be an 

 exceptionally good one, must be se- 

 lected with care, and must be con- 

 stantly pruned to avoid waste. 



The "business bringers, " as the cir- 

 culars and other sorts of direct mail 

 advertising are called, must reach those 

 who are capable of responding. They 

 cannot bring business, no matter how 

 attractively written and designed, if, 

 as in the parable, the seed falls on 

 rocky ground. The search for material 

 for a really productive mailing list is 

 by no means a trivial matter. With the 

 present high costs of paper, printing 

 and other factors that enter into the 

 sending out of literature, the elimina- 

 tion of waste is most essential. This 

 elimination is secured not only by the 

 careful choosing of the names, but also 

 by careful pruning of the list from time 

 to time of unresponsive names. 



Methods of making up an effective 

 mailing list vary in different commu- 

 nities. *rhe sources from which names 

 may be secured are many, but the scope 

 of the florist's service must be taken 

 into account; that is, whether he is in 

 a large city and seeks business from 

 certain neighbors; whether he is in a 

 .suburb of a city, or whether he is in a 

 small town. 



rour Sources. 



There are four general sources of ma- 

 terial — from the florists own records; 

 from municipal and county records; by 

 purchase, and by solicitation. These 

 are comprehensive and include practi- 

 cally every method used, either in the 

 large cities or the small towns. 



There is of course in every commu- 

 nity the city directory. From this the 

 florist can take names by the hundreds 

 and send liis announcements to those 

 people, but such a practice is like 

 throwing seed to the wind, letting it 

 fall where it may. The careful florist 

 in choosing his mailing list disregards 

 the city directory. Closely associated 

 with that medium is the telephone di- 

 rectory, from which little better results 

 can be obtained. 



The newspaper furnishes abundant 

 material and also gives a fair impres- 

 sion of the ability of the people to buy 

 flowers. In the large metropolitan 

 newspapers the society columns are 

 perhaps the most important for the 

 florist to follow. The people who can 

 afford to buy and use flowers profusely 

 are continually being mentioned. In 

 the small town papers, the personal 



items often are productive of much list 

 material. The accounts of real estate 

 transfers are important, as names and 

 addresses are nearly always given and 

 the quality of such material can easily 

 be determined. The notices of the elec- 

 tions of officers of clubs and lodges are 

 always important. To secure the at- 

 tention of the officers, and especially 

 the secretary, to your establishment 

 would mean many orders for flowers in 

 case of sickness and death of members. 

 Keeping "tab" on the election of club 

 and lodge officers would be advantage- 

 ous to the florist. 



Exchange Lists. 



An exchange of names and addresses 

 with merchants in the vicinity of the 

 florist's store who are not in the same 

 line is a good way of adding to the list. 

 In this way new residents in a neigh- 

 borhood can be added. 



Municipal and county records have 

 been found valuable for this work. Tax 

 lists are one of the best sources, be- 

 cause all the information concerning 

 the prospective customers is given. 

 Their financial ability to buy flowers 

 can be determined from these lists. 

 The register of marriage licenses has 

 always been considered a valuable 

 source. One of the best opportunities 

 to secure a list that is of good quality 

 is to get a roster of automobile owners. 

 This can be secured sometimes through 

 county officials. In the large cities, 

 sometimes a newspaper publishes a 



book containing the names, addresses 

 and license numbers of all the automo- 

 bile owners in the state. Also some 

 county officials have lists which they 

 will issue for a small fee. 



Purchasing Names. 



Purchasing from list brokers, ad- 

 dressing companies and clipping 

 bureaus a large number of names and 

 addresses, the quality of which is un- 

 determined, is a method used by some 

 merchants. These lists are not always 

 correct. The purchasers, for the most 

 part, are merchants or firms doing a 

 national business. 



By solicitation a large number of 

 names may be secured from club mem- 

 bership lists. In securing the calen- 

 dars of the best clubs in his neighbor- 

 hood, the florist has a good list to start 

 with. The church directories, which 

 most churches publish every year, are 

 good sources. The membership roll of 

 a local business men 's association is 

 also good. 



One way for the progressive florist 

 who handles telegraph orders to add 

 to his list is to keep account of all his 

 telegraph orders and make the recipi- 

 ents of these orders new customers by 

 placing their' names and addresses on 

 his mailing list. 



BRUST BOOSTS. 



The illustration on this page gives a 

 partial view of the flower store recently 

 opened by William J. Brust, at 891 West 



The Newest Addition to the Flower Stores of Columbus, Ohio. 



