20 



The Florists^ Review 



June ;*, VJtil 



(liiy — tlie iiu'eption of life, tho 

 plrasuros of life, tho passing on and the 

 bc^inniufj; of a home life aj^aiu to pass 

 throujih llie jiruccilint; staf^iK. Many 

 tinn's two or llirco will oci'ur. but the 

 four raiflv. Ila\e vou lieaid ni' it."' 



'•yhall I ttll your name.'" the writer 

 asked tlie llorist, and in' rejilied, "They 

 all know it.'" 



Can you <;ucss it.' It is a mmmii' 

 familiar to l^'ifth avenue, ,\e\v N'ork, 

 for o\cr half a cent urw 



gTg^iiBiii H?iig^ia»igai5S^^ 



THE BEST AD 



SATISFYING OUR CUSTOMERS. 



Opportunities for Salesmanship. 



To me the jjreatest advertising: vnluo 

 is to he found in ])ersonal salesmanship. 

 No salesman's talent is worth anythinf^ 

 if it does not center its attention in the 

 real needs and desires of a customer. 

 To satisfy a customer beyond his own 

 exjieetations is re;illy accomplishinp; the 

 i^reatest task, leadinj: to results that tho 

 most ex|)ensive advertisin<» effort can- 

 not surpass. How to do that, you may 

 wish to know. The answer in a nut- 

 shell would be to master salesmanship. 



This, of eourst>, is a science as un- 

 limited as the study of our own pro- 

 fession. But a few of the main pointers 

 will act as guides toward success, though 

 my limited notes can only cover a few 

 of the ideas we must have in mind when 

 transacting business. 



Most of our customers have but little 

 idea of flowers, tlu ir re(iuirements, their 

 value, their usefulness, their influence 

 on mind, and we ought to be in a posi- 

 tion to give information; that is, to 

 know by heart the stock we sell. Fur- 

 thermore, we must ourselves know, as 

 much as possible, the charms jiossessed 

 by flowers which attract the buyer and 

 lead him to the conclusion that to spend 

 his money for our stock is to secure a 

 certain satisfaction worth the price 

 charged. When a customer's wants are 

 once known to us we must take every 

 precaution that he will receive entire 

 satisfaction from his jpurchase. 



The Ultimate Profit. 



Just to obtain the purchase price 

 should never be a salesman's final aim or 

 goal, as the advertising value of a sale 

 Ts comidetely lost if the customer does 

 not feel y>r()ud or pleased with his pur 

 chase. Nine times out of ten the ad 

 vertising value of a satisfactorv sale 

 to a customer is worth more, much more, 

 than the amount of money involved in 

 the transaction. If we only could and 

 would bear this i)oint everlastingly in 

 our minds, there would have to be little 

 money sixiit for a ]>ublicity campaign. 

 Our goods possess such ai'iiealing quali- 

 ties to the human mind that there are 

 few jiersons who would not i)atroni/.e 

 us if they realized they would get their 

 money's worth from every purchase. 

 But how ft'W of our jiatrons really r<';i- 

 lize the nature and value of our goods 

 .-ind who is to blame if they are dis- 

 ajipointed when our stock fails to sat- 

 isf V .' Is it not your iluty to give jia- 

 troiis the information which may lead to 

 sales such as result in ]iatrons that act 

 as your advertising agents, often en- 

 thusiastic over your service that they 



A p:ili<T read I'lforc tlic Florists' Cliil) of 

 Oregon l.v .li.liii <:. K.-kIkt. of tlic Swiss Floral 

 l-()., I'.irt'liiiid. Ore. on "Tlio Kaikboue of Sut- 

 ifss in .\dverti;-iiife'." 



have paid for? Enthusiastic patrons 

 \vi(dd a puldicity forct- of inestimable 

 \alue. The public will listen to the dis- 

 interested booster of your business and 

 place faith in his judgment whole- 

 heartedly and without suspicion, while 

 your loudest and costliest advertise- 

 ments will barely be given grudging at- 

 tention. How often can one notice what 

 an interest is taken in reading matter 

 when the same subject as advertising 

 matter is not given any consideration! 



Automobiles or Flowers? 



The matter of price and value of our 

 stock merits a little observation. You 

 ;iro familiar with it, but you may be 

 interested in coni[)arisons with other 

 lines of merchandise the public buys. 

 Take a glance at the automobile indus- 

 try. You may think tho automobile is 

 a necessity, but, upon close e.xamination, 

 I lind that there is more than ten times 

 as much money spent for the needless 

 luxury in the automotive industry as 

 there is spent for llowers and garden 

 luxuries. 



Almost anyone knows that $1,000 in- 

 vested in an automobile will secure all 

 the transportation needed for a person 

 to get along these days. Less money 

 will do it for most of us. I consider 

 this a basic value, above which tho 

 .•idditional price secures only a passing 

 luxury that soon loses its jmrchase 

 \ alue. Does this sure and certain loss 

 of value deter tlie public from buj'ing 

 more expensive automobiles? \o, not 

 by a long way; the more a ])erson pays 

 for his ma(liine, the ])rouder he is of 

 it and he willingly dejirives himself of 



real necessities lu; ought to have for hi^ 

 health and well being. 



Why is it that this stdfsaiiie iiidivi 

 dual, who may be happy to s(|uaiider 

 ■tljOOO or $1,500 for something he knows 

 he will lose within two or three years, 

 is abs(dutely opjiosed to spending $100 

 or $1'00 on jdaiits or shrubs for his 

 yard and home, which, at less than half 

 the exjiense of u|)kee[) of an automobile, 

 will increase in value year by year and 

 often return their cost many times over 

 in the final sales-])rice of the home? 

 Meanwliil(> they are the i)ride and joy 

 of their owner and every passer-by 

 will take notice of them with pleasure. 

 The wlu)le valuation of a city is greatly 

 influenced by the beauty of home 

 grounds and reflects like a mirror tho 

 (diaracter of its citizens, for no city 

 of sloucliy people would maintain beau- 

 tiful home grounds. The i)ii}'er of real 

 estate ((uickly judges the value and 

 desirability by the appearance of tho 

 surroundings. Why, tlien, do we see 

 so many luxuries, costly and fleeting by 

 nature, when our line of goods — flowers 

 and plants — is a real investment? 



Correct Presentation. 



I think we fail to present to the 

 public the iiro]K'r information on our 

 stock and we are not making enough 

 effort to assure our customers complete 

 satisfaction and we uiuler value the ad- 

 vertising value of a satisfied buyer. 

 Cheap flowers must not be sold for 

 more than they are worth and the nature 

 of a jdant must be explained when it 

 is sold, so that the buyer may know 

 whether it answers his wants or not. 

 Never forget that the purchase price is 

 of less consideration and importance 

 than the satisfaction derived therefrom. 

 Failure to receive satisfaction dis- 

 courages timid people from trying, 

 while success encourages everyone and 

 leads to greatly increased use of our 

 stock in trade. This holds good in all 

 lines, but is most important in ours. 



Asheville, N. C. — A new enterprise in 

 Hendersonville is the Florist Shop, 

 owned by Few & Penny, which will be 

 opened soon. Besides all kinds of 

 flowers, goldfish and canaries will be 

 carried in stock. 



Spacious Show Windows Are a Feature of James Hayes' New Store. 



