July 21. 1921 



The Florists' Reviev^ 



19 



HOW WE CAN IMPROVE 



BETTER SALESMANSHIP. 



Modern Methods Will Win. 



I bolicve I ;im siife in iiuiking the 

 statcnicnt that tlie itvfr.'igc (lower sliop 

 has a poor snlos policy. There are, of 

 <'(iiirsc, Hoirie tli.'it :in> more modern ami 

 iip-to-flnte ill tlieir iiietlioils. These 

 (•(iiieerus hiive hiiill k l)i<i hiisiiiess on 

 tlieir pro<;ressive im>tlio(ls, liut the small 

 coiieerns vvliieh a(l(i))t the ant iqiuitetl 

 methods and never attempt to improve 

 in any way will always be small. 



We have heard remarks from some of 

 onr florists, wondering; how certain con- 

 cerns have hiiilt such a big business, 

 and often they use the alibi that some 

 friend with money was pulling wires to 

 develop their business; they were not 

 willing to give credit to the individual 

 concern itself. There are a few cases, 

 of course, where this is true, but it is 

 the exception rather than the rule. 



I lielieve the time is coming when it 

 will be the case of "the survival of the 

 fittest.'" The (dd days, when a man 

 could put a I'efriger.'itor in bis store, 

 with other fixtures, and open the doors 

 and say, "Here I am," are a thing of 

 the past. In the future the concerns 

 that adopt modern methods and equip- 

 ment are the ones that will survive. 

 The old ty])e of florists must go. Many 

 times I li.'tve walked into a flower shop 

 and possibly gone as f.-ir back as the 

 workroom before anyone attempted to 

 find out who was in the front. Someone 

 tries to finish up a design or spray, be- 

 fore he can w;iit on a customer. I think 

 this is a serious mistake. We should 

 meet the custonuM' halfw.ay in the store 

 and lead him to btdieve that we stand 

 ready to wait upon him instantly. By 

 ail means, gr(>et him with a smile and 

 "Clood morning," ov ''(lood after- 

 noon." as the case might be. Get in- 

 terested in that particular customer's 

 wants, whether they be large or small. 

 One of the largest and most successful 

 merchants niad(> a statement, in a talk 

 before one of onr organizations, that 

 he would gi\e anything in the world 

 if lie could inlluence his emiiloyees to 

 "warm up" to the customers, and that 

 jilir.ase has a widi' meaning. I think 

 our flower shops need a thorough drill- 

 ing .along this line. 



Attitude Toward the Public. 



Indifl ereiii-e on the ji.'irt of the sales- 

 man, or s.'ilesl.Mdy, is one of the greatest 

 liabilities in connection with our busi- 

 ness. The customers should be m.ade to 

 feel at liome the minute they steji into 

 our sho]!, anil be made to feel that we 

 are aoxifuis to serve tluin. And, as to 

 [lersonality ;iiid pergonal cont.act, the 

 sal(>smau with a pleasing disposition, 

 .and with u smile in his or her voice, is 

 Morth untold value to ;i store. All we 

 iieed to do is to put ourselves in the 

 I'ustoiner's pl;iic, or ric.ill our own ex- 

 periences in other stores. Who are the 

 salesmen whom you prefer to have wait 

 on you in thi> different stores? It is 

 the s.'ilesmen who are pleasing, oldiging 

 and anxious to serve. I know that sales- 

 men of this caliber are few and far 



'I'Ik.' iiililri'ss on "S,ilcH!n;oislii|i in thf KluwiT 

 SliDp," (IcliviTcil liy U. ('. Kill-, nl lluiislou. 

 'I'lx.. lit tlic scvcnlli auiiiml <'(iiivciiii(jn of the 

 'I'cx.is Slate Florists' A^sociutioii, ut Sau An- 

 tuiilo, July 13. 



between in the vast majority of our 

 flower sho[)s. As a usutil thing, there is 

 an ;iir of indift'erence about us. As I 

 stated before, the time has come when 

 this method must change. 



I'ossibly more orders are taken over 

 the telejihone than in any other way, 

 and there ;ire many more things that 

 enter into salesmanship over the tele- 

 phone than if the customer were in the 

 store: First, promptness in answering 

 the tele[ilione; second, a smile in the 

 voice; third, showing a dis]iosition to 

 give the customer full information and 

 doing it willingly. An attitude that 

 indicates that the salesman is in a 

 hurry, and short, snappy .answers, leave 

 the impression that we are doing the 



In forwarding this helpful paper 

 for Review readers' perusal, Mr. Kerr 

 explains: "I have tried to handle this 

 subject from a negative point of view 

 and to point out our difficulties, rather 

 than to bring out the best methods of 

 salesmanship and policy. It is not 

 altogether pleasant to handle a sub- 

 ject this way, but I believe that occa- 

 sionally we should pick ourselves to 

 pieces and take stock of how we are 

 conducting our stores. This criticism 

 does not apply to all flower stores, but 

 it does apply to the very ones that 

 need improvement." 



customer a I'liNur by kee|iing open our 

 front doors. This is one of the graxest 

 mistakes in salesmaiish iji. 



Pricing Stock. 



-Vnothcr gre.'it i'\il uliicli exists 

 among our craft in the retail business is 

 the pricing of our sto<k. I can remember 

 in tlie old days when we ni.ade a s]>ray 

 lor $1 and designs for.$1..^0. We thought 

 it always good piolicy, if we had a pol- 

 icy at that time, to quote our prices 

 from the lowest price up. For instance, 

 when a customer entered our store de- 

 siring .a wreath and in.'ide inquiries as 

 to firices, we would say that onr wreaths 

 were from $1..')0 up in price, and sjuays 

 from .$1 up. The result was that tlie 

 majority of our orders ranged among 

 the lowest prices. We have found it 

 best to strike upon the medium jirice. 

 I'or illustration, our ;iverage-si/(><l de- 

 sign ranges from $<> to .$12 and our 

 ■average spray from $.1 to .*10. When a 

 customer mtikes an inquiry as to the 

 price of a design, we state to him that 

 our average sizes range in ]»ricc from 

 $6 to .tl'2 and more handsome designs 

 run from .$10 to $25 and up. However, 



it" he d<\sires something smaller, we are 

 prepared to make the design as chetq) as 

 $'i. We recommend the average si/e if 

 they desire something along that line 

 and, of course, we recommend the Larger 

 d(!signs if they want something more 

 elaboiate. This is only as an illustra- 

 tion. 



Xow, there are a number of salesmen 

 who are good judges of human nature 

 and close studcnt.s of salesmanshii>, who 

 can size up their customer from the in- 

 troductory conversation and understand 

 how to quote them prices. There are 

 also certtiin custon^^rs who have been 

 on our books for a number of years, and 

 we always know the size of their pocket- 

 book and, of course, have no trouble in 

 arriving at the proper charge. We 

 sometimes misjiulge a customer, even 

 though we may be good salesmen. 

 For illustration, a wealthy man tele- 

 [dioned us an order for a design. He 

 stated that he wanted a handsome 

 piece, but hesitated about giving us the 

 amount. We wired a .$50 design. We 

 tlnuight it covered his needs, but when 

 he received the bill he was much em- 

 barrassed that we sent such a shoddy 

 design for him. He then stated he felt 

 that anything from $150 to $250 should 

 have been the amount of the design. 

 Of course, this was an unusual case, and 

 1 want to assure you that he was not 

 half so disa[ipointed as we were, be- 

 cause we certainly would have liked to 

 iirder a $250 design for him. 



Stock as Salesmen. 



One of the biggest assets is to have 

 a coni]dete stock at all times in our 

 stere. When a customer enters the store 

 .■lud sies an eiiij)ty icebox, he immedi- 

 ••itely comes to the conclusion that we 

 e.uinot fill his needs satisfactorily. 

 When We h;i\-e ii large assortment to se- 

 lect I'rom, it certiiiiily inspires more 

 confidence in our customer. 



.\nother important item which ]ios- 

 ^iM> comics under the head of "sales- 

 m.'uishift" is tli.at of our show windows, 

 our silent salesmen. How m;iny up-to- 

 d;ite dry goods and other merchandising 

 concerns .allow their front show win- 

 diiu- to get unsightly? How many 

 florists make it their business to see that 

 iheir windows are attractive? It is true 

 our stock is perishable and requires con- 

 sjder.-ible attention, but that is all the 

 iiMOi' reason why we should gi\e our 

 windows sjiecial and careful attention. 

 What is more attractive to the public 

 than a well arranged florist's show 

 window? The same applies to the in- 

 terior of the florist's store. In our line 

 of business it is nece-sary to be con- 

 stantly changing stock .a the front of 

 the store. WIhmi filling orders, the 

 stock used should be rejdaced imme- 

 diately by something else that will ;idil 

 to the attractiveness of the store. The 

 tlowers in the icebox should be at- 

 tractively arranged at all times, irre- 

 spective of whether the business is 

 rushing or quiet. I have noticed, more 

 liarticulnrly during the big rushes, that 

 employees will rush to the icebox, grab 

 out some flowers and not t.ake time to 

 rearrange them. The customer takes 



