16 



The Florists' Review 



July 28, 1921 



sized business, who maintains constant 

 watch on their collections; one of them 

 employs a credit man, another has a 

 vigilant bookkeeper and the third is, 

 to use his words, "on his toes" himself 

 regarding collections. 



These reports bring into striking con- 

 trast admissions by florists that they 

 ch.arge off five, ^six and, in one case, ten 

 per cent of their total sales as uncol- 

 lectable accounts. Such an amount is 

 altogether too large and betrays either 

 too liberal extension of credit or else 

 insufficient attention to collections. 

 The statement that he "encourages ac- 

 counts perhaps more than necessary" 

 leads one to the probable explanation 

 of the florist's condition who charged 

 ofT ten per cent. 



Collection Methods. 



To be able to keep one's bad debts 

 .'IS low as a fraction of one per cent oi 

 total sales requires systematic collection 

 effort. By "collection effort" is not 

 meant the process of enforcing payment 

 of overdue accounts. The effort to col- 

 lect one 's money promptly must begin 

 earlier than that stage. They must be- 

 gin with the mailing of the monthly 

 bills and statements. 



To begin with, the florist who would 

 have his bills paid promptly must have 

 neat and clean stationery. He must 

 have the earmarks of an up-to-the- 

 ininutc business man. A smudged bill 

 written with pencil in an illegible 

 scrawl or typed on a crippled machine 

 does not impress anyone with the neces- 

 sity of prom])t payment. An immacu- 

 late ]iiecc of stationery, bearing the 

 items written or typed in neat, clean, 

 accurate fashion, says to the customer 

 who opens it: "I'm from a successful, 

 enterprising, ])ainstaking florist, who is 

 likely to concern himself with the 

 jirompt payment of this amount as 

 much as he did with my iippearance." 



^Moreover, the bills should be mailed 

 at once at the end of the month. 

 Promptness breeds promptness. Your 

 customers are not likely to consider it 

 so urgent to pay a bill that arrives 

 about the tenth or fifteenth of the 

 month as it is to remit for one that 

 I'omes before the new month is more 

 than three or four days old. As soon 

 :\H the last day of the month is at hand 

 the florist should think about getting 

 out his bills, and he should not be con- 

 tent if they are not all out by the fifth. 

 If you cannot do this under present con- 

 ditions, plan to effect a change before 

 autumn. Prompt mailing of bills will 

 save you many visits to delinquents 

 and get you some actual dollars as well. 



Then, when the bills arc out, is no 

 time to rest. As soon as the current 

 bills have been mailed, examine your 

 books to see what customers have failed 

 to respond to the bills sent thirty days 

 before. Compile a list, showing what 

 accounts are one month past due, what 

 are two months jjast due, and so on. 

 Those which are one month past due 

 should be sent a statement. Usually 

 nothing further need be done with them 

 at that time, unless circumstances 

 known to the florist make it seem wise 

 -to liiiii to take more urgent steps. 



Dunning the Delinquents. 



When, however, a reasonable period 

 has elapsed from the mailing of the 

 statement and it is not yet paid, the 

 florist should begin to concern himself 

 with its collection. Oo OA-er the list of 



accounts still due. Perhaps in some 

 cases you know why the account is not 

 settled. These call for your personal 

 attention, to be treated in accordance 

 with the circumstances governing each. 

 The accounts which do not call for 

 special treatment may be handled in a 

 number of ways. First and easiest and 

 oftenest employed, is the form letter. 

 Some persons will pay if they are asked 

 often enough and these may, in part, be 

 reached by form letters. Such letters 

 should not be apologies for bringing the 

 matter to the customer's attention. 

 They should be couched in courteous 

 and tactful terms, yet they should be 

 firm and dignified in tone. Here is u 

 good example: 



We have failed to recoivc iiuy response from 

 .vou regarding our biU mailed you June 1, state- 

 pient of wliicli was also sent you July 1. If 

 there is any reason wliy you thinli you sliould 

 not pay this, we hope you will communicate 

 with us at once. We are anxious to remove any 

 cause for dissatisfaction. If there is none, may 

 we not have a check from you promptly? 



Such a letter puts the burden of proof 



on the customer. If he or she does not* 



The Editor is pleased when 

 a Reader presents his Ideas 

 on any subject treated in 



As ex|>erience is the best 

 teacher, so do we learn 

 fastest by an exchange of 

 experiences. Many valuable 

 points are brought out by 

 discussion. 



Good penmanship, spelling and 

 srammar, though desirable, are not 

 necessary. Write as you would talk 

 when doing your best. 



WE SHALL BE GLAD 

 TO HEAR FROM YOU 



respond, the florist lias every reason to 



believe he is justified in pushing the 



collection of the account. If he wishes 



to send a second form letter to follow 



the one above, five or ten days later, the 



one below may be used: 



We are glad to carry montlily accounts with 

 customers for their convenience in purchasing 

 'Piir lluwcrs. Such an :u'<'Onnt. Iiowcver, is a 

 matter of accommodiition and is expected to be 

 p.-iicl wlien statement is rendered at tlie close of 

 the month. If there is any reason wliy we 

 slioiild allow you au extension of time, kindly 

 inform ns of il at once. Otherwise we shall 

 i'xp<>ct a check in payment by return mail. 



A delinquent who has not responded 

 to two such letters is now due for more 

 ilrastic treatment. A personal call by 

 the florist himself is often effective. 

 Perhaps he is not able to make this. In 

 tliiit e\ent, he may turn the account 

 (iver to one of his men who has the 

 • ibility to ask customers tactfully for 

 p.uyinent. Or he may employ a col- 

 lector; but if he does he must make 

 sure the latter is the type who will col- 

 lect the money without insulting and 

 antagonizing the customer. It is by no 

 means true that a customer ceases to be 

 (if value to the florist when he becomes 

 delinquent. Nor is it necessary to make 

 an enemy out of a friend in the process 

 of collecting an account. While firm- 

 ness should always be shown, tact should 

 be iis invariably employed. Such tact 



is not likely to be one of the infallil o 

 traits of a professional collector. I i- 

 this reason it is better to have as c - 

 lector someone in your own empli 

 who is as desirous of holding a c 

 tomer as of collecting his account. 



Using the Telephone. 



In these days of wide use of the tei ■ 

 phone, the proprietor himself is ab 

 to call uj) delinquents and, by courteo' 

 reminder of the account due, obta- 

 payment. Florists who have not ii 

 ready employed this means of collectin 

 accounts will be interested in the a< 

 count recently published in the Phil,- 

 delphia Retail Public Ledger concen. 

 ing the system employed by Schiller th 

 Florist, Chicago. In this firm, of whic) 

 George Asmus is the general manager, 

 H. D. Schiller has, in the course o;' 

 supervising the collection department 

 worked out an effective system. 



"A bill contracted during one month 

 is mailed at the first of the following 

 and if no cheek is received within thirty 

 days, a second bill is sent," states the 

 Ledger article. "If, after five days, 

 this is not effective, the Schiller credit 

 system gets into full swing. The tele- 

 phone man calls up the delinquent cus- 

 tomer — for 'phone numbers are always 

 taken with orders — and delivers a cour- 

 teous reminder in the form of: 'Our de- 

 livery man will be in your neighborhood 

 today. Would it be convenient if he 

 should call for the amount of your bill! ' 

 In most cases the matter is arranged 

 and the collection is made by one of the 

 Schiller chauffeurs on his rounds. 



"When the first 'phone call fails to 

 bring results, the credit man does not 

 hesitate to repeat it, three times a day 

 if necessary and without apology, 

 though with due politeness and care in 

 the handling of touchy customers. In 

 the end this ])ersistence reaps its re- 

 ward, for the bad debts of the concern 

 jiinoiiut to only one-eighth of one per 

 cent. 



"The real items that make up the 

 total cost of the Schiller credit sj-stem 

 include salaries for the telephone man, 

 two office girls, two regular chauffeurs 

 and sever.'il delivery boys, as well as 

 the cost of stationery, ledgers and other 

 bookkeeping paraphernalia. These 

 amount to about $7,000 annually." 



System and Determination. 



The two things most necessary for 

 the successful collection of accounts arc 

 systematic effort and a persistent and 

 determined attitude on the part of the 

 florist. The unanimous opinion of flo- 

 rists consulted on the subject of credits 

 ,'md collections is that most niembers 

 of the trade are negligent in their book- 

 keeping and collection effort and too 

 lenient upon customers. Often they are 

 afraid of losing a customer by pushing 

 liim too hard, 



"That's a mistake," said one quite 

 successful retailer, "If a customer 

 can't pay his bills in sixty days, under 

 usual circumstances, I don't want him 

 on my books," 



The delinquents who are on the books 

 through the florist's negligence in 

 bookkeeping and collecting are not so 

 much to blame as the florist. He can 

 make prompt payers out of part of them 

 if he will send out his bills promptlj-, 

 neatly written on good stationery; if he 

 will follow up the statement sent thirty 

 days later, using form letters, personal 

 calls, the telephone, or a combination 

 of the three; if he will exercise care in 



