FOBBDABT 12, 1014. 



The Florists' Review 



18 



» ^ m 11 "■ " "' ■■ '" " ■" ■ II I II I I I I I M HI II I I I II III " "■ " '" " "■ " ■'■ U_JL 



KNOBLE'S SHORT CUT TOJ mt 

 Mr LARGER FLOWER SALES 



II m »i 111 fi 111 II Ill 



I 111 II m n in — n 



H E follow- 

 ing conver- 

 sation c - 

 curred a t 

 lunch the 



other day, 



just as it is reported. The re- 

 porter believes there is enough 

 food for thought in this con- 

 versation to make it worth pass- 

 ing along. The views of one of 

 the most successful of advertisers 

 among florists furnish nourishing meat 

 for those who will digest it. The 

 scene vas a Cleveland restaurant; the 

 dramatis peraon89 were Herman F. 

 Knoble, of Knoble Bros., Cleveland; 

 his friend, Frank Smith, and Mr. 

 Brown, an acquaintance of the latter. 



Mr. Knoble: "Hello, Frank I How 

 are yout" 



Mr. Smith: "Why, hello, Herman! 

 Haven't seen you lately. Where 've 

 you been?" 



Knoble: "Busy advertis- 

 ing the carnation conven- 

 tion." 



Smith: "Between adver- 

 tising trade shows and con- 

 ventions, when do you find 

 time to keep your business 

 going f" 



Knoble: "My ads in the 

 daily papers keep my busi 

 ness going." 



Smith: "It must be great 

 to have a business like that. 

 By the way, I want you to 



Knoble: "That's where you are 

 mistaken. You are in the auditing 

 business, I understand. What is the 

 name of your company!" 



Brown (handing his card to Mr. 

 Knoble): "I am president of the 

 Brown Co." 



Knoble: "How long have you been 

 in business?" 



Brown: "Six years." 



Knoble: "I am pretty closely in 



Knoble: "Now you 

 have opened up a deep 

 subject. But the main 

 idea in successful ad- 

 vertising is to create 

 business where no busi- 

 ness exists. Don't you believe 

 that if a man employed an au- 

 ditor 4)0 go over his books once a 

 year he would be money ahead?" 

 Brown: "There is no ques- 

 tion about that! " 



Knoble: "By advertising you might 

 convince many business men of the 

 fact and increase your business. In 

 the same way, Mr. Smith might give 

 people an idea of his splendid equip- 

 ment. You will agree with me, I hope, 

 that there are many people in the city 

 and many more constantly moving in 

 who, except in rare cases, have no 

 occasion to hear of Mr. Smith and hia 



Brown: "That's true." 



meet Mr. Brown. 



Who's Mr. Brown? 



Knoble: "How do you 

 do, Mr. Brown? Glad to 

 know you." 



Brown: "How do you 

 do, Mr. Knoble?" 



Smith: "I have just en- 

 gaged Mr. Brown, Herman, 

 to open up a new set of 

 books for me." 



Brown: "The word 'new' 

 is superfluous. ' ' 



Knoble: "Well," that's a 

 good one on you, Frank." 



Smith: "Yes, that ought 

 to hold me for a while." 



Knoble: "When you open up this 

 set of books for Mr. Smith, don't fail 

 to include an account for publicity. 

 I have often told Frank that his busi- 

 ness could be greatly increased if he 

 would set aside a little money each 

 year for advertising. I honestly be- 

 lieve his store is the best equipped in 

 the city; you know, he invested $24,000 

 in service equipment alone. Yet the 

 fact remains that not enough people 

 know of this elaborate service to em- 

 ploy it constantly and make it realize 

 a sufficient return on the investment." 



Brown: "But newspaper advertis- 

 ing does not work equally well for 

 everyone. In some lines personal mag- 

 netism and individual association are 

 really the only means that can be used 

 to advertise. ' ' 



"A man, to meet with success in 

 business* should choose the line he finds 

 himself in love with. 



"He should never allow some other 

 business to tempt him and take him 

 away from the business he loves. 



"If a man doesn't like the business 

 he's in he oufi^ht to get out and get in 

 one he does like, even thoug^h he might 



have to start on a more humble basis. 



"The searchlight of ambition should 

 always be kept ahead so that no oppor- 

 tunity to improve is overlooked." 



— Herman P. Knoble. 



Sales Talk in Print. 



touch with business affairs in this city 

 and am surprised to know that you 

 have been in business six years and I 

 have never heard of you. If I should 

 have occasion to use an auditor, I 

 would call on Ernst & Ernst. Nau-Eusk 

 & Swearingen, or the Audit Co. of 

 America. These concerns have been 

 repeatedly brought to my attention 

 through their advertising. I have used 

 two of these concerns and paid about 

 $375 each time. Possibly you would 

 have had that money if I had known 

 of you." 



Making New Business. 



Brown: "In that case, Mr. Knoble, 

 advertising would not have benefited 

 those firms, for they would have lost 

 where I gained." 



Knoble: "Now, it is up 

 to Smith to tell these peo- 

 ple just where he is located, 

 the kind of service he gives 

 and the cost and the varie- 

 ties of stock he has to sell. 

 He should give them a regu- 

 lar line of sales talk about 

 his business." 



Brown: "How can he do 

 this?" 



Knoble: "In the daily 

 papers, of course." 



Smith: "But that lowers 

 the dignity and standing of 

 the business." 



Knoble: "That talk about 

 dignity in business amuses 

 me. The only dignity in any 

 business is the dignity of ex- 

 (^ellent stock, excellent serv- 

 ice, and modern efficiency. 

 Not long ago, you know, it 

 was considered undignified 

 for banks to advertise. The 

 frock-coated, long-whiskered 

 gentlemen of those institu- 

 tions were scarcely to be 

 approached by ordinary per- 

 sons, much less to solicit 

 accounts from them. But times have 

 changed. In every daily paper and in 

 some weeklies you will find the best 

 financial institutions bidding for $1 de- 

 posits and offering toy banks to help 

 you save the pennies. In the same 

 way you find the best and most fash- 

 ionable florists using page ads in the 

 newspapers. ' ' 



Smith: "Yes, but unless you use a 

 whole page, your ad is lost in the 

 paper and nobody reads it. * ' 



Little Ads Bring Besults. 



Knoble: "That's where you are 

 wrong. At this time we ordinarily use 

 about 1,000 carnations a day, but sijice 

 we placed a small ad in the papers, 

 announcing a special sale of carnations, 

 we are selling 3,000 a day, instead of 



