The Detroit times. [volume], July 10, 1916, GRISWOLD-ST. EDITION, Image 10

About The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920

Image provided by: Central Michigan University, Clark Historical Library

                
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HESMUi
Kl LEARN
KoURTESY
—NT OH CHALMBRS.
HMfrican Sellers Lack
Requisite, Says
K' Auto Maker
HgUEVESIN
SCHOOL
■Bgffests Congress For
g&B«lete Definite Rules
■pfef Employment
BKt'Sr HUGH CHALMERS,
Chalmers Motor Cos.
BBHfeict of us who have things to
|l|gH| )mnto managed somehow or
to a«ll these things, but few
**▼« reduced the selling I
our business to the sclen-
H|nti that we have the raanufac
or merchandising ends.
■KCfcare gone too long on the the
salesmen were born and
HHpM4§; that there was no known
musHttod Os determining whether a
!|!!|Hjf oouM sell goods or not We
retarded the whole proposl
|oo much as a game of chance
HHB'JtatTe selected men at random.
■HjtffUUj because they looked to
pretty decent sort of fair
‘agfk and were not marked In any
HHBptel way that would affect them
other people.
all sensible executives
realise that the matter of
SSflptttßt salesmen la not wholly a
of taking a chance. We
Wm ** there are more or leas
set rulea that ean be fol-
Bi the employment of sale*-
£'l* WO realise that we can meas-
B9pgpCß to some extent as we mens
; of course not to the
! si accuracy that we can
materials, but we do know
can site up men with rea
exactness before we employ
HKn bo Quarrel with any of the
BKKnfco hare made the teaching of
mMSimillMp a business. I believe
of them have done a
HGpMaoant of good. My only com
against some of them has
HgjjH that they have held tbe *ub
salesmanship up In the
too much; that they have led
to believe that salesmanship
thing apart from other things
§§§£p» aid was s thing that had
■Kmpllljp aad difficulty about it. and
'B Bum had to have a certain
aptitude for this kind of
-C ’''SpUNI before he could be taught
HSp| goods.
main reason. I believe, why
gf||jEt la considered an extremely
proposition Is because we
HHHioalt&f with the intangible The
essential needed In selling
. HM*, of course, is brain power in
HE^galeaman, and yet the brain in
being is something that
ever see. and If we do.
Hnpt It when it is too late for it
raH|o( use any longer to the per
had ft.
llillffii* a fault of the human family
always fear the thing which
not see or do not unders’and
become accustomed to
ta the concrete so much
Hw seem to lose our sense of
*4s®* things that we do not see.
mlmlifjkave been connected with the
HHMiffeßtare of goods nearly all of
HHpto*tn*aa life-time, and it took
time to realise the differ
pfifil bet wen manufacturing and
!t flna,,y ll * wn, ’ and u P° n nip
|H|dw real difference was that in
you Are dealing with
HEpM* things, which you can con
completely, while In
mgmLt you are dealing largely with
Eligible things, which are very
■■■■l'tip control.
however, that we have
BHUmad the point now where some
SSSP* at least believe that we ran
BHHpftflfiß a reasonable control In the
HHBpta* of the men nectary to
oar goods Just as we can In
employed In the making of
BnKljittar all, the one great quest inn
aalllag Os goods Is the ern
iHHHMMat of salesmen. Asa matter
HHn|Mt. you esn say in one sentence
&u£fj|jnao controlling thing about ai'
HKHmasa, namely—the selection of
we can formulate some
plan or a set of rules which
used successfully by all con
HHHfepi IB the employment of sales
"j™r|tfpT Os the very first things to set
-.VPw m • rule if that no man
be employed on the first In
f||pSMair. I believe that It Is neecs
to see a man at least two or
tinea before you can sice him
||||||mpop«rtjr. Then, again. I believe
PH|g*B good Idea to have more than
ll&llpBpMi are a man before he is
I know norm* concerns
Method of having a man
IfnKcr three of their mm. hih!
men get together nn<l
ha press lons
JPIP I think Is thst no
ba employed who can
KlfepUr Bred aa he was
particularly to
your wlfa’s relatives or the sons of
friends. It la easy to hire these
people, but sometimes almighty hard
to fire them!
Personally, I have never taken a
great deal of stock In the man who
on the first Interview pulled out a
number of letters of recommenda
tion. because it has been my experk
ence that men who have the great
eat number of letters of recoin men
datlon usually need the greatest
number.
I would like to see this congress
In some definite way. either through
a committee for the purpose or to
be done in this convention, werrk out
some plan which will be the com
posite Judgment of the convention
on some rules to follow in the em
ployment of salesmen
I will give briefly some of the
things 1 have tried to find out ld
talking with men before employing
them aa salesmen:
The question that I put down as
No. 1 on this list is—Can he give a
surety company bond? You can
dodge this question all you like and
make excuse for certain men who
cannot give this kind of a bond,
but tn 99 cases out of 100 there Is
something wrong with a man who
can’t give a surety company bond.
The next thing, has he s reason
or an excuse for leaving his last
employer? Can he give hie !■«
employer aa well as hi* prevlou?
employers as references?
Did he work as a boy, or was he
brought up In complete Idleness ua
til he was of age?
Did he learn to overcome obsta
cles In his youth, or did he begin
to tackle the problems of the world
aa a full grown man?
Tbe next thing, of course, is a
perfectly obvious one and may seem
like a foolish one, but are hia hab
its good? 1 don’t mean by this U
he 100 per cent good, but u he a
decent sort of fellow?
Does he over-indulge In things
which he should not?
Would he impress you favorably
if he were trying to sell you some
thing instead of applying for a job?
Has he saved any money? If not.
why not?
Can he get to the point quickly,
or is he one of those fellows who
takes a circuitous route?
Can he answer objections quick
ly? Try him out by asking him to
tall you three reasons why be think3
he can sell your goods, and In this
way test him on his ability to think
quickly and to give logical answers
to questions when put to him quick
ly
Is he quick-tempered? A little
hard to determine this, but as a rule
quick-tempered men do not make
the beat es salesmen, because every
man weakens himself In the eyes of
another when he loses his temper.
Is his vutce pleasing or rasping?
A silly question you may think, but
one of great Importance to the man
who is seeking an opportunity to
sell your goods.
Haa he reapect for the opinions
of others?
"Do his voice and manner Impress
you aa carrying conviction when he
makes s point?
Has he got enthusiasm in his na
ture? Does he know when to stop
talking? If you don’t know what
“terminal facllltiea” mean, ask a
railroad man. Men, as well as rail
roads, require terminal facilities.
Is he easily discouraged when
told he can't have the Job or that
you don’t think he can sell the
goods?
Is he willing to undergo a course
of training before he begins to sell
goods, or does he think he knows
enough about salesmanship to sell
anything?
I am a great believer in the sys
tematic and careful training of men
I have no patience with the man
who says you can't talk to any two
men alike, because this is simply
his way of saying bis methods- ar«
better than any other. ,
I cannot nnderntand why so many
people are willing to put up with in
competency and with mediocr ty
when the establishment of a train
ing school and the proper teaching
of all their salespeople would hrina
about an immediate Improvement hi
their business.
And. gentlemen, the very first
thing 1 would teach in any school
would be the necessity for cour
teay. The great prevailing fault
among American salesmen and
aaleaworoen is the fault of discour
tesy. Deny it If you wish, but a
thorough test will convince you of
Its existence. Allow me to lay
stress upon this for s moment, be
cause It Is so important in all
branches of business and In all
walks of life. Courtesy costs noth
ing and yet It pays bigger dividends
to the man or woman who possesses
It than any other requisite they
have.
1 sincerely hope that every one
of us attending this meeting will
get some real practical benefit from
It. and that we will be able to go
away from here with many new
Ideas and many more sensible Ideas
on this subject of “salesmanship'
than we ever possessed before, but
whatever benefits we reclve will de
pend upon our doing these things
and not merely talking about them
la other words. It Is not what w»
hear at this convention that will
count—lt la what we will take honn*
with ns, remember and use!
Col. E. H. R. Green, who has be
-1 come one of the wealthiest men tn
i America through the Inheritance of
the bulk of his mother's fortune,
was born in England. In IRAK, while
his parents were there on a visit
• He stands six feet four Inches tail.
and weighs nearly 300 pounds. One
i of his legs la of cork, the limb.
owing to an accident, having been
many /tan ago.
Delegates Occupy Local Pulpits .
.4s Lay Ministers, Preaching
On “The Ethics of Salesmanship”
Delegates to the first world’s
salesmanship c-ingrcs-s now In ses
sion here, occupied pulpits in many
I>etroit church**?-. Sunday, delivering,
as lay preachers, sermons on The
Ethics of Salesmanship ”
J. S. Knox, president of the Knox
School of Salesmanship. Cleveland,
0., spoke in the Woodward-ave.
Presbyterian church He said In
part:
it be forever understood that
salesmanship is not a question of
putting something over. It is a
question of telling the truth, telling
it effectively and showing the indi
vidual bow your proposition is adapt
ed to bis needs. The greatest com
pliment any salesman can pay to
the gcods he is felling is to tell the
truth about them and tell It effec
tively.
’ When a salesman meets a man
who would profit by his goods and
that man Indicates hia lack of In
terest, the business of the salesman
is to change his mind and bring It
arouud yo agree with his. A sales
man is a teacher. He la more than
that. He is the advance agent of
civilization. It was the salesman,
the rrader. who first penetrated Hud
son Bay. The lawyer, the doctor,
the preacher and the teacher fol
lowed.
“It Is the salesman who marketed
the sewing machine, the windmill,
the telephone, the telegraph, and
modern breakfast foods. Faleaman
ship is the power of human influ
ence, the Influence which one man
has over another, either In the
schoolroom, the courtroom, the sam
ple room, or while preaching the gos
pel in farthest Asia or darkest
Africa.
“The salesman who attempts to
make a sale regardless of whether
or not the buyer has need is neither
shrewd nor good. The only l6gitl*
mate salesman today is the econom
ist who sella to a man in proportion
to bis need or refuses to sell him
if he has no need.’’
Wm. R. Mulone. president of the
Postal Life Insurance Cos.. New
York. In First Congregational
church:
“ ‘Confidence men’ have had their
day. Fooling the unwary Is a cheap
game .and attempting to fool the
most wary Is no* worth while. That
which has a false bottom would bet
ter not have been displayed for sale.
Fakers and faking are disappearing.
Selling bad stuff of any sort Is found
to be mighty bad dealing.
“Advertising is the great aid to
salesmanship, and its high notes
ringing round the world are whole
nesa, integrity, truth.
“The informing press, tbe adver
tising announcement, and ibe sales
man have a close relationship. At
least they are in active allinnce. The
principle* that are now being put
behind them and are effectively
actuating them constitute a high
ethical standard. They do not con
stitute a finished product, a stable
thing ftcred away, but something in
the making, something that is never
finished tut always being improved.”
Bentley P. Neff secretary and
rales manager of F. A. Patrick A
Cos.. Duluth, in North Woodward
Methodist:
"Yoj can’t put a salesman In a
waste paper basket, to he beats all
other Kinds of advertising Sales
men are economic factors and what
would ihe country do without them?
They are the pathfinder* of modern
industry, the creators of demand
that k<ep thousands of :nauufactur- ;
ers busy, the of Joy and
happinest, tbe daily new*p»[er for
thousands of small hamlets, and the
great barometer of trade conditions.
A salesman’s facial is a
better indiction of liusi*us« condi
tions lhan any editorial in the New
York daily financial newspapers.
Two-thirds of the successful busi
ness men of tills country were train
ed on the road, and there Is no
oth*r training equal to it."
S DeWltt Clough, rres: lent of the
Chicago Advertising club, in the
Christian church:
"While the majority of the pre*
ent day sslesmen may not wish to
acknowledge the fact, they ate aware
that there has teen some uplifting
influence at work which has raised
the standard of salesmanship and of
business xn general. The time has
come I believe for the church to pay
even more attention to business and
for the business min to acknowl
edge his debt to the church."
H. D. W. English, general agent of
the Berkshire
Pittsburgh, Pa, in the lleuiah Bap
tist church:
“What appeals to me In salesman
t-hip is that it gives every man en
gaged in it an audience and a message
Through his work his personality,
which may be small in Itself, ac
quire* an ownership of Iruitful soil
It is possible for hnn to enricn his
personality through his Job So to
find a congenial task where a man
can work Is to find a real place In
the world for a real man ”
William pethke. director of the de
partment of business administration,
laiSalle Extension university, Chica
go, 111., First UnPed Presbyterian
church:
"The lazy, fat suave, good-naiureO,
bar-room type of *ocall<*d ‘natural
born ’ salesman of the past decades
is almost unknown today. Modern
salesmanship calls fur keen mind
ed men —men who are a genuine
credit to our civilization. The cbolc**
pf a higher morality nlw.*ya tends to
survival, .while the cht Ice of the
lewer, though often temporarily prof
itable, leads eventually to social dls
approbation, condemnation, reprisal
—and costs more than Is compcnsat
i ied by Individual gam. '
Charles W. Hoyt president of
Hoyt’s Bervic« Inc. Now York City
Disciples of Christ church:
"Salesmen no longer spend their
spare time in dissipation. To be lit
is the thing now. It Is neceasary
and it is good policy. It is no
or ethical to try to buv sales by
treating. The old-time salesman,
while he might outwardly be clean
and dress). could not hide hla habits.
Tbe merchant might, to quote Emer
son. say to a salesman of bad hab
its, "1 can't hear what you say tor
hearing what you arek* *
Winslow Russell, of the Pboenlx
Mutual Life Insurance Oo* Hartford.
Conn., In the First M. JL church.
Highland Park:
“The ethics of salesmanship de
mand, first: higher thinking on the
part of ell of us, especially upon the
thing* of life, both material and
spiritual which are given In ex
change to each other. Second, a
clear conception of the fact that
there are two people involved and
that ethically both muat profit by
the exchange. Third, that we are
all servants of someone, and that the
greater number of people to whom
we are servants, establishes our real
basis of power In the world of
salesmanship, which Is really life in
its largest terms. We are all salee
raen, for every minute exchanges
are going on between ns, usually at
a profit to both of us."
N. O. Shively, president of tbe
Shively Salesmanship bureau, San
Francisco, CaL. In the Trumbull-ave.
Presbyterian:
“Modern business Is largely dyna
mic, not static. Aggressiveness 1*
the keynote whioh characterises
America's most successful business
men. The desire for wealth, the
love of leadership, the clamor for
glory, Induce many a man to do
things which under normal condi
tions be would not do.
“The clever salesman Is the one
who can meet men and through hi*
power of attraction make them more
than a mere Incident In bis life. To
be successeful he muat serve as a
protector to hla customer*; he must
be an adviser; be must use hi*
knowledge as a means for rendering
human service; his sense of value*
must be at the disposal of his cus
tomers; he must make his business
a business of human service. This
can only be done when once be has
made friends or has acquired the
knack of winning and retaining the
! confidence of those about him.”
Robert C. Fay. of the Chicago Pa
per Cos, in the Fourteenth-ave. Bap
tist church:
“Christ used the salesman’s great
est asset In selling the gospel to
the people of His time. I refer to
the power of suggestion.
“A lot of people associate "domi
nation" with the loud, pompous man
who trie* to bluff and bulldoze men
—giving his orders In a loud, harsh
voice.
"Such a plan may force obedience,
but it will nev*r mould men's minds
to your will —It represents better
than any other Illustration, however,
the evolution of salesmanship.
"Today the men who are getting
the business —who are the 100 per
cent men of the selling organiza
tions —find that they can sell their
products or merchandise as Christ
sold the world religion, by being
well-mannered, quiet but positive
and without making any particular
noise about It.
"How often do we find the T>ord
using In His quiet way the power of
suggestion which, today, as It did
then, constitutes domination In th#
highest degree*"
J. J. Jackson, general agent of the
Aetna Life Insurance Cos., Cleveland,
In the Went Grand blvd. M. E.
church:
"The basis of every sale Is confi
dence. You cannot win your cus
tomer without. It. By your manner,
: your tone, your line of thought, you
1 should aim to build up In bis mind
that feeling of confidence which la
; the foundation of every clean *al*
The salesman gathers strength by
doing. He must be a man who
‘hlnks for himself and who thinks
' good thoughts snd Is capable of
thinking hard and long. He must
be clean morally and Intellectually.
|To he resourceful, he must b* a
| reader of good books.”
I Courtenay Barber, general agent
lof the Equitable Life Assurance so
ciety. Chicago, In the Fort-et. Con
gregational church:
“We are living in an age when
God has permitted men to achieve
heyond the dreams of every previous
1 are Our economic enterprises have
! developed abilities never before
. touched, but with all these wonder
ful change* the fundamental truth
i has never changed—-Ood made the
world -God made man. Man must
return to God and account for hts
life. With this truth still before us
let tis look at man In action, a train
ed soldier, a part of the army organ
ized to carry on a highly developed
economic system which Is capable
, of contributing much to the happi
ness and welfare of mankind, or, on
the contrary, of robbing mankind of
that priceless possession, oh»rar*er,
which can only he attained and re
j talncd by those »ho travel the royal
1 road of service and arc controlled
j hy moral principles or ethics con-
J slstenf thereto.”
FYanklln C. M. Wells, medical dl
-1 rector of the Equitable Life Asaur
j anoe Society of the IT. R., In the
i Highland Park GongregaMonal
church:
“It take* more than sales and mar
gin of profit to make a big business
I -only as such an iastltution Is built
I upon- the foundation of character, in
DETROIT TIMES
corporatlng right principles est both
buying and selling, will it stand as
an enduring monument to the build
er thereof. Consequently then, and
first of ail in the Ethics of Sales
men Hup,' la the standard of charac
ter.
“A man muat first be before be
can do. It is oftentimes more dlth
cult to be right tbau it Is merely
to do right, and yet, that is th* atohe
In the foundation which, after all.
bears the weight of the entire struc
ture."
Tberon C. Rice-Wray, of Detroit,
manager of the Pacific Mutual IJf*
Insurance Cos.. In the Grand Rlver
ave. M. E church:
“Salesmen, as a class, have com#
to realize that true salesmanship,
the most profitable kind of sales
manship, lies not in 'Putting one
over 1 on the buyer but in rendering
a permanent service to that buyer
which will cause him to feel so ap
pr*ola:iv#ly grateful as to make him
a permanent customer If not a per
sonel friend.
The salesman Is coming to realize
that he 1* not paid by the seller, but
by th* buyer; no metier whether
hi* lnoome appear* through th* sal
ary or commission system. It is an
item added to the cost of production
and handling, and It U, tn the last
analysis the buyer** mousy which
1* applied to cover It. The sales
man is coming to realise that he
oannot hope to continue In tbe ser
vice of the buyer unless be brings
to that buyer a benefit commensu
rate with his pay."
F. C.O'Meara, aale# Instructor.
Detrott. In Jeffer*on-ave. Presbytc
rlan church:
"Because of this great new birth
of the business world to the great
and lasting truth of the sacred In
junction of the world's greatest
salesman —Jesus of Nazareth —that
He was amongst us ’as one thst
serveth,' there Is gathered in
this city men from all parts of thlv
the greatest nation of salesmen tn
all the world for the first time to
give to the world anew id*a and a
clearer vision of the greatcst pro
fession of all professions "
FUR REAL
IS RiSIS
OF SUCCESS
Without It Business
Must Fail, Says A. F.
Sheldon
ETHICS DEFINED
AS RIGHT CONDUCT
Unethical Words and
Deeds Lack Per
suasion
Arthur Frederick Sheldon, presi
dent of the Sheldon School or
Salesmanship, delivered the follow
ing lay sermon on "The ethics of
salesmanship’’ in the Martha
Holmes Methodist church, Lincoln
and Putnam-aves., Sunday:
Asa text from the Hook of Books
to fit this theme, I h»v* selected the
w.rus of the when he said:
"All things therefore whatsoever
ye would that men should do unto
foil, even so do ye also unto them
or this is tbe law and the pty>phets
That one sentence, when literally
applied, takes care of the ethic* of
•»iei-manithip end all the balance of
life's relationships
The trouble Is. the vast many treat
it aa a beautiful platitude. •xpr»|.
alve of impractical Idealism, snd
hardly consistent with commercial
methods.
On the contrary, the r»al facts are.
however, that the application of the
Injunction of the Man of Galilee is
eminently pragmatic—lt Is the most
practical method known to man,
when literally applied, tn the win
ning of even material reward, to say
nothing of those phases of life s re
wards which constitute our eternal
possessions, and which "moth and
rust cannot destroy, nor thieves
break through and steal "
In the consideration of our theme,
let us first for a moment Inquire,
what Is salesmanship?
My answer Is that, aa an abstract
snd universal principle. It is persua
sion.
In Its ordinarily restrlotsd sense,
the oonoept la. as we all know, sup
posed to designate that form of per
suasion which Is focussed upon the
disposition of produot
Defined In commercial language. In
Its ordinary acceptation, we may de
fine salesmanship aa tbe art of per
euadlag people to purchase one'a
product as a profit.
Th* saalle and the ery of the Infant
make of him a persuader from the
moment of the drawing of th* breath
ot ,
Poaselbly acme of you hare been
persuaded to walk the floor all ntgfft
by th* voice of the Infant persuader.
Later, th* ohlldren persuade us.
before they can even us# the spoken
word. They persuade us to huy thy*
end olothea and all sorts of things
end to buy them for them
They perauad* us to Invsst In edu
cation and all manner of thing*.
Later the young man persuade* th,
young lady to become his wife, and
th* wife In turn persuade* him to in
vest In all sorts of thing*
Th# time comes when th# yonng
man, and many of the young women
of the present day take their place
In the world's work
Each one wh<> doss, sella some
thing then and there.
Each sells his or her services to
th* employer.
•tjecess In life, at least commer
cially speaking, hinges upon this
power of pereusalon
Th* vast armv of the unemployed
end unemployable In time* of com
mercial dl*tre*s I* made up of men
Snd women who fall to persuade anv
one to purchase their particular
product—their services
The following I* taken from the
little magasln* called ‘Money Mat
ter*," published by a great Insurance
organisation. It Is headed "Read
Tht*, Young Men of 2S‘"
Big Insurance companies have an
uncanny way of using statistic* to
show Just what is before the avernge
Individual, not only In the matter of
life expectancy, hut also as to future
financial resources.
"And figure* especially those
worked out In accordance With the
great law of averages,—don't lie.
i -on th* authority of one such com*
Expert Speaks
To Salesmen
HUGH CHALMERS.
President of th* nhalmsrs Motor
Cos„ who wa* on# of the speakers
before the Wlorld’a Boleamonahlp
congress. Monday afternoon.
peny. ft la aald that ont of 100 aver
age healthy men of 38 at 16—84 will
be dependent upon relative*, friend*
or charity, II will be deed, five will
be earning their dally bread, four
will be wealthy, one will be rich "
Now let u» consider It from the
viewpoint of the succeea of commer
cial eorporatlor.a
The quotation which I ehall read
now ts entitled •'Business Wants to
Do Right" by Hon Edward N Hur
ley. whom many of roil doubtless
know, of the Federal Trade commis
sion:
Today business Is anxious to do
right. It win's to obey the law.
and lately the business man hae been
coming down to Washington with the
specific oases Making light. leaving
out of consideration the banking,
railroad and public utilities corpora
tions and referring only to th< »*
that, have to do with trade and in
dustry, we find that there are about
JSh.hfM) business corporations In the
country The astonishing thing Is
that over 100000 of these report no
net Income whatever. tn addition.
90. nft o make less than |i 000 a year
Ortv the fiO.OOft remaining the more
successful ones—make s.'• 000 a year
and more Does this not demon
strate the need of n moat thorough
study of our Industries ss a baals
for remedying these conditions* Does
It not also show the necessity for
better accounting methods and busi
ness practices*'
What Is ethic a*
It is the science of right conduct
toward others
We have stated that salesmanship
as a universal principle is peraua
alon.
Man persuade* through his ex
pression of himself
Man ex-presses htmaelf In two
ways:
Ist' Deeds.
3nd- Words.
The impelling force back of both
deeds and words is his thought life
The unethical thought, the wrong
thought, finds Its outward expression
In the unethical deed and the un
ethical word
I'neth'cnl deeds and unethical word*
do not permanently persuade people
to purchase product at a profit.
The only kind of salesmanship
worth while is business building
salesmanship—the salesmanship that
builds business.
The house in any line, commercial,
religious, professional, is known by
the customers or patrons it keep*,
not by those that It gets
It is the reneaters that count.
Violation of m*>rHl or ethical laws
Is the cause of millions of failures
The psychology of commerce re
veal* the whv of this.
It Is a fact in nalure and not a
theory of any Individual that confi
dence is the ba«i« r >t permanent and
profitable relationships
This is true of hII of life s relation
ships including the commercial.
C*onf!dence is to th" budding of a
business in any line what the founda
tion of the physical building is to
the building itself
And right service involves ethics
The merchant may have excellent
qualltv of goads an<l deliver the right
quality of them, but tinlr-es his mode
of conduct, toward h's lustomers Is
right in every particular, be will not
give them permanent satisfaction
nor keep their confidence
The same Is true of the services of
the employe In his dealing with his
employer
He may do enough work in a day.
and do it all well hut unless the
spirit In which he does It is right
and his conduct Is ethical In every
particular, he will not keep the
permanent satisfaction and confi
dence of the firm to whl-h ha Is
selling his services
The old-fsshloned Idea that effici
ency Is made up of knowledge ptua
skill In the application of that
knowledge Is exploded, and we hope
for all time
The school room or the employer
mar train the head of the individual
to know, and may train the hand to
do, hut unless the hear* la trained
to he. the finished product may be
hut the gifted criminal, and he non.
not command confidence or satisfac
tion.
He 1a building hla home of life
upon the send, and It la hound to
fall, and falling, crush him.
Ethics, the science of right con
duct. narrowed down to th* specific
vocation of the direct selling of
foods Is the most potent ingredient
n persu*«ion, not only In the Imme
diate selling of goods, hut In fh#
Insurance of the making of perma
nent and profitable patrons.
In the words of the lata great
Marshall Field. "A man that lies to
■el] goods la a fool "
Tt fa equal!v tru* that the man
who doea anything elaa unethical to
tell good* Is foolish.
Plowlr hut surely man la learntng
the haele law of lira, namely, that to
get %a must give The great giver
must be great In hodv. mind and
spirit. Hla gift will then be great
In quality, quantity and mod#
And that which h* geta will than
be great, namely, low# of fellow men.
approve! of conscience end material
reward.
There are many encouraglgg signs
of the times The altruistic spirit,
the brotherhood of man Idea, la de
veloping more and more.
Mar f*ed speed fh* d*y when all
men and all women everywhere shall
gee with clearness that the greatest
business advice ever given was In
clud'd in the «e«mon of Fermona,
when the Master said
"All things therefore whatsoever
ye would that men should do unto
vott, even so do ye also unto them
for thla Is the law and the prophets."
Out of the Mouthg of Bgbet.
IJffl# Fred —I’ve been awful sick
Little Harry—What waa the mat
ter?
Little Fred—T bad hmln fever —
right In my head, too —the worat
place any one could have IL
Small Nellie had been to an "Tn
cle Tom's Cabin" matinee. After the
ahow waa over ahe raid: ''Mamma,
does little Kva plav again tonight?"
“Yea, dear, I atlpprae an,” replied
Ihe mother.
"Well.” continued Nellie, after a
moment's thought, "I don’t roe how
she can die and fro to tuaven at 4
o’clock and get bark In time to die
again at ft.”
Printing—the plate ecet hied—that
U light—Ttaaee J*k Deat,—Male 48H.
LAUDS Mill
POWER IN
DETROIT
“You Have Seen It Tri
umphant Here,” Says
Redfield
POINTS TO WASTE
IN U. S. INDUSTRY
Tells How Others Prof
ited By Our Neg
lect
By WILLIAM C. REDFIELD.
Secretary of Commerce.
I needly hardly toll you that tn
the period before the war—a pe
riod, by the way, from which we
have departed never to return
thereto either In principle or prac
tice—there were three great com
petitor# in the world’s market#.
England. Germany and ouraelvea.
Other# Indeed there were In that
commercial arena but these were
the "big three.” Germany waa fain
Ing ground. Great Britain was dog
gedly holding her own, America, a
good third, had built up an aggre
gate export trade of about 92.500,-
000.000 per annum, of which the
group of fully-finished manufactures
was the largest single factor, am]
that growing most rapidly. We
were, however, a debtor nation, de
pending for funds with which to
conduct our own Internal develop
mens upon the surplus wealth of our
foreign competitors, which we had
to borrow to supply our needs.
As we look about us the scene &
all changed The debtor has be
come a creditor. The borrower then
Is the lender now. Great nations
officially gather American aecuritles
owned by their citizens that they
may use them to pay the debts they
owe us. There has been a great
gain In the good will of American
business In the foreign field. There
ha* been a vastly greater gain In
the good will of American business
toward the foreign field.
We speak Juat after the close of
the fiscal year. The details for the
final days of that year are not com
plete, but It Is safe to say that our
export trade In that year has been
$4,000,000,000. with an Import trade,
chiefly of raw material* for our
busy mills, of over 12.000.000,000.
We have what we call a visible
trade balance of nearly or quite $2.-
000,000.000. These are unprecedent
ed facts.
We had two years ago almost no
banks abroad Now they are begin
ning to dot the earth, and re
cent legislation will enhance their
growth. Two years ago the govern
ment had no permanent force
abroad exclusively given to promot
ing American commerce. Now that
force la In full vigor and is sup
ported by anew and powerful or
sanitation at home. Two years ago
we borrowed; today we lend. Amer
ican trade follows the American In
vestment,
What shall the future be? Cer
tainly that future will be what w#
Americans make It. It will not be
the result of legislation but of ac
tion. It will he as large as our own
conceptions of our power, modified
by a stern purpose to make that
power real and keep It powerful.
It Is perhaps not without reason
that the word ’’salesmanship” has
the word "man” In the very center
of It. You do not need here any
or your to be told the value of a
man. Ix»ok back 20 years and eee
what men have done here In Detroit
meanwhile. You have seen man
power triumphant over difficulty,
over distance, over competition, un
til, were each product of Detroit to
carry a flag with the city name
upon It, the banner* of Detroit
would decorate the highways of the
world. Man power has here mode
false and pitiful the power of
phrases. Hmsll need to worry over
the rate of wage as a con
trolling factor tn competition when
the cheapest goods in a great In
dustry are known by all to be made
by the men who are paid the most
It Is horrible to think of tlje wsste
In the past years of American In
dustry. We held business conven
tions and let the eagle scream and
enthused over the greatness of
America, while others grew rich on
what we were neglecting. It la un
doubtedly true that half a million
available horsepower In hot gases
escape from our wasteful coke
ovens. Rveryone knows It to be
true That the great German dyestuff
Industry has been built up out of
the scientific use of materials of
which we were at once the largest
producer# of the raw stuffs and the
largest consumer# of th# finished
stuffs. We cheerfully burned and
otherwise destroyed many thousands
of tons of paper-making material
and Imported nearly half of our pa
per stock from abroad. Indeed. It 1*
true that these men needed protec
tion, but It was protection from
themselves they needed.
We shall see, no doubt, when the
war shall end. and In a measure de
pending upon when that end shall
come, an apparent reaction in our
foreign trade. The mere recession
of prloes normal to the coming of
peace will affeot the volume In dol
lars of that trade; yet with equal
confidence 1 look for a second re
action upward la that foreign trade
whan Araortoan Industrie#, con
aotoua of thair power because It
rests upon searching study, ahalt
send their men abroad Into the In
spiring contest of brains and char
acter (for It will be no leas) which
will wage between the nations.
We may not let our foreign trade
go by the board for It la Linked up
in a peculiar way with the prosper
ity of our domestic commerce.
We have a vast supply of gold to
day, the greatest tn the world, a
tempting treasure which the nations
will eagerly seek when once they
are through destroying one another.
Everybody knows thla. Ask your
banker How are we going to keep
that gold supply Intact? It la rath
er Important we should, for the abil
ity of our domestic banks to give
credits to you and to your fellows
all over America, farmer and mer
chant alike, resta. In the last an
alysla, upon the gold reserve. Di
minish that and you diminish your
possible cn 41t«. Diminish It rar
enough and you restrict your cred
its. Diminish It too far and your
factories cannot borrow for their
needa.
The fore'gn trade Is that which
Axes Ihe permanence of this gold
supply. We must needs buy of
others things we cannot produce
rubber. for example, coffee, tin and
other things We muat pay for
them either with gold or goods. If
we do not pay for enough of them
In goods the balance muat be paid
In gold.
Foreign salesmanship calls for the
keenly managed shop at home to
back the keenly searching man In
the field Foreign salesmanship
calls for character and courage and
care; for It la a large and not a
little profession, s human and not
a merely industrial thing, and in
the last analysis it and all that It
Involves rests upon the quality of
American manhood.
SAYS U. S. HAS
TOO MUCH "PEP”
By Senator Lafayette Young, Editor
Dea Moines Capital.
Uncle Sam’s principal reputation
Is as a farmer and the careless user
of language. But he can be a world’s
power, as a manufacturer and ship
per, if he will be energetic and care
ful.
Uncle Sam’s domain Is so big that
It ought to be an inspiration to every
salesman be send# abroad. Home of
bis talesmen are accused of being
swollen with pnde, to such an ex
tent that they refuse to ask a cus
tomer what be wants, prefirnng to
tell him what he ought to have This
same pride cause# him to think that
his language is universal and that
hla customer Is a blockhead for not
underntandlng It. Instead of being
polite and attempting to acquire the
other man’s language, he tries to
substitute his own. This la due to
too much American blood pressure.
Uncle Ham has been selling goods
In other lands and delivering the
same by means of ships belonging
to his principal competitors. Hla
American goods are sent out In Brit
ish, German, French or Japanese
bottoms. He must ask his principal
competitors to furnish the delivery
wagons. Suppose Hugh Chalmers
and myself owned the only two
hotels in Detroit. Suppose we were
competitors In securing guest* for
our hotels. Suppose I owned the
only bus line by which Hugh Chal
mers passengers murt be delivered,
as well as my own, how many guests
would Hugh Chalmers have In hla
hotel until after I knew that all the
beds In my hotel were filled?
Uncle Sara la Juat m that flx.
when he engage* In shipping to for
eign countries. His competitors own
the only omnibuses. They will de
liver hie goods after they have
carefully delivered their own.
Uncle Sam blusters and declares
he pays the biggest wages In the
world and he doea, hut he must have
men of genius to make patterns and
plans, and he must have the ma
chines to turn out the product or
else he will not be able to compete
with thoee part# of the world where
farm laborers can not earn S4O per
month.
Uncle Ram as a salesman la full
of steam and energy and he will talk
about the old star spangled banner
and the glories of the republic, but
he must get his feet down on thn
earth when he und»rLik«»s to com
pete with other countries. He must
have hanks through which to handle
his money in South America, In
China and Japan. He must have
every facility which every other
country has as to ate&mships. Ha
must learn not to tell the man In
some other country that his clothes
do not fit him; but he must assure
him that he has the finest tailor on
earth. He la not out In the world
to reform th» dres# of men and
Borneo r.or to brag about the re
public. lie is out to sell goods.
Uncle Han. has supplanted the
pound with the dollar as the com
mercial yardstick, hut he ought to
he well enough satisfied with (hat
not to sav much about It And If
Europe wants to vet the hands of
the clock forward or bark, to get
more dk> light and to cut down Ibe
gas hill. Uncle Sam ought to let It
go at that
This Is the only land ar.d Uncle
Sam ought to be the only salesman.
Mayor William H. Thompson, of
I Chicago, Is the highest salaried may
or In the country. He gets SIB,OOO
a /ear, and a«rve# four years.