"There is No Greater Selling Force Than Business Correspondence" An authorized interview with W. W. Duncan, Pres- EAL constructive salesman "Rship can be applied to every business letter, regardless of whether it is a collection letter, credit letter, adjustment letter, a reply to a complaint, or simply an answer to a routine inquiry. "Not only the executive or department head, but every correspondent, every shipping clerk, every bookkeeper, every man in the organization, even if he writes only one letter a week, has it within his power to build up or tear down his own standing within the company as well as the standing of his company with its customers. I can think of no way in which a forward looking man can more surely clinch success than by getting the help of specialists who have made Business English their life work. "Forty of us in the Hood Tire Company are taking the Course in Business English conducted by the Business Training Corporation. After the very first unit we began to notice with satisfaction that it was easy to apply the principles brought out in the Course to our daily correspondence. As a result there has been a steady improvement in the quality of our letters. We have found that it pays to have our work checked up by your staff; for they not only point out our faults, but tell us why they are faults and how they may be remedied. "I believe the Course in Business Building English under the direction of Mr. George Burton Hotchkiss (head of the Department of Business English, New York University School of Commerce) can be taken with great profit by every executive, every department head, and every other man who writes letters in any organization in the country. If a concern's letters aren't important, its business can't be very important. "The opportunities for creating business-for personal advancement -by getting out of the rut in letter writing, are too great to be missed by any intelligent business man." 60-Page Book Sent Free The booklet which the Business In writing for the ed. A. Please send me your sixtypage booklet. BUSINESS BUILDING ENGLISH" without charge or obligation. Name.. Company.. Business position. City... State...... Mail to the BUSINESS TRAINING CORPORATION 269 Cameron Bldg., New York City Supreme In Their Field The TACOMA DAILY NEWS (Evening, Associated Press) The SUNDAY NEWS-LEDGER (Sunday, Associated Press) The TACOMA DAILY LEDGER (Morning, Associated Press) (The only morning paper in Tacoma) Circulations Guaranteed Effective Oct. 1, 1917 the following circula- The Tacoma Daily News 25,000 Flat Rate is Instituted Effective Oct. 1, 1917, advertising will be accepted for The News and The Ledger at a flat rate of 5 cents per agate line for each newspaper. An additional charge of 10% is made for the Sunday NewsLedger. Agency commission will be 15% with 2% cash discount. Guaranteed Circulation Is What Counts The circulation figures given above are guaranteed. The News and The Sunday NewsLedger lead all Tacoma newspapers in circulation and the best part of it is that the bulk of it is paid in advance. New York 225 Fifth Ave (This announcement was published The Daily News The Tacoma Daily News is supreme in its field. The News has more carrier circulation in Tacoma than any other local newspaper. The News has more street sales in Tacoma than any other local news paper. The News has more circulation within a radius of 50 miles than any other local newspaper. The total circulation of the News is greater than that of any local newspaper. The News has more paid-in-advance circulation than that of all other local newspapers combined. Virtually the entire circulation of The News is within a radius of 50 miles of Tacoma. The Sunday News-Ledger has approximately 10,000 more circulation than any other Tacoma Sunday newspaper. VERREE & CONKLIN, Inc. Sole Eastern Agents Chicago 28 E. Jackson Boulevard Detroit 11 Lafayette Boulevard invaluable to PRINTERS' INK of them have attained reputations them that are through their specialized work on this paper. In certain branches of our work, however, we have had to go outside of the organization for men with special training in other directions. The man who has charge of our financial, industrial and real estate advertising-and who is the censor of all this class of copy-we secured from a bank. This man has had thorough experience in the handling of bonds and financial matters for one of the big banks in Chicago. And not only do we utilize him in this line of work, but also in educating individuals in our organization along the lines of his training. "We found it necessary at one time to employ one or two men who had had advertising agency experience, and we utilize their abilities in an educational way for the entire organization, too. "We conduct meetings of the display department periodically, where subjects are discussed and studied that have a bearing on the work of the display organization. "For Our periodical display other booklets and papers have I have before me some very in- Then, too, the Tribune has just completed a careful study of financial and bank business in its relation to advertising, and as a In the Cincinnati Enquirer's ad- have been educated in the newspaper's idea of good display, and instructed, above all things, to talk advertising as a business necessity-leaving out the Enquirer as a medium until the advertiser is convinced that he must advertise. Comparisons with competitors MEN ALWAYS APPROACH PROSPECT Another newspaper that has weekly meetings for its entire advertising staff is the New Orleans Item. At these gatherings the solicitors are asked to read the most interesting article on business, merchandising, distribution or advertising that they have come across during the week. This encourages men to read the trade papers, and forces attention to the value of such reading. At such meetings one of the Item's representatives, either of the display or classified department, often impersonates some local advertiser who is not giving the right amount of business. Usually this part is played by the solicitor handling the obstinate account. Other members of the as if he staff solicit this man were a merchant. This idea has been developed in clever ways. For example, one of the Item's collectors will interrupt these mock interviews and "raise a little sand" about the advertiser's past-due account. Then the telephone will ring at an inopportune time. The interview is made real from every possible angle. "At first the boys took a com edy view of the proceedings," says A. G. Newmyer, business manager. “We overcame that by having actual merchants or their representatives, often their young sons, attend these meetings. Our men were quietly corrected after the meetings for their weaknesses, and in subsequent gatherings they were in more receptive frames of mind. "We also find it most helpful to have our editor, city editor, agricultural editor, and other members of the "highbrow" department talk to the business office. We have had the auditing department explain the difficulties of its work to these men, who always complain about the activities of collectors. "We have one rigid rule in our advertising soliciting organization: 'Always have something in your hand when you go to see a man.' We believe that the power of suggestion is more persuasive than the power of mere argumentthat argument induces argument; that suggestion brings the smile, the thank you, and the yes. "Our advertising department clips fifty-seven leading newspapers every day, and the solicitors give their clients copies of advertising run by advertisers in similar lines in other cities; and they supplement these clippings with locally prepared advertising copy, designed especially for the particular ments. merchant's require "We try to get the advertiser's attention down near our fists and away from our faces, on the theory that more contracts are closed near the desks than near the eyebrows. We have found that the man who comes to a prospect with an idea is always welcome; ideas are the 'jimmy' that will pry loose any advertising cash drawer." SUCCESS OF SOLICITOR DEPENDS ON BREADTH OF HIS CHIEF H. J. Grant, business manager of the Milwaukee Journal, says that the broadening-out process in individuals is usually painful, and in forcing the growth of a solicitor the most careful study and discreet work is required from the executive. He says that most individuals are prone to find a groove at the halfway point in their business careers, and it is necessary to inspire them with courage, imagination, initiative, self-reliance and optimism. Also, they must have full confidence in the superior executives. "The executive must delegate authority so the solicitor may be fully interested by the confidence and responsibility given him. The executive should be approachable and open to ideas, smiling encouragement even when the proposals presented are absurdly preposterous, and should depend on diplomatic remedies to make a convert of the solicitor, carefully eliminating any ridicule. The executive must be sure that harmonious conditions prevail. that cliques are stamped out, and that office politics and gossip are tabooed. To put it broadly, working conditions must be ideal for the proper development of the solicitor. A "Figuratively speaking, the solicitor must be given a 'taste of blood' by being assured of a successful start. To do this, he must be constantly encouraged. timely kind word is often the deciding factor between success and failure. When conditions will permit, let the solicitor be overpaid rather than underpaid, so that he can maintain his self respect and be free from financial worry. A staff of well-paid solicitors can be driven discreetly to the limit of their producing capacity. Underpaid men usually fail to respond, or, in responding, progress to the service of some competitor who appreciates their superior worth. "The influence of the capable executive will broaden his men by developing their personality, while the poor executive can narrow the producing ability of a staff and decrease its efficiency by blustering oppression. These results are quite independent of any training system-dealing only with facts. The executive must realize that it is quite easy to find fault; that it requires no brains to discharge A Market for This fall and winter every member of the Y. M. C. A. will buy at least one hat-most of them will buy more. Probably a good many will buy the kind you are selling. Undoubtedly a much greater number would buy them if you told them why they should-in Association Men. You cannot reach this big market to better advantage than through the advertising pages of this official organ of "the greatest men's club in the world." The September issue was the first newsize, new-feature number. This display page now measures 7 x 10 inches. The rate is 40 cents a line, $168 a page. Y.M.C.A. ASSOCIATION A. P. OPDYKE, Advertising Manager Y.M.C.A. JAMES I. PECK, Eastern Representative 124 East 28th Street, New York HARLEY L. WARD, 19 S. LaSalle Street, Chicago |