A Salesman's Letters

BY JACK DIONNE

Virgil Shepherd, c lile-long lriend ol nine, scys thcrt the difference between cm engdneer qnd c sclesurcm is, thcrt cm engineer is ninety per cent bull crnd ten per cent slide-rule,'while c scrlesnrm knows nothing crt crll about cr slide-rule. Virgil should know. He wcs cmd IS cr sclesurcrn-c mighty good one.

But it is not the purpose oI this pcrge ct lhis tirne to discuss ihe difference between the engineer <md the salesmcra. I'm going to devote this prge to the letter writing ol a successlul sqlesncm. Beccruse wise and sldllful letter writing ccrn be cr grect help to cr smcrt ncrn who trcrvels cnd sells

I wcs recding cbout one ol the world's grrect the other dcy, cnd stopped in rny bcrcks when this stctement ccrught my eye:

*IIE KI{EI'V TTIE SECRET OF FRIEITDSHIP."

And I scrid to mysell-now I'll get sourething lor the sclegmcar's paget for verily I scry unto you thct the "secret ol frien&hip" is the wcr4t crnd wool, the foundction crnd the rool, ol the secret oI selling. And TIIIS is the wcry the writer oI thct pcrge explcrined the "secret ol hiendship" of the gnecrt chcracter oI whom he wrote:

He hcrd c grecrt hecrrt. He WAS cr friend. He lived every dcry so thct he loved crnd wcrs loved in retura. And his grrectest works of friendship were the letters he wrote his lriends. Here you lind cr new thought, I believe. This grect mcrn's grecriest clcrim to iriend-mcking w<rs bcsed on the lriendly letters he frequently wrote. So, let us consider cr description ol those letters; for in letter writng most men cre woelully wecrk.

His letters "brecthed kindness, crpprecicrtion" buth, understcrnding." A mcm who received one oI these letters would !o more pcrrt with it thcrn he would with c portrcit ol his mother. Ecch letter bore cq element oI ioy; cr nesscrge ol wisdom; cr iigger oI wit to give the wisdom flcnror. Every letter wcs short. When he wcs tfuough, the letter ended. No postscripts. He never precrched. His letters never "called you down-they cclled you up,"' up into the sunlight of lriendly intereet. Hie letters were cll short meseages ol geniclity cmd lriendship. He never uttered cr gloomy thought. Only hcppy thoughts ehould be perpetucted on pcper. His letters mcrde you plecrsed with yoursellwith the world. He ccrne right to the poirrU never hid cr gr-in ol kindness under cr bushel oI wordy chaff. A lot ol loose words turn the milk oI human kindness to clabber.

As I recrd of the letter writing ol Eugene Field, described in the fine words curd phrcses of Elbert Hubbcad, I resolved, crs perhcrlx YOU, friendly recrder, will resolve, to do c better iob oI letter writing in the luture-more tersemore humcrn-more lriendly.

The more I think oI it, the bigger the thought grrows ol whct ihe right kind oI wdting could do lor cr salesmcm. And cnen't we qll sclesmen?