American School of Correspondence

“ Accuracy is a habit—the habit of first finding the right way to do a thing, and then doing it that way every time. The habit of doing a thing the same way every time is very important in filing. If the rule is to file all correspondence in the name of the firm from whom it is received, no matter by whom signed, it is very essential that all letters from the firm be filed in exactly the same way—not a part of them in the name of the individual. ”

“ The first step in the organization or systematizing of a business is to determine its natural divisions. What is the nature of the business, and what are its distinguishing characteristics? Be it a manufacturing, jobbing, wholesale, retail, or professional concern, there is some one head on whom rests the final responsibility for the success or failure of the business. He must be surrounded with subordinates, each having certain duties to perform, who will be responsible for the performance of those duties, thereby coöperating to carry out the purposes of the enterprise. ”

“ No thought has been given to the principles of organization, yet they are applied in that little store just as surely as in the immense manufacturing plant.
Ask any commercial salesman calling on the firm who is the man to see regarding the introduction of a new line of goods, and he will probably answer, "Mr. Jones is the man to see; he does the buying." With no thought of organization, the owners of this little business realize that it is best for one man to do the buying. ”

“ The position of file clerk is a sure stepping stone to something better—a more responsible and better paid position. No clerk in the office has a better opportunity to obtain a general knowledge of the business. From the stenographer who files the manager's personal correspondence, to the clerk in charge of an extensive filing division, each is intrusted with important papers revealing the very secrets of the business. ”

“ While not learning all of the secrets of one department, the stenographer obtains a much better insight into the business as a whole—far more valuable as a business training than a more intimate knowledge of a single department.
Every correspondent is benefited by having several stenographers who are familiar with his work. If a certain stenographer leaves, is ill, or takes a vacation, he is not placed under the handicap of having his work stand still until he can break in a substitute. The new stenographer can be given some dictation in each department while becoming familiar with the work. ”

“ Through it all he remains faithful to his trust, watchful of the interests of his house, and has the satisfaction of knowing that in spite of his mistakes but a remarkably small part of his credits prove bad—that where his conservatism has lost hundreds in trade, it has prevented the loss of thousands.
On no man in the organization is there such tremendous pressure brought to bear to secure favors; on no man do the consequences of his own mistakes come back so surely. ”

“ If sales are made by mail, the salesman supplements his salesmanship with catalogs, booklets, circulars, letters—all as surely advertising as salesmanship; in the store, he displays his goods attractively, which is a most effective form of advertising. And so, in the battle for business, victories are won by supplementing advertising with salesmanship, and salesmanship with advertising—combining the two for results. ”

“ In the dry goods business—either wholesale or retail—the margin of gross profit in notions is so small that it is doubtful if, when all legitimate expense is deducted, a net profit is realized. The salesman for a wholesale house whose sales of notions is largest, has made the poorest record; the manager who has kept the sales of the notion department at the lowest price—at the same time keeping his stock down—may be the most efficient. ”

“ There is always a question as to the real value of the accounts outstanding, a doubt as to the advisability of including the total balances in a statement of assets. A live account—one on which payments are being made regularly—is legitimately considered as good an asset as any other account receivable, but the value of the delinquent account—when payments are past due—is questionable, and if included in a balance sheet, the nature of the asset should be clearly stated. ”

“ The argument has been advanced that it might be dangerous to trust a clerk with such business secrets as are found in the correspondence, but in the handling of business transactions practically every one of these "secrets" come to the knowledge of several clerks. Surely, if employes can be trusted with the cash and to keep the accounts—if stenographers can be trusted to take letters of the most confidential nature—a clerk can be trusted to open and distribute the mail. ”

“ When a business has reached a position where a large correspondence [232] is handled, it is poor business policy for an executive to assume the task of opening the mail. The natural conclusion, when a house has a large correspondence, is that its business is correspondingly large, and the executive who is fitted for his position can devote his energies to larger tasks with better results. He should be free to look after the big things—to plan greater results for his business or his department. ”

“ The fact that the most extensive enterprises find it profitable to compile statistics setting forth the most minute operations in every department is sufficient evidence of the value of corresponding statistics to the smaller merchant or manufacturer. If a great railway system finds it not only profitable but necessary to compile statistics showing the cost of repairs per ton-mile for every engine in its service, arranged for a comparison of the efficiency of individual locomotives, surely the merchant will find it profitable to analyze his profits. ”

“ Another thing that the sales manager should control is the question of salaries paid to the salesmen. We maintain that the amount of salary paid to a salesman is of no moment provided he is a profitable man. A $10,000.00 man who sells goods at a cost of 10% is more profitable than the $5,000.00 man who sells at 10%, or even 9%, because of the greater volumes of his business. The management should gauge the sales department by net costs, not by the amount of individual salaries. ”

“ In addition to the technical knowledge of the printing art—type, engraving, and paper—and of advertising media, which the successful advertising manager requires, he should have the faculty of applying common-sense system in the handling of his work. An elaborate system, which oversteps legitimate bounds and enters the realm of red tape, is to be deplored, but the advertising man must have a system of records which will show at all times what he is doing, what results he is getting, exactly where he stands. ”

“ He need not have an intimate knowledge of the entire subject of traffic affairs, but he should be posted on all questions that have a bearing on the shipment of the goods of his house. When no regular traffic manager is employed, the duties of the position fall on the shipping clerk; he is the logical man to make a study of the subject.
Considered from the standpoint of his knowledge of shipping requirements, classifications, manner of packing, and the application of special rates, a man who has had experience in the freight department of a railroad makes the most successful traffic manager. ”

“ The president may act as the executive head, and be recognized as the actual manager of the business, but in so doing he is acting in an entirely different capacity than that pertaining to the office of president. ”

“ The credit man must be firm, and, while availing himself of every reliable source of information, he must stick to his decisions, for he is expected to collect from those to whom he has extended credit. Every other man has a loop-hole through which he may escape criticism; if a customer is lost because goods are unsatisfactory, it may be "up to" the salesman, the shipping clerk, the superintendent, a foreman, or even an obscure [128] mechanic. The credit man has no one on whom he can place the blame ”

“ In the division of office expense one item which must be distributed, at least between sales and administrative, is mailing expense. Mailing expense is made up of labor and postage, the latter being most important.
All enterprises of magnitude maintain a separate mailing department in charge of one person, frequently the chief stenographer. The very fact that postage is the big item of expense in the mailing room, makes a very complete system of records absolutely essential. ”

“ It is only by paying special attention to this point that the collector can learn to treat each account individually. In the first place, the class of goods sold largely governs the class of customers from a credit standpoint. The men who buy sets of business books are, as a rule, safe credit risks. Their training and environment have a tendency to teach them the importance of fulfilling an obligation; appreciating the necessity of maintaining their credit standing, they will make every effort to carry out the terms of the contract, or give a valid reason for asking an extension of time. ”

“ Had any Spanish merchant been subjected to the invariable annoyance which fell to our lot when we endeavored to patronize American houses, he would have given up in despair and remembered the adage of the burnt child, forever.
And, unfortunately, the carelessness of American shippers often costs the foreign merchants good, hard dollars. Tariffs in Latin-American republics are fearfully and wonderfully made, and there is nothing that a pin-headed government employe enjoys more than inflicting a fine for a slip in complying with a little red tape. ”

“ To sell certain low-priced specialties to consumers, the mail order plan is sometimes best, for the reason that it is necessary to reach a large number of possible buyers to find a few actual buyers. This can be done at less expense by letters than by traveling salesmen.
More is being learned about how to use the mails to promote business—how to make the follow-up system an assistant to the salesmen. The manufacturer whose goods are sold to the trade, by salesmen, is learning how to build up his own business by assisting [113] the dealer to sell his goods. ”

“ Whether it be a professional man with nothing but his services to sell and no other means of advertising than through work well done, or a gigantic commercial organization with its extensive advertising campaign and many salesmen, a selling organization exists in some form. ”

“ Many systems, good in theory and which with coöperation would work out in actual practice, have failed because they were forced on the business. A systematizer may install a good system and get it into operation, but unless he has secured the coöperation of those upon whom its operation will devolve, he will very likely find that after he leaves there is a gradual disintegration until conditions are worse than before the change was attempted.
It is seldom that a foreman or a clerk will resent a change if he is [54] made to feel that he is, in part at least, responsible for the change. ”

“ To secure South American trade, we must first train salesmen. They must make an exhaustive study of the different South American tariffs and at least know Spanish. They must be willing to accept instructions as to shipping, and be powerful enough to insist that they be carried out literally. And it would be a good thing for them to take a kindergarten course in carpentry and blacksmithing, so that they would not continue the stupid, expensive blunders of American houses in the packing of goods. ”

“ Special instructions in regard to packing, for instance, are ignored because the American thinks he knows more than his customer in a foreign land.
Before export business is even attempted, the sales department should become thoroughly familiar with conditions in the country with which it wishes to do business. Some man in the department should study the customs regulations, the descriptions necessary, the kind of packing needed, and the size of package best adapted to the country. Above all, he must study the desires of the trade, and conform to them, if he expects to make and hold customers. ”

“ The needs of the smallest office, as well as those of the largest corporation, have been studied and met. Heavy cabinets of solid construction have given way to cabinets built in sections, any one of which can be carried by the office boy. The man who has but a half-dozen letters a day to file finds a section exactly suited to his requirements; as his business grows, he adds other sections; the cabinet grows with the business, making one complete system, no matter how small or how large. ”

“ Treat him as a mere cog in the wheel and he will very likely be content to do as little work as possible and still draw his pay, with no thought of bettering conditions in his department. But show him that you recognize his ability—that you know that he knows how his work should be done—and he will readily lend his coöperation. The problem of securing this coöperation has been given much study, and those who have met with the greatest success have done so by showing the workman that his advice and suggestions are appreciated. ”

“ With such information to point the way to economies in the future, instead of records that show us merely the amount of an expense already incurred, accounting takes its rightful place as one of the most important functions of a business enterprise. ”

“ Of first importance is a record of work done, which is best secured by means of a daily report of the work of each clerk. All work should be assigned by the head of the department, and the clerk required to keep an accurate record of both time and production. This question of assigning the work is especially important in the mailing room, as one department may flood the room with work which, if done, would make it impossible to handle the work of other departments for several days. The head of the department must decide which is the most important work. ”

“ Again, the duties or a greater part of them, may fall on the office manager or the chief accountant. Even in a small partnership where one of the partners is the bookkeeper, the duties exist, and are performed by that partner who keeps the accounts. It must be remembered that the comptroller's office is primarily statistical. It matters not whether the statistical operations involve the keeping of a simple set of books or require large commercial and factory accounting forces with a third division to compile statistics from their records, every business demands certain statistical work. ”

“ When experienced mail-order men, with the courage to try out a new idea, experimented on the plan of allowing customers to return goods, they found that the more liberal the offer, the more business they did. ”

“ If we study the organization of a large enterprise, regarding it as a type, we can more readily grasp the requirements of a smaller business. But it must be remembered that in any event, the individual business must be studied and the organization made to fit the business. A tailor does not cut all coats from the same pattern. ”