Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1907-10-22
new SCIENCE OF BUSINESS
IT Is MANNER, AFTER ALL, THAT
GETS BEST RESULTS.
Methods Of Getting Rid Of UnweIcome
caIiers-one Man Has No Chair for
Visitors in HE office-Sianais Of
Distress to Assistants.

GetuuS TlQ VI al INV ciCOmc CAlkcI
by sheer brusqueness is a method
that has had some vogue. But bust.
ness men have sometimes made serf-
Gus mistakes in treating callers thus,
and with the growing appreciation of
the value of courtesy in business
most men now err rather On the side
of giving ear to too many rather
than too few of their callers How
these may be dismissed without Of
tense when they have shown that
their call is vain, or have stayed too
long, is a problem that successful
business men have worked out in vari-
ware establishment in the Middle
West with many busy departments,
the heads of which are constantly re-
ceiving all sorts of callers. Their
self beside the executives desk, the
executive pulls out the slide above
the drawers on ore side OF the desk.
interposing what is practically q
counter between himself and his visi-
tor. Upon this he places a hand or
an elbow, and then leaning over he
looks the caller straight in the eye
and says quickly, What can l do
for your"
The manner is that;of salesman
in store on very busy day; the
caller, impressed by the need OF
haste, instinctively says what he has
to say in the briefest possible form.
Whatever action the executive takes,
he takes at once-jots down mem
orandum, calls on a stenographer to
write a letter, or refers the matter
to another department. Every word
and every movement is decisive. Ac-
ton once taken, he says "Good-by"
or shakes hands, according to the re-
lation of the caller to him or to the
business, and swapping the slide of
the desk back into place, he turns
to the work on his desk. About this
action there is a finality that 1t were
idle to try to overcome. The ply
steal acts of pulling out that slide
and pushing it back again act on q
visitor like stokes of bell to tell
him just when his interview begins
and ends Going from department to
department in that establishment re-
minds one of the old story of the
Objectionable salesman who was ex-
pedited down several flights of stairs
and arrived at the bottom admiring
the system" One does admire the
system. A caller leaves the building
in much shorter time than he could
have supposed possible, with sense
of satisfaction Here are people"
he says to himself, who know how
to do business this even if hill
errand has been fruitless
There is a New York merchant who
gets rid of his callers with similar
brevity by having 10 chairs in his
Office but his own. The merchant
sits; the visitor stands. When a cal
Ter arrives to whom this arrange
ment would be distinct discourtesy,
the merchant rises as the visitor APP
pears, and he too stands. The mer-
chant is a busy man, with much desk
matter to attend to every day, and
the condition of standing which he
imposes on his callers saves his time
by giving them a subconscious feel
ing from the moment they enter that
they are just about to depart. The
disadvantage of this is that many
men are offended at what seems an
arrogant reception, even though they
transact business satisfactorily An
other busy man who receives his cal
lers with elaborate southern courtesy
brings their talk to a close by rising
when the call has lasted too long,
reaching out to shake hands and then
leading the caller gently to the door
by the clasped hand and propelling
him out with few final words on the
subject Of the call and a pleasant
farewell. This method is effective,
and it leaves no sting, but it requires
art to practice it. unless it happens
to come naturally.
Of the more mechanical devices,
most consist of signals to Office boys,
assistants or secretaries to come in
and interrupt On very important bus
mess" These are employed even
against important visitors or ac-
quaintances on friendly relations,
who must not be offended even by a
HIT tbo+ fbo;r da0orf,,ra u,o,,lJ ha
appreciated. The head of large ex
porting firm has an engagingly in
formal way of lighting a cigar, stroll
ling over to a window and standing
there with legs apart and hands be-
hind his back, apparently to continue
the conversation at his ease. But his
secretary sits just outside a glass
door, and this attitude of his employ
er invariably brings him in with
huge handful of important papers
that must be attended to at once In
order to catch a foreign mail" This
gives the desired opportunity to usher
the caller out with expressions of
regret. Another busy man has the
his desk where he can unobtrusively
press it with his foot. 1t is an emery
ency signal which calls in an as
sistant. who apologies for interrupt
ing but is Obliged to bring up an i'm
portant matter for immediate settle
ment, and he stands discreetly wait.
ing while the caller makes his hasty
adieu. When the visitor is safely
out he returns to his desk But he
makes sure that the caller has really
gone, for some bores have a way
of returning suddenly to say a word
they have forgotten. and unless the
assistant is still there the story be-
gins all over again. Other men use
other kinds of distress signals, but
the principle is the same in all. It's
disadvantage is that it is of course
dishonest, a form of deceit, and some
men refuse 10 use it.
1t Is manner, after all, that gets the
best results. If a business man gives
callers the impression that he has an
infinity of leisure, most callers win