The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-03-11
Frederick Haskin's Letter
sspsaal
The Foreign Business of America.

7 course at one of the universities II
| Washington, specializing with "a,
gard to Latin-American. His stn5
les include Spanish, physical geoe
raphy, principles of accounting e9
port sales practice, staple commo5.
tiles of world trade, histories :,
| Latin-American countries, and for,
eign trade conventions. When Iris
list is compared with the studv
only of a foreign tongue, it is sesn
what strides America has taken IN
recognizing the groundwork necas
sary for preparing young men to ro
out and creditably represent AmeT-
lean business abroad. The studias
enumerated above are only those in
cluded in the first year Curriculum
at this university.
1t is a fact that our Latin-Amar.
lean trade has a lock on it thar is
turned with the key of social graces
To be a successful salesman II
those countries, one must be not
only a master of knowledge ~
what he has to sell, but well versed
in the social forms so dear 10 tbe
Spanish-American heart, and thor
oughly aware Of the way our soutb-
ern neighbors prefer to do business
The breezy type of salesman WIN
tries to get into a town on one train
and out on the next, dealing with
Central and South American mer-
chants, will have nothing to show in
the way of orders.
In our own country. there ara
statesmen who will visit four or five
towns between dawn and dark. That
method in Latin-America would re-
suit in absolute failure.
The salesman dealing with mer-
chants of the countries to the south
must go slowly. Knowing this.
many large export houses in the
United States have brought men
into their home Offices who have
been trained in Central and South
America, men who know not only
the needs of those countries, but the
habits and customs as well. The
judgment of these men is used in
selecting men who probably will
make good.
Harder to Land Jobs.
With the realization that much
more is necessary than the ability
to talk and understand the Spanish
tongue, it is becoming harder each
year to be chosen for commercial
work in the Latin-American field.
The standard is ever rising. It may
be truly said that commercial scien-
lists now are in charge and are di-
recting the Latin-American trade Of
the United States.
American business blundered in
to many queer situations when 1t
started out to capture foreign trade.
In one incident, a South American
firm wanted to purchase 100000
worth of shirts. 1t sent represen-
tatiVe to the United States to make
the purchase. Many concerns were
interviewed. The foreign buyer
wanted a certain alteration made
in the style of the shirts. Not one
of the American houses would con-
sent to this, and in desperation the
South American agent sailed for
England. Even there the shirt
makers would not meet the South
American requirements, and the
buyer went on to Germany. The
first firm upon which he called told
him that of course the alterations
could be made, got the exact speci-
fications, and shipped the whole
consignment within three weeks.
e Too often American blindness to
foreign attitudes has caused the
loss of millions of dollars. The
American mistake frequently has
been to put bIindly into effect sys-
TENS which have been successful at
home. For instance, several Amer
lean firms put millions of dollars
into big electric advertising signs
in cities of France. After al OF
this money had been spent the
American merchants responsible
learned that the French people will
not buy goods advertised in this
way.
Our foreign trade has gone
through the mill of bitter expert
ence. Luckily it has profted by its
mistakes of the past. Now big
exporting concern gives as much
thought and care to picking its for
eign representatives as it does to
picking its chief executives in the
home Office.