Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-09-23

| might start paying
John Poole. bills or make good
anticipated checks
some of the deposits were usually
allowed to remain, but the real savers
generally made their regular deposlIS
| in the savings departments. These still
! frequent the banks soon after pay Gays,
in nersuance of a we'll planned thrift
move against the proverbial bad day
| to come. In wartime thousands OF
| temporarily employed yeomen and yeo-
women we're so numerous and In sucn
need of Identification that some savings
banks made money cashing checks at
| 10 cents per check.
Government Employees Credit.
One hears good reports these days
concerning the credit OF government
employees, not only in stories OF tnelr
ability to obtain discounts OF their noteS
at banks and trust companies on one
and two name paper, but OF thelr tnrilt
average and of the large number, VINO
are paying for their homes IN monthiy
and quarterly payments.
Thosn whose credit is established at
hanks and trust companies are thus
enabled to avoid the sharks who col
lect high interest, and in advance, at
that.
From Cleveland comes wall of pro-
test from lawyers against trust COM
panies drawing wills for the general
| public.
This would seem like a most useless
wail over a lost source Of income that
will not come back. The trust COM
panies of today engage the very best
legal talent to look after their affairs
and the best is none too good to guide
an important company, charged with
the care of millions, tens and hundreds
of millions. of moneybin estates and
otherwise. through the varied laws OF
"a states and the District of Columbia
| Then. too. there are questions OF
law coming up every day in bank or
trust company. The trust officer OF
! bank must either be lawyer or well
verSed in law.
very many bank officers, from presi-
| dent down, have fitted themselves by
graduation from law schools to meet
any question at law that may come up.
The subject of taxation, laws OF sur
worship, mortgage and title laws, give
bankers the greatest troubles. one
must also know the laws of every State
on wills. Clearly. the trust companies
are the proper ones to draw wills.
John Poole on Advertising.
Practically every person of integrity
and thrift in your community and mine
wants or needs one or more of the
commodities we deal in. They don't
always know they need it, but they
need 1t Just the same and it's up to us
| to show them that they do.
Our prospects are in every nook and
| corner of our towns-in every line OF
business activity from bundle wrapper
| to boss-they are in the home from
| the child to the head of the family
| from the cradle to the grave, and even
beyond, people need our financial In
| StitutionS.
over and above the routine of bank
| ing-and far more important-are the
! things the banker can do for his clients
| in addition to the ordinary banking
| transactions Whatever it is we have,
let it be advertised and sold on its
meritS--which is the basis of its value
to the user.
The business of banking covers n
broad field in these modern times
practically everything financial and H.
duciary Big balances come from big
stores and corporations. In the average
bank about 80 per cent of the demand
deposits are carried by approximately
| per cent of the customers. These
|
these are the people who need inter-
ested and competent counsel
1t Is the most natural thing in the
world that a bank customer should
| deal where he feles he is we'll and
| favorably knoWn-Where he enjoys the
confidence and goodwill Of the execu-
| tives-Where someone takes an interest
in and understands his business prob
| lems-where he gets what he wants
when he wants it or a thoroughly sat-
| isfactory explanation as to why he
doesn't when he doesn't.
Don't let's stop to list our various
services because we are all familiar
with our stock in trade-if not, Mr..
and highly beneficial session or two
in bringing your officers and directors
up To date.
1t Pays to Advertise.
1t pays to advertise when one has
the right product, the right message and
the right media!
The soul of every business shines out
through advertising Humanity is quick
to sense the spirit that is honest, frank,
clear and kindly. l think it is better
that each advertisement dwell upon a
single point-using a Series-bristling
with variety and interest. This kind
of thing makes people watch to see
what is coming next and keeps the in
stitution in their minds.
Now, gentlemen, to be specific-let me
| tell you few other things we do in our
| bank. ! can't begin to do the matter
| justice because the time is altogether
too brief
Nothing, in my opinion, is more i'm
portant than having your entire per-
sonnet thoroughly sold on the institution
and its policies. Some one must put
spirit and enthusiasm into their hearts
make them thankful for the health
and intelligence which enables them to
, pursue so noble calling as banking
fire them with ambition to learn all the
| intricacieS of banking-point out to
them the glory of gaining on life'S path
way instead of always trying to catch
up with the crowd.
We impose heavy trust in these en-
| ployes with the funds, securities and
records of the bank, but what is per-
haps more important to think about is
whether or not we can afford to trust
their tact, judgment and diplomacy to
| the extent we do, remembering that
| practically all our customer contacts are
with them. The bell rings every time a
| customer is Served-some impression Is
made--it may be good-it may be other
! wise.
These men and women, therefore,
must be personalitieS-not automatons.
They must have that something which
makes them winners. Otherwise they
lose AMI so does the bank Losses grow
ing out of overdrafts. bad loans, tellers'
settlements are plainly visible. Losses
growing out of Indifferent and tactless
employees are not so easy to detect, but
they can do terrible damage.
Talking 1t Over.
I suggest frequent meetings with en-
ployees-talking to them about your
advertising plans and the institutions
policies-telling them the things they
should know about all departments
talking about their own plans and am
! billions. How can we expect our en-