The importance of mental qualifications is being more and more emphasized. Effective writing is based on sound thinking, and that is based on com plete and accurate information, such as that outlined in Chapter I, Section 10.
The most important information that a correspond ent can possess is that which enables him to know his proposition from the addressee's point of view.
It is well for the man who attempts to train cor respondents to give some attention to basic consid erations of this sort; and it is a good thing for the correspondent himself to do a great deal of thinking about the best means of improvement. It is well for him to remember, for example, that the big dif ference between correspondents nowadays is in the kind of thinking that they do before they write; that the quality of this thinking depends upon the com pleteness and accuracy of the information that they possess ; and that much or little training may be gained from experience, according to the desire and inclination of the individual.
13. Manuals of instruction, for preparing a manual of instruction or guidance for correspondents, it is well to bear in mind certain effec tive educational principles, one of which is to avoid dogmatic rules stated in dogmatic terms.
The rule, "Under no circumstances, shall a corre spondent misspell the addressee's name. This error is unpardonable. You can't make it and work for us very long," might much better be stated as follows: How do you feel when you get a letter with your name misspelled, or the address wrong? Your addressees are all sensitive people. "They don't even think enough of my business to get my name spelled right," is the way the customer feels about it. Misspelled names and incorrect addresses kill a great deal of business. We naturally re fuse to pay men to kill our business.
Sound reasoning, concrete expression and a tone of sympathy and good nature, mark the manual that is read with interest. It possesses all the chief char acteristics of an effective letter. It is a work of salesmanship in itself. It shows a keen apprecia tion of the reader's point of view. Consider, for in
stance, the first paragraph of the Crane Company's manual quoted in Section 3 of this chapter.
Manuals of correspondence vary greatly in sub ject matter as well as in style of presentation. Some cover all kinds of correspondence completely; in fact, they constitute good practical text books on the sub ject. Others consist of merely a few brief instruc tions concerning the mechanical appearance of the letter; these are more truly handbooks for stenog raphers than they are manuals for correspondents. A review of the Manual of Correspondence used by the National Cloak _and Suit Company will give the reader an idea of a typical manual. From this "text book" the correspondent receives part of his training; for the rest he must depend upon experience.
This manual contains about forty pages, which are 12 inches long and 9 inches wide. The paragraphs are brief and crisp, and many of the important words are capitalized. The first part of the manual, en titled "The Letter Salesman," brings out clearly the fact that good salesmanship is the big requirement in all successful correspondence. Then comes the National Clo‘ak and Suit Company's definition of salesman ship : The manner, the method, and the art of most econom ically effecting the exchange of an article for money to the equal and permanent satisfaction of both buyer and seller.
The close connection between salesmanship and ef fective letter-writing is emphasized, in part, in the following manner: Your sentences may be lined up as regularly as soldiers on parade; your grammar and rhetoric may be so perfect that the most exacting critic could find no fault—but unless salesmanship is there, unless your letters have "the reason why" argument, they won't be the kind that produce results.
Again, this is the excellent description of a sales man as given in this manual: Sincere and convincing, neat in appearance, courteous, knows all about his goods, knows them to be the very best goods in the world for the money, enthusiasm, clear answers to all questions, earnestness, the right spirit.