Business Correspondence | Page 8

2.
ADVERTISEMENTS | | 6. DOCUMENTS --| 3. BOOKLETS, | | |
CIRCULARS, ETC. | | \ 4. TESTIMONIALS | | | | / 1.
ACQUAINTANCES | | | OF OFFICERS | \ 7. PERSONNEL OF --| 2.

INTERESTS & | FIRM | RELATIONS | \ OF OFFICERS | | / 1.
CHARACTER OR |- 2. THE CUSTOMERS--| KIND OF BUSINESS |
| | | 2. SIZE OF BUSINESS | | | | 3. LENGTH OF TIME | | IN
BUSINESS | | SOURCES | 4. LOCATION & LOCAL OF |
CONDITIONS MATERIAL | | | 5. COMPETITION | | | | 6.
STANDING WITH | | CUSTOMERS | | | | 7. METHODS & POLICIES
| | | | 8. HOBBIES & PERSONAL | \ PECULIARITIES | | / 1.
QUALITY | / 1. GOODS --| 2. EXTENT OF LINES | | \ 3. NEW
LINES | | | | / 1. TERMS | | 2. POLICIES --| 2. TREATMENT OF | | \
CUSTOMERS | | |- 3. COMPETITORS----| / 1. SIZE OF PLANT | | 3.
CAPACITY --| 2. EQUIPMENT | | | 3. FACILITIES FOR | | \
HANDLING ORDER | | | | / 1. NEW CAMPAIGNS | \ 4. METHODS
--| 2. ADVERTISING | \ 3. AGGRESSIVENESS | | / 1. METHODS | |
|- 4. OTHER METHODS--| 2. ADVERTISING | (NOT | |
COMPETITORS) \ 3. SALES CAMPAIGNS | | / 1. METHODS | / 1.
SUPPLY HOUSES --\ 2. CAPACITY | | | | 2. GENERAL MARKET \-
5. MISCELLANEOUS--| CONDITIONS | | 3. CURRENT EVENTS | |
4. ADVERTISING IN \ GENERAL MAGAZINES
* * * * *
Gathering the information is apt to be wasted effort unless it is
classified and kept where it is instantly available. A notebook for ideas
should always be at hand and men who write important sales letters
should keep within reach scrapbooks, folders or envelopes containing
"inspirational" material to which they can readily refer.
The scrapbook, a card index or some such method for classifying and
filing material is indispensable. Two or three pages or cards may be
devoted to each general subject, such as raw material, processes of
manufacture, methods of shipping, uses, improvements, testimonials,
and so forth, and give specific information that is manna for the
correspondent. The data may consist of notes he has written, bits of
conversation he has heard, extracts from articles he has read,
advertisements of other concerns and circulars--material picked up
from a thousand sources.
One versatile writer uses heavy manila sheets about the size of a

letterhead and on these he pastes the catch-lines, the unique phrases, the
forceful arguments, the graphic descriptions and statistical information
that he may want to use. Several sheets are filled with metaphors and
figures of speech that he may want to use some time in illuminating a
point. These sheets are more bulky than paper but are easier to handle
than a scrapbook, and they can be set up in front of the writer while he
is working.
Another correspondent has an office that looks as if it had been
decorated with a crazy quilt. Whenever he finds a word, a sentence, a
paragraph or a page that he wants to keep he pins or pastes it on the
wall.
"I don't want any systematic classification of this stuff," he explains,
"for in looking for the particular word or point that I want, I go over so
many other words and points that I keep all the material fresh in my
mind. No good points are buried in some forgotten scrapbook; I keep
reading these things until they are as familiar to me as the alphabet."
It may be very desirable to keep booklets, pamphlets and bulky matter
that cannot be pasted into a book or onto separate sheets in manila
folders. This is the most convenient way for classifying and filing
heavy material. Or large envelopes may be used for this purpose.
Another favorite method of arrangement in filing talking points for
reference is that of filing them in the order of their pulling power. This,
in many propositions, is considered the best method. It is not possible,
out of a list of arguments to tell, until after the try-out always, which
will pull and which will not. Those pulling best will be worked the
most. Only as more extensive selling literature is called for will the
weaker points be pressed into service.
No matter what system is used, it must be a growing system; it must be
kept up to date by the addition of new material, picked up in the course
of the day's work. Much material is gathered and saved that is never
used, but the wise correspondent does not pass by an anecdote, a good
simile, a