Spanish America, Its Romance, Reality and Future, Vol. 2 (of 2)Enock, C. Reginald (Charles Reginald)
History
Spanish America, Its Romance, Reality and Future, Vol. 2 (of 2)
Enock, C. Reginald (Charles Reginald)
Latin America
In the superior textile again, skill has not yet reached a capacity
to supply all wants. The growing requirements of people to be clothed
by the best class of goods will doubtless long keep up the imports of
such, unless governments institute absolutely prohibitive tariffs--a
matter upon which it is impossible to speculate.
It would be out of our province here to deal in detail with the various
articles of trade in the Latin American field. There are recent sources
of such information which fill all requirements.[41]
There is an important condition in connection with the conduct of
business in Spanish America. This is, in the more leisurely and
courteous bearing observed in such transactions, and the commercial
traveller or his chief is well advised to study it.
The merchant or business man here will not be hustled or too
brutally--in a commercial sense--approached. A friendly chat, inquiries
as to matters of mutual interest, or upon current events, or regarding
the members of each other's family, or other subjects general or
politely personal, paves the way to the more concrete business of the
occasion.
"Personality" counts for much in Spanish American relations, not only
in society but in business. The Spanish-speaking people have a word
for which in English we have no exact equivalent; that is the word,
or adjective, _simpatico_ (or the feminine form _simpatica_). It does
not necessarily mean exactly "sympathetic" or "personal magnetism"--to
use the latter rather stupid English term. It means intuitive,
comprehensive. A person who is _simpatico_ may command much greater
attention than one who is not.
It is to be recollected that the Latin American man of any position is,
or aims at being, a _caballero_, a gentleman, and it is to be remarked
that this is a pleasing and valuable ideal, which might well be more
closely cultivated amid the often boorish methods of Anglo-Saxondom.
Thus your commercial traveller should accept the proffered cigar or
cigarette--there is generally such an offer--of his desired client, or
offer one himself, and not attempt to come immediately to the point
or instantly thrust his wares beneath the nose of the person upon whom
he calls, hoping to make an immediate sale and rush out to perform the
same operation on perhaps a rival dealer next door.
That "Time is money" has also its rendering in Spanish: _Tiempo
es oro_, and it does not follow that business will be delayed by
diplomatic methods. Yet this habit of courtesy should not merely be
acquired as a trick. Business is sometimes carried through in a quicker
way than in Europe or the United States, and the term the "land of
_mañana_" has often been over-applied, at least as regards business
transactions.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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