ing vague ideas.
For three cents, you can send a letter coast to
coast and 6 cents will get your message anywhere
in two days. Yet, a phone call over the same dis
tance will cost one or two hundred times as much.
Another good reason for using a letter, or the tele
type service, is that you get a permanent, verified
record that a telephone cannot provide.
If you must call, grab a note pad and jot down
what you want to say, or ask about, in a few con
cise words. Planning any business conversation is
The Shouters and the Slammers
make it rough on ear drums
rumor” man—the golf or bowling enthusiast.
There’s the social butterfly, the gum chewer,
the pencil thumper, the practical joker, the wise
cracker, the newshawk, the weather forecaster, and
on, and on, and on.
None of these telephone faults are intentional.
They are usually the results of absent mindedness.
Good telephone manners are easy to acquire—just
a little extra effort. Consider the other fellow.
Aside from being irritating, a busy telephone
can be costly.
While you are telling someone about the fish
you caught—last night’s bridge game—^your golf
score—the new dress you bought, you might be
keeping them from their job. The time means
little to you, yet it might be important and costly
to the other person.
Last year the Company paid thousands of dol
lars to the telephone companies for long distance
calls. Most of these calls were necessary, but if
one in ten was not "strictly business”, think of the
saving if the calls had not been made.
And come to think of it, the telephone isn’t al
ways the most efficient way of doing business.
For unless the party called is immediately avail
able with the desired information at his fingertips,
it is of little practical use to pick up the receiver
in the first place. Too many times you will be
asking questions that cannot be answered im
mediately. You may wind up by merely exchang
"good business” and leaves the other fellow with
a good impression.
Jamming the switchboard with local calls can
also hamper efficient company operations, so keep
your social calls to a minimum during business
hours.
Don’t get us wrong—we’re not trying to change
over from the telephone to pony express, but there
are times when a phone call has its limitations.
Before you call, THINK!