When we take note of the mines to be worked, the cotton, sugar and other mills and factories to be equipped, the railways to be built and maintained, the demand for motor-cars, the call for agricultural machinery, the use of household utensils of iron and steel, the wire fencing and a host of articles, it is evident that the field of trade here will not yet be cut off.
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.
Again, it must be recollected that the Ibero-American—with a touch perhaps of Orientalism—does not always like to give a direct "yes" or "no." In the latter case, perhaps, he does not wish to hurt his visitor's feelings, and may leave him to infer a negative from the general conversation. This should be understood, and a direct reply not sought.