Blessed are they who possess tact! Let them rejoice and be glad in the possession of an inestimable gift, and let those who have it not bend all their energies to its acquisition.
Tact is one of the greatest aids to success in life. As a friend-winner and business-getter it is invaluable. One prominent business man puts tact at the head of the list in his success recipe, the other three things being; enthusiasm, knowledge of business, dress.
I know a man who solicits subscriptions for a periodical, who has such an exquisite way of ingratiating himself into others’ favor that he gets nine subscriptions, on an average, out of every ten people he solicits. His tactful approach has won you over before you realize it, and it is much harder for you to refuse even the thing you do not want than to take it.
Tact enables you to pass sentinels, gates and bars, gain an entrance to the very sanctum sanctorum where the tactless man never enters. Tact gets a hearing where genius cannot; it is admitted when talent is denied; it is listened to when ability without it cannot get a hearing.
As “every fish has its fly,” so every person can be reached, no matter how odd, peculiar or cranky by the one who has tact enough to touch him in the right place.
What is this miracle worker called Tact?
Tact is variously defined as “Peculiar skill or adroitness in doing or saying exactly that which is required by or is suited to the circumstances”; “It is the gift of bringing into action all the mental powers in the nick of time”; “It is a combination of quickness, firmness, readiness, good-nature and facility.” Webster’s dictionary gets at the kernel of this wonderful quality. Tact, it says, is “adroitness in managing the feelings of persons dealt with; nice perception in seeing and doing exactly what is best in the circumstances.”
It is in “managing the feelings” of his customer that the tactful man scores his strongest point. It is in sensing his moods, in being able to put himself in his place that he is always equal to the situation, that he always exercises that “nice perception in seeing and doing exactly what is best in the circumstances.”
One of the best means of acquiring a tactful manner is to try to put yourself in your prospect’s place, and then act toward him as you would like to have some one act toward you in like circumstances.
You are very busy, troubled about a lot of things. You may be short of capital, you may have big notes coming due, business may be dull, many things may have been going wrong with you. You may have come to your office upset by domestic troubles, you may not feel well, however well you look. Perhaps yesterday was broken up by all sorts of interruptions. You started out this morning resolved to do a splendid day’s work, and hoping that you would not be bothered with callers. Perhaps you do not feel like talking business. You may have a lot of things on your mind which are perplexing you, hard problems to solve; the reports of business put on your desk this morning may have been anything but encouraging.