He
accepted the undesirable stuff, but with a comment in French that,
translated into the frankest American, means, "Never again!"
All this oversight is aided and abetted by a twin evil, a lack of
knowledge of the French language. Here you touch one of the chief
obstacles in the way of our foreign business expansion everywhere. It
has put the American salesman at the mercy of the interpreter, and since
most interpreters are crooks, you can readily see the handicap under
which the helpless commercial scout labours. A concrete episode will
show what it costs:
A certain American firm, desirous of establishing a more or less
permanent connection in France, sent over one of its principal officers.
This man could not speak a word of French, so he secured the services of
a so-called "interpreter guide." It was proposed to select a
representative for the company from among a number of firms in a certain
large French seaport. The firm chosen was to receive and pay for
consignments through a local bank and act generally for the American
company.
Friend "interpreter guide" said he knew all the big business houses in
the city, so he selected a firm which the American accepted without
making the slightest investigation. A bank agreed to take care of the
shipments and the whole transaction was quickly concluded. The American
grabbed the papers in the case (and I might add without the formality of
having them examined by a third party) and left France immensely
impressed with the ease and swiftness with which business could be
transacted with that country.
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