216  SELLING  LATIN  AMERICA

traveling  man—courteous,  polite,  affable,
familiar  with  trade  customs,  national  mannerisms, ­
  and  speaking  both  Spanish  and  Portuguese ­
  perfectly  was  on  the  scene  early,  paying
particular  attention  to  the  demands  of  the
merchant.  If  a  certain  style  of  cloth  was  too
wide,  the  obliging  German  made  it  of  the  dimensions ­
  required.  If  the  color  was  too  subdued ­
  for  the  aboriginal  customer  of  the  native
merchant,  the  pattern  and  pigment  were
changed  to  suit  the  buyer.  If  plows  were  required ­
  with  one  handle  instead  of  two,  so  that
the  farmer  could  have  the  other  free  for
manipulating  his  cigarette,  his  wish  was  cheerfully ­
  complied  with.  The  idea  that  filled  the
mind  of  the  salesmen  from  Europe  was  to
give  the  customer  just  what  he  wanted,  and
this  rule  was  never  deviated  from.  No  attempt ­
  was  made  to  force  the  storekeeper  to
adopt  the  customs  of  Europe  in  anything,  but
stress  was  laid  on  the  fact  that  their  only  object ­
  was  to  oblige  in  every  way  the  buyer,  and
cater  to  his  demands.  The  suggestion  from
the  storekeeper  that  he  got  six  months’  time