ENTHUSIASM 481motor car industry) faced a most embarrassing situation which threat-
ened to wipe out his position as well as that of thousands of salesmen
under his direction.
The company was in financial difficulty. This fact had become
known to the salesmen in the field, and as a result they began to lose
their Enthusiasm. Sales began to dwindle until finally the conditions
became so alarming that a general meeting of the sales organization was
called, to be held at the company's plant in Dayton, Ohio. The salesmen
were called in from allover the country.
Mr. Chalmers presided over the meeting. He began by calling on
several of his best salesmen to tell what was wrong out in the field
that orders had fallen off One by one they got up, as called, and each
had a most terrible tale of grief to tell. Business conditions were bad,
money was scarce, people were holding off buying until after the pres-
idential election, and so forth. As the fifth man began to enumerate the
difficulties that had kept him from making his usual quota of sales, Mr.
Chalmers jumped up on top of a table, held up his hands for silence, and
said, "Stop! I order this convention to come to a close for ten minutes
while I get my shoes shined:'
Then turning to a small boy who sat nearby, he ordered the boy to
bring his shoeshine outfit and shine his shoes, right where he stood,
on top of the table.
The salesmen in the audience were astounded! They began to
whisper among themselves. Meanwhile, the boy shined first one and
then the other shoe, taking plenty of time and doing a first-class job.
After the job was finished, Mr. Chalmers handed the boy a dime,
then went ahead with his speech:
"I want each of you;' he said, "to take a good look at this boy. He
has the concession for shoe-shining throughout our plant and offices.
His predecessor was considerably older than himself, and despite the
fact that the company subsidized him with a salary, he could not make
a living in this plant, where thousands of people are employed.