Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language

If You Don’t Do This, You are Headed for Trouble

1. The Jim Farley System – Whenever he met a new acquaintance, he found out his or her complete name and some facts about his or her family, business and political opinions. He fixed all these facts well in mind as part of the picture, and the next time he met that person, even if it was a year later, he was able to shake hands, inquire about the family, and ask about the hollyhocks in the backyard.
2. Jim Farley had campaigned for Roosevelt and months before the campaign began, he wrote hundreds of letters a day to people all over the western and northwestern states. He would drop into town, meet his people at lunch or breakfast, tea or dinner, and give them a “heart-to-heart talk”. Then he’d dash off again on another leg of his journey.
3. As soon as he arrived back East, he wrote to one person in each town he had visited, asking for a list of all the guests to whom he had talked. Each person would receive a personal letter from James Farley. Each letter began Dear Bill, Dear Sally and they were always signed Jim.
4. Jim Farley discovered early in life that the average person is more interested in his or her own name than in all the other names on earth put together.
5. Remember a person’s name and you have paid a subtle and very effective compliment
6. Make the effort to learn a person’s full name, even if its difficult. The reward is worth the effort
7. The Carnegie Rabbits
8. The Pullman Palace Car Company
9. The bigger the corporation gets, the colder it becomes – one way to warm it up is to remember names
10. The Executive who tells me he can’t remember names is at the same time telling me he can’t remember a significant part of his business and is operating on quicksand.
11. People are so proud of their names that they strive to perpetuate them at any cost
12. For many centuries, nobles and magnates supported artists, musicians and authors so that their creative works would be dedicated to them
13. Most people don’t remember names, for the simple reason that they don’t take the time and energy necessary to concentrate and repeat and fix names indelibly in their minds.
14. President Roosevelt knew that one of the simplest, most obvious and most important ways of gaining good will was by remembering names and making people feel important
15. To recall a voter’s name is statesmanship. To forget it is oblivion.
16. And the ability to remember names is almost as important in business and social contacts as it is in politics.
17. Napoleon the Third could remember the name of every person he met… His technique was simple. If he didn’t hear the name distinctly, he would have them repeat it clearly. Then if it was an unusual name, he would say, “How is it spelled?”
18. He would repeat it several times during a conversation and tried to associate it in his mind with the person’s features, expression and general appearance.
19. Another way, he would write the name down on paper, looked at it, concentrated on it, fixed it securely in his mind, and then tore up the paper.
20. Eye impression – Ear impression
21. “Good manners,” said Emerson, “are made up of petty sacrifices”
22. We should be aware of the magic contained in a name and realize that this single item is wholly owned by the person with whom we are dealing… and nobody else.