By means of a look to the past MANA-member Bruce Whitley lets Agency Sales’ readers know that paths paved years ago can still lead to business success today.

Whitley, Canacast Sales & Marketing, Ltd., British, Columbia, Canada, supplied a Code of Ethics followed by his grandfather more than 90 years ago. According to Whitley, “This was written by my grandfather, William Daniel Harris, who was at that time the president of ACT (Associated Canadian Travelers), a Canadian National Sales Organization. He lived in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. While this was written 91 years ago, it reflects the basis of how we should be conducting business today. I have this framed and hanging in my office, and every once in a while when things get tough, I look at it for a little comfort.”

Whitley explained that Harris “…was a manufacturers’ representative in the shoe business, and he prospered during the Depression as a result of a contract he had set up to supply the Canadian military with boots.”

“I’m sure my grandfather would be proud to know that this Code of Ethics might be meaningful to others in this day and age!”

Whitley, who has owned a manufacturers’ rep agency in the food packaging business for 41 years, adds that in addition to his grandfather being a rep, his father was a partner in a rep agency in the hardware and kitchenware business for most of his life. “I guess we all loved the challenge of selling as a life’s profession. It has been good to each of us, for sure.”

He adds, “The sales profession has changed a lot in 91 years, but being of good character is still number one in my book.”