Editing NCR Voyix (section)

===American Selling Force===

[[File:Cash register made by the National Cash Register company, 1913.jpg|thumb|1913 National cash register on display at the Larimore Community Museum in Larimore, North Dakota]]

When John H. Patterson and his brother took over the company, cash registers were expensive (US$50) and only about a dozen of "Ritty's Incorruptible Cashier" machines were in use. There was little demand for the expensive device, but Patterson believed the product would sell once shopkeepers understood it would drastically decrease theft by salesclerks. He created a sales team known as the "American Selling Force" which worked on commissions and followed a standard sales script, the "N.C.R. Primer." This was the first known sales training manual in existence. The philosophy was to sell a business function rather than just a piece of machinery. Sales demonstrations were set up in hotels (away from the distractions of the buyer's business) depicting a store interior complete with real merchandise and real cash. The sale prospect was described as the "P.P." or "Probable Purchaser." Once initial objections were swept aside and the P.P. admitted to internal theft losses, the product was demonstrated along with large business charts and diagrams. The deal was sealed with a 25 cent cigar.<ref>{{cite journal |title= The Machine That Kept Them Honest |first= Gerald |last= Carson |journal= American Heritage |date=August 1966 |volume= 17 |issue= 5 |pages=52–54}}</ref>

Patterson also invented the formal sales training academy, a summer event first set up in canvas tents and called "Sugar Camp." The first known form of direct mail advertising also came courtesy of Patterson, who sent mail pieces to a predetermined list of addresses about his products. Patterson's "Get a Receipt" campaign was one of the world's first advertising campaigns.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Czerwinski |first1=Allegra |title=6 things you didn't know about NCR's John Patterson |url=https://www.dayton.com/lifestyles/things-you-didn-know-about-ncr-john-patterson/K65i9ONHk46rKchxEUN2BN/ |website=dayton.com |access-date=4 February 2020 |archive-date=4 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200204153833/https://www.dayton.com/lifestyles/things-you-didn-know-about-ncr-john-patterson/K65i9ONHk46rKchxEUN2BN/ |url-status=live }}</ref>