The most significant person in the history of sales John Patterson is best remembered for, first, recognizing the potential of the cash register and, second, creating a market for his product where none existed. When asked, "Who do you think was the most significant figure in the history of sales?" Harvard Business School’s Walter A. Friedman, author of Birth of a Salesman—which chronicles the remarkable metamorphosis of the salesman from itinerant amateur to trained expert—points to John Henry Patterson, founder of the National Cash Register Company (NCR). "Beginning in the mid-1880s and continuing to his death, Patterson promoted 'scientific' salesmanship. Like Frederick W. Taylor, the founder of scientific management in production, Patterson carefully analyzed business processes and tried to perfect them," said Friedman. "Patterson saw sales and advertising as driving production rather than the other way around, and he had great faith in the ability of his salesmen, imbued with the proper technique, to persuade 'prospects' to buy the NCR brand." Patterson was one of the first industrialists to effectively use the knowledge of business cycles. He found that a good barometer was the price of cast iron, as an increase or decrease in cast iron prices presaged an increase or decrease in general business conditions. He knew the price of cast iron each day and was able to correct ahead of time for business depressions. Patterson increased sales and promotional activity at these times, which was completely in reverse of the common business practice of cutting expenses and personnel in times of depression. Salesmen are not born, they are as you make them Patterson was also convinced that the key to success was through sales agents. He never stopped improving their ability to sell. He kept in constant touch with them through conventions, training schools, publications, advertising material and "flying trips" as he called his personal visits to NCR offices. Long before the airplane was invented, Patterson "flew" by train to Pittsburgh, Washington, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Trenton, Wilmington, New York City, Scranton, Elmira, Buffalo and Cleveland. During these trips he observed agents’ selling skills, or sometimes lack of skills, and went to work to mold them into better sales representatives for the company. In doing so, Patterson began to gain a reputation as a pioneer in advanced sales and marketing techniques, many of which form the foundation for sales and marketing practices of today. Once novel, the sales strategies he introduced are an everyday part of today’s business world and are just as powerful and relevant as they were more than a century ago.