Before Patterson arrived on the scene, few had heard of the cash register and no one wanted one. Yet the company progressed rapidly from selling 359 cash registers in 1884 to 650 in 1885 to 100,000 in 1896 and one million in 1911. Patterson accomplished this rapid growth by being a true sales and marketing innovator, pioneering many firsts, including: 1884—The first protected sales territory… Patterson was a man who exemplified the adage that necessity is the mother of invention. He began his innovative sales and marketing techniques because he had no other choice. The company he purchased was virtually bankrupt. Three days after his seemingly ill-advised purchase, John Patterson began to contact sales agents around the country because he had no money for salaries. Instead, sales agents were put on commission. However, the agents didn’t want to sell on a full-time basis until Patterson gave each an exclusive territory and promised not to cut their commissions. 1885—The first international sales organization... An Englishman, J. W. Allinson, became the company’s first sales agent when he saw the self-adding wheel cash register in Chicago in 1885. Learning that the register could be adapted to English currency, he ordered one for his business in Liverpool. In the next year, Allinson signed on as the most active agent abroad selling in the British Isles, France, Belgium and Holland. Before the end of the 1880s, agents were appointed in Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Uruguay. Patterson began his worldwide travels in the late 1880s and continued this practice for the rest of his life. He constantly reviewed his growing empire of NCR offices, sales agents and product adoption in each country. In 1896, Patterson set a travel record for himself visiting 50 cities in 15 countries within 60 days. And the first international sales convention was held in Dayton in that same year. Patterson thought globally from the very beginning, believing that at least half of the company’s business should come from the international market. At the start of World War I in 1914, his projection had become a reality. Notably, Patterson placed nationals in charge of offices. Patterson was an internationalist and always impressed upon his overseas representatives the necessity of conforming their methods and operations to local customs.