1885—The first direct mail advertising… In the early years, sales were the first priority of NCR. To support the sales agents’ work, the company produced Output, a broadside that listed sales, discussed the benefits of the cash register and printed testimonials from satisfied users. The first direct mail campaign was underway. Three years later, 135,000 copies of the publication were being mailed, with NCR using one-quarter of all the two-cent stamps being sold in Dayton. In addition to direct mail, Patterson fully exploited business-to-business advertising and company newspapers. The Output’s successor, the Hustler, was published for targeted businesses and promoted greater profits through the use of the cash register. It was sent to merchants in several versions—Store Hustler, Saloon Hustler, etc. Patterson believed that "sales make news and news of sales makes for more sales." These circulars contained a reply card for readers to request further information. He bombarded "probable purchasers," as he called them, with weekly and monthly circulars describing products. During one direct mail campaign, Bradt & Flint Apothecaries wrote back: "For Heaven’s sake have mercy—don’t send us any more circulars. We have bought one of your machines to keep you quiet." A rotogravure printing press was installed by the company in 1889 to help cut costs and provide more quality control in the perfection of print demanded by Patterson. 1886—The first sales convention… When Patterson acquired the company, the only full-time sales agent was Robert Callahan in Washington, D.C. By 1886, Patterson had five first-class sales agents whom he called to Dayton. In addition to Callahan, there were Harry R. Blood from Chicago, C. R. Lord from Boston, John Crawford from New York and Walter Cool from Denver. They met at the old Phillips Hotel in Dayton where Harry Blood fell ill and was unable to leave his bed. Patterson went to see him and asked for the first time a question he was to ask thousands of times in later years. He asked, "How do you sell?" Blood had been achieving a remarkable record. Whereas other sales agents were quite content to sell a single register to a saloon, Blood had managed to sell a register for each barkeeper. Blood’s big point was that he never brought up the matter of a cash register until he had made friends not only with the owner, but with all the people who would use the registers.