John H. Patterson, 1844-1922
I recently read about John H. Patterson, who was considered to be the father of modern salesmanship. John Patterson was a great communicator and motivator who founded the National Cash Register Company (NCR). He produced one of the first sales manuals in which he included his principles for communicating.
As I read through them I had to agree these words of wisdom are excellent and even though he wrote them sometime between 1884 and his passing in 1922, they are ageless and relevant today.
The nerves from the eyes to the brain are many times larger than those from the ears to the brain. Therefore, when possible to use a picture instead of words, use one and make the words mere connectives for the pictures.
Aim for dramatic effects either in speaking or writing – study them out beforehand. This holds people’s attention.
Few words – short sentences – small words – big ideas.
Tell why as well as how.
Do not crowd ideas in speaking or writing. No advertisement is big enough for two ideas.
Before you try to convince anyone else, make sure that you are convinced, and if you cannot convince yourself, drop the subject. Do not try to “put over anything on anyone.”
Tell the truth.
I cannot tell you which one speaks louder to me, they are all great words of wisdom that are worthy to be written and kept in places that we can see and practice every day.
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