The Oldest but Still Greatest

The history of Sales… it’s something we assumed had to exist but not really anything we have actually talked. I struggling with inspiration with what to write about so I would do a dive and see what I could find. I was amazed how much was out there so, here’s a quick glance at some of the greatest salespeople of all time.

1. John H Patterson – National Cash Register Company
   • John is the original icon and model for a great salesperson. We have him to thank for the idea of scripting sales calls; allowing sales people to overcome objections and make hard sells. He also placed a large emphasize on the customer and their needs. Customer care and support after the purchase was made was key to this. He did quite a lot for the modern sales scene, didn’t he?
2. Mary Kay Ash- Mary Kay Cosmetics
   • The way Mary Kay got her start was through failure. She was passed over a promotion that she had been working towards by a man with twice her salary. Her anger then pushed her to write a book for women in business but, instead, it became a plan for her business. She wanted to let other business woman have independence and the ability to succeed in a way that she was not able to at her old job.
3. David Ogilvy- Ogilvy and Mather
   • David has been termed the “Father of Advertising.” He started out by selling cooking stoves door to door and the company was so pleased with his success that they asked him to explain his tips and tricks for the employees in an instruction manual. In this manual, he taught that knowing that your customer was just as important, if not more important than knowing your customer. Similarly to what Wendy Mascio said just a little bit ago, don’t talk about just the product to them. Talk to them about anything and everything. If the customer trusts you, then they are going to be more open to buying something from you.

I hope that this was interesting and touched a bit on an aspect of sales that we have not talked very much about in class. There many other famous salespeople who have changed the sales looks today so this is a mere brush at the history out there. Until next time, happy Sunday!

Articles I used for reference:

Insightly: https://www.insightly.com/blog/the-8-greatest-salespeople-ever-and-what-you-can-learn-from-them-about-sales/

Inc.com: https://www.inc.com/ss/10-greatest-salespeople-of-all-time