Summary of The Patterson Principles of Selling

Jeffrey Gitomer

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The Patterson Principles of Selling book summary

Rating

The rating – what does it mean?

At getAbstract, we summarize books* that help people understand the world and make it better. Whatever we select for our library has to excel in one or the other of these two core criteria:

Enlightening – You’ll learn things that will inform and improve your decisions.

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5 –Solid. A helpful and/or enlightening book, inspite of its obvious shortcomings. For instance, it may be offer decent advice in some areas but be repetitive or unremarkable in others. 6 – Notable. A helpful and/or enlightening book that stands out by at least one aspect, e.g. is particularly well structured. 7 – Good. A helpful and/or enlightening book that combines two or more noteworthy strengths, e.g. contains uncommonly novel ideas and presents them in an engaging manner. 8 – Very good. A helpful and/or enlightening book that has a substantial number of outstanding qualities without excelling across the board, e.g. presents the latest findings in a topical field and is written by a renowned expert but lacks a bit in style. 9 – Superb. A helpful and/or enlightening book that is extremely well rounded, has many strengths and no shortcomings worth mentioning. 10 – Brilliant. A helpful and/or enlightening book that, in addition to meeting the highest standards in all pertinent aspects, stands out even among the best. Often an instant classic and must-read for everyone. While the rating tells you how good a book is according to our two core criteria, it says nothing about its particular defining features. Therefore, we use a set of 20 qualities to characterize each book by its strengths:

Applicable – You’ll get advice that can be directly applied in the workplace or in everyday situations.
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Qualities

Innovative
Applicable

Recommendation

Author Jeffrey Gitomer’s book’s jacket refers to him as, "the modern leader of salesmanship." Given that splashy buildup, his book has to be an attention-getter - and it is. The contents are displayed in modern, freewheeling big fonts and graphics. The illustrations feature intriguing black-and-white, scratchy images of NCR founder John Patterson demonstrating his eccentric, but fundamental, approach to sales. Something about Gitomer’s book is inexplicably charming, perhaps due to his boyish love of industrial history and his unapologetic idol worship of Patterson, an American sales icon. Gitomer, who "revised and revived" Patterson’s rules, obeys the motto, "Think!" In an era when business intently focuses on maximized sales, why not look to history for some winning answers? Patterson’s "Probable Purchaser" concept is a powerful idea, and the book’s dicta are broad in scope if not deep. getAbstract.com believes Gitomer deserves fair credit for this thought-provoking work of industrial archaeology and encourages salespeople to read his book.

About the Author

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible and the column Sales Moves. He presents seminars, speaks at annual sales meetings and conducts Internet training programs on selling and customer service.

Summary

The More Things Change...

"People don’t like to be sold, but they love to buy," proclaims author Jeffrey Gitomer, who turned the phrase into a registered trademark. Naturally, Gitomer’s interest was piqued when his research director told him that John Patterson, the president and founder of The National Cash Register Company, and an early sales pioneer, once wrote: "If the prospect understood the proposition, he would not have to be sold; he would come to buy."

Although 100 years separates those statements, Gitomer was amazed by their remarkable similarity. This echo encouraged him in his drive to understand Patterson, America’s original master salesman. Notably, Patterson fashioned his sales philosophy before the days of cellular phones, wireless Internet and networked computers. In fact, his approach was formed before the telephone was introduced, back in an era when paved roads were the exception and before the Wright Brothers "slipped the surly bonds of earth" in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

John Patterson never wrote a commercial book on sales. Yet, some consider him the dean of American salesmanship. Patterson devised the personality sales approach, compiled...

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