Tuesdays with Gindy CPC Century Points Club

Probably two  of my most prized possessions are my father’s CPC 3 and 4 year pins from National Cash Register (NCR).  CPC Stands for Century Points Club and was invented by John H. Patterson, the brains behind National Cash Register, but not its founder. Patterson bought controlling interest in the National Manufacturing Company and changed its name.

The CPC organization has been recognized around the world as the most elite selling organization in the world ever.  It was founded in 1906 and is still going strong today, according to the last accounts I have been able to locate.

Club members must qualify every year by averaging 100 points per month for all twelve months of the year.  In short, to make the CPC, salesmen must be the best of the best in selling.

I don’t know how many years my father was in the CPC, but the pin I have represents

three years.  As I understand it, my father was one of the top salesmen every year he was with National Cash Register and, for several years, he was the top salesman.

Papa Bruce was able to win several trips to places like Hawaii and Mexico.  He valued these prizes, not because he wanted to go to these places so much, but because it meant he was the best of the best. 

I learned a great deal about selling from my father.  I never made it as a salesman.  However, I later realized exactly why he was able to sell so well.  The big key to all of the sales was rapport. 

I had the privilege of seeing three very good salesmen work their trade.  One was my father, Papa Bruce.  One was my manager at the US Chamber of Commerce, Jim Manley, and one was a snake oil salesman for a cemetery I worked at.

All three were very good at getting sales.  I thought about it over the years and I realized something.   These salesmen never once talked about the product.

These men always started out asking the prospective customer about themselves.

Mr. Manley would always ask the prospect about how they got into the business.  He would tell them about how well they appeared to be doing and asked them more questions about themselves.

By the time they finished telling about themselves, they would ask Mr. Manley what it was he needed.  He would tell them we were on a membership drive and almost always we would leave with a sale.  It was that simple.

With my father, he would talk about the person and ask about their family.  They would tell them what they wanted and he would show it to them.  There was no high pressure.

Once our store sponsored a raffle for the local fire department, or maybe it was the rescue squad.  He wanted to make sure that they sold as many tickets as possible.

Customers would come in the store and he would say, “Give me a dollar.”  By this time he had such a good rapport with our customers that, without fail, they would reach in their pocket and hand him a dollar.  He would then give them the ticket book and tell them to fill out the ticket stub for a raffle ticket. 

Papa sold hundreds of tickets this way.

With the snake oil salesman at the cemetery, he talked about everything except the cemetery and then they would ask him about plots.  He would sell them things that they thought were one thing, but were really something else.  This was for a Fortune 500 Company.

I quit that company because I could not sell their way.

Our oldest daughter, Whitney will inherit the 3 year pin. Our youngest daughter Maeghan will inherit the 4 year CPC pin along with Papa’s Gallon pin he was awarded for giving a gallon of blood.  

During his life he gave at least ten gallons as for years he gave every time he was eligible. 

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