Throughout American history, a handful of salespeople such as Diamond Jim Brady and Estee Lauder stand out for having achieved enormous success in the their profession. These sales pioneers had a passionate love for the products they sold, and their expert knowledge made them even more enthusiastic to share new products with others.

Great salespersons aren't merely lucky--they tend to follow fundamental principles that can be useful to others. Estee Lauder had a strong desire to make women more beautiful. Alfred C. Fuller (AKA "The Fuller Brush Man") thought brushes were cool. Diamond Jim Brady, arguably the greatest salesman who ever lived, knew more than most of his customers about the railroad trains they operated. Cyrus McCormick showed persistence in selling his McCormick Harvesters--a trait that eventually paid off after years of meager sales. Each of these famous leaders followed some principle or exhibited some personal trait that helped them to achieve historic success.

Business students can learn a lot about selling by studying the sales geniuses of the past and identifying the traits that made them great. By looking back at the traits of famous sales pioneers and applying their time-tested principles, today's business students can discover what it takes to become the sales leaders of tomorrow.