It is good to have an idol in sales, someone who you can look up to or learn from. This is true in the field of lead generation and appointment setting services. Think of generating sales leads as a rather thankless job, and you will realize why a lot of people leave after some time. But that is not the case for everyone. There will be people who will rise up to the challenge and make a name for themselves.

In fact, there are some who have actually contributed to the history of marketing. Now these are the people that you should emulate. After all, what they do to reach the top is something you can take a lesson from. And who are these salespeople that can inspire you?

1. David Ogilvy – the advertising and message that we see in Dove, Shweppes, Hathaway, and Rolls-Royce could be credited to the mind of this man. He first started by selling stoves door-to-door. He was so good that his company asked him to make a sales manual to be shared with the sales force. Among his teachings that sales people follow until today is not to be a bore when talking to prospects. The longer you can talk to them, the higher your chances of getting sales leads.
2. Mary Kay Ash – the woman behind the Mary Kay beauty products first started as a successful sales representative who quit her job because the man she trained was promoted over her at twice the salary. Her desire to uplift women became the blueprint in for one of the biggest beauty and cosmetics company in the world, and was noted for its use of its multi-level marketing platform. Among its iconic symbols of women empowerment and independence are the pink Cadillac’s that the company give out to its top sellers.
3. Dale Carnegie – his book How to Win Friends and Influence People has become a landmark manual for countless sales representatives. His thinking help influence the sales culture of many companies, the impact still felt today no matter what medium is used. Be it social media or telemarketing, his book teaches people to be effective communicators and to foster healthy team work. He was the first to teach his colleagues to practice work-life balance, a concept not to take full form until decades later.
4. Larry Ellison – the Oracle founder can be seen as a real entrepreneur, or a cutthroat businessman, but one thing for sure is that his methods work. He could be credited (or blamed by a few) for creating a culture in the company that focuses on closing sales leads no matter what the cost.
5. Zig Ziglar – one of the most iconic motivational speakers at present; he is also credited for teaching sales people to immerse themselves in constant learning and training, shrewdly setting B2B leads goals, as well as visualizing success (which actually help improve a sales representative’s success rate).

There are a lot of other idols that you can emulate, but what is important is that they inspire you to do better in your business lead generation campaign.