Sales Training: An Independent Perspective. Dave Stein's Blog.

The issue of CRM adoption seems to come up a lot these days. After all these years, many companies are still having a substantial challenge getting their sales forces to align and comply with corporate CRM policies and procedures. I’ve written a lot about sales process automation tools like Dealmaker, White Springs, and Revegy, and [...]

Filed under: CRM, Interview, Leadership, Marketing, Measurement, Sales Enablement | 8 Comments »

First I want to thank all of you who have endorsed me on LinkedIn. It’s a privilege to be acknowledged in that manner by so many of you whom I respect in return.  What I found interesting is that the prevalent category for those endorsements seems to be “start-ups.”  Sure, I know that “start-ups” is [...]

Filed under: Account Management, Book Recommendation, Hiring, Leadership, Sales Strategy | 4 Comments »

After the most recent sales blogger plagiarism incident two months ago, I had the opportunity to speak with Charlie Green. I really like this guy. He’s always a breath of fresh air and reason in this very challenging market in which I work. Charlie promised to send me his new book, The Trusted Advisor Fieldbook, which [...]

Filed under: Book Recommendation, Interview, Leadership, Professionalism, Relationships | 1 Comment »

Great teams of any sort are rarely great without great leadership. When I think of great team leaders, I think of Kristi Fox, Second Vice President of Group Client Relationships, at Minnesota Life, a Securian Company. The Client Relationship Department at Minnesota Life includes 24 associates who manage group life insurance relationships nationwide. Many of [...]

Filed under: Interview, Leadership | 4 Comments »

Thanks to the more than 2,000 of you who, as of today’s count, joined our last Sales Thought-Leader Panel Series either live or via our MP3 archive. Beginning in January, 2011, I will be moderating four new, unscripted, unedited panel discussions on today’s hot button sales issues. Join me online to listen, ask questions, and [...]

Filed under: Buyers, Inside Sales, Interview, Leadership, Measurement, Presentations, Sales Training Companies | 2 Comments »

If you’re in sales management or especially in a higher level sales executive position and you don’t know who the Sales Executive Council (“SEC”) is, you should. They’re part of the larger Corporate Executive Board, a $440 million public corporation that provides insights and tools to executives of large corporations through a participatory membership-based model. [...]

Filed under: Book Recommendation, coaching, Leadership, Methodology, Relationships, Sales Training Companies | 8 Comments »

Today’s Successful Sales Managers: Who Are They, What Do They Do, and How Do They Do It? Panelists: Dave Kurlan, CEO, Kurlan Associates Martyn Lewis, Founder and Principal, 3g Selling Steve Johnson, President, The Next Level Sales Consulting Richard Lane, Partner, durhamlane ltd. Archived The core issue for the discussion on Wednesday and for every [...]

Filed under: Leadership, Sales Training Companies | 3 Comments »

We read a lot on the sales blogs and in articles about A, B, and C players.  Those pieces have covered various methods, learning approaches, and tools for transforming C’s into B’s, and B’s into A players. We have a strong view at ESR about this subject.   With the right approach, time, and support, you [...]

Filed under: coaching, Hiring, Leadership, Professionalism | No Comments »

I don’t hear the phrase “sales culture” very much any more. That’s too bad.  In the past, that phrase was most commonly used in two situations. First, by venture capitalists who were determining if a CEO in whose company they were considering investing had the orientation and experience to support sales to the extent that [...]

Filed under: Leadership, Sales Training Companies | 1 Comment »

Good references are made, not born. Here is a continuation of the previous blog post, Part 1, beginning with step seven of the thirteen-step process: Train your reference. Whether he’s the ally you recruited and trained to sell on your behalf, or someone you met after the contract was signed, you have to train him [...]

Filed under: Account Management, Leadership, Professionalism, Relationships | No Comments »