After an early career as a professional trumpeter, Dave Stein held many diversified technical, sales and executive positions over the course of two decades: programmer, systems engineer, sales representative, sales manager, director of worldwide sales development, VP of sales, VP of international operations, VP of client services and VP of strategic alliances. He worked in the technology sector for, among other companies, Fortune Systems Corporation, Datalogix International (acquired by Oracle Corporation), and Marcam Corporation (acquired by Invensys, plc).
In 1997 Dave founded the sales consultancy, The Stein Advantage, Inc. The company provided expertise and assistance to their clients from various industries in these, among other critical areas: hiring of top sales professionals; more effective positioning in the eyes of industry analysts; development of corporate and selling strategies to overcome tough competitors; increasing compliance by their sales organizations to sales methodologies that were installed; and re-engineering their selling efforts to achieve new levels of credibility and differentiation with higher-level customer executives.
Among the many companies with whom Dave's consultancy worked are: ALLTEL Corporation, BASF, Bayer, Cardo, Convergys, Hewlett Packard Company, Honeywell, IBM Corporation, Infor, Intermec, The Irish Software Association, Global Crossing, Ltd., Kronos, Lorentzen-Wettre, MCI, MAPICS, Inc., Matrikon, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Microsoft, NEC Japan, NPD Group, Oracle Corporation, Pitney Bowes, Progress Software Corporation, Richardson Electronics, Inc., Siemens Energy and Automation, Standard & Poor's, SunGard, Towers Perrin, Unisys, United Technologies, VSP (Vision Service Plan) and Xerox Office Systems.
Through Dave's past work as a sales consultant, coach, and trainer, he has a unique view of sales methodologies, sales training approaches, and the cultural as well as business changes required for corporations to excel at the sales function. Dave understands what works and what doesn't when it comes to the ever dynamic challenges of gaining and maintaining competitive advantage through sales organization effectiveness.
Dave is quoted and recognized in leading business magazines and websites, including Fast Company, The New York Times, BusinessWeek, Inc., Fortune, and Forbes. He writes the featured monthly column for Sales & Marketing Management magazine. His blog has been featured on the website of Foxnews, Reuters, Nielsen and Hoover's.
Dave is a professional member of the National Speakers Association as well as a member of Sales and Marketing Executives International (SMEI) and AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association). He is a member of the Executive Advisory Board of the Fisher Institute for Professional Selling, one of the many institutions of higher learning where his book, How Winners Sell is being used. He currently chairs the ASTD (American Society for Training & Development) Sales Development Advisory Panel. Dave has also served as an expert witness within the areas of sales and marketing and training.
In April 2007 Dave was appointed as Visiting Professor of Sales and Sales Management at the Dublin Institute of Technology, where he delivers seminars on the subject of international selling.
On the personal side, after a long hiatus from music, Dave now plays trumpet in the Vineyard Haven Band on the island of Martha's Vineyard, where he lives with his wife and two dogs.
(Photo: Alan Brigish, www.AlanBrigish.com)