About

After an early career as a professional trumpeter, I held many diverse 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. I worked in the technology sector for, among other companies, Fortune Systems Corporation, Datalogix International (acquired by Oracle Corporation), and Marcam Corporation (acquired by Wonderware, then Invensys, plc).

Getting read for a concert with the Vineyard Haven Band.
Photo: Andy Dickerman

In 1997 I founded the sales consultancy, The Stein Advantage, Inc. We provided expertise and assistance to our clients 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 I’ve worked are: ALLTEL Corporation, AT&T, 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.  Add to that list about a hundred or so start-ups and companies under $20 million in sales.

Through my past work as a sales consultant, coach, and trainer, I have 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.  I understand what works and what doesn’t when it comes to the ever dynamic challenges of gaining and maintaining competitive advantage through sales organization effectiveness.

In 2005 I, along with former Gartner president of research, N. Adam Rin, Ph.D., founded ES Research Group, Inc.

I been delighted to have been quoted and recognized in leading business magazines and websites over the years, including Fast Company, The New York Times, BusinessWeek, Inc., Fortune, and Forbes.  I’ve also bee writing the featured sales column for Sales & Marketing Management magazine for a number of years.

I am a professional member of the National Speakers Association (I’ve delivered hundreds of speeches on an array of subjects related to sales performance) as well as a member of UPSA (United Professional Sales Association), SMEI (Sales and Marketing Executives International), ASTD (American Society of Training and Development) and AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association—I’m a private pilot and own a Cessna 182).  I’m a member of the Executive Advisory Board of the Fisher Institute for Professional Selling, one of the many institutions of higher learning where my book, How Winners Sell is being used. 

In April 2008 I was appointed Visiting Professor of Sales and Sales Management at the Dublin Institute of Technology, where I regularly deliver seminars for their International Selling Programme.

After a long hiatus from music, I’m now playing the trumpet in the Vineyard Haven Band, on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, where I live with my wife and two dogs. 
 

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Photo Credits 
Header background: The Tisbury Great Pond, Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts,
taken by Dave Stein from his plane, Sept 2004. 
 
Dave (wearing a vintage The Stein Advantage hat)
taken March 2007 by Vivian Engel
 at the commissioning ceremony for the new ferry, The Island Home.