by Dave Kahle | Jan 22, 2026 | Sales-Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle In my twenty plus years of educating sales people, I have encountered tens of thousands of sales people. The vast majority of them want to do better. They want the benefits of greater success: ...
by Dave Kahle | Jan 1, 2026 | Sales-Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle Ok, let’s say that you have created a customer, you’ve actually sold something, and you have some money in the bank.Before you become too enraptured with yourself, let me remind that you are not finished. There is a greater goal, and a larger and more...
by Dave Kahle | Jan 1, 2026 | Sales-Miscellaneous, Sales-B2B
by Dave Kahle Q. How do you handle a customer who won’t stop talking? A. Your question reminds me of an ex-neighbor – the ultimate non-stop talker. A single guy, he had...
by Dave Kahle | Dec 12, 2025 | Sales-Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle This is such an important practice that I have named it one of my top eleven time management strategies. If you have the book, 11 Secrets of Time Management for Salespeople, you’ll see that it is secret number nine. I had to learn this the hard...
by Dave Kahle | Dec 12, 2025 | Sales-Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle I am constantly amazed at the number of salespeople who never take notes during or after the visit with a customer, thinking, I suppose, that they will remember everything important. Or worse, that nothing is important enough to actually remember....
by Dave Kahle | Dec 12, 2025 | Sales-Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle On first glance, this looks like a bit unrelated to the day-to-day challenges of an effective salesperson. What has this to do with your interactions with your customers? Consider the issue of “sales time.” Sales time is the time that you...
by Dave Kahle | Dec 12, 2025 | Sales-Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle I just rode with two salespeople for one of my clients. One of them went off with only the address of the company in his head. He took nothing into the sales call and took no notes afterward. The other had looked up each call in the...
by Dave Kahle | Dec 12, 2025 | Sales-Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle Every now and then, I run across an idea which makes a significant impact on me. One such was the idea (I wish I could remember who first said it) that the surest indicator of success was the ability to deal effectively with adversity. ...
by Dave Kahle | Dec 12, 2025 | Sales-Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle “Mañana.” It will wait until tomorrow. There are times when it is so tempting to tell yourself that, and to actually believe it. Clearly, sometimes it is true. However, when we continually put off for tomorrow those things...
by Dave Kahle | Dec 12, 2025 | Sales-Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle The job of the salesperson is always a bit of a balancing act. On one hand, we continually cruise our territory to see what opportunities look the most promising. We’re constantly scanning the account base to identify that to which we should...
by Dave Kahle | Dec 12, 2025 | Sales-Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle It continues to amaze me that so many salespeople shuffle into most of their sales calls with very little, if any, prior planning. I suppose that is why this is one of the practices of the best. Most surveys of how field sales people really spend...
by Dave Kahle | Dec 12, 2025 | Sales-Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle The best salespeople earn that designation because they write more business than the mass of salespeople. They get the order! One of the practices that contributes to that success is that of “closing the sale”. Unfortunately, there...
by Dave Kahle | Dec 12, 2025 | Sales-Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle Most time studies of field salespeople reveal that the typical salesperson only spends 25 to 30 percent of his/her work week actually talking with customers and prospects. Much of the remainder of that time is spent alone. That isolation can...
by Dave Kahle | Dec 12, 2025 | Sales-Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle The best salespeople understand that their company has assembled a collection of resources into which they can tap in order to further their sales success. One such resource is your sales manager. Now, I understand that the quality of sales...
by Dave Kahle | Dec 12, 2025 | Sales-Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle The best salespeople understand that the more comfortable the customer is with their company, the less risk the customer perceives there to be in dealing with them, and the more likely it is that the customer will prefer their company as a...
by Dave Kahle | Dec 12, 2025 | Sales-Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle Situations in which you must deal with a lot of people always bring with them a great deal of temptation to take unethical short cuts. Situations in which you deal with a lot of money always bring with them a great deal of temptation to take...
by Dave Kahle | Oct 16, 2025 | Sales-Miscellaneous
Question and Answer By Dave Kahle I work with a number of people who have little sense of professional treatment and courtesy for internal customers. The behavior is now escalating to a higher level to the customers, and is giving our showroom a bad rap. How do I...
by Dave Kahle | Oct 2, 2025 | Sales-Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle Almost every professional B2B sales person comes to grips with one of the challenges of penetrating key accounts. Key accounts are different than the ordinary, and require some more...
by Dave Kahle | Sep 18, 2025 | Growth-Personal Development, Sales-Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle One of the most destructive beliefs that hinder a person’s development.Over my 30+ year career, I’ve presented hundreds, maybe even thousands of seminars, and interacted with tens of thousands of salespeople. I’ve learned some things. One is this:...
by Kahle Wisdom | Sep 12, 2025 | Thinking Better, Growth-Miscellaneous, Growth-Personal Development, Leadership-Business, Sales-Miscellaneous, Christian-Personal Development, Sales-B2B
What’s a PIQ Solution? A curated, vetted solution to one of your Problems, Issues or Questions. Whenever I give a seminar, I encourage people to submit a Problem, Issue or a Question anonymously on a card during the seminar. I gather them and respond to each one....
by Dave Kahle | Sep 11, 2025 | Sales-Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle Q. I am an inside sales person who does most of my selling over the phone and internet. How can I be more effective and persuasive when I may never even meet my customers? 1. How can I use the cone of experience when I sit behind a desk, on...
by Dave Kahle | Sep 11, 2025 | Leadership-Sales Force, Leadership-Sales Management, Sales-Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle We’re all aware, it’s the Information Age. We see evidence of that everywhere we look. There is one place, however, the Information Age seems to have skipped – the routines...
by Dave Kahle | Jun 5, 2025 | Sales-Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle Q. How much time should you expect from a customer for an appointment? A. This is one of those many questions about sales issues for which the answer always begins with “It depends.” It depends, first of all, if this is a prospect...
by Dave Kahle | Nov 28, 2024 | Sales-Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle “We need two cases of widgets.” Here’s how the average salesperson responds to that request. “I have them in stock. It’ll be $300 each case.” Ah, but the superstars have a different approach. “OK. Can I ask why you need...
by Dave Kahle | Nov 14, 2024 | Sales-Miscellaneous, Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle I had just switched jobs, going from a salary, bonus and company car to a 100 percent commission position. It was a big risk, but I had calculated the amount of existing business in my new territory, and calculated that, if I could double it, I’d be...
by Dave Kahle | Nov 7, 2024 | Sales-Miscellaneous, Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle Q. What is the best way to deal with a customer who only wants to hear lower prices? A. First, let me question the accuracy of your interpretation. There are very few customers who only want lower prices. One of the reasons why we hear...
by Dave Kahle | Oct 31, 2024 | Sales-Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle The sales presentation is a necessary part of every sales process, of every sales call, and of every sales system. A sales presentation is what we call that portion of the sales process in which you communicate your product or service to the...
by Dave Kahle | Oct 24, 2024 | Sales-Miscellaneous, Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle I believe in forms! I know, that makes me a pariah among salespeople. More paperwork! Are you crazy?No. I’m experienced. Here’s the thing about a well-designed form – it forces you to think thoroughly and methodically. And thinking thoroughly and...
by Dave Kahle | Sep 26, 2024 | Sales-Miscellaneous
As someone who has spent decades in sales leadership, I know firsthand the challenges that come with leading a sales team. That’s why I’ve developed the sales leader’s course—a comprehensive program designed to help leaders, like you, achieve long-term success. This...
by Dave Kahle | Jul 12, 2024 | Sales-Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle Best Practices #43: Is good at managing time, and getting the greatest return for every minute of work. A study was done a number of years ago, looking at the behavioral characteristics of superstar salespeople. One of the top five behaviors...
by Dave Kahle | Jun 13, 2024 | Sales-Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle Sometimes I am almost embarrassed to have to actually spend time describing some of these best practices. There are some that seem so blatantly obvious, so basic, that there can’t possibly be salespeople who don’t do them.Alas, no matter how basic and...
by Dave Kahle | May 30, 2024 | Growth-Personal Development, Sales-Miscellaneous, Christian-Personal Development
by Dave Kahle Q. Mr. Kahle, was there ever a time in your sales life that you just decided to be the best? Or was it something that you have always had? I started a business a few years ago and need to take it to the next level. A. Wow. What a good...
by Dave Kahle | May 23, 2024 | Sales-Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle I can actually remember a time when I thought, “I don’t need to know how to use a computer, I’ll just hire people who do.”Those days are, of course, long gone. Today, I’d be lost without my laptop and cell phone. I even take my laptop on vacation. ...
by Dave Kahle | May 2, 2024 | Sales-Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle Excerpted from Chapter Seventeen, Question Your Way to Sales Successby Dave Kahle Reprinted, with permission of the publisher, from QUESTION YOUR WAY TO SALES SUCCESS © 2008 by Dave Kahle. Published by Career Press, Franklin Lakes, NJ. 800-227-3371. All...
by Dave Kahle | Apr 11, 2024 | Sales-Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle Q. How can we get inside sales to do some proactive sales activities each day? We want our inside salespeople to use some of their time to shift into the proactive mode to make outbound phone contact to existing and new business. I wish I had $5.00...
by Dave Kahle | Apr 11, 2024 | Sales-Miscellaneous, Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle Q. I recently received an order from a new customer for 10 items. We back ordered four of the ten. My customer is quite upset with me and my company’s purchasing agents. Our relationship is strained because of someone in my company’s poor...
by Dave Kahle | Apr 4, 2024 | Sales-Miscellaneous, Miscellaneous
Rarely is a business2business sales call a one-call close. Our products are too varied and sophisticated, and the customer’s buying processes are too complex for that. If we see a prospect for the first time, and aren’t able to identify an opportunity or start a...
by Dave Kahle | Feb 29, 2024 | Sales-Miscellaneous, Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle In the last 12 months, only one out of every 20 salespeople have spent $25.00 or more on their own improvement! Incredible. Let me repeat it to make sure you read it correctly: In the last 12 months, only one out of every 20 salespeople...
by Dave Kahle | Feb 29, 2024 | Sales-Miscellaneous, Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle It’s so easy to become complacent and satisfied with our “relational comfort zones.” Those are defined by the people with whom we have developed comfortable relationships, who can be counted upon to see us and spend some time with us. These people...
by Dave Kahle | Feb 29, 2024 | Sales-Miscellaneous, Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle Q. Occasionally, customers may say they have seen or received a lower price for the same product in order to receive better pricing from us. How would you handle that type of call? A. You mean this only happens occasionally? I’ll bet thousands of my...
by Dave Kahle | Feb 1, 2024 | Sales-Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle What sets the best salespeople apart from the average? For 35 years I have pursued that question. .I’ve read over 300 sales books, authored 13 of my own, worked with over 500 sales organizations, talked with thousands of sales managers and executives,...
by Dave Kahle | Jan 18, 2024 | Sales-Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle Does this sound familiar? You have more customers to take care of, a greater variety of products and services to sell, more information to manage, and more meetings to go to today than you did a year or so ago. Welcome to the compressed,...
by Dave Kahle | Dec 21, 2023 | Sales-Miscellaneous
Q. Dave, I’m interested in what you would recommend for a subscription to a monthly sales magazine and a sales improvement seminar. A. You have touched one of my hot-buttons with this question. ...
by Dave Kahle | Dec 7, 2023 | Sales-Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle Every day, salespeople are confronted with the necessity to make these three time management decisions well: Where to go? Who to see? What to do? The master salesperson understands that consistently making thosedecisions well...
by Dave Kahle | Oct 12, 2023 | Sales-Miscellaneous
Sales is, at its most basic level, a relatively simple process. I recall one of my clients showing me the flow-chart of his sales process. Twenty six steps. That level of detail may be appropriate for that specific situation, but it is an overkill when...
by Dave Kahle | Oct 5, 2023 | Sales-Miscellaneous, Sales-Wholesale Distributor, Sales-B2B
The single most powerful tool that a sales person has is a well-phrased, appropriately asked question. Nothing else compares to the impact a good question can have on the customer and the sales process. ...
by Dave Kahle | Sep 21, 2023 | Sales-Miscellaneous
Remember John Delorean? He was the superstar General Motors executive who started the Delorean Motor Company. When the company began to falter, he was arrested and charged with complicity in a drug deal that some speculated was an attempt to raise money...
by Dave Kahle | Sep 16, 2023 | Sales-Miscellaneous, Sales-Wholesale Distributor, Sales-B2B
Excerpted from Take Your Sales Performance Up-a-Notch Most sales people love to be active — out in our territories, seeing people, solving problems, putting deals together. This activity-orientation is one of the characteristics of a sales personality. A...
by Dave Kahle | Sep 1, 2023 | Sales-Miscellaneous, Sales-Wholesale Distributor, Sales-B2B
It is so easy to do that which is comfortable and easy as opposed to that which is smart. It’s a common temptation to which every sales person succumbs at least some of the time. This applies most dramatically to the fundamental decisions that every sales...
by Dave Kahle | Aug 17, 2023 | Sales-Miscellaneous, Sales-Wholesale Distributor, Sales-B2B
Reprinted with permission of the publisher from HOW TO SELL ANYTHING TO ANYONE ANYTIME©2011 Dave KahlePublished by Career Press, Pompton Plains, NJ. 800-227-3371. All rights reserved. One of the most powerful one-on-one sales calls you can make is what I call the...
by Dave Kahle | May 4, 2023 | Sales-Miscellaneous, Sales-Wholesale Distributor, Sales-B2B
by Dave Kahle There are several very common temptations that routinely present themselves to the field salesperson. One is to become too reactive. When you succumb to this temptation, you eventually default to a...
by Dave Kahle | Mar 15, 2023 | Sales-Miscellaneous, Sales-Wholesale Distributor, Sales-B2B
by Dave Kahle The best salespeople are habitual goal-setters. There’s a good reason for that. When you set a goal, you survey the world of all possible things that you could possibly do, and decide which of those things are the most important. You then turn that...
by Dave Kahle | Feb 15, 2023 | Sales-Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle Q. Dave, I have read your comments about the value of entertaining, and I agree with you. But, I have a problem. I still find a percentage of customers who keep me at “arms length.” How do I overcome this attitude from the select few of my...
by Dave Kahle | Feb 9, 2023 | Sales-Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle There is, in the world of professional salespeople, a significant group of salespeople who cringe at the prospect of someone working with them, and who shun every such opportunity. These salespeople are more comfortable in anonymity. They...
by Dave Kahle | Jan 5, 2023 | Sales-Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle A best practice for salespeople by Dave Kahle Best Practice #25: Maintains good records about customers by using an ‘account profile’ and ‘personal profiles’ for every account. It is the Information Age. And that means that wise and effective...
by Dave Kahle | Nov 22, 2022 | Sales-Miscellaneous, Sales-Wholesale Distributor, Sales-B2B
by Dave Kahle Q. How do you make in-roads with a prospect who is happy with another supplier, who is providing a similar product at a lower price? Product is lower quality, but perceived as the same. ...
by Dave Kahle | Oct 16, 2022 | Sales-Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle We’ve all squirmed uncomfortably watching some talentless candidate audition for American Idol. After they are told by the judges they have no talent, they either fall into tearful disappointment, or defiantly challenge the motivation,...
by Dave Kahle | Oct 16, 2022 | Sales-Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle Only one out of every twenty salespeople has invested $20.00 or more of their own money on their improvement in the last twelve months. Amazing, isn’t it? In a world that demands ever-improving productivity, the overwhelming majority of...
by Dave Kahle | Oct 16, 2022 | Sales-Miscellaneous
by Dave Kahle Q. Dave, I have been a fan for a number of years, and have a number of your books. In the last couple of years, I have grown increasingly frustrated. Why won’t people respond to my emails, return my voice mails, or even see me when I show up in...
by Dave Kahle | Oct 11, 2022 | Sales-Miscellaneous, Sales-Wholesale Distributor, Sales-B2B
by Dave Kahle A best practice for salespeople by Dave Kahle Best Practice # 22: Has a system for selling any product or service that we present. The best salespeople are systematic in their approach to their job, while ordinary salespeople are haphazard. ...
by Dave Kahle | Oct 5, 2022 | Sales-Miscellaneous, Sales-Wholesale Distributor, Sales-B2B
by Dave Kahle Question and Answer Q. How do you sell when you don’t have all the tools you should have? A. I’m not sure there is a sales person on the planet who thinks he has all the tools necessary to do the job. Here’s a list of some of the tools...
by Dave Kahle | Sep 26, 2022 | Sales-Miscellaneous, Sales-Wholesale Distributor, Sales-B2B
by Dave Kahle Question and Answer By Dave Kahle Q. What is the worst single piece of advice to a sales person you have ever heard? A. Wow. I love this question. I don’t think I...
by Dave Kahle | Sep 20, 2022 | Sales-Miscellaneous, Sales-Wholesale Distributor, Sales-B2B
by Dave Kahle Nine tips for dealing with angry or difficult customers. No one looks forward to an encounter with an angry or difficult customer. Most of us can’t help but feel...
by Dave Kahle | Sep 13, 2022 | Sales-Miscellaneous, Sales-Wholesale Distributor, Sales-B2B
by Dave Kahle The best sales people have created a system to consistently acquire appointments with prospects, and continually work to improve that system.All routine, sophisticated work is most effectively accomplished by implementing a system. That’s one of the...
by Dave Kahle | Sep 5, 2022 | Sales-Miscellaneous, Sales-B2B
by Dave Kahle Q. Dave, on several occasions you have said that our customers want us to understand their business. How do we do that when we call on lots of different types of businesses? How do we become experts in everything? A. Unless you are a real...
by Dave Kahle | Aug 15, 2022 | Sales-Miscellaneous, Sales-Wholesale Distributor, Miscellaneous, Sales-B2B
Systematically Identifying New ProspectsBy Dave Kahle Your business, like every other one, needs a constant stream of new customers if it is going to remain viable. The constant churn in the market place means that some of your customers will be...
by Dave Kahle | Jul 5, 2022 | Sales-Miscellaneous
Question and Answer By Dave Kahle Q. You’ve said on several occasions that the most important part of my job is interacting with the customers. How important is it to spend time with the customers out of the office, and what percentage of time should I spend doing...
