Dave Kahle Wisdom

Practical Wisdom Blog by Dave Kahle

Podcasts and blog posts to help sales professionals and business executives sell better, lead better, and live better.

I’m glad you found your way here.

I’ve spent 30 years in the business trenches; it’s been full and fulfilling. In that time, I’ve been the number one salesperson in the country for two different companies in two different industries. I’ve written 13 books, spoken in 47 states and 11 countries, and personally and contractually worked with over 500 organizations. I’ve touched tens of thousands of people through my articles, podcasts, webinars and seminars.

On the personal side, my life has been full as well. Coleen and I have raised 5 children, helped with 19 foster children, and enjoy 14 grandchildren. I’ve been a father, a foster father, a stepfather, an adoptive father and a grandfather – and now you know why my hair is grey!

In all of this, my faith is very important to me, and provided me with my “Why” as well as a unique perspective.

As you might imagine, in all of this, I’ve learned a few things. I’ve made lots of mistakes and have had my share of success. And, while I’m still learning, I want to share with you some of the practical wisdom I’ve gained along the way.

You’ll find that some of my ideas will challenge you – as I tend to see things in non-conventional way. As you interact with what I share, you’ll find that some of your fondest beliefs and most comfortable paradigms may be in for revision.

Is This the Greatest Success Principle?

Our actions follow our attitudes.  The relationship between actions and attitudes is so close, that the two go hand-in-hand, and our actions can be seen as outward expressions of our attitudes. While it is easy to connect the two in...

Everything Must Go Through Me

It's a common mindset.  The field salesperson wants every communication with the customer to go through him/her.  However, that idea costs both the company and the sale person dearly and frustrates the customers.  It is an insidious hindrance to sales...

Ideas that Limit a Salesperson’s Results

Occasionally, at a seminar or training program, I'll overhear one sales person mention this to another -- "I have my own style of selling." From my perspective, that idea is more detrimental to that sales person's success than almost any...

Tricky Customer Issues

Here are two questions about tricky customer issues that I respond to in this podcast: If you dropped the ball with a customer, how can you redeem their trust again? How do you know how far to push a sale...

Time Management – the quickest way to impact sales performance

Over the 30+ years that I have been working with B2B sales forces, I’m often asked this question:  “If you could improve a salesperson in just one thing that would bring the quickest and biggest change, what would it be?”...

Why it is so easy to be an exceptional salesperson

Over my career as a salesperson, I sold a variety of products in a variety of selling situations.  From suits and sport coats in a retail men's store, to capital equipment to schools, to surgical staplers to surgeons in the...

Collections by Salespeople for Slow Paying Accounts

We’re faced with many of our customers being very slow about paying their bills. What would you suggest? Should salespeople help with the collections? This is one of those times where the saying, “The squeaky wheel gets the grease” is...

The Hidden Path to Sales Success

In my twenty plus years of educating salespeople, I have encountered tens of thousands of sales people, and worked with literally hundreds of sales organizations. The vast majority of them want to do better.  Yet, the vast majority of them...

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