As of 2012, I've known Dave for a few years. We share a career passion for sales training / effectiveness work and met via social media. It was in LinkedIn groups, though, where we began to see common threads in our sales performance methodologies and recommendations. I remember reading some of Dave's cogent replies to discussions and thinking, "Hey, this guy really gets it!" Fast forward to today, and I'm fortunate to have gotten to know Dave professionally and personally, and while his expertise runs even deeper than the first impression, that initial insight still rings true - he gets it. I've not met anyone with a clearer sense of what's happening in the world of sales training. When I first read his thoughts on "who is the best sales trainer" on his blog, I think I cheered at my desk. The same with his advice on "tips."
Even more importantly, Dave has developed what I'm fond of referring to as the "Consumer Reports of Sales Training," ES Research (www.esresearch.com), where he and a sharp team of analysts review sales training and performance companies, providing very sound, well researched and comprehensive independent reviews. If you are responsible for sales or sales training at your company, ES Research can help you make the right decisions about sales training programs and maximize your training investment. Visit Dave's site for details, but unless you have endless hours to research various providers and compare them, ES Research can save you a ton of time and increase the effectiveness of your process.
In 1995, I reviewed 15 vendors, did an RFP to 8, narrowed to 3, and made a final selection. I believe we made the right choice, but the time, cost and energy that my team and I invested was significant. And today, unnecessary. The process, effort and cost could have been dramatically decreased, simply by using ES Research. Having now seen their work, and given the plethora of providers in the market today and the critical nature of proper partner selection, I frankly wouldn't go through that pain again without engaging with ES Research to get the job done faster and right. I applaud Dave and his team for what they’ve done. See the site for full details, including industry research reports, smaller briefs, and for providers, research and consulting services as well. It’s all impressive, but corporate practitioners and department leaders will be most interested in the provider evaluations.
Most recently, a COO at a company where I worked, engaged ES Research to review the methodology we were about to use to conduct a best practices study, training redesign, and learning systems implementation, to validate the approach, offer advice, and document findings for our Board of Directors. ES Research did a tremendous job with that report and offered some extremely thoughtful advice.
I gladly offer you my highest recommendation for Dave Stein and fully endorse ES Research and their work. Check them out - you'll be glad you did.
Mike Kunkle
