Are you accidentally sabotaging your sales culture by promoting your top producer into a management role they aren't ready for? It's a classic B2B sales blunder: taking your best Account Executive off the field and expecting them to suddenly excel at sales coaching, performance management, and strategic leadership without a playbook.

Follow the audio podcast and watch OR listen wherever you are: https://linktr.ee/salesuntraining

In this episode of Sales [UN]Training, Kelly Riggs challenges the industry-standard "battlefield promotion" and explains why traditional sales leadership hiring consistently produces poor results. If you're a Sales Director looking to scale or a Sales Manager struggling with the transition from "doing" to "leading," this episode is your wake-up call.

• The Gallup Gap: Why research shows that most organizations promote the wrong people into leadership roles 80% of the time—and the specific "talent vs. skill" trap you need to avoid.

• The Firefighter Blueprint: A look at the unconventional leadership model fire departments use to ensure their leaders can perform under pressure before they get the badge.

• Building Your Sales Management Framework: How to create a Sales Leader Guidebook that defines clear expectations, role-based coaching scenarios, and measurable performance assessments.

• The Individual Contributor Pivot: Understanding the fundamental shift in mindset required to move from hitting a personal quota to driving team-wide revenue growth.

Stop "recycling" underprepared managers and start building a high-performance sales culture based on preparation and process. Whether you are currently leading a team or have your sights set on a VP of Sales role, Kelly provides the roadmap to ensure your next promotion is a success, not a statistic.

Kelly Riggs is an author, speaker, and business consultant for executives and companies throughout the United States and Canada. He has written two books: 1-on-1 Management: What Every Great Manager Knows That You Don't and Quit Whining and Start SELLING! A Step-by-Step Guide to a Hall of Fame Career in Sales.

Get more Kelly: www.BizLockerRoom.com.

Widely recognized as a powerful speaker and performance coach in the areas of sales, management leadership, and strategic planning, Kelly is a former sales executive, a two-time national Salesperson-of-the-Year, a business owner, and a member of the Forbes' Coaches Council since 2019.

Music and Editing by Pod About It Productions @dougbranson

Sales presentations don't fail by accident—they fail by design. In this episode of Sales [UN]Training, Kelly Riggs breaks down why most solution presentations sound the same, feel unconvincing, and consistently fall short of winning decisions.

Follow the audio podcast and watch OR listen wherever you are: https://linktr.ee/salesuntraining

Drawing on decades of observing real sales calls and role-play sessions, Kelly explains how traditional sales training creates predictable mistakes. Salespeople are taught to master the product, build a slide deck, and "go sell"—which leads directly to unstructured presentations, feature overload, and conversations with the wrong people in the room. The result? Confused prospects, delayed decisions, stalled deals, and shrinking win rates.

Kelly walks through the most common presentation failures, including winging it without a plan, relying on PowerPoint as a crutch, and dumping features instead of guiding decision makers. He also highlights the real objective of a solution presentation: creating a clear, compelling connection between what the prospect needs and what the solution uniquely delivers.

This episode is a wake-up call for sales leaders who assume good discovery calls and product knowledge automatically translate into effective presentations. Kelly makes the case that salespeople must be trained—intentionally—on how to prepare, structure, and deliver individualized solution conversations that stand out from competitors.

If your team's presentations sound interchangeable, feel scripted, or struggle to move deals forward, this episode will challenge how you think about sales training—and show you where the breakdown really starts.

Kelly Riggs is an author, speaker, and business consultant for executives and companies throughout the United States and Canada. He has written two books: 1-on-1 Management: What Every Great Manager Knows That You Don't and Quit Whining and Start SELLING! A Step-by-Step Guide to a Hall of Fame Career in Sales.

Get more Kelly: www.BizLockerRoom.com.

Widely recognized as a powerful speaker and performance coach in the areas of sales, management leadership, and strategic planning, Kelly is a former sales executive, a two-time national Salesperson-of-the-Year, a business owner, and a member of the Forbes' Coaches Council since 2019.

Music and Editing by Pod About It Productions @dougbranson

Why do so many capable salespeople fall short of their revenue goals—even after extensive sales training? In this episode of Sales [UN]Training, Kelly Riggs challenges the idea that success in selling is driven primarily by personality, charisma, or natural talent.

Follow the audio podcast and watch OR listen wherever you are: https://linktr.ee/salesuntraining

While selling skills matter, they only produce results when supported by three foundational habits that consistently successful salespeople share. First, elite performers plan everything. From prospecting to discovery calls to territory management, they don't leave outcomes to chance. A clear plan creates focus, efficiency, and more time in front of customers.

Second, they execute that plan with discipline. Kelly explores why time—not effort—is a salesperson's most valuable asset and how distractions quietly sabotage results. He outlines how intentional execution, not longer hours, leads to predictable quota attainment and confidence in the number.

Finally, the habit that sustains long-term success: continuous learning. The most consistent producers are relentless learners who reflect on every call, catalog lessons, and build a deep base of real-world expertise. They don't rely on product knowledge alone—they bring insights, best practices, and perspective clients actually value. This episode is a practical reset for sales professionals and leaders who want consistency instead of peaks and valleys. If you're building a sales culture—or trying to level the playing field against more "naturally gifted" competitors—this conversation delivers a clear roadmap for sustained performance.

Kelly Riggs is an author, speaker, and business consultant for executives and companies throughout the United States and Canada. He has written two books: 1-on-1 Management: What Every Great Manager Knows That You Don't and Quit Whining and Start SELLING! A Step-by-Step Guide to a Hall of Fame Career in Sales.

Get more Kelly: www.BizLockerRoom.com.

Widely recognized as a powerful speaker and performance coach in the areas of sales, management leadership, and strategic planning, Kelly is a former sales executive, a two-time national Salesperson-of-the-Year, a business owner, and a member of the Forbes' Coaches Council since 2019.

Music and Editing by Pod About It Productions @dougbranson