When Good Results are BAD for Business

By Kelly Riggs | Sales + Leadership

Stop for just a moment and ask yourself a simple question: What is the defining characteristic of an effective leader? Think about it. What is that “one thing” that causes you to say about someone, “OK, that person is a leader.” If there is such a thing, it would certainly be useful, wouldn’t it? You could just identify those individuals with that one characteristic and get them on the bus!

But, the problem with the question is that it produces a laundry list of responses. A leader is actually many things: confident, decisive, commanding, persuasive, responsive, charismatic, transparent, caring, intelligent, innovative, insightful….and so on. So, you likely think this as an impossible or meaningless exercise. One thing? Really?

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The “Product Pusher” Trap

By Kelly Riggs | Sales + Leadership

One of the key challenges in moving to the Top 5% of the sales world is breaking through the “Product Pusher” trap. You know you’re in that trap when you frequently compete on price; or you routinely submit proposals that don’t get responses; or lots of sales calls end with you leaving (or sending) a business card and a brochure.

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The Invisible Trap of the Most Important Management Activity

By Kelly Riggs | Sales + Leadership

What I mean to say is that – for managers – perhaps the process of determining the most important thing is the most important thing they do. After all, someone has to determine the priorities of the team, right? Which is to say that perhaps THE most important thing for a manager to do is to make sure that the priorities chosen are the right ones. Good thought. Unfortunately, this idea can also cause a team to drive off a cliff.

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The Nonsense That Passes for Sales Management

By Kelly Riggs | Sales + Leadership

When a company needs a sales manager, the first place they typically turn is to one of their top salespeople. That’s no big revelation. I mean, who would we turn to – one of the bottom-dwellers?? As a result of this very common practices, I’m you’ve heard (and probably experienced) that promoting your top seller to the ranks of management is usually a disaster just waiting to happen. You lose your best salesperson, and get (more often than not) a mediocre sales manager. But why is that? Why can’t top salespeople become excellent managers?

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