Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory

By Kelly Riggs | Sales + Leadership

This past week the OKC Thunder managed to squander a 3-1 series lead over the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Western Conference Finals. As a fan, that one was difficult to swallow, although, to be fair, it’s not unheard of. Still, I can’t help but think that the Thunder managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. They took a game from the Warriors on the road, pummeled them twice at home, and had tremendous momentum to go with their 3-1 series lead. And then they went all “Wendy’s” on us…

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Great Salespeople Are Born. AND Trained.

By Kelly Riggs | Sales + Leadership

I think the idea of a “born salesperson” is exactly what keeps companies (or specific managers) from training their salespeople and improving performance. After all, if salespeople are “born” to be salespeople, and will be successful simply because they were born to that role, why would you need to train them? And that’s what people say: Salespeople are “born, not trained.” Which is the absolute worst excuse imaginable for failure: “S/he is just not a born salesperson.”

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Regarding Performance and Happy Employees

By Kelly Riggs | Sales + Leadership

Most companies talk a good game when it comes to employees. They usually say the right things. Like: “Our employees are our most important asset.” Well, of course they are. Until they aren’t. Which usually happens when a company has to choose between happy employees and better performance. They are REALLY important…up to a point.

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Your Salespeople Are Hiding Their Mistakes

By Kelly Riggs | Sales + Leadership

The odds are really good that many of your salespeople are ineffective in presenting a product or service solution to your customers. But you probably have no idea just how bad. They keep telling you it’s the customer, or the marketplace, or your prices are too high, or the leads suck or some such nonsense, and the reality is they simply aren’t very good.

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