Sales [UN]Training

Hosted by Kelly Riggs & Pod About It Productions

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Nov 2026

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Your weekly sales strategy guide that will rewire your sales brain to bust bad habits and crush your number. The way that companies train salespeople is broken. Host Kelly Riggs discusses what ACTUALLY works in sales with leading experts in our industry. Forget what you think you know about sales. It's time to train hard and play to win. Kelly Riggs is an author, speaker, and business consultant for executives and companies throughout the United States and Canada. 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. 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. His third book is the award-winning Counter Mentor Leadership: How to Unlock the Potential of the 4-Generation Workplace, co-written with his Millennial son, Robby Riggs. It was selected as the 2019 Gold Medal winner in the leadership category by Axiom Business Books Awards. Note: No trophies were awarded during the writing of this book. For more information, visit www.BizLockerRoom.com.

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November 9, 202632 min

Why Your Reps Can't Close Deals

Why aren't your salespeople closing more deals? The answer might surprise you. The problem isn't necessarily their closing technique—it's what happens long before they ever get to that point. 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 sales leaders to rethink how they approach closing and why focusing on the wrong part of the sales process can undermine an entire team's performance. Kelly explains why better closing questions won't fix poor opportunity qualification, weak discovery, or a sales message that fails to connect with buyers. He identifies three fundamental changes sales leaders must make to improve their team's ability to win business. Stop trying to close on the first call. The goal of the initial conversation is to establish credibility, create interest, and earn the opportunity for a second meeting. Understand the buyer's world. Salespeople must learn the everyday responsibilities, challenges, and pressures facing the people they call on instead of immediately talking about their products and services. Listen more and talk less. Effective discovery means creating meaningful dialogue, asking relevant questions, and uncovering the personal and professional motivations behind buying decisions. Teach your team to speak business. Sales professionals need to understand how businesses operate, including financial fundamentals, management practices, budgets, and organizational challenges. The conversation also explores why generic sales pitches fail, how credibility creates leverage, and why buyers respond to salespeople who genuinely understand their business. For sales V.P.s and sales managers looking to improve win rates, strengthen sales conversations, and build a more effective sales organization, this episode offers a different perspective on what it really takes to close more deals. 🎁 WATCH MY FREE MASTERCLASS Learn how to become a more effective sales leader with Kelly Riggs' free masterclass. 👉 Watch here: https://api.kellyriggs.com/free-masterclass You can also explore the Stop Rescue Selling Masterclass, designed to help sales managers develop their people, encourage accountability, and help their teams take ownership of their results. 👉 Access it here: https://ksr.one/mc 📚 KELLY RIGGS' BOOKS The Five Power Moves: How Struggling Sales Managers Become Transformational Sales Leaders 1-on-1 Management: What Every Great Manager Knows That You Don't Quit Whining and Start SELLING! A Step-by-Step Guide to a Hall of Fame Career in Sales 👉 Learn more at https://www.bizlockerroom.com 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

November 2, 202628 min

The 3 Numbers Sales Managers MUST Track: NFL Stats That Predict Sales Wins, Win Rates & Pipeline Health

Watch My FREE Masterclass: https://api.kellyriggs.com/free-masterclass 🎧 Listen to Sales [UN]Training: https://linktr.ee/salesuntraining ⭐ FREE Stop Rescue Selling Masterclass: https://ksr.one/mc 🌐 Kelly Riggs: https://www.bizlockerroom.com 📩 Contact Kelly: kelly@bizlockerroom.com NFL Stats That Predict Sales Wins, Win Rates & Pipeline HealthThe First 90 Days: A Better Sales Onboarding Strategy | Kelly Riggs Kelly Riggs uses the NFL's most predictive statistics (turnovers, explosive plays and red zone efficiency) to show sales managers which numbers really matter. Learn how to stop the unforced errors that kill deals, go after higher-value opportunities and measure your true win rate on qualified deals. Sales managers love numbers, but which ones actually predict success? On this episode of Sales UNtraining, Kelly Riggs borrows from the NFL to find out. Years ago, Kelly built a spreadsheet to test whether a handful of critical situational statistics could predict which football teams would win. The answer was yes, and the lessons carry straight over to sales leadership. Kelly starts by revisiting the three types of sales managers: those who try to manage lagging indicators, those who manage activities, and those who manage a plan. Then he breaks down the stats coaches obsess over. Turnovers become the unforced errors that kill deals: poor follow-up, missed commitments, weak qualifying and sloppy discovery. Third-down conversions become the ability to keep a deal moving to the next meeting. Red zone efficiency becomes your true win rate on qualified opportunities, not a number inflated by a bloated CRM. Kelly also reveals the stat that sharpened his model: explosive plays. In sales, that means going after higher-value opportunities instead of filling the quarter with small deals that feel easier but don't add up. Using last season's results, including how Seattle and New England rose to the top in the playoffs, he shows how a weighted model of turnovers, explosive plays and red zone rank predicted 10 of the 12 top teams. Finally, Kelly lays out practical next steps for sales managers: clean the junk out of your CRM, define a real sales process with milestones, and start studying the film on the deals you win and lose. Follow the audio podcast and watch OR listen wherever you are: https://linktr.ee/salesuntraining 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

October 26, 202630 min

The First 90 Days: Onboarding Your Team Effectively

Hiring a new salesperson is only the beginning. The real challenge is getting that person productive, confident, and prepared to succeed in the field. In this episode of Sales [UN]Training , Kelly Riggs explains why traditional onboarding programs often fall short and how sales leaders can build a more predictable path to sales performance. Check out Kelly's FREE Masterclass: ksr.one/mc Too many companies focus on HR paperwork, internal procedures, and product presentations while overlooking the skills new salespeople actually need to succeed with customers. Flooding new hires with product information doesn't guarantee retention, and sending them into the field without a clear plan often creates the same unproductive sales behaviors buyers have come to expect. Kelly outlines a better approach to the first 60 to 90 days, starting with context rather than product training. By visiting existing customers, observing products in action, and hearing firsthand how those products solve real problems, new salespeople gain practical knowledge and authentic customer stories they can use in future conversations. The episode also explores how to teach consultative selling, ask better discovery questions, and resist the temptation to jump straight into product pitches. Kelly explains why rapport alone isn't a relationship, why trust is essential in complex sales, and how consistent contact combined with meaningful value helps salespeople build credibility over time. Finally, Kelly challenges sales leaders to establish a defined onboarding calendar, measure progress, and coach through repetition and practice. The goal isn't simply to teach new hires what the company sells. It's to help them understand customers, create valuable conversations, develop trusted relationships, and build the habits that lead to sustainable results. Follow the audio podcast and watch OR listen wherever you are: https://linktr.ee/salesuntraining If you're a sales V.P. or sales manager looking to improve onboarding, strengthen engagement, and accelerate new-hire productivity, this episode offers a practical framework for making the first 90 days count. 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

October 19, 202628 min

The 3 Rules of Coaching Salespeople (That Nobody Follows)

Why isn't sales coaching producing better results? In this episode of Sales [UN]Training, Kelly Riggs explains why effective coaching is one of the most important responsibilities of a sales leader—and why so many managers fail to make it a consistent priority. Follow the audio podcast and watch OR listen wherever you are: https://linktr.ee/salesuntraining Research cited in the episode points to a significant opportunity: effective sales coaching can lead to substantial performance improvements. Yet many sales managers spend their days buried in CRM maintenance, pipeline reviews, forecasting, meetings, and administrative work. When does coaching happen, and what does it cost your organization when it doesn't? Kelly explains why telling salespeople what to do, reviewing deals, helping with pricing, and providing product support are not the same as coaching. Real coaching changes behavior and builds the skills reps need to perform better, even when their managers aren't there. You'll learn the three essential rules of effective sales coaching: Be Present: Observe live sales calls to understand how reps interact with prospects, ask questions, listen, and identify customer needs. Coach what you actually see rather than what you assume is happening. Be Persistent: Consistency matters. Occasional ride-alongs and sporadic feedback won't reliably replace bad habits with better ones. Salespeople need regular observation, reinforcement, and guidance. Practice With Purpose: Help reps improve through intentional practice, from role-play to real conversations at trade shows. Identify the specific skill to work on, prepare before the interaction, repeat the behavior, and look for measurable improvement. Kelly also challenges sales leaders to reconsider their priorities, make time for coaching, and take responsibility for developing their people. If you're a sales manager, director, or V.P. of Sales looking to build stronger skills, improve team performance, and create lasting behavior change, this episode offers a practical framework for making coaching count. 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

October 14, 202628 min

Why Your Sales Team Is Underperforming And How to Fix It

Why Is Your Sales Team Underperforming, and How Can You Fix It? In this episode of Sales [UN]Training, Kelly Riggs explains why sales managers struggle to address performance issues and how effective leadership, clear expectations, and accountability can transform sales team performance. 🎧 Follow the audio podcast and watch or listen wherever you are: https://linktr.ee/salesuntraining Sales performance problems are inevitable, but ineffective management can make them worse. From micromanagement and frustration to unclear expectations and inconsistent accountability, many sales leaders rely on approaches that fail to create lasting behavior change. In this episode, Kelly Riggs breaks down the three major causes of performance problems: aptitude, attitude, and access. He explains how to identify the real issues affecting your salespeople and why simply telling employees to improve is not the same as effective coaching. Kelly also explores why micromanagement damages trust, how anger and frustration fail to correct performance issues, and why many managers struggle to hold employees accountable. One of the most important lessons in this episode is the power of setting crystal-clear expectations. Sales managers must define the desired results, communicate deadlines, and establish consistent consequences when expectations are not met. In this episode, you'll learn: ✅ The three major causes of sales performance problems, aptitude, attitude, and access. ✅ Why micromanagement can damage trust and push high-performing salespeople away. ✅ How to set clear expectations for sales activities, responsibilities, and results. ✅ Why frustration and anger are not effective leadership strategies. ✅ How accountability and consistent consequences influence employee behavior. ✅ Why effective sales coaching and training are essential for improving performance. ✅ How to build a stronger sales culture through better leadership and communication. Whether you're a sales supervisor, sales manager, regional manager, director of sales, or VP of Sales, this episode offers valuable insights into sales management, performance improvement, leadership development, and building a high-performing sales team. 📘 Get Kelly Riggs's new book, Five Power Moves: How Struggling Sales Managers Become Transformational Sales Leaders. Visit: https://the5pmbook.com 🌐 Get more Kelly Riggs: https://www.BizLockerRoom.com Kelly Riggs is an author, speaker, and business consultant who works with executives and companies throughout the United States and Canada. He is widely recognized for his expertise in sales, management leadership, performance coaching, and strategic planning. A former sales executive, two-time national Salesperson-of-the-Year, and business owner, Kelly has also been a member of the Forbes Coaches Council since 2019. His books include 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. 👍 Enjoying Sales [UN]Training? Like this episode, subscribe to the channel, and share it with a sales manager who wants to improve their leadership skills and sales team performance. Music and Editing by @dougbranson and Pod About It Productions

October 5, 202628 min

Best Of: What Can Salespeople ACTUALLY Control?

In this episode of Sales [UN]Training , Kelly Riggs challenges sales leaders to confront one of the most damaging patterns in sales organizations: focusing on what's outside their control. Follow the audio podcast and watch OR listen wherever you are: https://linktr.ee/salesuntraining Economic headwinds. Marketing gaps. Customer service issues. Tariffs. Competition. While all of these factors are real, Kelly makes the case that allowing them to dominate conversations creates a culture of excuses. And once excuse-making permeates a team, performance declines and accountability disappears. Instead, Kelly outlines four critical areas every salesperson and sales leader can control: decisions, influences, habits, and circumstances. From daily prospecting choices to the people your team surrounds themselves with, these controllable factors shape mindset, skill development, and ultimately win rates. He explains why role play matters, why learning initiative should be non-negotiable in hiring, and why improving win rates even slightly can dramatically impact revenue. But the responsibility doesn't stop with the sales rep. Kelly emphasizes that the sales leader is the "thermostat" of the culture. If leaders commiserate, make excuses, or tolerate negativity — even from top producers — they risk being held hostage by poor behavior that erodes the team. This episode is a practical blueprint for sales V.P.s and frontline managers who want to eliminate excuse-making, reinforce accountability, strengthen culture, and build a team capable of performing regardless of external conditions. 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

September 28, 202634 min

3 Reasons Why Sales Managers Struggle in the Hiring Process

Why do so many sales managers struggle to identify and hire truly effective salespeople? In this episode of Sales [UN]Training , Kelly Riggs examines the hiring mistakes that can lead to costly turnover, poor performance and disappointing new hires. Follow the audio podcast and watch OR listen wherever you are: https://linktr.ee/salesuntraining Kelly begins by exploring why salespeople can look like "can't miss" candidates during an interview only to become a completely different story months later. He discusses the role of hiring bias, gut instinct and inconsistent processes, and explains why relying on resumes and surface-level impressions can create serious problems. The conversation also examines the importance of having a repeatable hiring process. Instead of simply asking candidates about their experience, sales managers need to understand how candidates actually sell. Kelly shares specific questions designed to uncover a salesperson's approach to managing opportunities, prospecting and developing new business. One key theme is curiosity. The same curiosity that makes someone effective in sales can also help a manager become a better interviewer. Finally, Kelly introduces a powerful question every sales candidate should be prepared to answer: "Why should I buy from you?" The question reveals whether a salesperson can articulate meaningful differentiation rather than relying on generic claims about quality, service or experience. For sales leaders, this episode offers practical ways to improve interviews and make hiring decisions based on better evidence. Mike Weinberg podcast: https://mikeweinberg.com/podcast/episode113/ 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

September 21, 202635 min

5 Power Moves: Jeff Bajorek Interviews Kelly Riggs

What does it take to become a transformational sales leader? In this episode of Sales [UN] Training, Kelly Riggs turns the microphone over to Jeff Bajorek for a candid conversation about his brand new book, The Five Power Moves: How Struggling Sales Managers Become Transformational Sales Leaders. Follow the audio podcast and watch OR listen wherever you are: https://linktr.ee/salesuntraining Kelly explains why he wrote the book, how his years of experience working with sales leaders shaped its five power moves, and why he chose a narrative approach to make the lessons relatable and practical. The discussion explores the challenges sales managers face every day, including accountability, unclear expectations, and the difficulty of getting salespeople to execute consistently. Kelly breaks down the five power moves: creating clarity, conducting effective one-on-one meetings, using the coaching conversation, developing individual sales plans, and radically transforming onboarding. He explains how these practices connect, why accountability must be built into the leadership process, and why sales managers need courage to establish standards and address performance issues. The conversation also examines the relationship between trust, accountability, and culture, along with the importance of helping salespeople understand what is expected of them and how to execute. Kelly shares why managing a plan is more effective than simply managing numbers and why onboarding should consistently and predictably create successful salespeople. If you're a sales manager, sales VP, or sales leader looking for practical ways to improve team performance, this episode offers valuable leadership insights from Kelly's latest book. 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

September 14, 202636 min

Teaching Sales Leaders to Coach

Host Kelly Riggs explores why 90% of sales managers struggle with coaching and distinguishes actual skills-based coaching from routine deal reviews . The episode breaks down how sales leaders can master behavioral observation, overcome fundamental coaching mistakes, and build an ironclad mindset in their sales reps . Why do three out of four salespeople fall short of their revenue goals ? In this episode of Sales Untraining , host Kelly Riggs dives deep into the critical difference between managing daily transactions and actually coaching salespeople to perform autonomously . Backed by Objective Management Group data, Kelly highlights a startling reality: 90% of sales managers are weak in coaching competencies, and 72% of what leaders label as coaching is merely deal reviews, pricing assistance, or administrative support . When executed effectively and consistently, true coaching can unlock top-line revenue increases between 28% and 43% . Riggs outlines the practical framework sales leaders need to bridge this gap . You will learn why true coaching requires direct behavioral observation, effective questioning using "what" and "how" instead of accusatory "why" prompts, and focusing on one core skill at a time rather than overloading reps . The conversation also covers key traps to avoid, such as using criticism as a substitute for coaching or expecting reps to master new skills without ongoing roleplay and repetition . Finally, the episode tackles the often-ignored concept of coaching mindset . Selling is inherently tough, and reps frequently struggle with rejection, failure, and corporate friction . Learn how sales leaders can stop validating excuses, build accountability, and foster the mental resilience required to hit targets consistently.

September 7, 202629 min

BEST OF: 3 Principles of Effective Sales Training

Sales training remains one of the largest investments organizations make, yet sales performance data continues to show disappointing results. Why are so many salespeople missing quota despite the abundance of training programs, technology, and sales tools available today? Follow the audio podcast and watch OR listen wherever you are: https://linktr.ee/salesuntraining In this episode of Sales [UN] Training, Kelly Riggs examines the disconnect between sales training investments and actual sales performance. Drawing on research, real-world examples, and years of experience helping organizations improve sales effectiveness, Kelly outlines the three bedrock principles that separate impactful sales training from programs that fail to create lasting results. First, Kelly explains why context must come before product knowledge. Rather than overwhelming salespeople with information, effective leaders help them understand how customers use products, the problems they solve, and the outcomes they create. Next, Kelly explores the importance of confirmation. Learning doesn't happen simply because information was presented. Through assessment, testing, and active recall, sales leaders can dramatically improve retention and identify learning gaps before they become performance problems. Finally, Kelly addresses consistency—the most overlooked component of sales development. From role play and coaching to call reviews and preparation, consistent practice is what transforms knowledge into habits and habits into results. Whether you're onboarding new salespeople, developing experienced reps, or leading an entire sales organization, this episode provides a practical framework for building a training culture that improves performance, strengthens retention, and creates better sales outcomes over time. If you're a sales leader looking to get more from your training investment, this episode offers a clear roadmap for doing exactly that. 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