STOP Blaming Salespeople! 4 Leadership Fails That DESTROY Accountability | Fix Sales Performance

Why do salespeople struggle with accountability? Kelly shows how the real problem often starts at the top—and what you can do to change it.

If your reps aren’t owning their results, you might be looking in the wrong direction. In this episode of Sales [UN]Training, Kelly pulls no punches: “It’s not them—it’s you.” From vague expectations to weak training and poor hiring choices, he breaks down the four most common ways leaders accidentally create a culture of excuse-making.

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This is not about coddling your reps. It’s about facing the reality that accountability doesn’t magically appear—it’s built, modeled, and reinforced from the top down. Kelly walks through the damaging effects of unclear communication, underdeveloped skills, low motivation, and hiring without grit—and then shows how to fix each one.

He also shares what not to do if you want accountability to take root: blame your people. If you make excuses as a leader, your team will too. But if you’re serious about performance, it starts with extreme ownership.

✅ 4 leadership mistakes that kill accountability ✅ Why salespeople “not getting it” is often your fault ✅ The #1 behavior that shuts down coaching before it starts

Whether you're managing a team or preparing to build one, this episode will challenge you to rethink how you lead, train, and build trust. Let’s rewire your sales leadership brain—one hard truth at a time.

  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