What Salespeople Can Learn from Attorneys (Good and Bad)

What can sales professionals learn from trial attorneys? Quite a bit—especially when it comes to influence, discovery, trust, and the way customers perceive us. 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 uncomfortable similarities between attorneys and salespeople. Both professions operate in the business of influence, but the way information is presented can have a major impact on trust. Kelly explores what happens when salespeople emphasize the positives of their solutions while minimizing problems, limitations, delivery issues, or competitive weaknesses. When customers discover something their salesperson failed to disclose, the resulting perception can damage the relationship and potentially cost the deal. Kelly explains why transparency and proactive communication are critical to sales velocity, particularly when customers are making high-value decisions. He also challenges sales leaders to teach their teams how to avoid looking, acting, and sounding like stereotypical salespeople. The episode then turns to one of the most important skills in professional selling: discovery. Kelly explains why assumptions can destroy opportunities, why great salespeople remain tactically curious, and why asking follow-up questions is often more valuable than accepting a prospect's first answer. He also addresses the importance of role-play and coaching salespeople to develop better sales dialogue. The final lesson: don't turn discovery into an interrogation. Great questions require practice, curiosity, and genuine focus on the customer. 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