Art & Science of Complex Sales

How do you turn around an underperforming rep? Why isn’t your product selling? And how do you generate leads without burning cash on ads?
In this episode of the 3 Questions series, Michael Koory joins Paul Fuller to answer three questions on the minds of sales leaders, CEOs, and founders.
Michael explains why turning around a struggling rep starts with desire and a clear path, why companies that fall in love with their product’s features struggle to sell it, and why a problem-focused message is the fastest way to get traction. Because people buy painkillers in far greater quantities than vitamins.

In this episode, you’ll learn:🔹 The two questions to ask before trying to turn around an underperforming rep
🔹 Why falling in love with your product’s features can stop it from selling🔹 Why people buy painkillers more than vitamins, and what that means for lead generation🔹 What revenue drift is and how small accommodations add up

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction00:39 How to turn around an underperforming rep01:45 Why isn’t my product selling?02:46 How to generate leads without burning cash on ads03:51 Bonus: What is revenue drift?

About Michael Koory:
Michael Koory brings 25 year +, merging practical sales experience with academic insights to craft the Guide Selling System™. With a passion for helping businesses thrive, this book encapsulates dedication to transforming the sales landscape.

Why do so many top salespeople struggle when they become sales managers?
Kelly Riggs joins Paul Fuller to talk about his new book, The Five Power Moves: How Struggling Sales Managers Become Transformational Sales Leaders, and the practical moves that help managers turn potential into performance.
Kelly explains why accountability can’t be demanded, the three questions every struggling sales manager needs to answer, and what a Harvard Business Review study of 65,000 employees reveals about the tension between being liked and being effective.
The conversation also covers how to set expectations that are truly clear, why consistent one-on-ones create visibility, how to have the coaching conversation before frustration takes over, and why transformational sales leaders require salespeople to build detailed plans for hitting their numbers.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
03:14 Why accountability is the biggest struggle for sales managers
09:11 The three questions every sales manager must answer
13:13 Being liked vs. being effective
16:51 Clarity, consistency, and coaching
25:08 The SMART plan process
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About Kelly Riggs:
Kelly Riggs is an author, speaker, and founder of Business LockerRoom, Inc., where he has consulted with executives and companies throughout the United States and Canada since 2005.Kelly is a former sales executive, a two-time national Salesperson-of-the-Year, a serial entrepreneur, and the author of 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 was the award-winning Counter Mentor Leadership: How to Unlock the Potential of the 4-Generation Workplace, co-written with his son, Robby Riggs. It was selected as the 2019 Gold Medal winner in the leadership category by Axiom Business Books Awards.
His most recent book, released in September 2026, is The Five Power Moves: How Struggling Sales Managers Become Transformational Sales LEADERS.
For more information, visit www.kellyriggs.com.Want to read the book?

Pick up The Five Power Moves by Kelly Riggs.
📌 https://thefivepmbook.com

What makes a sales manager effective, what does great coaching look like, and why does growth in sales often require getting uncomfortable?
Walter Crosby joins Paul Fuller for 3 Questions from The Art & Science of Complex Sales to share his perspective on sales leadership, coaching, and mental toughness.
Walter explains why managers should focus on being respected rather than liked, what he learned from two influential sales coaches, and why strong feedback can help salespeople improve.
The conversation also explores why the results we want are often on the other side of the uncomfortable calls, questions, and conversations we would rather avoid.
In this episode, you'll learn:
00:00 Introduction
03:18 Should sales managers try to be liked?
05:00 Walter's best sales coaches
06:54 Why difficult feedback matters
08:42 Timeless sales advice: Be like a bison
09:51 Getting comfortable being uncomfortable

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About Walter Crosby:
Walter Crosby is an award-winning sales development expert, author, sales coach, and speaker. He is driven to help entrepreneurs solve problems in their sales organizations and grow revenue.

How do you build trust with buyers when AI and automation are changing almost every part of the sales process?
Julie Thomas, CEO of ValueSelling Associates, joins Paul Fuller to explore new research into prospecting and what it reveals about gaining access and creating meaningful sales conversations in the age of AI.
Julie explains why cold calling still works, why respectful persistence matters, and why strong communication, active listening, and critical thinking become even more important as technology takes on more of the work around the salesperson.
The conversation also covers how automation can erode trust, why sales leaders need to keep investing in seller development, how to right-size the sales tech stack, and why technology should amplify good selling rather than accelerate bad selling.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
01:35 Julie Thomas’ journey in sales
04:21 How AI is changing prospecting
06:41 Why cold calling still works
14:41 How better conversations build trust
18:32 Why AI still requires strong sales skills
23:13 Rethinking the sales tech stack
30:14 Why trust matters more in the age of AI

About Julie Thomas:
Author, speaker and CEO of ValueSelling Associates, Inc., Julie Thomas works with revenue leaders, helping them achieve results they never thought possible. She also leads Growist™, a ValueSelling sub-brand empowering small businesses with proven sales frameworks. A former Gartner executive, Julie’s long-standing industry leadership has earned ValueSelling top awards as a pre-eminent provider of sales training. Her latest book is The Power of Value Selling: The Gold Standard to Drive Revenue and Create Customers for Life.
Want to explore the research behind the conversation?
Read ValueSelling Associates’ Cutting Through the Noise report for a closer look at what’s working in prospecting today.
📌 https://www.valueselling.com/research-ebooks/the-most-effective-sales-prospecting-tactics-in-the-ai-era

Where does AI actually add value in sales, and which fundamentals still matter no matter how much technology changes?
Dave Kurlan joins Paul Fuller for 3 Questions from The Art & Science of Complex Sales to share his perspective on AI in sales, the tools he relies on, and the fundamentals that continue to drive strong sales performance.
Dave explains why AI is most useful for research and efficiency rather than replacing the salesperson, why prospecting and a clear sales process still matter, and why consultative selling is becoming even more important.
The conversation also explores how AI can support sales management and why practicing the fundamentals can still give salespeople an advantage.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction01:22 Where AI is best used in sales03:22 The sales tool Dave could not do without04:43 Using AI to improve sales efficiency05:38 Why prospecting and sales process still matter06:00 Why consultative selling matters more than ever07:37 How to connect with Dave Kurlan

About Dave Kurlan:
Dave Kurlan is a top-rated speaker, best selling author, radio show host, successful entrepreneur and sales development industry pioneer. He was inducted into the Sales & Marketing Hall of Fame in 2012.Dave was the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc. (OMG), the industry leader in sales assessments and sales team evaluations and named the Top Sales Assessment Tool 11 times.
Dave is currently the CEO of Kurlan & Associates, Inc., an international sales consulting firm he founded in 1986, specializing in sales team development. He possesses 40 years of experience in all facets of sales development, including consulting, training, coaching, recruiting, systems, processes, and metrics.
Dave has been a top-rated speaker at Inc. Magazine’s Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference, the Sales 2.0 Conference, Inbound, and the Gazelles/Fortune Sales & Marketing Summit.
He has been the focus of dozens of interviews online, on radio, television and in print, including World Business Review, Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. Dave has been a columnist at Top Sales Magazine since 2011.
He is the author of Mindless Selling and the best-seller, Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, voted the Top Sales & Marketing Blog 13 times. He is a contributing author to 4 other books including Stepping Stones, with coauthors Deepak Chopra and Jack Canfield.
Dave is an innovator, and most recently co-created an AI assisted tool that provides salespeople and sales managers with powerful, relevant and helpful sales coaching debriefs from call recordings and/or transcripts.