Larry Levine is the best-selling author of Selling from the Heart and the co-host of the Selling from the Heart Podcast. In this episode you’ll learn how to make sincere connections that turn into sales, the process it takes to fill the gap between where you are and where you want to be, and that people would rather do business with a sales professional who sells from the heart as opposed to a sales rep who is an empty suit. Find out more about Larry’s offerings at: https://www.sellingfromtheheart.net/
https://www.sellingfromtheheart.net/
Larry Olsen Welcome all of you and thank you for whatever you're doing to take a moment and invest in yourself. Here's something that you perhaps haven't heard before, but, even if you have heard it before, you haven't been in this spot in your life before, so that's what makes it really interesting is that we never know what it is we're going to see or hear or experience. It's going to be that moment in time that makes all the difference in the rest of our lives. And I think you're going to find this take place today with my guest. I'd like to welcome my guest today and friend Larry Levine. Larry, let me tell you a little bit about him as a bestselling author of “Selling from the Heart”. Let me introduce my friend, Larry Levine. Larry is the author of "Selling from the Heart" and the co-host of Selling from the Heart podcast.He's got over 30 years of experience in the field within the B2B technology space, and he knows what it takes to be a successful professional coaching sales professionals across the world, from tenured reps to new millennials entering the sales force. And you know what? They all appreciate the practical, real, raw, relevant, relatable. And as you'll find out in this interview, street savvy nature of his coaching, Larry is not shy. Trust me, when it comes to delivering this message about the power of authenticity, Larry believes people would rather do business with a sales professional who sells from the heart, as opposed to a sales rep who he claims is an empty suit. Welcome to Mindset Playbook, Larry, and thank you for investing your time with us today.
Larry Levine [00:02:12] I'm looking forward to this. It's so good to see you again, Larry.
Larry Olsen [00:02:15] Well, thank you. It's a pleasure to be seen by you as well, Larry. You know, what is it about being authentic as a salesperson that you feel makes all the difference between those who are and those who aren't?
Larry Levine [00:02:31] You know, it's so it's so interesting. I'm going to go back to a word that you had used. Actually, you've used it a couple times in the short period of time that we've been together on this podcast. And that's the word invest. Is, I was willing long time ago to invest in myself to really bring to the surface who I was, what made me, made what was so unique about me. What were my gifts? And the reason why I say this is in the world that we live in today, I think authenticity has become the buzz word. In fact, who knows, it might be one of the words in 2021 as we bring to it, as we bring 2021 to a close. But I'm a big believer that authenticity, Larry is a lifestyle. It's not a light switch yet, and it's something that you know in our dear, dear friend Dave Sanderson talks about this all the time, Larry. He talks congruency. And when I think about authenticity, the first word that comes to mind is congruency and see, does the walk match the talk? And I think in a world today where trust is so low. That when we bring our authentic selves to the forefront, we don't have to worry about, is this the real me, right? What do I need to do? How do I need to act in this situation? I remember, you know, in all the decades I was in sales, people always ask me, you know, what are you doing out in the field? And I said, I'm just being me. You can get what you get with Larry Levine. I don't hide anything. I wear my emotions on my sleeves. I love connecting and relating to people. The same way you see me in professional life is the same way you're going to see me in my personal life. So, I think that's the best way that I can address authenticity, Larry.
Larry Olsen [00:04:17] Well, you know, I very much appreciate you sharing that, but you've said some things that are profound. And for a lot of people, not easy to do. And most of us have been brought up to think this way to behave that way. And if we thought that way and behave that way, we got good grades and we were well taken care of by our peers and family. And you start to build somebody that you're not. And so, when you say, just be who you are. For some people, that can be a real stretch. What do you think people need to understand to make sense of what it means to simply be who you are?
Larry Levine [00:05:00] Oh, well, I'm not going to. I'm not going to get doctorial on us because I don't have a doctoral degree in any of this. It just through personal experience. Yeah, I will. I call it. Yeah. Well, maybe I have a Ph.D. in getting this snot kicked out of me for 30 years in sales. But you know, but I have to preface that just because it. You know, this whole this whole thing about me being me, right? You hear people say it all the time. Well, I'm just being me and I don't want to cast a dark shadow over this. But then, you know, the next thing that might come to mind is really, is that who you really are? Hmm. And I say this because if we would have had this conversation in my 20s and into my 30s and possibly into my 40s, I may have given you a totally different response to this, Larry.
Larry Olsen [00:05:55] OK.
Larry Levine [00:05:57] But I'm a firm believer. You really don't know who you are until you're willing to go down that road of really discovering who you are. You know, doing some deep reflection, talking through it with people, doing the mindset work. And I know you're big into them, into mindset as well is really, you know, I've even gone down to the road sometimes of doubting what I'm really doing out there, not for insecurity reasons, but just to go, is there something that I could be doing better? Who am I? What am I all about? And I still, to this day at 57 years old, I still think about it all the time. And you know, that's I think it's a work in progress. More than anything else, Larry, is if somebody is going to say this is who I am, then be confident, be secure in saying this is who I am. But in order to do that? You really got to get to know who you are. And, you know, I've just coined this phrase, “to value thyself is to know thyself”. You know, let's just stop and think about that one for a second.
Larry Olsen [00:07:07] So that's pretty deep. That whole process of just valuing yourself, I mean, people go, a lot of people don't spend a lot of time. I mean, they hear a lot about mindfulness, they hear about meditation and as a small percentage that really are implementing those types of concepts to try to get themselves some time away from all of the day-by-day activities that are just subconscious in nature. We're just reacting to different stimuli and your saying, value yourself. What does that mean to you when you say you need to value yourself?
Larry Levine [00:07:48] When I refer to value yourself, it's almost take care of yourself. And in here, here's another way of looking at it. It's why I wrote “Selling from The Heart”. The way I wrote “Selling from The Heart”, Larry is as I look back at my whole entire career and I spent my whole, entire career in the office technology channel, all in the L.A. market, in the Los Angeles marketplace. So, when I decided to write “Selling from the Heart”, I wanted to write it in a way that got somebody, whether they be in sales, sales leadership. In fact, if you read “Selling from The Heart”, you may not even have to be in sales, and I think it would still be impactful. And here's why I say this. I look back on my whole entire career and there wasn't one sales manager, and I think there's a big difference between managers and leaders, and I never really had a leader they were all managers, and I'm using that word loosely, but they never really once said, “Hey, guess what, team? We're going to go on this journey together, and we're going to help you uncover how to become the best version of yourself”. Because I just lived in this chaotic sales world. And so when I decided to bring “Selling from The Heart” to the forefront, I wanted to bring it to the market in a way that said, Hey, you know what? If you want to be successful in sales, the first place it starts is with you and you got to be willing to do the work on yourself in order to see that success. Now, I'm a big believer that the inner work that we all do, fuels the outer success that we have. And, you know, instill it from the heart, I talk about sales chaos and things like that. And the reason being is if you don't take that time on a daily basis to work on you, what's in your heart, right? What's in your mind? It's going to come back and it's going to, the first word that comes to mind Larry, haunt, it's going to haunt you. It's going to prevent you from being the best person you can possibly be. And I think the reason why a lot of people won't go there is because they're afraid. And I was for a long period of time until I finally just said, you know, I had enough of this because I just like with a lot of people, I do a lot of mental gymnastics and I still do to this day and I'm harder on myself than anybody else is. But I've just figured out, just through trial and error, mentors, coaches and just through deliberate practice is I spend the time to really work on me. What makes me tick? And I think if people could just stop just for a moment and work on that? Watch what starts to happen. And again, this isn't PhD level stuff. This is just right through a practitioners for viewpoint.
Larry Olsen [00:10:36] You bet. Very solid. They talk about 85 percent of CEOs feel that if people really know who they were, they wouldn't be in that position any longer. All right.
Larry Levine [00:10:50] That's good stuff.
Larry Olsen [00:10:51] Yeah. And it's about feeling like you're a fraud, you know, just fake it till you make it. All of these things that don't allow you to really take pride or take the compliment when someone shares with you. “Wow, great job, you really…., I couldn't have done that without you”. And most people's responses Aww, shucks, Gee whiz, it was nothing they really can't say thank you. And that makes me really feel good that you…., you know, you appreciated that because of that fraud who has tried so hard to make people think a certain way or believe that they're this type of person. And then you come up and you talk about just who you are. That's what I mean by it can be very confusing for some people because what if I'm who I am, and they don't like me? And I think that's the fear you're talking about. What did you find out about that?
Larry Levine [00:11:48] Oh, wow. You'd said, this is interesting because I'm listening to what you're saying right now, and I will tell you full. I mean, we know each other, so I'm a pretty transparent person. I mean, all you really have to do is ask and I will tell. Yes. And I'm sitting here listening to what you're saying, and I go, you know what? When I wrote, “Selling from the Heart”, I'm going to be, if you don't, I'm going to tell a quick story. But I think it's going to bring to the forefront exactly what you were just sharing. So, when I wrote Selling from the Heart, I had no idea what to expect. OK. I really did. It was, yeah, I didn't know if the message would resonate. If I would sell five books, 100 books. I didn't go into this with any preconceived notion. Well, as it turned out, it's turned into this big movement, which I'm totally humbled and honored by. But I get calls and I get messages all the time. I said, you know, I read your book, Larry, and it transformed my approach to sales and business. And I go, Wow, really? It straight up. I'm sharing it right in. And it's still I struggle with some of this. Still, to this day, I go, Hey, I'm just a guy, right? I'm just a guy who wrote a book who wants to make a difference, who wants to elevate the sales profession. But we're all real, I'm a real person. I still struggle with a lot of this stuff. I still struggle on a daily basis with the self-limiting beliefs and the imposter syndrome and all that. The reason why I'm sharing this story is if, if I if I looked Larry in the eye and I said, hey, I don't struggle with any of this, I'd be lying to you. And I think it's something that it's part of who we are as humans. We just got to learn how to deal with it. And the simple reason is because the internet and everything that's out there has painted all these glorious pictures. And if you pay any attention to it, it starts messing with your mind. That is why I'm a firm believer. We've got to work on our mindset and our hearts and who we are every single day to help build our confidence and our believability in ourselves and our self-worth. I don't know if that addresses what the question was, but the best way for me to describe it.
Larry Olsen [00:14:10] Were you just for all of us to find authenticity? We're not perfect. And we have to embrace our lack of perfection. And that we aren't the. All of those images that we see out there, all of the noise that says this is what you need, this is who you should be, this is we'll make it work for you and you've seen it in a very profound and simplistic fashion have shared with people how much joy and reward they can find when they recognize that they don't have to be any more than who they are. That that's more than enough. Ensure we're going to confront all of our shortcomings and we're going to recognize that, wow, you know, I'm not perfect and people still want to work with me. I mean, and people are saying I changed their life. And that's why I wanted you on the podcast because I don't do well with people who aren't authentic. And what I mean by that is by having a sister who is born three years before me and mentally delayed, which all my listeners are aware of, I just there's something about mean-spirited people that I can't handle. And I think that's when people are covering up that genuine, loving soul that they all have and thinking that this is going to make me who I think I should be. And you are so refreshing that. This is about you, not about me. So, I apologize for
Larry Levine [00:15:48] No. (Olsen: sharing that.) No, it's interesting because. I'm a big believer, Larry, that we're products of our environment, we're products of the environments that we were raised in. And what's really interesting about this and I love my parents, even though we have a highly dysfunctional relationship.
Larry Olsen [00:16:11] Mm hmm.
Larry Levine [00:16:12] And I share this because. I came out, and I think you'll understand why selling from the heart is where it is when I share this and I don't share this often with many, but I felt comfortable enough to share it with you and your listeners is I grew up in a situation with a highly relational mom and a very processed, highly driven, highly educated father. My mother would share with me deep relationships and how much she loved me, and my father wouldn't.
Larry Olsen [00:16:48] Mm hmm.
Larry Levine [00:16:49] And that propelled me a lot in sales, because I never, I never got that from my father that I wished I would have. And the reason why I'm sharing this is because I brought that love and nurture into sales, knowing that a lot of a lot of the people that I were dealing with were of male figures, sometimes older than me. Hmm. And I'm sharing this for one simple reason because I'm not the only one out there who struggles with it. And you bring up the word, you know, love and friendships and things like that is I poured myself into my client relationships for one simple reason. I got out of those client relationships. What I wish I would have got out of my personal relationships with people who meant the most to me. And I pushed the button on this in sales for one simple reason in sales. And I'm looking at this, Larry, just through a sales centric set of glasses just for a moment, is in sales. Your most important asset are your clients, because if you have no clients in sales, then what, right? (Olsen: Yeah.) So that's where I took my childhood experiences, and though they were dysfunctional, I brought that to the forefront for one simple reason. I knew without clients I didn't have a job in sales, so I leaned into my clients. I poured into my clients, and I loved my clients in the ways that I wish I would have when I was a kid.
Larry Olsen [00:18:27] Wow, that's strong. That's strong. You know, that is so freeing to be able to recognize that when we are with new people we haven't met or people that we know. We get to practice being who we really are and when you do that, you find out there isn't any risk, it's all reward because now you find out who your friends are. We've all heard that a million times. You know, I wouldn't want to hang around with someone who wanted me to be somebody other than who I am. (Levine: Yeah.) And otherwise, I got to try to please them, right? The little puppy dog kind of, do you like me? Do you like me? Do you like me? And I and I think that a lot of a lot of us have gone through that. And every time I, I meet someone new, and I find out what their background is. It many times I'm envious, you know, they sit around the table and discuss world politics or who their dad saved and that surgery table. And as I grew up, you know, I was fighting for the TV tray and the microwave dinner. And you know, and you start to look at listen and make these comparisons. And if you're not careful and don't know what you're sharing, you end up letting yourself fall short of that. And then that just feeds the other element, which is you're never quite enough. And what you're talking about is we've never been enough. You know, we've always been more than. And you don't get out of the womb without being amazing. I mean, the research is just it's easier to win the lottery than it is to be born for crying out loud. So, so here you are now, being so genuine and so transparent about that. How does that play into your work that you do with salespeople?
Larry Levine [00:20:28] You know, part of when I work with when I work with sales leaders and salespeople, I'm bringing to the forefront things that are different, things that may be challenging, things that might be uncomfortable. But the real Larry and you know, I've learned more, I've learned more in my 50s than my 20s, 30s and 40s combined. You know, when I was forced into entrepreneurship at 50 and that's, you know, a whole 'nother topic of a conversation that I that we could peel back and at a later time. But. To answer your question is I wanted to bring to people things that I wish would have been brought to me when I was in sales, growing up in sales that I had to learn on my own. (Olsen: Gotcha.) And that's Selling from the Heart. It's about, you know, that so often that we do a lot of sales skills training with people and we do a lot of product training with people, all important stuff. But what I soon started to discover and it's really coming to the forefront right now is we're not doing enough on the people skills training and coaching and the Kinect ability and how you relate to people. And that's what we're bringing into the forefront and selling from the heart is I'm a big believer that we've all been given a gift and I'm going to share a quick story that I think really brings this to the forefront. Do we have time for me to share a quick story? Stories
Larry Olsen [00:22:05] Please
Larry Levine [00:22:06] is I'm a big Steve Harvey fan. And you know, for those of you who may not know who Steve Harvey is, will, then maybe some of your listeners have been living under a rock, but nevertheless, right is a comedian. He's, you know, the host of the family feud, right? He had the screw up on, was it that Miss America pageant? Right? You remember that bit
Larry Olsen [00:22:28] bigger than life, right? Yeah.
Larry Levine [00:22:29] But here's why I gravitate towards Steve Harvey is he's real. He's genuine. He's raw. People can relate to him. He speaks from his heart. He connects to people. And the reason why I say this is this is about three years or so ago I was watching on. I was watching one of his videos on YouTube and he talks about everyone at has been given a gift. It's a 10-minute video, but I'm going to shrink it down to about 30 to 45 seconds. OK? And he says in his video and in his message, he goes at birth, everyone's been given a gift, and that gift is something that comes easy and natural to somebody that they don't have to think about. Now, Steve Harvey's gift he uncovered really early is he has the gift of being funny because he says you don't go to school to learn how to be funny. You either are, or you aren't. And there's a point behind this because after watching that video numerous times and crying actually through that video, I learned what my gift was in sales. My gift was I brought my heart to the forefront. I brought vulnerability to the forefront. I brought sincerity and deep meaning to the forefront. I loved to connect and relate to people. It comes easy and natural to me. It doesn't for some people. So when I work with sales leaders and salespeople, I bring what I believe is the missing link to how they can grow sales and that is getting comfortable with the uncomfortable. Mm-Hmm. That's the sincerity and the love and the appreciation and the respect that we all have when we build relationships on the personal side. But when we fail to bridge this gap and we fail to do this in our professional life, I'm a firm believer. We're leaving something on the table. Hmm. And that's my whole mission at selling from the heart is to bring a piece of everyone's heart back into sales. How they connect and how they relate to their clients so they can help grow themselves and grow their sales. And this is it for everybody, I always say it's not for the weak at heart. This message may not resonate with everybody, and that's OK. However, my challenge is this. If we can do this in our personal life. I trust each and every one of us can do this in our professional life. But here's what prevents us from doing its two things. That's what sits in your heart and what sits in your mind. I'm a big believer in that. It's my story and I'm sticking to it, Larry.
Larry Olsen [00:25:16] You’re in no danger, of changing that.
Larry Levine [00:25:19] No. None.
Larry Olsen [00:25:20] Well, you know, as you're talking, the reason your book is doing so well and that you are making such a difference in the lives of the people that you touch is we're all in this selling business. We're amateurs, we're not selling a commodity all the time. As much as we're selling our ideas or we're selling our request or we're selling, we're selling the other individual and why we should be a part of their lives. And your book is so. It's so beautifully written in, it's so encompassing of I don't want people to get caught up and say I'm not in sales, so the book wouldn't be a value to me or what Larry Levine is saying. It is not relevant to me. I think everybody is listening to this realizes the relevancy. And I just wanted to tweak the selling side of it to realize we're all salespeople or we would never get to watch the movie we want. We wouldn't be able to order off the menu. We wouldn't be able to make those choices. And you. And unfortunately, with time being what it is and you have in another three or four of these to do before the days, I just I'm very grateful that you took the time to invest it with us. And I'd like you to think in terms of for a moment, you know, all the listeners out there and all the things that people go through in and what we'll look back on in these times will make sense. But they can kind of be kind of chaotic sometimes when we're living through them. What would you like to share with people that they can kind of take away from our time together today?
Larry Levine [00:27:05] I would say be willing to invest in yourself. Be really, really, open to saying what is it, and I'll keep it really simple, Larry. What is one thing that I can do right now? To improve upon making me a better person. Hmm, hmm. What is that one thing? Now if you aren't sure about it, I'm going to give you a tip. And I'm a big believer in this, right? It's the age old saying, you're the sum of the five closest people. Right in your inner circle. I would do this. Take your five closest friends. Spouse, significant other and just say, hey, based on what you know of me. What is one area that you think I can improve upon? Stop. Be willing to listen. Take in the feedback. Good or bad and act upon it. You can do that, I promise you, you'll have great things ahead. I wish I would have done that in my 20s and 30s.
Larry Olsen [00:28:16] That's beautiful. And if I may, I'm going to add one thing to that. And you're going to find yourself when you hear that, you're going to find yourself starting to get defensive.
Larry Levine [00:28:28] Yes, I've been there and I'm still there sometimes.
Larry Olsen [00:28:32] And remember, all you're doing is trying to defend your right to stay the same. And that's not why you asked the question, right?
Larry Levine [00:28:42] Yeah, no, exactly. You have to be willing and it's hard, Larry. It is hard. But you got to be willing to just listen, soak it all in. Don't react to it. And then just think about it. Yeah, because I'm quick to react. I will. I will go on the defensive, right? That's not me, right? But I asked for a reason. Yeah.
Larry Olsen [00:29:10] Yeah, yeah. Beautiful. Beautiful. Well, it's been a pleasure, my friend and I thank you so much for again being with us today. And those of you that want to reach out to him and find out more about his book, all of that information will be available when this when you are listening to the show already found it by now. Larry once again you're a good man and have a wonderful message and thank you for being so transparent and authentic so that we all recognize that great things can come of it.
Larry Levine [00:29:50] No, I appreciate it. I sincerely do and it's good seeing you again.
Larry Olsen [00:29:53] You're welcome. And those of you there listening again, remember, no matter what's going on in your life, when you ask yourself, when is it all going to end or when is it all going to begin? Remember, you are in the right spot and the right moment in, that's right now. And it's just a matter of choice. And remember, if you make the choice without the vision, without the end result, then you're just going to continue to repeat the behavior. And like Larry said, be willing to get uncomfortable. Be willing to recognize that, that's something I've got to get comfortable with this discomfort. And Larry, you've been sharing great insights with us and once again, thank you and thank all of you for listening. Take care.