(RPF is on Spring Break this week so I'm posting some interviews where I've been featured on other shows. Enjoy my comments on sales in this interview with The Sales Evangelist! -Joshua)

How well do you listen to your clients? Well, our guest today illustrates the power of listening! By the end of the show, you’d most likely figure out why it does help to just shh…

Our guest on today’s Sales From the Street episode is Joshua Sheats, host of The Radical Personal Finance Podcast.

Coming from a six-year career in life insurance and investment sales with Northwestern Mutual, Josh eventually launched his own organization, Radical Personal Finance, where he hosts a daily, in-depth personal financial planning podcast teaching people how to become financially independent in 10 years or less.

Listen in as Joshua brings a tad wealth of information to the table which you can apply and help steer you towards the road to success.

Here are the highlights of my conversation with Josh:

Some challenges Josh faced:

Overcoming the deep-held fear of sales Finding the right time to make the transition from working hard to get referrals/prospects

How Josh overcame these challenges and how you can do the same too:

1. Have a prospecting system.
2. Spend more and more time listening and less and less talking. The more you listen in sales, the better the results. Ask more questions and listen to what they have to say.
3. Authentically create a feeling among clients of being heard and listened to. “I learned that if you listen well enough, people will think that you know what you’re talking about because of the way you made them feel.” – Joshua Sheats
4. Have a script. Focus on how you say it instead of what to say. Engage people, not thinking about what you’re going to say, but about how they’re feeling and responding to what you say. Have a script and know your script. Focus on internalizing the words until you forget about the words and dig into the delivery.
5. Know where to lead people. Have a script and know where to lead people. This allows you to take the time tested on approaches from professional selling then hone them and make them more elegant for today’s world.

How to be Very Good on the Phone:

• Listen to everyone around you. Record yourself and do the exact opposite.
• Study and listen from other people.
• Take a short pause after saying your name. (This makes it sound like the client knows you.)

Joshua’s Major Takeaway:

If you do good work, that will speak broader than any tactic or technique. If you are a person worth referring to, you won’t need any tricks or gimmicks. Good technique is important for good salespeople. Do both good work and great technique. Focus on being a person who’s worth referring to, worth buying from, and being an expert in your industry.

• Link to original show: http://thesalesevangelist.com/episode-224/