Larry Levine on Selling in a Post-Trust World (The Price and Value Journey, Episode 149)
Trust is in short supply. Clients today are more skeptical than ever, which makes trust the real differentiator for professional service providers. In this episode of The Price and Value Journey, host John Ray welcomes Larry Levine, best-selling author of Selling from the Heart and Selling in a Post-Trust World.
Larry challenges us to ask what trust really means in an age when the word itself feels frayed. He explains why authentic relationships and meaningful value form the foundation of his “Trust Formula,” and why price pressure intensifies when trust is absent. The conversation explores how service professionals can move beyond surface definitions to uncover how clients themselves describe trust and value. Larry also shares insights on why creating true value insulates professionals from what he calls the “price hammer,” and what the Japanese philosophy of Omotenashi can teach us about service that anticipates client needs.
If you’re an expert-service professional navigating client skepticism, this episode will help you see how to define, build, and protect trust in ways that deepen relationships and sustain your business.
The Price and Value Journey is presented by John Ray and produced by North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of the Business RadioX® podcast network.
Key Takeaways You Can Use from This Episode
- Ask your clients directly how they define trust and value, rather than relying on canned definitions.
- Recognize that trust speeds up conversations and decision-making, while lack of trust slows everything down and raises price sensitivity.
- Understand that “meaningful value” is defined by the client, not by the provider.
- Align relationships and value: when both are in sync, trust and long-term sustainability follow.
- Use intentional service, such as the principle of Omotenashi, to demonstrate attentiveness that builds credibility and trust.
- Remember that clients buy confidence and trust more than they buy expertise.
Topics Discussed in this Episode
00:00 Introduction and Welcome to The Price and Value Journey
00:55 Introducing Larry Levine and His Work
02:24 Defining Trust in a Post-Trust World
04:17 Building Trust in Sales
05:38 Challenges in Defining and Building Trust
09:18 The Role of Self-Perception in Sales
11:22 Meaningful Value and Business Acumen
25:34 The Power of Thought-Provoking Questions
26:36 Breaking the Salesperson Mold
27:54 The Importance of Asking Questions
29:09 Overcoming Sales Fears and Insecurities
30:55 The Art of Listening and Clarifying
34:43 Creating Value and Avoiding the Price Hammer
35:32 Personal Story: Learning the Value of Experience
39:32 The Japanese Philosophy of Omotenashi
43:34 Closing Thoughts and Resources
Larry Levine, Selling From The Heart
Larry Levine is the co-founder and a key figure at Selling From the Heart, renowned for his dedication to transforming the sales profession through authenticity and trust-building. As the best-selling author of Selling from the Heart and co-host of the Selling from the Heart Podcast, Larry brings over 30 years of in-field sales experience within the B2B technology space. His mission is to help sales teams grow revenue, develop personally, and enhance their clients’ lives by leveraging the power of authenticity.
Larry coaches sales professionals worldwide, from seasoned representatives to new millennials, leading a movement focused on authenticity, integrity, and substance. His philosophy underscores that people prefer doing business with genuine sales professionals rather than those who are inauthentic.
In addition to his foundational book, he has written Selling in a Post-Trust World, addressing the challenges of selling in an era of skepticism. Since starting Selling From the Heart in March 2017, Larry has been actively involved in providing resources such as books, podcasts, and training to help sales professionals build trust faster and close more sales. Additionally, he is a founding member of the Talent Champions Council, a private community focused on innovative talent strategy. Through his work, Larry continues to champion authenticity and genuine relationships in sales practices.
Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube
John Ray, Host of The Price and Value Journey
John Ray is the host of The Price and Value Journey.
John owns Ray Business Advisors, a business advisory practice. John’s services include business coaching and advisory work, as well as advising solopreneurs and small professional services firms on their pricing. John is passionate about the power of pricing for business owners, as changing pricing is the fastest way to change the profitability of a business. His clients are professionals who are selling their expertise, such as attorneys, CPAs, accountants and bookkeepers, consultants, coaches, marketing professionals, and other professional services practitioners.
John is a podcast show host and the owner of North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of Business RadioX®. John and his team work with B2B professionals to create and conduct their podcast using The Generosity Mindset® Method: building and deepening relationships in a non-salesy way that translates into revenue for their business.
John is also the host of North Fulton Business Radio. With over 900 shows and having featured over 1,300 guests, North Fulton Business Radio is the longest-running podcast in the North Fulton area, covering business in its region like no one else.
John’s book, The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices
John Ray is the author of the five-star rated book The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices, praised by readers for its practical insights on raising confidence, value, and prices.
If you are a professional services provider, your goal is to do transformative work for clients you love working with and get paid commensurate with the value you deliver to them. While negative mindsets can inhibit your growth, adopting a different mindset, The Generosity Mindset®, can replace those self-limiting beliefs. The Generosity Mindset enables you to diagnose and communicate the value you deliver to clients and, in turn, more effectively price to receive a portion of that value.
Whether you’re a consultant, coach, marketing or branding professional, business advisor, attorney, CPA, or work in virtually any other professional services discipline, your content and technical expertise are not proprietary. What’s unique, though, is your experience and how you synthesize and deliver your knowledge. What’s special is your demeanor or the way you deal with your best-fit clients. What’s invaluable is how you deliver outstanding value by guiding people through massive changes in their personal lives and in their businesses that bring them to a place they never thought possible.
Your combination of these elements is unique in your industry. There lies your value, but it’s not the value you see. It’s the value your best-fit customers see in you.
If pricing your value feels uncomfortable or unfamiliar to you, this book will teach you why putting a price on the value your clients perceive and identify serves both them and you, and you’ll learn the factors involved in getting your price right.
The book is available at all major physical and online book retailers worldwide. Follow this link for further details.
