In this Business Blast Podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews sales trainer and co‑founder of Next Level Sales Coaching, Steve Heroux. Steve shares a personal transformation story: from a quiet student who never spoke in school to becoming the top Cutco knife salesperson in the nation by rejecting scripted, manipulative sales tactics and instead speaking honestly about the product. He emphasizes three core principles for sales success: integrity (telling the truth so you never have to remember a lie), humility, and building genuine relationships rather than relying on a high‑volume numbers game. Steve advises his younger self to stop being money‑motivated and focus on impact, noting that true happiness comes from waking up excited to help others, not chasing commissions. He cites Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich as his favorite book, highlighting the power of mindset and visualizing success, and shares a favorite Jim Rohn quote about being the average of your top five friends, underscoring the influence of one’s social circle. The episode concludes with contact information for Next Level Sales Coaching and Steve’s LinkedIn and Instagram profiles.
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Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
Alright everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Steve Haru with us. He's the president and co-founder of Next Level Sales Coaching, a keynote speaker, and a sales trainer extraordinaire. So welcome to the show, Steve.
Thanks Tyler, thanks for having me, bro. Appreciate it.
Of course, thanks for coming on, man. And we will dive in. The first question I have for you is is what's the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
And best story from my life, I'll try to make this one quick. Uh, from probably second grade through freshman year of college, I did not say one word. Uh, not a dance, not a date, not a prom, nothing. And, uh, my first foray into sales was actually with Cutco Knives when I was 18 years old, freshman year of college. And, uh, I never sold anything in my life, deathly afraid of people. But what I found was being honest with people was really something that I thought I should do in sales. I didn't follow the scripts or the manuals or anything like that that they wanted me to say. I actually ripped up the script they told me to say because it was so salesy and manipulative. And I just told people, hey, these knives are expensive. I love them. They're really good. And I ended up number one in the country in my senior year of college with Cutco. And so again, you would've never thought I would've been successful in sales 'cause I was the quietest kid in the world. And that just shows you all that sales is something that can be learned. It's a language. It's not something you're born with. And so I'm really proud of that. And now I speak to thousands of people and I love it. And you would've never thought that if you saw me in high school.
Incredible lesson. Thanks for sharing that, Steve. Um, and what's the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
So the most valuable piece of information I could share with everybody is to live in integrity. So many people in sales, they want the magic bullet, the secret script, the manipulation. When you tell the truth, you don't have to remember what you said. So living in integrity, being honest, and living with humility are really 3 keys to being super successful in sales. And, you know, No matter what you see the gurus telling you about being slick and, you know, go for it and close ABC, all that stuff. I just don't believe you have to do that to achieve greatness in sales.
And what's your best piece of overall business advice and not necessarily industry specific?
Build relationships. I mean, it's so important that, you know, everybody hears that sales is a numbers game, which is just so old school and outdated. Sales is a numbers game for one certain type of person, and those are the people that suck at sales. It's not just blindly calling 500 people and hoping you hit the jackpot. You really have to work on your craft. So that's probably how I would say building relationships is the key, because I'd rather make 6 calls and meet 6 clients than make 600 calls to meet the same 6.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Oh man, uh, don't be money motivated. Um, I wish I'd learned that a long time ago because I was always about being number one, hitting quota, getting bonuses, and I wasn't really happy with where I was personally. I didn't have a lot of relationships back when I started in selling. It was just about getting numbers. But now that I don't focus on money at all, it's meaningless to me. Impacting lives and helping people is what really matters. The money will come. And if you just focus on that, you're never going to be happy because you're always going to try to get the next $100,000, the next million, and there's no end to it.
And this might tie in. So in your opinion, what's the key to happiness?
Oh man, I don't have an alarm clock anymore. I don't use it because I just wake up every day early, excited to do what I get to do for a living. That would be the advice I would give to everybody. And that's what truly makes people happy. If you would do what you do right now for no pay and you could see yourself doing it for the next 40 years, that's really the key to what's made me happy is just impacting lives on a daily basis as much as I can. And it's taken me, you know, geez, 40 years, you know, to get to that point. Some people never find it. Some people find it right away. But that would be my advice, guys, is find something that gets you up in the morning every day that you would do for free.
And what's the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
Man, best book I've read is probably Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. And the lesson to get from that that really could change your life is that your mind Your mind is a powerful thing. It's much more powerful than you give it credit for. And writing a check, you know, maybe you guys have seen this. Jim Carrey wrote himself a check for $10 million, literally, when he was homeless. 5 years later, he cashed the check. So I have a check in my wallet that I'm going to cash in 2020. And it's all about mindset, thinking about that every single waking moment of whatever it is you want to achieve in life, you can get there. You just have to believe you can get there. And that's what that book taught me.
And what's your favorite quote and why?
Favorite quote? Jim Rohn. R-O-H-N. Not the radio host. This amazing thought leader. And wish I had the chance to meet him. Is you are the average of your top 5 friends. So you got to think about everybody, the company you keep and who are you hanging around. If you hang around successful people, you're going to be successful. If you hang around negative people, you're going to be negative.
Yes. Thank you so much, Steve. So much value in this episode. The last question I have for you before we let you go is where's the best place for people to find you online?
So best place you guys can find us at nextlevelsalescoaching.com. You can also find me on LinkedIn, Steve, S-T-E-V-E, Haroux, H-E-R-O-U-X. And you can find me on Instagram at the Steve Haroux. Thanks again, man. Really, really appreciate the time, Tyler, and hope it was helpful for somebody out there.
Of course. Thanks again for coming on, Steve.
Thanks so much, brother. Talk to you soon.
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