Robert Herjavec landed million-dollar contracts with a technique most salespeople get wrong. Here's how he did it

​Robert Herjavec elaborated on his mindset in an Instagram post. First, he criticized the common sales advice that, “Once you know what the opportunity is, go and close it.”

​For Herjavec, that’s seriously messing with your customer’s subconscious mind. Instead of lending a hand when someone’s asking for help, chasing the close shows them you don’t really care.

​Herjavec warned that if you’re too laser-eyed on making sales, you risk creating a psychic “conflict” where the client thinks, “Hey, I just opened up to you, and now you’re trying to take advantage of me. You saw my vulnerability, and you’re using that as an opportunity to sell. I thought you were here to help me.”

​To avoid creating this inner tension, Herjavec stressed the importance of listening and offering something that’s of genuine value. As he put it, “You always want to close from a position of helping, not selling.”

Is “helping first” just a feel-good sales pitch?

​All of Herjavec’s ideas sound nice, but they seem to go against the popular image of a cutthroat negotiator. After all, “sharks” aren’t known to be the friendliest of creatures. When they smell blood, they don’t try to heal a wound.

​So, do all these compassionate notions Herjavec talks about have a place in the real world of sales?

​Interestingly, data from HubSpot’s 2025 State of Sales Report suggests Herjavec’s advice is spot on.

​According to sales reps in this survey, 42% cited understanding customer goals as a major reason for repeat sales and upsells. Another key driver for these higher sales figures was “building trust” at 30%.

​When HubSpot looked more closely at what made the top salespeople so successful, they found it mostly came down to soft skills and emotional intelligence. Particularly, researchers reported that 40% of their respondents identified building trust and rapport as their “most effective upsell/cross-sell strategy.”