In this Mastering Excellence series episode of The Sales Maven Show, Nikki sits down with Roger Knecht, President of Universal Accounting Center, to unpack a skill that completely changes how conversations feel: true listening with real recall. Roger has this uncanny ability to summarize a conversation point by point without taking notes, and it is not a gimmick. It is a mental structure. When someone feels genuinely heard, trust accelerates. Rapport strengthens. And sales conversations become clearer, calmer, and far more effective. The conversation explores what most people think listening is versus what actually creates connection. Together, Nikki and Roger talk through the different levels of listening, from being distracted, to conversational listening where you are waiting for your turn to speak, to active listening where you are fully present, and finally deep listening where you hold space without judgment. The discussion highlights why shifting into active listening changes everything. When you stop performing in the conversation and focus on understanding, clarity increases and recall improves because your brain is organizing information instead of scrambling to respond. Roger shares the mental structure he uses before and during conversations. Before the conversation, he enters with a clear outcome and purpose, and he knows what success looks like. During the conversation, he uses a simple way to mentally sort information so it sticks, including thinking in sequences, spotting cause and effect, and filtering ideas through practical questions like what moves the needle, who can execute, and where this belongs in the bigger process. One of the most powerful themes is this: nothing is isolated. Everything connects. When you train your mind to notice the connections, recall becomes much easier. Connect with Roger on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rogerknecht/

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