Grehalva identifies listening as the most important and most underused skill in selling. Most people in selling contexts are not actually listening. They are waiting to talk: mentally preparing their response, identifying objections they want to counter, or thinking about the next question on their list. This half-listening produces a half-understood picture of the customer's situation, which leads to proposals that do not quite fit. Grehalva distinguishes between three levels of listening. Level 1: Internal listening. The listener is focused primarily on their own thoughts, feelings, and responses. The other person's words register at the surface but most of the listener's attention is internal. This is the default mode for most people in most conversations. Level 2: Focused listening. The listener is genuinely focused on the other person's words, meaning, and feeling. Body language and eye contact are directed at the speaker. The listener is tracking the content of what is being said. Level 3: Global listening. The listener is tracking not just what is said but what is not said: the pauses, the hesitations, the emotional tone, the way something is phrased. This level of listening produces understanding of the customer's situation that the customer themselves may not have fully articulated. Grehalva argues that consultative selling requires Level 2 at minimum and Level 3 in the moments that matter most. The ability to hear what is not said, to notice hesitation, and to ask about the thing the customer skirted around is what separates consultative salespeople from transactional ones.