Empathy first

My first first job in a marketing agency was sales. Which is hilarious, because I was clueless about sales.

I was a burnt out youth pastor looking to move from non-profit communications to the agency world. It was a good thing the agency owner was a sucker for an underdog story.

Coming out of ministry, I didn’t know the first thing about selling websites. Or even anything about building or designing them.

It took me 4 months to make my first sale. After dozens of awkward phone calls, someone must have liked me well enough to hand over cash and buy a shiny new website.

It should have taken longer, because I didn’t understand why people really buy.

My saving grace was that I’d learned to be decent listener.

I got some little red book about sales and learned to listen to a customer, then repeat back what they said.

My ability to reframe what they said in simple terms meant that more people started to trust me because I understood their challenges. I started to sell websites, ideas, even copy ideas to our clients.

Our designers and developers didn’t get how I could “talk clients into things so easily.”

It wasn’t some jedi mind trick. I just listened and related to people and they liked it. In return, they’d lean in and listen to my ideas or solutions.

Sometimes it was as simple as reframing their idea, with a bit of creativity and a big scoop of empathy.

By listening you show people that you see them, and understand them. Empathy helps people move forward.

As a service provider, creative, or expert, your job is to meet your curious customer at the edge of their knowledge and listen carefully. Because people buy into ideas that matter to them.