Now….
I had chosen to study marketing at Baylor because I was fascinated by consumer behavior!
I knew that if I could learn to get inside of consumers’ heads, I could make anyone buy anything, as long the product or service solved a REAL problem for them.
So, fast forward back to 2009 -- it was time for me to go get a marketing internship, and most of the ones out there were just making copies -- getting coffee -- and learning NOTHING about customer experiences or how to talk to people or how to change people’s perception of a business.
There wasn’t much innovation in those jobs -- the interns weren’t impacting anything. They were just cogs in a machine.
Then one day, I was offered this crazy summer job I never would have considered… a straight commission “business boot camp” to give me “marketing and sales experience” ...
I chose it BECAUSE it was hard.
BECAUSE it was going to give me face-time with customers and real-life communication skills…
Thinking back I had 2000+ sales conversations that summer. LOTS of opportunities to screw up and learn.
So.
When this man starts screaming at me...
“YOU ARE SO STUPID - WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!”
Something in me snapped. I stood tall.
I told him that this kind of experience was EXACTLY what I wanted to do with my summer.
Then, I walked back to my car with my head held high, and I realized something…
This summer had been the most miserable summer of my life because I had lost sight of the reason I got into marketing in the first place.
The next door I went to, I committed to LISTEN more.
I started trying to get in my customer’s door and MIND instead of into their wallet and I learned WHY people buy.
I started asking questions instead of pushing products, and I learned HOW people evaluate things and WHAT they prioritize.