From Techie to Marketer.

I had just turned 28 and had become CEO of a mid-size website development firm. When the financial crisis and Great Recession hit during the George W. Bush administration, times suddenly got tough, and I came face-to-face with just how challenging sales can be.

I needed help, so I hired Lee Levitt, a straight-shooting sales consultant, to guide us in refining our pitch. Early on, he asked, “What problem do you solve?” I began explaining the websites we build, going into technical details, but he quickly cut me off. “No, that’s what you do. Tell me what problem you solve.”

I tried again, this time focusing on our process, but he stopped me once more. “That’s just how you do it.” I kept pivoting, trying different angles, only for him to push me back to the same question. As he saw my frustration grow, he leaned in and simply asked, “Who’s your buyer?”

I paused. For years, our primary contact had been the IT department. They loved our technical specs and wanted details on processes, server configurations, regression testing, and code hygiene. But when I told him about the people attending our recent pitches he pressed, “So, who’s really your buyer?”

He was shining light on a shift that had crept up on me. The IT folks were sidelined, and marketing was now leading the website projects. Marketing was issuing the RFPs, defining the vision, and controlling the budgets. Marketing was driving the conversation with new terms I hadn’t really heard in meetings before like branding, user experience, and engagement.

Lee gave me advice that day, which turned out to be life changing. “If marketing is now leading your projects,” he said, “then you need to go where all the marketers are. Maybe you should join the American Marketing Association.” That's exactly what I did.

I joined the Boston Chapter of the AMA as the VP of Internet Services. Before long, I was fully immersed in the marketing world, eventually serving two terms as President of the Chapter, followed by three years on the International Board of the AMA. This is how I made the shift from being a techie nerd into a marketing geek. 

From that day on, rather than thinking first about how something is built or the technology needed to run it, I have been focused on building brands, connecting with audiences, and discovering what truly drives value for a brand. I could not have known the impact of where Lee’s questions and observations would take me, but on that day, it was as today’s fortune promises, “You will soon receive great advice. Don't ignore it.”