In this exercise, I’m examining myself to determine my top three skills.
A Critical Eye
Most people can tell you when something looks bad or sounds bad. We’ve all seen enough generic clipart and bad websites to know that. I pride myself on knowing what works and what looks good.
A simple and recent example is how I’ve re-merchandised the East Cooper Habitat for Humanity Restore and helped turn the least profitable areas into functional and profitable departments. I added organization, clear communication and attention to detail to create a pleasant experience for my customers.
How can your companies content improve to better represent the quality you bring to customers? Good design is your credibility, website functionality, first impression and so much more. A critical eye is the ability to take a good project and make the improvements and adjustments necessary for it to perform better.
Vision
I am not psychic but I can see the future. I can see with granular specificity the desired end goal and I can see the steps it takes to get there.
In September of 2013, I led a successful crowd-sourcing campaign to produce my band’s first album. I knew what came next. I created the concept of “Night Owls”. The 5 track EP told the story of the transition from sunset to sunrise, as I’ve experienced it. Once I finished writing the music, I scouted and hired our graphic designer, Nico Rubio, to produce an image that conveyed the message of this record. For more info on the process see “Making an EP on $3,000”. The following April, it was released to a hometown crowd of about 300. New album-branded merchandise was available as well as information on our upcoming festivals and shows. The record was available on all streaming services and started receiving airplay on local radio stations 2 weeks later. It was 9 months prior to that, that I saw the finish line and what it looked like when we got there.
In every step of the creation process, I keep my eye on the larger picture and how each step fits into it.
Empathy
I genuinely care about the lives of those I interact with. I want my clients, customers, and co-workers to know that I care about their experience.
I used to think great salesmanship was magically talking someone into something they didn’t want. It was only through making sales that I realized that’s not farther from the truth. Sales is learning the needs of your customer and advising them on the best course of action. A few weeks ago, I was working with a lady who was interested in new tile flooring for her kitchen. She selected a very nice tile that we both agreed would have looked beautiful with a dark grey grout. The only problem was I could only find one bag of grout. I searched the whole store top to bottom only to find out not only is that all we had, but that we would not be getting anymore in stock. I sold her the one remaining bag and the 25 boxes of tile and passed her along with the information for other businesses that could provide her the matching grout. I wanted her to love her floor much more than I wanted to sell her on a grout that wouldn’t have looked as nice. The next week, I received a call. She loved it so much and was so grateful for the care I put into her order that she placed an order for 75 more boxes over the phone.
Empathy is the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. It is an added perspective that allows me to create value for my customers.