Being gobsmacked by my own admissions is a strange way to begin a confession, yet that’s exactly what happened — and the how and why matter far more than the confession itself.
Making sense of being gobsmacked
Gobsmacked: utterly astonished; astounded.
A British-ism with punch. A word that hits like a cold wave to the face.
There are plenty of synonyms — stunned, floored, blindsided — but the one that doesn’t show up in the dictionary is the one I’m actually feeling. I’m unnerved. And that, as it turns out, is the real why.
Tracing the real source of the shock
This is the first of many moments where I realized I’ve been looking at advertising — and myself — from the wrong angle.
I’ve been hunting for clarity on how to improve advertising. At first, I treated it like a skill problem — something I needed to sharpen, fix, or level up.
But then the truth landed harder than expected.
It’s not about improving advertising.
It’s about conditioning a brand.
People don’t automatically translate features into results. They don’t sit there converting bullet points into feelings. Instead, they wait — often unconsciously — to be prepared for what the offer means to them.
Why brand conditioning changes everything
Brand conditioning shapes how people feel before they ever see the pitch. It prepares their mind for the sale. It quietly builds recognition long before the offer shows up.
And right in the middle of that realization, an old sales cliché barged in: Tell, don’t sell.
That’s when the real ‘gotcha‘ hit.
My sales weren’t struggling because of effort or talent. They were struggling because I kept trying to sell before I ever conditioned anyone to care.
No wonder I felt gobsmacked.
Coaching with Fran
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