Everything changes. That includes the kind of arguments, tone, organization, and selection of audiences which yield outcomes for our ghostwriting clients and prospects. Often both they and we are not quite sure what shape that change will take.
That's why the most wonderful gift we can give clients and prospects as well as our own careers is listening. This isn't new. The oldest fundamental in sales is the needs assessment. Successful sales representatives dig artfully and with great care to find out what the prospect needs. Frequently it takes this process for even the prospect to realize what it is that is required.
It's not difficult to ask the right questions. After all, none of us got to be players in executive communications by being out of touch with what is happening in the marketplace and with our client's particular business or cause.
What is difficult is to take in the conversation without jumping in. Sure, we have to keep the dialogue going by verbal and non-verbal tactics such as "I understand" and a nod of the head. But it's a disservice to the client to frame what is prematurely. Listening is difficult.
Ghostwriters' resolution for 2013 might be to suppress the need to pretend to be on top of the client's or prospect's situation. Everything has changed. It has become a struggle to find the new pieces and then put them together.
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