What on Earth Does Sales Have to Do With Catholic Evangelization?

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We can learn a thing or two from great salesmen for Catholic evangelization.

Salesman lead with their strongest points first…their value proposition. Are the details of Catholic doctrine and theology really the strongest lead for evangelizing people into the Catholic Church?

Steve Jobs and Catholic Evangelization

Eric Sammons wrote an excellent post recently on What every Catholic can learn from Steve Jobs. He talked about how Steve Jobs pitched the iPad. Jobs talked about how easy and fun it was to use. How it would make your life better. Other CEOs talked about the tech specs of their tablets.

“Which do you think is the more effective sales technique?” remarked Sammons, “The non-Apple CEOs were selling toothpaste; Steve Jobs was selling white teeth. Instead of focusing on the details of his product, Jobs instead focuses on how his product will change people’s lives” (emphasis added).

His point? Too often the Catholic approach to evangelization is in the details–the doctrine, the theology, the apologetic arguments. However, in the early Church, evangelization was more about “white teeth.”

I think Sammons is on to something. We should be “selling” the benefits of Catholicism, not the technical specs. The better lead for evangelization is how Catholicism will change people’s lives.

Beware! Danger Ahead!

I think Catholics are particularly wary of this kind of approach. It appeals to emotion, which is fickle.  It is too much like preaching a “health, wealth and prosperity” gospel. Become a Catholic and all your problems will disappear it tells people.

However, shying away from this kind of message prevents us from boldly proclaiming what the Church truly offers. We hide the great benefit because we’re afraid our claims won’t come true for everyone.

The fact that everyone doesn’t get infused contemplative prayer didn’t stop Teresa of Avila from writing about it. Meanwhile, people aren’t attracted to the Catholic Faith because they don’t understand the richness, beauty being Catholic can bring.

Selling is not Necessarily Sleazy

Evangelization is kind of like sales. Selling is the art of influencing decisions. When it’s done right, it’s about meeting a customer’s needs. You match their desires with a product or service you have to offer.

And, that’s what we’re dealing with–desires. Sometimes a person doesn’t exactly know what they desire. They are seeking something but they’re not sure what. We are trying to get in touch with those desires and steer them toward the truth.

The Value Proposition

In my experience, people need to hear the benefits of Catholicism to be attracted to it. And, they need to hear how it worked and is working in our own lives. Most people are attracted to something through other people.

You’re not lying when you tell people the great benefits you receive from being Catholic. You’re not trying to mislead people when you describe the peace that comes from faithfully following Church teaching. They may not experience the same thing but then again, they might.

The details of the Faith are not an effective lead in evangelization. That doesn’t mean they are not important. It means the value proposition is the life-giving fullness and peace that Christ can bring. That’s a strong evangelizing message.

What do you think? Do you agree? Do you have a different perspective? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.

Image: Idea go / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

About the author 

Marc Cardaronella

I'm passionate about the most effective ways to transmit the Catholic Faith and spread the Gospel to the world. Join me? You can find me on Facebook, Twitter for the catechetical ramblings of the day.

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  1. Great post, Marc! I think the Church has a lot to learn from marketing, sales, and communications experts. Unfortunately we still have a lot of people in the Church who think marketing is somehow “sinful.” We have a long way to go in changing those perceptions — keep up the great work!

    1. Thank you for saying that! Sometimes I think I’m the only one who’s thinking that we need to learn from these guys to get our message out!

      You cut right to the heart of what I was thinking when I wrote this. Many people in the Church see using these techniques as somewhat beneath us. We can’t market the Catholic message because it’s crude. But I think a lot of the practices dovetail right in with the Church’s say of doing things. You’re right though, we have a long way to go in changing those perspectives–but I’m up for trying!

      Thanks for the comments.

  2. Fantastic Marc. We each have to really be a great sales person. This past weekend, our daughter and her family invited us to go with them to hear Nick Vujicic. Nick was born without limbs. He shared his story and his faith with the audience. His “sales pitch” was fantastic. I walked out thinking about how I don’t really “sell” my faith. Thank you for all these articles. They are great.

  3. Love this… and not just because I’m a total Mac-geek (which I am… don’t think for a minute I missed the fact that you posted this on Jobs’ birthday :), but because my life has been transformed by Christ. I find that although eventually I need to speak of Church teaching, initially what draws people in is hearing about the transformation that Christ initiated in me. The best tool of evangelization is a life changed, an overflowing of the joy of Christ! Thanks Marc. I think it is so important to equip Catholics with the tools to share their faith and you do a great job of enabling all of us to do just that.

    1. I love this, “the best tool of evangelization is a life changed.” So very well said Kelly! I think all of us who’ve had our lives transformed by Christ really want that for everyone else too! That’s what catechetical ministry is all about!

      God bless you! I’m glad the posts are helping you to that!

  4. Being a priest, I have struggled with the question of whether or not I am in sales. I completely agree with the premise that you have to lead with what works. Like many priests, though, I’m not the worlds greatest homilist, and that’s the best tool I’ve got. My concern is in balancing a message that will touch people emotionally, and will challenge them – gently, I hope. I know some of the most effective evangelical speakers today are very good at touching people’s lives, but so often it seems their message is as deep as a rain puddle. Can we sell with a message about life giving water flowing from a stream that will never dry up?

    1. Thanks for this comment!

      This is a very good question. It’s one I’ve often thought about in my own teaching. When I came out of graduate school, I wanted to communicate the depth of theology I had learned. What I ended up doing was just losing people.

      What I learned was if you try to communicate too much before people are ready, you end up communicating less than if you had just tried to do less in the beginning. Does that make sense?

      I began to work at simplifying the message so that it was understandable and people really responded.

      I worried my colleagues would think I was going to shallow. But I realized instead that they were going too deep. I ended up accomplished more by understanding where people were at and tailoring teaching to reach them there. Less is more…really!

      I think the answer lies understanding that people are in various stages of development. If you give too much too soon, they just glaze over. You have to give them the right stuff at the right time. Like St. Paul talking about feeding the Corinthians milk. They should have been feeding on meat, but they weren’t ready.

      The problem is, most people in the pew have very little theological understanding. And, most priests assume they are well catechized and interested in theology. In my experience, they are to a certain degree but that degree falls off pretty quickly. They want to hear the spiritual nugget they need, delivered clearly and concisely and then they want to be on their way.

      My wife was my best critic. She is not theologically minded but more knowledgeable than most. She said she didn’t care about the nuances of Catholic theology, she wanted the meat and she wanted it delivered clearly. She always called me on the carpet when I would go off into theology world. She would say, “Who cares how many angels can dance on the head of a pin! Give it to us clear and straight.”

      I’ve been reading “Made to Stick.” It’s an excellent book about how to get ideas across in a way that people can understand and that they can remember (hence the “stickiness” aspect). You should read it too. One thing they talk about is the “curse of knowledge.” When we know a lot about a subject, we want to communicate all the details about it to others. However, a layman in that subject can’t understand anything but the absolute core and they need it broken down very simply. I think simple is different from watered down. You can deliver a quality message simply without watering it down. It just doesn’t use jargon or get into the details.

      I think you can sell a message and have it come from a depth of understanding. It just has to be a very focused message given in a very clear, concise and sticky way.

      Well, that was certainly a long answer but I appreciated this question so much and it’s something I’ve thought about a lot!

      Thanks again and God bless your ministry Father Tim!

  5. Great post Marc! I always think of a book I’ve seen called “Selling the Invisible”. Evangelization is very much about selling but not selling something as much as someone. People do need to see and hear about the benefits of Catholicism and they also need to see lives that are radiating joy and peace because of their relationship with Christ. As Kelly W. said above, they need to see “a life changed” by what Christ has done. I really enjoyed reading the comments people have shared.

    1. Thanks William! I need to check that book out. Looks interesting.

      I suppose you’re right that evangelization is about selling someone…or maybe relationship with someone. That’s a good point.

  6. Awesome post! The difference between evagelization and sales is that when people sell you something, you almost never care if they actually own the product they’re selling. When you purchase phone, whether or not the salesman actually owns the phone is only moderately relevant. You don’t expect them to own the phone. When people evangelize, others expect them to own that faith and have relevant experiences with it.

    If you don’t have experiences to use as examples for how this faith changed your life, the person sees you as immediately suspect (and they should).

    Selling the faith isn’t just about persuasion, either–it’s about showing the truth. One phone might not be a perfect fit for you (and a good salesman will tell you that, even if it means loosing a sale)– but if you are evangelizing the faith, you are not promoting one amongst many true religions. You are promoting THE religion. And if it’s real, you’ll understand with the heart, as Christ says in Matthew.

    1. These are some great points about the differences. Yes, you expect the evangelist to have the relevant experience. It’s a must!

      I see what you mean about persuasion. That gets right at the heart of it what I’m trying to say too. In evangelization, it’s not simply about moving someone to your own point of view for your own gain. It’s about shining the light of truth.

      I guess I’m not thinking of sales on a higher level. I think good salesmen do operate on a higher level. There are marketers, like Chris Brogan, who do business in a different way. They care about their customer and establish relationships with them. They try to know them and know what product would benefit them. That’s the kind of thing I’m thinking of I guess.

      There’s a lot to learn from them about what motivates people and what gets them to put their hearts into a cause. I’m thinking of humanitarian causes or charities that are good at this too–how their messages motivate people to get behind them.

      We definitely don’t want the high pressure sales tactics that are just trying to get you to buy. That’s the kind of attitude that definitely would not work for evangelization.

      “Made to Stick” had some good things to say about too. Many marketers appeal only to what they call “Maslow’s basement”–self-interest, greed, sex. But many people are motivated by higher ideals as well. There’s ways to appeal to the higher ideals in people and move them to consider transcendent values–like understanding truth and giving their lives to it. That’s more what I’m after.

  7. Great post, I like your thinking!

    There’s one big paradigm that I think probably needs to change. It is too often left to priests or Church staff to “market” and evangelize. While the Catholic church may not believe in the “priesthood of all believers” like Protestants do, we need to remember that evangelizing is not just a duty for priests. It’s up to ALL of us, priests and lay people as well, to reach out to the world around us. If you’re a priest and looking for something you can do in your homily, I’d say try exhorting your audience to see their part in reaching the world around them. We may not all be priests but we are all capable of sharing our Faith, being a friend to someone, inviting them to Church or a Bible study, etc.

    And dont be scared to be creative with evangelism. Think about the guys who took their sick friend to see Jesus and ended up lowering him down through the ceiling of the house just to get him in when the crowd was too big. They were willing to do very creative, and maybe somewhat unconventional things to get their friend to Jesus. Are we willing to do what it takes, as individuals but also as a Church, to get people to the Great Healer? Don’t mistake me and think I’m suggesting changing theology or watering down the Truth in order to be more appealing to the modern world. But I think it’s possible to be creative with delivery of the Message, without changing the Message itself.

    1. This topic has even more impact today doesn’t it? You have some great points here!

      I definitely think the “marketing” is where us laity can really shine and really contribute to the mission of the Church. We are the ones out in the world encountering non-believers all the time. In the workplace, at school, in clubs and organizations. We don’t have to proselytize or preach from the street corner. Just be out there. And, there’s tons of talented people who probably work in marketing that can help as well.

      As to your comment on being creative, the friends who let down their paralyzed friend is the best example ever! I think the clergy definitely need to learn how to tap the talent and creativity of their parishioners to further the mission of the Church. We need to try new things because the old stuff isn’t working! We need to be bold like those friends and try something unconventional…even if it’s not the way it’s always been done and doesn’t seem proper. What they did wasn’t proper! But Jesus didn’t chastise them, he rewarded their ingenuity.

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