Meet them where they are

John Foust

Feb 1, 2026

“Meet them where they are” is a popular phrase these days. It is defined as “a concept that emphasizes understanding and accepting individuals without judgment based on their current emotional, mental or physical state.”

The key word is “current.” We should deal with people as they currently are, not the way they were yesterday or the way they might be tomorrow.

I remember learning this important lesson at a young age. It started when I was 14 years old and my friend, David, and I saw a comedy film that featured a hospital, some doctors and a lot of pretty nurses. Then and there, we decided to get summer jobs at the local hospital. We were too young to work for pay, so we investigated volunteer work. The good news was that there was an active volunteer program for teenagers.

In those days, female teenage volunteers were Candy Stripers (wearing red-and-white striped uniforms), while males were Pilots (wearing tan shirts). When David and I went through the pre-work training, we noticed that Candy Stripers outnumbered Pilots by a sizable margin. Since one of our main interests was to meet girls, this looked like a perfect opportunity.

As it turned out, Candy Stripers and Pilots were too busy to socialize. Most of us were placed in departments with only one or two volunteers. All of us found it to be a rewarding experience in an environment that was focused on helping people.

I was assigned to the X-ray department, and it was my job to take a wheelchair to patients’ rooms to bring them downstairs for X-rays. I quickly learned that some patients wanted to chat during their short ride to the X-ray department. Even at that young age, I figured they might have mixed feelings about their hospital stay or their X-ray. After saying “hello,” I waited for them to set the tone for the conversation. That made our talks go more smoothly. When I didn’t know what to say, I just listened or stayed quiet.

Although I didn’t know it at the time, I was learning how to meet people where they were. If someone had given me that advice back then, I wouldn’t have understood. I had to experience it first hand.

All these years later, I’ve seen and heard about countless salespeople who are highly skilled in meeting advertising prospects and clients where they are. They don’t rush into a sales presentation at the beginning of a meeting. First, they find out what’s on their client’s mind. If she is worried about the economy, they start with that. If his company is expanding, they focus on that. If she has questions about the results of a recent store promotion, they use that as a starting point. Some folks call this “getting in step with your customer.”

John Foust has conducted training programs for thousands of newspaper advertising professionals. Many ad departments are using his training DVDs to save time and get quick results from in-house training. Email for information: john@johnfoust.com