From Pushy Pitches to Powerful Partnerships: Janice Gordon on Selling with Empathy

Janice B Gordon didn’t set out to disrupt sales. She just started asking different questions. Like: What if we stopped pushing and started co-creating? What if sales wasn’t about convincing—but about collaborating?

Years ago, Janice was in a high-performing financial services sales role. She followed the script: identify a pain point, agitate it, present the solution. The job came with numbers to hit, deals to close, boxes to check. But something about it felt off.

It wasn’t until she stepped into customer experience work that the lightbulb went on. Watching real users break apart the tech they were supposed to love, Janice realized: customers are your best innovators. They’ll show you the shortcuts, the unmet needs, the tweaks that could make a product sing—if you’re listening.

That’s when she flipped her entire approach to sales.

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Speaking the Customer’s Language

Janice launched Scale Your Sales to help B2B teams lead with empathy. Her mantra? Stop selling to personas—start talking to people.

Too many companies say they’re customer-centric while still using war-room language: targets, wins, conquests. But customers aren’t enemies. They’re partners. And they deserve to be treated like humans, not conversion stats.

Janice challenges orgs to audit their language, not just their strategy. Because real collaboration starts with how you speak.

Reflection prompt: What does the language inside your company say about how you treat customers?

The Power of Walking Away

When asked what advice she gives to women in sales, Janice doesn’t hesitate:

“If you’re not in an organization that values you—leave.”

Confidence is fragile, she reminds us. And no career goal is worth sacrificing your sense of self. Janice believes women are uniquely skilled at relationship-based selling. But too often, they’re stuck proving their worth instead of owning it.

Reflection prompt: What would change if you chose a workplace where your natural style wasn’t just accepted—but celebrated?

Sales Culture Starts on the Inside

It’s not enough to preach co-creation with customers. You have to practice it inside your company, too. Janice noticed that some teams had brilliant sales strategies—but weren’t set up to deliver them. Misaligned roles. Poor fit hires. Weak feedback loops.

That’s why she added talent assessments to her work: because you can’t build a co-creative sales culture if the team isn’t empowered to co-create with each other.

Reflection prompt: Are your internal teams set up to collaborate—or are you asking people to perform in isolation?

Keep the Ripple Going 🌊

Catch Janice’s full conversation to hear how she rewired the sales playbook, challenged dated industry mindsets, and built a company that leads with curiosity and care.

Listen: The Ripple is on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube

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Make Your Own Waves: Learn how we do what we do from our amazing Host, Ashley Laabs of Composure Digital, and our Producer, Jelena Djordjevic of KIND Media Productions.