Arvin B. Mendoza: Turning Observation Into a Philosophy for Business, Sales and Life

The ability to pause, observe and understand before reaching a conclusion can shape the way we work, build relationships and make decisions. For Arvin B. Mendoza, Business Author, Creator of The Observation Method™, and Architectural Sales Professional, that principle has emerged from years of experience across architecture, architectural sales and writing. What began with paying attention to details in architecture eventually developed into a broader way of looking at people, business and the decisions we make.

Business Now had the opportunity to speak with Arvin, as he shared the experiences and turning points that shaped his career, the lessons setbacks taught him, and how his professional journey eventually led him to write about observation, understanding and decision-making.

Your journey has taken you from drafting and architecture to architectural sales and becoming an author. Can you take us through your life and career journey, and share the key moments that shaped who you are today?

Arvin B. Mendoza: My journey was never something I planned from beginning to end.

My educational foundation was architecture. I earned an Associate Degree in Architecture, and that training taught me something that stayed with me long after I left the drafting table: pay attention to details, because details tell you something about the whole.

Eventually, my career took me into architectural building-product sales. I entered that world without an established customer base or years of experience behind me. I had to learn.

I built my territory one relationship, one quotation, and one project at a time.

Over the years, I worked throughout Northern California and Northwestern Nevada and became involved with products going into schools, hospitals, libraries, government facilities, and commercial buildings. I worked with architects, contractors, distributors, project managers, manufacturers and many different personalities.

At first, I thought becoming better at sales meant becoming better at explaining products. Experience taught me almost the opposite. I became better when I learned to listen.

Customers don’t necessarily need another salesperson telling them what they should buy. They need someone willing to understand what they are actually trying to accomplish.

That realization eventually became bigger than sales. I started noticing the same patterns in business, investing, relationships and human behavior.

I became increasingly interested in one question: Why do people see the same situation and come to completely different conclusions?

Writing became my way of exploring that question.

My books grew from things I had experienced and observed. Eventually, those observations developed into what I call The Observation Method™.

Looking back, I don’t see architecture, sales and writing as unrelated chapters. There is a thread running through all of them: observe carefully, ask questions, understand how things connect and don’t rush to conclusions.

Looking back across your career, what have been some of the biggest challenges or setbacks you’ve faced, and how did those experiences change the way you think, work, and approach people?

One of the hardest lessons I’ve learned is that doing your best doesn’t mean everything will always work out the way you expected.

After spending more than a decade with the same company, I experienced an unexpected career transition. When you have invested that much of your life into something, change can force you to ask difficult questions about yourself.

Who am I without the position? What do I still have to offer? What do I do next?

That period forced me to look at my experience differently. I realized that relationships, mistakes, problems solved, people helped and lessons accumulated don’t disappear because circumstances change.

That uncertainty helped push me toward writing The Consultative Sales Representative. I began thinking about the younger salesperson entering a territory with no established customer base, the position I had once been in. I asked myself: What could I tell that person that would make the road a little easier?

That changed how I looked at setbacks.

I don’t romanticize them. Difficult experiences are difficult. But I have learned not to ask only, “Why is this happening to me?” I also try to ask, “What is this showing me?”

You never completely know what someone else is carrying. Life has made me slower to assume that I understand someone’s situation simply because I can see the surface of it.

I think setbacks can either make us harder or make us more understanding.

I would rather become more understanding.

You’ve spent more than a decade working across architecture, construction, and building-product sales. What have you learned about this industry – and about building genuine, long-term relationships – that most people outside the industry may not understand?

People outside architectural and construction sales may imagine that selling is primarily about convincing someone to buy your product.

My experience has been very different.

Construction is a relationship business built around problems that have to be solved. A project can involve architects, owners, general contractors, subcontractors, distributors, manufacturers, project managers and sales representatives, with everyone seeing the project from a different position.

Projects also don’t always move quickly. Something discussed today might not become an order for months or even years. Sometimes you spend considerable time helping someone and never receive the order.

That’s why transactional thinking has limitations in this industry.

I learned to think about three things: Relationships. Support. Follow-Up.

Relationships create trust. Support demonstrates that the relationship means something beyond the purchase order. Follow-up proves that you didn’t disappear after the sale.

Credibility accumulates slowly.

Sometimes it means answering a question honestly when the answer doesn’t favor your product. Sometimes it means saying, “I don’t know, but I’ll find out.” Sometimes it means staying involved when a project becomes difficult.

Those moments don’t necessarily appear on a sales report, but people remember them.

The product may have introduced you. Trust is what keeps the relationship alive.

You’re the author and creator of The Observation Method™. What inspired you to turn your experiences into a book, and what does “Observe First. Understand Second. Recommend Last.” mean in practice?

The Observation Method™ wasn’t something I sat down one morning and decided to invent. I recognized it gradually through the way I had learned to work.

For years in sales, I was constantly asking questions. What is the architect actually trying to accomplish? Why is the contractor concerned about this issue? What information am I missing? Is the product I’m representing really the best solution?

The temptation in sales is to recommend too quickly. We hear part of the problem and immediately start thinking about our answer.

I learned that the quality of the recommendation depends on the quality of the understanding that comes before it.

Eventually, I expressed the idea simply:

Observe First. Understand Second. Recommend Last.

Observe First means listening, looking at the facts and paying attention to what is being said, including what isn’t being said.

Understand Second means going deeper, asking why, looking for context and challenging your first assumption.

Only then do you Recommend Last.

Sometimes the correct recommendation isn’t your product, your idea or even what you originally believed.

The purpose of observation isn’t to collect evidence proving that we were right. The purpose is to get closer to what is true.

I later realized the principle wasn’t limited to sales. I could apply it to business, investing, leadership, relationships and decisions.

I don’t consider it a formula for always being right. I consider it a discipline for becoming less certain too quickly.

These ideas are explored in greater depth in The Observation Method: Stories That Reveal the Pattern.

The same approach to questioning assumptions and looking more closely at situations also runs through The Verdict Nobody Agreed On, another of Mendoza’s works that reflects his broader interest in how people interpret information and reach conclusions.

His interest in helping readers understand ideas without unnecessary complexity also extends to The CLARITY Act: For Beginners.

For someone listening who is early in their career – or trying to reinvent themselves – what are the most important lessons or pieces of advice you would share from everything you’ve learned?

I would first tell them: Don’t be ashamed of not knowing.

There was a time when I didn’t know architectural-product sales. I had to learn. There was a time when I wasn’t an author. I had to learn. There are things I’m trying to understand today that I still don’t know.

“I can’t” closes the door. “I’ll learn” leaves it open.

Second, don’t compare the beginning of your journey with someone else’s middle. We constantly see other people’s promotions, accomplishments, businesses, followers, money and success. What we don’t see are the years behind those moments.

Third, learn to listen. A surprising number of opportunities come from understanding something other people overlooked because they were too busy speaking.

Fourth, protect your integrity. Your reputation is built gradually by whether your actions and your words continue to match.

Fifth, build genuine relationships. Don’t only contact people when you need something. Help when you can, celebrate other people’s success and remember the people who helped you.

Finally, understand that reinvention doesn’t mean throwing away everything that came before.

Architecture taught me to observe details. Sales taught me to understand people. Business taught me about relationships. Investing taught me to question assumptions. Writing taught me to examine my own thinking. Setbacks taught me humility.

What looked like separate experiences eventually started connecting.

If someone feels that they’re starting over, I would tell them: You may not be starting from zero. You may simply be starting again – with experience.

Keep learning. Keep observing. Keep moving.

And don’t worry if you can’t see the entire road yet. Sometimes the next step is enough.

The ideas of learning, observing and understanding also connect with the practical themes explored in The Buc-ee’s Effect, extending Mendoza’s examination of how businesses, people and everyday experiences can reveal larger patterns. 

Explore Arvin B. Mendoza’s Books

The Consultative Sales Representative

The Observation Method: Stories That Reveal the Pattern

The Verdict Nobody Agreed On

The CLARITY Act: For Beginners

The Buc-ee’s Effect

Arvin B. Mendoza — Amazon Author Page