Founder's Message - Face to Face

Many years ago I discovered that people, of all shapes and sizes, feel good when they see their pictures posted somewhere - anywhere. Except, the Post Office, of course. Remember when you were in grade school and the teacher told you to dress up tomorrow because the photographer was coming to take the class pictures? I found my second grade class picture recently buried in some old junk. Of course I saved it and actually had trouble discovering which of the thirty five kids was me. More recently, some Harvard drop-out decided to develop a website built around a person's face. I think he called it Facebook. It worked! And then some other brilliant mind watched a business website called LinkedIn stumble and crumble, so he bought it and added faces to all the names and regionalized it. Home run! It worked! Is there a moral to this story? Yeah! People feel good seeing their pictures posted somewhere. And here's something else. Ever ask yourself­­-What does anyone see first when you are introduced? Your belt buckle? No! Your elbow? No! Your shoes? No! I know! Your face, of course. So - despite of the new world of Social Media, where you can contact hundreds and even thousands of people daily with your message, do you really think that replaces your face to their face - your real skull wearing real skin topped off by hair (or not)? The answer is a big fat NO! The marketing specialists who are seeking new clients who they want to build a future with - a two-way trust - will still have to get up, jump into their car and bring their face to another location. Every sales course ever written suggests that the salesperson start the day maybe before nine, make maybe 20 or more cold calls that will usually lead to at least two live appointments that will usually lead to maybe at least 10 face to faces a week and at least one sale. Hey, that would add up to 52 new sales a year - and if they stay around as clients - well, you do the math. With Social Media and email blasts replacing all this effort, the sales guy may never have to leave his desk again. And, there is a company working on Robots to replace humans (it was in Forbes Magazine, so it must be true). If those blasts work, very soon-well, you know. Guess what? Trust me! The face to face guy will always outsell the Robot. So - to all you guys, don't throw away your razor just yet. And to all you women - keep powdering your nose. Roland Hopkins is the founder of the New England Real Estate Journal, Norwell, Mass.