FACE TO FACE
By Duncan
“For English, press one; for Spanish, press two. Leave your name and telephone number, the last four of your social security number, and why you are calling. If you are contemplating suicide, call this 800 number. If you need immediate care, call this 800 number; if you're calling about your bill, call this number; for rescheduling, call this number. Leave a message, and we will call you back. MAYBE!
I was called a salesman. After college and the military, I applied for a job with a radio station, WIFE-AM, in Indianapolis. I wanted to be a star on the radio. However, in my face-to-face interview with the station manager, Jack Marcellus, I was told he would hire me on the spot. I was excited until I realized he saw me as a “Time Salesman,” not an “Air Personality.” I took the job anyway. Why?
There is an old joke about a man who worked in the circus for 40 years. He followed the elephants around, picking up their droppings. A reporter noticed the man and asked how long he had been doing his job.
“40 Years.”
“Don’t you want to do something else in life besides this?”
“What, and give up show business?”
My job at WIFE-AM was to call on businesses face-to-face and convince their business that it was good business to advertise on the WIFE-AM (13.10) radio station. Cold calls are what we called them back in the day. This means I was asked to leave their business more often than I was allowed to pitch my product. I was starting to feel like a Jehovah’s Witness.
I thought it would be easier than this. The station was owned by Don Burden. They required a sales meeting every morning at 8:00 AM. Then they had a sales meeting at 5:00 PM the same day. Monday through Friday. On Saturday, I was required to attend a sales meeting beginning at 9:00 AM. Needless to say, I didn’t last long as a Time Salesman for WIFE-AM. This just seemed a little too much, “face to face.”
DON BURDEN - OWNER WIFE-AM RADIO STATION (Early 60s)
Later, as a salesman, I learned another lesson. You can’t make the sale unless you are talking to the decision-maker. And, of course, the one rule a lot of new salesmen like me had to learn was to ask for the order/sale.
So, there you have some of the best advice you can get if you want to be a salesman. Oh, and other rules I learned as I traveled the highways and byways of business. This one comes from the Real Estate industry. About 20% of the Realtors sell 80% of the homes.
And, of course, 80% of the Realtors sell the other 20%. That could be true for a lot of sales teams. However, face-to-face communication is old hat these days.
Where am I going with this? January in Indiana is a little on the dull side. It may be that way where you live, too. So, how do you shake off the overcast and cool, rainy days of winter in Indiana? I have always been blessed with “Doors Opening To Me.” I have some lunches scheduled in a few days that I’m looking forward to. Face-to-face lunches, where you talk to a real person. Plus, people want me to join them in warm, far-off places, too.
So, let's think positively about the next few weeks. Rodney sent me a message and said,
Rodney (Digital Rodney)
“When are you having lunch with me, face to face? You have lunch with everyone else in the world!”
DUNCAN - RODNEY (DIGITAL RODNEY) - TSAREFF (SHOOTER)
Rodney is a lovely fellow with whom I used to ride motorcycles nationwide. I discovered he now lives in New London, North Carolina. Of course, he wants me to come to New London for lunch? I looked up New London on Google Maps. Google says nine hours, almost ten. I went a step further; I looked up the population of London. (2021) 616 people. (2024) 637 people.
I asked Google another question. Google, show me the restaurants in New London. He lives in the boondocks except for the Bait Shop and a few churches.
The other big draw of New London, North Carolina, Rodney is excited about. There is a motel whose claim to fame is Mae West slept there. No, Rodney did not tell me the day, the night or the year Mae West slept in the motel. And Rodney assures me he knows the guy who owned the motel, and he could get me the room Mae West slept in. How in the world can I pass up an opportunity like that?
JIM GENTRY - Jacksonville, Florida.
Then, I was invited to Jacksonville, Florida. In the early '70s, Jim and his girlfriend traveled on Interstate 465, which circles Indianapolis. A truck in front of him had an automobile engine in the back.
The truck driver swerved for some reason, and the engine came off the back of the truck into the windshield of Jim’s vehicle. Needless to say, Jim took the brunt of the accident.
He has been in a wheelchair and hospital bed for the rest of his life. He calls me regularly and asks me to stop by and visit him If I'm in Florida. So, I will stop and enjoy a few minutes with my good friend, Jim. (Face to face.)
Mr. Garrity has called and invited me to join him in Hollywood, Florida. He has been in this area of Florida before. Hollywood is south of Fort Lauderdale and north of Miami on the east coast. He has sent me pictures of the beaches and suggested I join him for a few days. These pictures are to encourage me to come to Florida? The beaches are certainly not face-to-face.
After enjoying Hollywood for a few days, I must visit Sebring, Florida, and see a Gal Pal for lunch. Nancy and Alan live in Fishers, Indiana, in the summer and Sebring in the winter. Because Nancy is always on the go, it’s hard to pin her down for lunch. I’m hopeful on this trip.
NANCY - ALAN Now, it’s off to my old stomping grounds. North Fort Myers. As most of you know, I lived in a gated community named Magnolia Landing for five years. And in the five years that I lived in Magnolia Landing, I made many friends. So I will be staying with Tom for a few days.
Tom is enjoying a read on the couch.
After a few days, it will be time for me to head back to the house. The trip back to Indianapolis in “Mean Yellow” is a two-day hard drive. One thousand miles divided by two five hundred mile days. I might just take another day and see what I might see. See something else? Stop along the way? We shall see. This adventure (Road Trip) begins at the end of the month.
