Speaker 1: It's Night Side with Dan Ray on w Bezy Choston's
Speaker 1: Me Radio.
Speaker 2: Hi, welcome back. It's great to have Matt Dulian. I'm
Speaker 2: talking to some lacrosse right now, and uh, you know,
Speaker 2: I'm gonna open it's cousin Todd's on the phone. Let's
Speaker 2: talk to cousin Todd. Cousin Todd Todd Fernard of Fernard
Speaker 2: Properties is a contributor to the show when I'm on,
Speaker 2: and he was also before I get into talking about
Speaker 2: business with him. Todd isn't from a lacrosse family as well.
Speaker 2: A great interview with me. Did you know, Andrew, you
Speaker 2: guys went down and took Ben in the family. You
Speaker 2: guys went down to Foxborough right.
Speaker 3: We were down in the area. There was a whole
Speaker 3: bunch of June of Uh, yeah, there was. There were
Speaker 3: a cross tournaments going on all over U. Ben caught
Speaker 3: a little bit of it. But but yeah, it's uh,
Speaker 3: this is the season, man, It's all across all the time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's incredible. So anyways, I do see Ben Fernard
Speaker 2: following the footsteps of Matt Dooley. I do there similar.
Speaker 2: I can tell you that right now I'm making a prediction.
Speaker 2: No pressure on your son.
Speaker 3: OK, Cornell, here we come, Yeah, here you come, pany exactly.
Speaker 2: So the reason I want to talk to Todd Todd is
Speaker 2: in commercial real estate. He understands business. And one of
Speaker 2: the things I find fascinating Todd right now, because I
Speaker 2: see it with my wife and her work habage and
Speaker 2: in the company she's working with, is it was reading
Speaker 2: this article where Amazon says we want everybody in the shop.
Speaker 2: You got to be here five days a week, and
Speaker 2: then Google says, well, wait a minute, we're going to
Speaker 2: do three out of five. I know your company is
Speaker 2: not as big as those companies, but how do you
Speaker 2: feel about that?
Speaker 3: Oh? I feel I have a hundred feelings on this.
Speaker 3: I mean, and I don't think there's a one size
Speaker 3: fits all by any stretch here. But I mean, I'm
Speaker 3: fifty two, and I don't know. I'd rather be, you know,
Speaker 3: in the car on the road, in my home office,
Speaker 3: in the office. I get it.
Speaker 2: Get it.
Speaker 3: If I were twenty two, twenty four, thirty two and
Speaker 3: I was trying to really build my career and make impressions,
Speaker 3: I would think I would kind of feel like I
Speaker 3: had to be in the office. I mean, it's hard
Speaker 3: to make a really positive impression off a ZoomBox. But yeah,
Speaker 3: it's it's a you know, we're far enough away from
Speaker 3: the pandemic that this is no longer a safety issue,
Speaker 3: but it's a way of life and as an employer,
Speaker 3: and you know, this is still an ongoing wrestling match,
Speaker 3: and so I mean, we talk about it, but it's
Speaker 3: you know, on the one hand, I understand it, and
Speaker 3: on the other hand, you know, this is it's time
Speaker 3: to go back, man, It's time to get stuff done.
Speaker 3: And I think the world is kind of grappling with this,
Speaker 3: particularly in this country.
Speaker 2: Okay, let me play Devil's advocate, because I don't I
Speaker 2: don't know. I don't have an opinion out of the way,
Speaker 2: because I'm just a slob that talks on the radio
Speaker 2: at night when my wife makes all the money. I'm
Speaker 2: just being truthful. So what about the argument that in
Speaker 2: order to be competitive to get quality employees, because this
Speaker 2: is Google's argument, right, Like you say, Okay, I want
Speaker 2: anybody in five days a week. I can keep an
Speaker 2: eye on people, we can generate ideas, I can have
Speaker 2: team building, we can have team chemistry. But Google says, look,
Speaker 2: we're losing very talented people, specifically women with children, that
Speaker 2: say I want to be home two days a week
Speaker 2: to see my kids. What do you say to that?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I say they're not wrong. That there's a quality
Speaker 3: of life element that I think COVID certainly opened our
Speaker 3: eyes to what it feels like to spend more time
Speaker 3: in and around your home and to still be productive.
Speaker 3: So it makes sense that people would feel that way.
Speaker 3: I have a twenty two year old who's headed off
Speaker 3: to New York to go work in the investment banking field.
Speaker 3: He will be in the office every day, every day
Speaker 3: for more than twelve hours a day, and he needs
Speaker 3: that in order to make an impression, learn shadow understand
Speaker 3: the sort of the cadence of the industry. He's going
Speaker 3: to have to be in that office and he will be.
Speaker 3: I work in an industry of real estate where you
Speaker 3: often are in the field at the property, and we've
Speaker 3: realized through COVID that if our accountants are doing what
Speaker 3: they do in putting invoices and you know, following up
Speaker 3: on payables or receivables, they can do that from a
Speaker 3: home computer and they won't miss a beat. And if
Speaker 3: it's the right person, if it's a person who you
Speaker 3: know and trust. Then have at it. You know, come
Speaker 3: into the office a couple of days a week for
Speaker 3: someone who is more customer oriented. You know, there's a
Speaker 3: lot of industries where that just doesn't fly. It doesn't work.
Speaker 3: And so again I repeat, but it's not a one
Speaker 3: size fits all. But I I you know, I would
Speaker 3: like to see my office mates more.
Speaker 2: But for you, like when you say that, like, what
Speaker 2: does that do for you personally?
Speaker 3: Sure? So, okay, it's fine to write an email, it's
Speaker 3: fine to pick up the phone and call someone. But
Speaker 3: think about how many interesting ideas and thoughts and sort
Speaker 3: of you know, just the process of being in a
Speaker 3: space with someone and thinking out loud with them and
Speaker 3: being you know, bouncing a creative idea off or being
Speaker 3: told by someone that's a dumb idea. But but why
Speaker 3: don't you look at it this way? There are some
Speaker 3: things that are just inherently face to face. There's also
Speaker 3: there's certain kinds of information that you know, you can
Speaker 3: I can communicate with you with my voice, and that's fine,
Speaker 3: but you know, how I hold my hands, how I
Speaker 3: sit in my chair, how I taste around, Like there's
Speaker 3: all of these methods of communication that you don't have
Speaker 3: when you are remote. So in terms of the quality
Speaker 3: of ideas, in terms of sort of the process of
Speaker 3: being collaborative, just just being around other smart people and
Speaker 3: hearing what they're thinking and then you know, riffing with them.
Speaker 3: That is it. That is an in person thing all
Speaker 3: day long. They haven't created the virtual Maybe they have,
Speaker 3: but but you know, nothing replaces being in the same
Speaker 3: space as a person and feeling what they're feeling and
Speaker 3: talking to them about that. So I'm still in that camp.
Speaker 2: Well, I call it like you've experienced this with me.
Speaker 4: I I.
Speaker 2: Hate texting. If I have to text one of the
Speaker 2: five words, I pick up the phone and I call people,
Speaker 2: which some people don't like and they find annoying. I
Speaker 2: need personal interaction. I need to talk to a voice.
Speaker 2: Texting is fine. Meet me at six. I'm fifteen minutes late. Okay, yes,
Speaker 2: it's in my cousin Brian. Same thing. I felt like, Okay, look,
Speaker 2: I'm writing a paragraph. This sucks. I'm getting on the phone. Yeah,
Speaker 2: but that but I'm but I'm a dinosaur.
Speaker 3: No, but I mean, look, can you imagine the concept
Speaker 3: of managing a group of people and not having the
Speaker 3: ability to sit around a table to you know, talk
Speaker 3: about the day in advance or talk about the you know,
Speaker 3: what happened yesterday like it. You can only go so far.
Speaker 3: I mean, text is entirely limiting, but but the phone
Speaker 3: is has some limitations too, So you know, why would
Speaker 3: I want to be back? I look the rhythm of
Speaker 3: a work week. I like being and I like going
Speaker 3: to work. I like being around people that I work with.
Speaker 3: I like the energy that it sort of occurs when
Speaker 3: you're in that space. And quite honestly, I love going home.
Speaker 3: I love the concept of leaving work and saying I'm
Speaker 3: now in another mode, I'm in my car, and then
Speaker 3: I'm going to be home. I mean, there are things
Speaker 3: that I don't know, we didn't give a lot of
Speaker 3: thought to before twenty twenty, where you just had a
Speaker 3: rhythm to the way the world worked and there was
Speaker 3: something about it that was you know, effective, it was
Speaker 3: it was productive. We adapted during those couple of years
Speaker 3: at home, and then there's certain things that we kind
Speaker 3: of held on to. You know, if there are chores
Speaker 3: that I picked up, certain household chores during COVID, you
Speaker 3: can't just hand them back so I still fold the laundry,
Speaker 3: or I still unload, you know, do the dishes or
Speaker 3: whatever the things are. And so my world shifted after that,
Speaker 3: and I know a lot of peoples did too.
Speaker 2: The one thing about it now, I'm just going to
Speaker 2: go to the other side of the argument because I
Speaker 2: see it in my house. Instead of being in the car.
Speaker 2: You're up and you're starting to work at six am.
Speaker 2: You're in your office. You're working at six am. You're
Speaker 2: not commuting. You don't have to commute home. You're in
Speaker 2: your office till seven or Sunday morning, you go down
Speaker 2: in your office and you're working, or you start doing
Speaker 2: some stuff Saturday afternoon. If you're in your office five
Speaker 2: days a week, that probably doesn't happen. Is there an
Speaker 2: argument that can be made for that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, there is. There is. There's the you know, for
Speaker 3: some people, that hour, hour and a half long commute
Speaker 3: three hours a day, when you combine it, it is
Speaker 3: really really unproductive. Now I would argue for some people
Speaker 3: that's like mental health one oh one to need that
Speaker 3: time to separate, But that's another issue. I do think
Speaker 3: that if everyone in the world were driven and productive
Speaker 3: and at all times you were sort of capable of
Speaker 3: plugging in. Well, then, yeah, that's a pretty beautiful image
Speaker 3: where I can work from six to eight and I
Speaker 3: grab some breakfast, maybe get a workout, and then I
Speaker 3: can dive back into work. I can go pick the
Speaker 3: kids up at one o'clock. But then I'm diving back in.
Speaker 3: And that sounds on paper like a really brilliantly kind
Speaker 3: of laid out schedule. The reality is you work from home.
Speaker 3: There are constant you know, someone's knocking at the door,
Speaker 3: you're on a conference call, what do you do? Kids
Speaker 3: come home, they're bored, they want to you know, what
Speaker 3: do you do? It's not as picture perfect as we'd
Speaker 3: like to believe it is. There are moments, for sure,
Speaker 3: and look, connectivity or you know, really good technology allows
Speaker 3: me to sit at my home computer and no different,
Speaker 3: I have access to every file and every sort of
Speaker 3: ounce of technology. I can be productive. But again, I
Speaker 3: come back to sort of the notion that like the
Speaker 3: cadence of a really productive work day has morphed into
Speaker 3: something very different. And so I don't know, there are
Speaker 3: bits and pieces candidly of each that I really like
Speaker 3: and kind of respect and want, But I do believe
Speaker 3: that that we're more productive when we have a workplace
Speaker 3: and a home place, and you are, you know, engaged
Speaker 3: at work when you're at work, and then when you leave,
Speaker 3: you know you're in another space. So I call me
Speaker 3: a dinosaur if you want, but I'm still kind of
Speaker 3: in that space.
Speaker 2: I want to talk about the sales process because I
Speaker 2: think when I was in sales one hundred years ago,
Speaker 2: it was still an in person business. Is it's still
Speaker 2: an in person business. That's coming up next with Todd Fernard,
Speaker 2: CEO of and our Properties.
Speaker 1: After this, it's Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ,
Speaker 1: Boston's news.
Speaker 2: Radio carry Tageray for Dan Ringer and WBZ Sam Metler,
Speaker 2: the moderate from the West Coast and former camp made
Speaker 2: of my guest Todd Fernard George. I said, eleven o'clock.
Speaker 2: Now Sam comes on because he believes that everybody's screwed,
Speaker 2: Republicans and Democrats, which in Los Angeles makes a public
Speaker 2: evnemy number one, so he will, Yeah, he goes after everybody.
Speaker 2: So that's coming up at eleven o'clock right here on WBC.
Speaker 2: I want to talk about the sales process. This is
Speaker 2: something I did when I started out. I was in radio.
Speaker 2: I was working part time just and I worked in
Speaker 2: I sold bank, I sold God. Here's another connection. I
Speaker 2: sold Lauren stanchions of all things. You know. Oh, there
Speaker 2: you go, velvet ropes, velvet ropes. Woo. The mark up
Speaker 2: on that stuff was incredible. No one of those guys
Speaker 2: were rich. I Amazon's great. Like I want to buy soap, fine,
Speaker 2: I want to order some batteries, fine. I don't want
Speaker 2: to have a car delivered to my house. Now. I'm
Speaker 2: not going to mention any company names because it works
Speaker 2: for some people and it doesn't work for others. You know,
Speaker 2: in downtown Boston, there's that big thing there on mass
Speaker 2: av I think where they they showed cars that you
Speaker 2: can buy or you can whatever. It's a thing for
Speaker 2: carv on. Like you like basing cars online. I can't buy.
Speaker 2: I have to go sit in a car. I have
Speaker 2: to go talk to somebody. So talk about the sales process,
Speaker 2: in how you feel that that has changed, and in
Speaker 2: how it varies.
Speaker 3: Sure, so I'll say this, I mean, technology is, it's
Speaker 3: it's everywhere, it's ubiquitous, it's all around us. It is uh,
Speaker 3: you know, and and you'd be wise to sort of
Speaker 3: figure out how to use it, of course, but for us,
Speaker 3: and we're in the business of filling space. We're in
Speaker 3: the business of creating spaces and then finding tenants to
Speaker 3: occupy those spaces. And so there are all kinds of
Speaker 3: great tech tech advancements that allow us to, you know,
Speaker 3: quickly root out every operator of this type, of this size.
Speaker 3: Here's their name, here's their number, go talk to them.
Speaker 3: And if at that point you then sent your mass
Speaker 3: email out to them, in my opinion, you'd get absolutely
Speaker 3: nowhere that you know, then when it becomes a sales
Speaker 3: process or a pitch of sorts, that is a human
Speaker 3: that's a human endeavor. That is something where you know,
Speaker 3: tell me where, tell me.
Speaker 2: Where to drive, or who to call.
Speaker 3: I would much prefer to see that person and you know,
Speaker 3: face to face, talk to them, walk into their store,
Speaker 3: tell them why I think they would do better in
Speaker 3: my location than the location they're in. But but to me,
Speaker 3: sales is this art form, that is this It's this
Speaker 3: combination of you know, how do you use technology to
Speaker 3: your benefit, but then how do you then use your
Speaker 3: human skills to essentially make the sale. I think that's true.
Speaker 3: I think that's true everywhere but I'm sure there are
Speaker 3: examples where you know it is purely a you know,
Speaker 3: you've got to you've got to send out a million
Speaker 3: emails or a million text messages or in d MS
Speaker 3: or whatever, and then that's how you create your your
Speaker 3: your sales. But I don't know. I mean to your
Speaker 3: original question about working from home. If you're twenty four
Speaker 3: years old and you're an aggressive salesperson and you're willing
Speaker 3: to get into the office every day and get on
Speaker 3: the road and make sales calls in person, I got
Speaker 3: to believe you've got such a massive leg up on
Speaker 3: every other twenty four year old that wants to work
Speaker 3: from home for three days a week. So that's my take.
Speaker 2: Well, I going back to my sales days. I think
Speaker 2: what technology allows you to do is that you can
Speaker 2: qualify a prospect. It's a rifle shot approach versus a
Speaker 2: what we would call like a shotgun approach. I'm sorry
Speaker 2: about the weaponryturn yeah, but you know, or a laser approach.
Speaker 2: I should say where I can look at my clients,
Speaker 2: and I could say through technology, I save time because
Speaker 2: I'll look at maybe twenty five prospects and I can
Speaker 2: look at the details of what they're doing, and I go,
Speaker 2: you know, ten of those people, I don't have a shot. Yeah,
Speaker 2: file maybe those ten. So if I take might and
Speaker 2: use my time and hone in on those ten and
Speaker 2: go knocking on those doors, that's the way to do it.
Speaker 3: I agree, And I think the key part of what
Speaker 3: you just said is knocking on their door, right, Like,
Speaker 3: ultimately you want to get in front of them. You
Speaker 3: want to literally shake their hand, you want to look
Speaker 3: them in the eye. You want them to feel like
Speaker 3: they know. I remember Gary Tangway, he sold me those
Speaker 3: You know that there's a point of connectivity. And then
Speaker 3: once you have that point of connectivity, now it's a
Speaker 3: relationship that Now it's your job to sort of maintain that.
Speaker 3: And whether that means you know, cocktails on a Thursday
Speaker 3: night or a Red Sox game, or just a note
Speaker 3: checking in that there's a familiarity. You know, at the
Speaker 3: end of the day, the human aspect there is what
Speaker 3: will make the sale, you know, and look, there are
Speaker 3: people who sell widgets and whether you get that for
Speaker 3: three cents or two cents, that's that's what we'll determine.
Speaker 3: And so you know, perhaps for that salesperson, you know,
Speaker 3: a personal relationship is a bit less important, but generally speaking,
Speaker 3: there is no substitute for ticket items.
Speaker 2: Like if someone's coming to the hard properties and you
Speaker 2: have a space, right and lord knows, I mean, you've
Speaker 2: had to make adjustments now where well, for we were
Speaker 2: at the Lacrosse Championships, and I have seen Patriot Place
Speaker 2: change over. And I know that's that's not your your
Speaker 2: your area, that's a craft thing. But you know, I know,
Speaker 2: I remember when Patriot Pig started, where god you had
Speaker 2: what's the it.
Speaker 3: Was just big name that in the beginning, it was
Speaker 3: just big name national retailers. They took a mall, they
Speaker 3: they've made it an outdoor mall, and that's what they did.
Speaker 3: And by the way, fifteen twenty years ago, that was
Speaker 3: good enough. That's all you had to do. But the
Speaker 3: the you know, in the world of retail, real estate
Speaker 3: or place making or call it whatever you want, it
Speaker 3: had better be the most unique, the one of a kind.
Speaker 3: You have to get off your couch to come have
Speaker 3: this experience. And the Crafts have done a really nice
Speaker 3: job with Patriot Place. You could point at any number
Speaker 3: of you know, outdoor, interesting, compelling retail experiences, but that
Speaker 3: as you say, that's evolved wildly over the last just
Speaker 3: ten years.
Speaker 2: Right, Well, what I noticed with the down at the
Speaker 2: Lacrosse Championships is because when I was doing the period
Speaker 2: game show, you know, you had Victoria's Secret. That was
Speaker 2: the big thing. So we're gonna put Victoria's secret whether
Speaker 2: people come in the clothing thing didn't really work. But
Speaker 2: what they have now is entertainment bars, restaurants, ice cream shots,
Speaker 2: and the place is jammed, so that yeah, you know,
Speaker 2: it's not necessarily it's not necessarily a shopping experience. It's
Speaker 2: an entertainment experience completely. I mean, we use this term.
Speaker 3: They're all un they've created an unamazonable experience. It is
Speaker 3: all the things that you can't get on your cell phone. Right,
Speaker 3: you can't drink a cocktail on your phone. You can't
Speaker 3: you know, go on a date. You probably can. I
Speaker 3: should take that back, but you know, you the things
Speaker 3: that are compelling enough for you to leave your couch
Speaker 3: or leave your apartment or what have you and go
Speaker 3: out that they they've all realized that, like it's it's
Speaker 3: about creating an experience or an entertainment option for people,
Speaker 3: or several options. That's too good, too good to pass up.
Speaker 2: I know you love clothes.
Speaker 3: I do.
Speaker 2: Do you have to go into a store?
Speaker 4: I do?
Speaker 5: I have?
Speaker 3: I have I have to touch the sweater in the
Speaker 3: same way that you may want to, you know, feel
Speaker 3: the avocado before you pick your avocado. I mean, I
Speaker 3: actually I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I enjoy grocery shopping.
Speaker 3: I enjoy going into a store and seeing sort of
Speaker 3: what it feels like or or looks like. I'm I am.
Speaker 3: I've realized that I'm not good at five five things
Speaker 3: to return four of them. I'll buy five things and
Speaker 3: forget to return them and then be pissed off at
Speaker 3: myself for six months. So you know it it there.
Speaker 3: I'm old school in that regard, but I actually think
Speaker 3: that even retailers are getting better at making their store
Speaker 3: experience worth going Going to it is a better experience.
Speaker 3: It's it's I mean, I think we're seeing these things
Speaker 3: innovate in front of our eyes.
Speaker 2: I agreed, like an idiot. I sometimes on Instagram, I'll
Speaker 2: see something like a shirt, Oh I like. My wife
Speaker 2: laughs at me. Anything I buy on Instagram is always
Speaker 2: a piece of crap. Yeah, it's a piece of and
Speaker 2: I go, oh my god, what a deal. Twenty nine bucks. Yeah,
Speaker 2: because it costs five cents. You know, you still have
Speaker 2: to go grocery shopping. You still have to go buy clothes.
Speaker 2: And I do remember this, this was a while ago.
Speaker 2: You probably know the details, but the Brighters of the
Speaker 2: right felt grocery shopping is going to become a deliverable system, right,
Speaker 2: that's what's going to happen. And yeah, I mean, well,
Speaker 2: the Amazon bought you know, Whole Foods, and they had
Speaker 2: this system, they had distribution channels, they had warehouses set up,
Speaker 2: and it failed miserably because of what you just said.
Speaker 2: Nobody wants to buy a cump quot online. How about that?
Speaker 2: Put that on a billboard.
Speaker 3: There you go. No, no one thought you could use
Speaker 3: the word kum quote tonight, but there it is. You did.
Speaker 3: I actually think that grocery shopping not all not for
Speaker 3: everyone and not all the time. But I think there
Speaker 3: is something in our DNA that actually likes the process
Speaker 3: of picking the things and browsing and and you know,
Speaker 3: you build a list, you go in, you check off
Speaker 3: the things on the lip that there's something really.
Speaker 2: Great about that. That's an accomplishment.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I mean we like like many families. I mean,
Speaker 3: I think we use instacart from time to time, and
Speaker 3: it's mostly for you know, the paper towels and the
Speaker 3: tissue you know, the tissue boxes or whatever those things
Speaker 3: that are. You know, you don't need to you know
Speaker 3: what it is produce meat. You know, there's certain things
Speaker 3: that I take. I enjoy the process of going to
Speaker 3: the meat counter and picking the actual steak that we're
Speaker 3: going to have. That like, that's you know, that's just
Speaker 3: part of the game. And if you look at how
Speaker 3: Whole Foods and many other grocers have they've created their
Speaker 3: displays knowing full well that that's part of the whole processes.
Speaker 3: You want to be wowed by the produce and wowed
Speaker 3: by the the meat counter. So I I you know,
Speaker 3: I think that grocery, the grocery world has experimented with
Speaker 3: a bunch of different concepts that you know, kind of
Speaker 3: worked for a little bit, but did not take over
Speaker 3: the industry. And it wasn't you know that the death
Speaker 3: of retail didn't happen because of the cell phone, but
Speaker 3: people still talk about it quite a bit.
Speaker 2: Todd, You're great. I appreciate you coming on buddy, thank you.
Speaker 2: Do you have any questions from me? No? No, no, no, okay. Anyways,
Speaker 2: Todd Fernard, CEO of Ferd Properties, I don't know if
Speaker 2: you're the CEO, you're the president, you're the boss, you're
Speaker 2: the grand poop whatever, but I but I really appreciate
Speaker 2: you coming on and Lennings a midsec to this. I'll
Speaker 2: take some calls on this and see how people feel,
Speaker 2: like do you enjoy working from home? Do you would you?
Speaker 2: Do you like going in the office?
Speaker 3: Uh?
Speaker 2: Six one seven, two, five four thirty. That's coming out
Speaker 2: of next Todd and Joy and I talked to you soon.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Thanks buddy Ie Todd with us here on WBZ.
Speaker 2: What do you think next? On wbz's night Side.
Speaker 1: Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2: To work from home or not work from home? What
Speaker 2: do you think? You're an employee or an employer. I
Speaker 2: want to know what is on your mind about this
Speaker 2: at six one, seven, two, five, four ten thirty. I
Speaker 2: think it does come down to the individual. I can
Speaker 2: tell you that my wife is a workaholic. She's up
Speaker 2: and at him at six am every day and she
Speaker 2: could be on zooms and phone calls at eight o'clock
Speaker 2: at night. She is amazing. Thank god somebody works in
Speaker 2: our house. But that's not always the case. There's a
Speaker 2: lot to be said for camaraderie. I mean, Todd Fernard
Speaker 2: was joining us earlier. You know, there are times you
Speaker 2: feed off other employees, your co employees. I feed off them.
Speaker 2: I get ideas, I brainstorm, I get motivated. I know,
Speaker 2: I like to be around people. I do a better
Speaker 2: job of tasks when I'm around people. If it's just
Speaker 2: me in a room, I get distracted.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 2: I started looking on Instagram. I start buying crappy stuff
Speaker 2: that falls apart three weeks later. I you know, let
Speaker 2: me get a snack. I'll be right better. Let me
Speaker 2: get a snack. You know, I would say I'm not
Speaker 2: productive at home. I need That's why I come out.
Speaker 2: I mean, I could work from I could do the
Speaker 2: show from my house for WBC. I like to come
Speaker 2: in the studio. I like to be here. I like
Speaker 2: to see the people in the studio. I like to
Speaker 2: see the people in the newsroom. I would not be
Speaker 2: You may think I suck at this job, whatever I've
Speaker 2: heard it before. I would not be as good at
Speaker 2: this job from home. End of story period. For a while,
Speaker 2: when I was on television doing sports during the pandemic,
Speaker 2: we did the show from home on our laptops. I
Speaker 2: was not as good. Not a chance, no way. What
Speaker 2: do you think? Six one, seven, two, five, four to
Speaker 2: ten thirty. I'm gonna go to Rick and Natick. Rick's
Speaker 2: gonna tell us what he thinks on WBC's Night Side. Hello, Rick, Hey,
Speaker 2: how you doing.
Speaker 5: I'm sorry I didn't get your first name.
Speaker 2: It's Gary Jilly.
Speaker 5: Well, first of all, you have a very good boy,
Speaker 5: and you moved the show along nice and quick.
Speaker 2: I like that, thank y.
Speaker 5: I did commercial real estate for about twenty years. The
Speaker 5: last gentleman that you had on the guests was very
Speaker 5: knowledgeable as far as sales. I did it with other corporations,
Speaker 5: but in real estate my business. I would go out
Speaker 5: and knock on doors and walk around the property. First
Speaker 5: of a warehouse or matter fact, building, and I would
Speaker 5: take a look like there's too many cars here, or
Speaker 5: there's too many trucks backed up, or I'd speak to
Speaker 5: the warehouse manager and I'd say, what's the name of
Speaker 5: the president here? And you know, how are you guys
Speaker 5: doing it if they said, oh my god, we're really busy,
Speaker 5: We've got to get more space. Then when I walked in,
Speaker 5: and if I got a chance to talk to the guy,
Speaker 5: I already knew they had a problem. And you know,
Speaker 5: I already had his name in those days when you
Speaker 5: walked in the secretary a lot of times but just
Speaker 5: you don't want to get rid of you. But most
Speaker 5: guys in real estate, most companies, always wanted to talk
Speaker 5: about their real estate. And if I hadn't gone out
Speaker 5: and talked to companies every day, I never would have
Speaker 5: been as successful as I was. And I probably closed
Speaker 5: eighty percent of all the customers that I ever talked to,
Speaker 5: only because I sat down with them. And these were
Speaker 5: vice presidents and presidents and companies, and I would find
Speaker 5: out what their problem was, and then I would turn
Speaker 5: around and say, hey, here's how I can solve it.
Speaker 5: Or they would say to me, hey, what did that
Speaker 5: building down the streets though for? Or where's the featus rate?
Speaker 5: You can get me for another fifty thousand square feet
Speaker 5: of space. But the guys in Boston that did it
Speaker 5: by the phone, they had no clue what the building
Speaker 5: looked like, what the neighborhood looked like what the guy
Speaker 5: looked like. And in the old days, sales were personal
Speaker 5: relationships that you had with people, and if you were
Speaker 5: any good at it, you had a good relationship. This
Speaker 5: idea of the computers is fined for certain things, but
Speaker 5: I think a lot of people don't. I think they
Speaker 5: missed the real challenging fun of sales, of meeting people
Speaker 5: and getting out, being the fresh year and solving something
Speaker 5: versus sitting and looking at some they have computer eight
Speaker 5: hours a day. Just my opinion.
Speaker 2: Well, I agree with you, and I think in the
Speaker 2: sales process you mentioned listening, and when I was in it, briefly,
Speaker 2: the best salespeople I worked with listened, and you listened,
Speaker 2: But you also read body language. Yep, you read the situation.
Speaker 2: You could see the stress on someone's face, you could
Speaker 2: get you know, you could read the subtext if you will,
Speaker 2: And it's hard to do that when you're not one
Speaker 2: on one with a person. And like I discussed with Todd,
Speaker 2: look you're gonna buy soap online, fine, but regardless, there
Speaker 2: are still going to be a lot of reasons for
Speaker 2: one on one sales. There's no doubt about it. Rick,
Speaker 2: Thank you for the phone call. I appreciate it. Go ahead, yes, sir, it's.
Speaker 5: Going to buy a car, you want to sit it in.
Speaker 5: If you go to buy a pair of shoes, you
Speaker 5: want to see what they feel like.
Speaker 2: I could never buy a car online. People do it.
Speaker 2: I know people do it. I can't do it. Not
Speaker 2: a chance, not a chance.
Speaker 5: But I'd like to tell you more often.
Speaker 2: Rick, I appreciate the phone call. Six one, seven, ten
Speaker 2: thirty is the number here on WBZ. That's good to
Speaker 2: Jim all the way to Kansas City, Jim, thanks for
Speaker 2: listening on WBZ get any.
Speaker 4: Thanks for filling in for Dan.
Speaker 2: Thanks buddy.
Speaker 4: So they say ninety percent of what's communicated is nonverbal.
Speaker 2: Right right, right right.
Speaker 4: So here, I am a guy, so twelve hour credit
Speaker 4: hours past an associate degree from a community college. And
Speaker 4: so I know I'm not the only one that thought
Speaker 4: of this, but I see the solution is you just
Speaker 4: tell people that don't want to come into work every day. Look,
Speaker 4: we think you're be twenty percent more effective if you
Speaker 4: do come into work every day. So to come into
Speaker 4: work every day, we'll pay you X plus twenty and
Speaker 4: if you don't, we'll pay you X and I kind
Speaker 4: of know people a little bit, and you know what
Speaker 4: walks and you know what dots? Right, yeah, money, Yeah,
Speaker 4: So but there must be some part of the equation
Speaker 4: that I'm missing, because otherwise I'm sure other people have
Speaker 4: thought of this.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, it's interesting. I had lunch with my
Speaker 2: neighbor Bill Reich, who has been in business for thirty
Speaker 2: five years, and we were talking about this, and he's
Speaker 2: big on being in the office, and his feeling was,
Speaker 2: if you want to work nine to two and then
Speaker 2: go home, fine, you're gonna get paid from nine to two.
Speaker 2: He's exactly what you say. But his feeling was that's
Speaker 2: where ideas come from. There's also a team bonding aspect
Speaker 2: when you're working for a company, and I did feel
Speaker 2: this when I was in sales. I worked for a
Speaker 2: company that is no longer a business call I don't
Speaker 2: think it is called Moorice Bluid, and I made long
Speaker 2: time friendships there with people people that I still talk
Speaker 2: to today. And you know, the sales guys, you know,
Speaker 2: or working with the production people. We would go out
Speaker 2: in the field and we would make deals and you
Speaker 2: come back and you talk to the production people. This
Speaker 2: is what we need to do. You work with the installers.
Speaker 2: There is a camaraderie element to it where you're working
Speaker 2: as a team, and that can work. That can be beneficial.
Speaker 2: That gets people pumped up, That gets people feeling that
Speaker 2: they're involved in something that they're appreciated. Because I'll tell
Speaker 2: you something, Jim, most of the people want to do
Speaker 2: a good job. I still believe that, and they just
Speaker 2: have to be recognized and they need to be patted
Speaker 2: on the back a little bit. Now, some people need
Speaker 2: a kick in the gass, but I think most people
Speaker 2: need it, and it's tough to give them that pad
Speaker 2: on the back digitally.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 2: You know when the boss walks in, it says, good job.
Speaker 2: That is a month worth of currency. Okay, there's something
Speaker 2: to that, you know. In my opinion, there is something
Speaker 2: to that, you know what I think. The exception I
Speaker 2: do feel, Jim, is that like Google. I see where
Speaker 2: Google's coming from, and I think you have to do
Speaker 2: it on a case by case basis. If you have
Speaker 2: an employee that is a star that produces no matter
Speaker 2: where they're located. If they're at home, they get it done,
Speaker 2: if they're at work, they get it done. For whatever reason,
Speaker 2: they want to work Fridays from home, but they continue
Speaker 2: to produce and you may lose that person. Then you say,
Speaker 2: all right, you're good, we can do that now if somebody.
Speaker 4: Else, Okay, The way I think I would do that
Speaker 4: is instead of saying if you stay home, you're going
Speaker 4: to get X minus twenty, I would say you're still
Speaker 4: going to get your X, but if you come in
Speaker 4: you'll get X plus ten. You'll get X plus twenty.
Speaker 2: Yeah. But let me ask you this though.
Speaker 4: If you tell if you tell them you're going to
Speaker 4: get X minus twenty, then they might leave or they
Speaker 4: might be repeated elsewhere. But if you still if you
Speaker 4: tell them, look, you're productive. We know you're productive. You're
Speaker 4: still going to get your X. But if you're willing
Speaker 4: to come into work those extra two days a week,
Speaker 4: then we'll give you X plus twenty, X plus ten,
Speaker 4: X plus thirty, whatever you know, and just let them
Speaker 4: make the decision.
Speaker 2: But then you're giving the people a bonus just for
Speaker 2: showing up. It's a unique idea.
Speaker 4: Well, it's not for showing up, it's because they're more
Speaker 4: productive when they show up. We've already just okay, I
Speaker 4: got to go.
Speaker 2: No, no, no, no, thanks to I appreciate the call.
Speaker 2: I don't disagree with you, but thank you.
Speaker 4: I know I know you don't.
Speaker 2: I don't disagree. But if you got to go, that's cool.
Speaker 2: It's certainly a viable alternative. Appreciate it, Jim, It's a
Speaker 2: viable There are situations where you could lose a good part.
Speaker 2: You know, even if you give them the twenty percent,
Speaker 2: if you say you're going to make twenty percent. Last
Speaker 2: if you work from home, you could lose some good people.
Speaker 2: Let's say, well, I'm going to go to work somewhere else.
Speaker 2: I think you have to look at at a case
Speaker 2: by case basis. But I think what we are learning overall,
Speaker 2: and what companies are learning overall, is that you're more
Speaker 2: productive and you're stimulated when you're with other people. That's
Speaker 2: the bottom line. That's how I feel. Six one, seven, two, five, four,
Speaker 2: ten thirty. Maybe you disagree. What do you guys think?
Speaker 2: Coming up at eleven o'clock, my buddy the freak from
Speaker 2: the left Coast, the California Moderate, which makes him a
Speaker 2: Republican nosed Neck of the woods, Sam Medler At eleven
Speaker 2: on WBZ.
Speaker 1: You're on Night Side with Dan ray On WBZ, Boston's
Speaker 1: news radio.
Speaker 2: Welcome back. Six one, seven, two, five, four thirty is
Speaker 2: the telephone number here on wbc UH. Sam Medler joins us.
Speaker 2: Coming up in just a few minutes at eleven o'clock,
Speaker 2: and we're going to talk about We'll talk about everything.
Speaker 2: I love to talk about everything with Sammy, Uh, but
Speaker 2: get into what's going on in Washington, and I have
Speaker 2: to be honest with you. Where the hell are we at?
Speaker 2: Wait a minute, the terriffs in or out the court
Speaker 2: said no, but then they said yes, and it's like
Speaker 2: it's mind numbing, and then it's just I gotta figure
Speaker 2: this out. But Samuel sent me straight in that situation. Now,
Speaker 2: Elon Musk, He's gone, you know something. You don't really
Speaker 2: last long with President Trump, do you. I mean, if
Speaker 2: you're in if you're with his if you're with him,
Speaker 2: your shelf life is about a half a year. Then
Speaker 2: he gets tired with you, he gets bored, he talks
Speaker 2: to you aside. Oh my word, it's just bananas. It's
Speaker 2: absolutely bananas. Back to the work thing that we were discussing.
Speaker 2: I think it's a way to energize people. I think
Speaker 2: it's a way to build camaraderie. I do think, however,
Speaker 2: that there are companies that have to make allowances. For example,
Speaker 2: if you have a greatmployee they're going to leave, they say,
Speaker 2: I need to work it. You have to make exceptions
Speaker 2: to the rule, and if people don't like that, you
Speaker 2: just say, look too bad. If you are as valuable
Speaker 2: as that person and you wanted that situation, I would
Speaker 2: give it to you. But you don't work as hard,
Speaker 2: you're not as smart, you don't mean as much to
Speaker 2: the company. That's one of the problems I do think
Speaker 2: with America here as I get on a soapbox, is
Speaker 2: we need to generalize everything. Everybody needs to be treated
Speaker 2: the same. No, you don't you be you're You should
Speaker 2: be treated on the value that you bring to the situation.
Speaker 2: That's how we built the damn place.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 2: It goes back to the everybody plays scenario. No, everybody
Speaker 2: doesn't play. Now. I don't know how this works with
Speaker 2: labor laws. Of course, I'm talking out of my butt
Speaker 2: as usual. But if you have a company of two
Speaker 2: hundred people, why do you have to say, Okay, here's
Speaker 2: the situation. If you want to go home on Friday,
Speaker 2: you can no it's a merit based situation. If I
Speaker 2: think is the boss that you can handle the responsibility
Speaker 2: of working from home, then you can work from home.
Speaker 2: If you are as productive working from home on Friday
Speaker 2: as you are in the office, fine, But if I
Speaker 2: don't think you will be, you don't get to do it.
Speaker 2: And then what would happen with that person, man or woman? Whatever?
Speaker 2: Would they go cry? Would they say it's not fair, No,
Speaker 2: it's fair. It's based on your evaluation as an employee. Now,
Speaker 2: if you're working internationally, now here's another situation. If you're
Speaker 2: working for a company that is all over the world
Speaker 2: and you go into an office and in the office
Speaker 2: you're on zooms all day because you're talking to people
Speaker 2: in Florida, or you're talking to people in China, or
Speaker 2: you're talking to people on the West Coast or in
Speaker 2: katman Do or the Galapa Ghost wherever, really matter, where
Speaker 2: you are probably not. I don't think it does. I
Speaker 2: don't think it does. Also, human contact makes you smarter.
Speaker 2: You can read all you want, you can listen to
Speaker 2: podcasts all you want, but human interaction makes you smarter
Speaker 2: because you're observing human behavior, you're observing how the world works.
Speaker 2: You're getting the subtext. What is the person really saying
Speaker 2: to you. You don't get that in an email. We've
Speaker 2: seen people get pissed off. I've had people get pissed
Speaker 2: off at me because I've sent an email and I go,
Speaker 2: what are you talking about? I go, relaxed, He I didn't.
Speaker 2: You can't detect tone in an email. You can't detect
Speaker 2: body language in an email, but you can in an interaction.
Speaker 2: How do you generate ideas? Can you brainstorm digitally? Eh?
Speaker 2: Maybe on a zoom. Maybe if you're in different parts
Speaker 2: of the country. But if you're on the fifth floor
Speaker 2: and the other person's on the third floor and you're competing,
Speaker 2: you're talking on a zoom. That's ridiculous. That's just lazy.
Speaker 2: Get your ass out of the chair and go one
Speaker 2: on one. I don't think it's so much that companies
Speaker 2: feel that we need to keep an eye on people.
Speaker 2: I think they feel that human interaction generates ideas and
Speaker 2: generates productivity. Here's the basis of an idea. I think
Speaker 2: we should do this. That person says, well, what about
Speaker 2: if we try that? How about if we add on
Speaker 2: to that. You can't do that on an email. You
Speaker 2: can't do it on a text? Can you do it
Speaker 2: on a zoom? Maybe? Maybe? And I think that's what
Speaker 2: companies are finding out. Plus, isn't it more fun to
Speaker 2: be with people? Oh? By the isn't it more enjoyable
Speaker 2: to come in and do a radio show with Rob
Speaker 2: Brooks on the other side of the glass, to see
Speaker 2: Dan in the newsroom, to come in and see people.
Speaker 2: Isn't it more enjoyable?
Speaker 3: Yes?
Speaker 2: Plus than you can gossip. I mean really, when it
Speaker 2: comes to working from home, I gotta tell you, the
Speaker 2: office gossip has probably gone down greatly. I love office
Speaker 2: gossip the best. Who's sleeping She's sleeping with him? Get out?
Speaker 2: Reason number one on the Tangue lists to return to
Speaker 2: work five days a week. Office gossip. Sam Metler, The
Speaker 2: moderate freak from the West Coast Next on WBZ