Nothing replaces face-to-face interactions.

I recently moved to Kansas City to work for DST Systems as a Software Developer. Its offices are located in downtown Kansas City and as a courtesy, I was provided with housing for my first two months in Kansas City. I created a list of apartments in the downtown area, investigated and toured each one, and eventually narrowed my search down to two apartments within walking distance of my office building. This anecdote relates to one particular apartment that I had toured. I walked into the leasing agent's office about two weeks ago, asked him if they had one-bedrooms or studios available, and he called his manager in back to inquire about the vacancy. I spoke with the building manager - let's call him Harry - and he told me to escort myself up the elevator and review the apartment. I liked his hands-off approach and toured the apartment. After I finished checking it out, I went down to the office, called his phone and told him I wanted to speak to him about my interest in the apartment. He said to fill out an application - which had a $40 fee posted at the top - and he would get back to me. I decided to sleep on it and recently, two weeks later, I wanted to look at the apartment again. I walked into the leasing office again, spoke to the office again downstairs, and this time, Harry was sitting down in the lobby eating his lunch at a table. He differentiated himself from his front office associate quite easily by his suit and tie, and I sat down and asked him about the apartment - he didn't remember me from our phone call from two weeks ago. I asked him about the rent, some odd things about the apartment, and parking. This time, I asked him if he would lower the rent in exchange for a longer lease duration, and he told me that he would rather do a month-by-month lease as opposed to a standard year-long agreement. He advised me that the parking was free - something I hadn't known my first time in, and that he would be happy to waive the application fee. I walked out satisfied, and Harry got a new tenant. These arrangements wouldn't have been possible if I had just spoken to him on the phone again. Get out the house. Get off the phone. Look someone in the eye. You're more likely to influence them and communicate easier that way. You got up out of your chair. Clearly what you have to say is more important than an invisible face over the phone.