The face-to-face sales industry is often misunderstood, especially in today’s highly digitized world. We forget that interacting face-to-face, whether in a sales environment or socially, is the essence of humanity. When businesses incorporate this very back-to-basics aspect of being a human into their sales strategy, they not only increase their sales but also transform their business. Meeting people in person, where they are, can turn your business into a beloved brand and your repeat buyers into loyal customers.
Misunderstandings about the true nature of in-person sales arise when the sale is prioritized over the social aspect of the interaction. Too many businesses don’t understand this. They fail to remember that the most important part of their business plan is that they are in the face-to-face industry, interacting with real people rather than just sales numbers. Thus, mastering a face-to-face business strategy is key to getting sales, scaling, and even expanding their business growth.
In-person or in-store sales are other words to describe the face-to-face industry. “Sales” can also mean customer acquisition, relationships, or connections. A face-to-face business is any operation that generates sales or business in person and not solely online. While there is no way to know the exact number of face-to-face businesses for sure, as of 2025, there were approximately 358.7 million face-to-face businesses globally. Of this number, roughly 90% of these businesses are considered small or medium-sized. Considering that information, the room for error is small, considering most small businesses fail at a high percentage rate within their first five years of opening.
Understanding these pitfalls, especially in the face-to-face industry, can be a matter of life or death for your business. While some other pitfalls include lack of capital, marketing issues, and hiring and retaining good staff, at Credico, we believe these issues can be avoided and resolved if face-to-face businesses learn to master three key aspects of interpersonal interactions.
1. Never neglect networking
One of the fundamental aspects of business is networking. Business-to-business relationships are so meaningful, and the healthier they are, the better your company and industry will be for it. Aside from having a strong customer base, having an even stronger network is a proper balance in business. The benefits of knowing how to network aren’t just the most obvious and apparent ones, including increased visibility, leads, knowledge sharing, or access to unique opportunities. An often unseen but equally valuable benefit of networking is the self-awareness and character it builds in your company, your sales team, and your brand.
Networking forces you to get out of your comfort zone and approach people to build genuine connections. Avoiding networking can leave you closed-minded and small-minded because of fear, and the more fear you hold onto, the more fear will drive your business decisions. Avoiding networking when you’re in the face-to-face industry is essentially trying to go about your industry hiding your face, which is counterproductive.
2. Figure out fundraising
While every business needs funds, raising them for a greater purpose is different and is not necessarily what it may seem in the face-to-face industry. Fundraising is connecting your brand to a cause or charity and showing your support in a way that reveals the heart and soul of your business. Fundraising isn’t easy just because you’re in the face-to-face industry. It’s easy if your brand is genuine in its pursuit of raising money to boost a cause deemed worth supporting. Brand recognition is one of the benefits of fundraising, with sponsorships and acknowledgments that raise your company’s profile while raising money for a good cause. Fundraising helps your culture, too, because people want to work with and for businesses that care. Giving in this way increases your brand’s reputation, which also increases your business’s growth, which means the more your business offers, the more your business gets in return. Avoiding fundraising is essentially avoiding aligning your business goals with a local charity that could benefit from your generosity while demonstrating your brand’s commitment to the community it is part of and ultimately serves.
3. Champion community building
Want to deepen your connection with your customers, employees, and partners? Get involved in your community. Face-to-face businesses are visible or exterior-facing, but that does not absolve them from genuinely engaging and being active in their communities. Businesses that are based in a community have a cooperative obligation to that community. Avoiding building genuine connections with community leaders and fellow businesses is detrimental to your brand, the community, and the land your business rests on. When face-to-face businesses step outside their brick-and-mortar and into their community, there is a synergy that cannot be explained but only experienced. Your business evolves from a brand to a living entity that is felt across the community for miles and miles. It’s because your brand is not in the hearts and minds of the people who patronize your business and feel emotionally connected to it.
Face-to-face businesses have a different responsibility than online businesses. Why? Well, when you can put a face to a brand and match that face with a name in the community, that doesn’t just make your business operational; it makes it a tangible part of people’s lives. And that’s not just what being in business is all about, but what being in the face-to-face, in-store, in-person, or people-to-people industry is all about.