Southwestern Advantage Presents: The Southwestern Difference

Purpose of site: This Southwestern Advantage Sales site has a three-fold mission:

1. To differentiate between legitimate direct sellers and disreputable ones
2. To educate various audiences about door-to-door safety
3. To educate homeowners and consumers about the dangers of traveling sales crews.

Southwestern Advantage enjoys more than 150 years of history to draw on when it comes to “doing the right thing.”  Whether it is ethics in door-to-door sales or teaching the youth around the world life skills to help them achieve their goals, Southwestern Advantage has long been a leader in the direct selling industry.

Door-to-Door Sales:  Know the Difference

Southwestern Advantage wants you to know your rights and how to protect yourself.  While most salespeople are legitimate, there are some people who use this method to scam the vulnerable and prey on the elderly.

Education and awareness are key factors in understanding the “good guys” from the “bad guys” and protecting consumers and the community.

Definition:

What are Traveling Sales Crews?

“Traveling sales crews” are most widely known for selling magazine subscriptions on a door-to-door basis, although they may sell cleaning supplies or other goods or services.  These rogue groups travel from town to town, often in large passenger vans and are dropped off in neighborhoods or apartment complexes to scam and peddle subscriptions.  They are consistently absent on a regular basis from their permanent and established place of residence.  They are not in one place for an extended period of time because they are often dodging local law enforcement because of their unethical tactics in attempting to obtain sales and refusal to obtain local solicitation permits.  This is not the Southwestern Advantage way.

Young people, who may even be minors or runaways, are lured by vague newspaper ads or pulled off the street to participate.  They have no control of their money and are often verbally and physically abused if they attempt to leave or do not hit a sales quota. Some crews even have an “enforcer” which maintains order through intimidation practices such as violence.  These crews have little to no training and some “crew members” and “crew leaders” have been involved in serious crimes and have criminal records.  This is also not the Southwestern Advantage way of doing business.

The “traveling sales crews” live in dingy motels in which the top sales person for the day may be the one to sleep in the bed. They often party late into the night and drug use is rampant.  Ties with friends and family members are often cut-off.

This is a horrible sector of the often misunderstood, but entrepreneurial, door-to-door distribution channel.

Commitment:

Southwestern Advantage Cares

Southwestern Advantage, with local and state law enforcement and legislators around the U.S. have come together to protect legitimate direct sellers, the consumers they sell to and the communities in which they work.

Southwestern Advantage and consumer-friendly organizations and advocates such as the National Consumers League (NCL), the Direct Selling Association (DSA), the Direct Selling Education Foundation (DSEF) and the Better Business Bureau work tirelessly to ensure the safety and rights of consumers and businesses alike are protected.

Southwestern Advantage follows and promotes the guidelines set forth in the Direct Selling Association’s Code of Ethics.

Southwestern Advantage educates families and youthful recruiting targets of “traveling sales crew” companies by distributing awareness materials.  These Southwestern Advantage materials can be found on the “Resources“ tab at the top of this blog.

1 comment so far