The Southwestern Company Internship Difference Blog
At a recent “Sales School,” where independent student dealers who sell Southwestern Company products are trained, one student showed me a copy of USA Today he received at his hotel room. On the cover of the May 14th Money section, there was an article with a subject matter all to familiar to those who are affiliated with the direct selling industry.
The title was “Direct sales (like Avon, Mary Kay) offer recession proof jobs,” written by Charisse Jones.
The article highlighted real-life examples of people who have experienced personal success based on the expansion of direct sales in a weak economy. A primary driver of this is just that – the weak state of the economy. Neil Offen, President of the Direct Selling Association, was quoted as saying, “We’re recession-
resistant in the sense that more people come to us during economic hard times for supplemental income or replacement of a lost job.”
The article notes how the recession serves as a recruiting tool of sorts, as more people are looking to running their own business through direct sales as a means to offset lost income or make an additional buck to get through hard times.
The article was an excellent example of the economy driving entrepreneurship and vice-versa via the direct selling business model.
However, I do take exception with only one teeny-tiny, itty-bitty part of this otherwise on-point article. It had to do with the part that states, “Knocking on doors is history.” While the majority of generating new customers in direct selling nowadays is, just as Ms. Jones says, through “referrals, gatherings and parties, spontaneous meeting on the street and the Internet,” we musn’t forget the most basic of direct selling principles: it is all face-to-face, person-to-person and all about relationship building.
The older companies all started with some form of door-to-door. And some, even today, have representatives that prefer that method. Old-fashioned? Old school? Maybe, it’s all in the eye of the beholder. But, I can tell you this, knocking on doors is not only a part of history… for some, it’s a part of the American dream.
I agree. The old ways are the best ways.