The Southwestern Company Internship Difference Blog

Something not heralded enough about door-to-door sales people is the fact that they are in the neighborhood.  Too often it is the opposite. 

The industry takes a negative hit because the solicitors are perceived as a nuisance or are “up to no good.”  “Surely, if there is no fixed retail location, it must be a scam!”  Bull.  This has no bearing on legitimacy or not.  While it may not be as common as in years past, it is still one of the noblest ways to earn a living.  Hard work is a lost art.  The fact is, the negative press is a very small sample of those going door-to-door.  It is an infinitely small representation and unfortunate at that. 

I will say the industry could do without the bad media exposure generated by the traveling magazine sales crews (actually, we could do without them period) and the unwanted attention put on it by the alarm sales companies.  But… there are companies and individuals – and lots of them – who are making a difference in communities and with individuals.

I always train the first-year student dealers participating in the Southwestern Advantage sales program that sales is an opportunity.  It is an opportunity for them, as the sales person, and for the family or individual they come into contact with who may have a need for the product they are selling.  I have heard on numerous occasions how 20 minutes spent with the high school kid in the family’s home by a Southwestern Advantage dealer helped them decide to go to college.  Now, that is how you impact others!

We often find ourselves in places we are led to and don’t know why.  This happened in Timonium, MD.  A door-to-door

 salesman rescued three children from a house fire.  See a news story from CBS-WJZ here.

I, for one, am glad this man was in the neighborhood and was able to lend a hand to save those children.  The door-to-door salesperson still has a place in society… and in this case, he has a place in the hearts of the parents of those children.

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