Most communities are receptive to the Southwestern Advantage student dealers – as long as they follow existing ordinances.  If the ordinances are within reasonable means of not infringing on the First Amendment Right of Commercial Free Speech, this is certainly not a problem.   The student dealers are allowed in many communities other solicitors may not be because of the excellent track record of the student dealers who were previously in the area.

Recently, the town of Riverlea, OH has taken a different approach.  They are no longer requiring permits and background checks.  Rather, they are asking residents to display a “No Soliciting” sign if they choose.  

The reasoning behind this move was to prevent future lawsuits.  A Federal Appeals Court in Cincinnati ruled just this past February that a restrictive time in Englewood, OH was a violation of both the First and Fourteenth Amendments.  The city of Englewood said no sales could take place after 6 pm.  They were sued by Ohio Citizens Group, a nonprofit anti-pollution group.

The attorney for the Ohio Citizens Group, Daniel T. Kobil, says this is something the homeowner is “perfectly capable of dealing with in a civil and polite way.”

Other cities have had to evaluate how they regulate solicitation in their own backyard, while making decisions on what is best for the community and still recognizing an individual’s right to Free Speech.  It is a fine line.

I know the college students who will make Ohio their home for the summer of 2012 appreciate being there and meeting so many wonderful families.  It would be a shame to deprive those students of such an experience and the families of Ohio the ability to welcome a student to their home if they have a need for educational products.  Maybe some other towns will follow Riverlea’s example to open their community rather than shut it off.

With 244 years gone by, Britannica says good-bye to the print version of their encyclopedias. 

At Southwestern Advantage, we have a great deal of respect for the company and their encyclopedias.  After all, we know what it means to be successful selling books door-to-door.  So it is with sadness we bid that part of their business model a fond farewell.

Britannica was the oldest continuously published encyclopedia in the English language. The set was first sold to families door-to-door in 1932.  While Southwestern Advantage had a number of years over Britannica on the direct selling market, the lore of having a set of Encyclopedia Britannica on your bookshelf was a source of family pride.  We know because we often sold our educational resources to the exact same customers.  Families are tuned in to the educational needs and resources in the home.  And they still are!

There’s some debate about what format families prefer the educational resources in their homes to be.  With the Internet and Wikipedia, some people feel printed material is winding down in popularity.  In fact Britannica cited this as a reason for their decision to shut down the printed edition of the popular encyclopedias.

While Southwestern Advantage has adapted to technology by incorporating a website, books and CD-ROMs into a learning system, the value of books to the home can not be understated.  Do children curl up with their parents at night to read a bedtime story on the internet?  I hope not.  For the same reasons, children enjoy having something tangible to get their hands on to look at. 

The true value of a book is in the results or entertainment you get from reading it.  So long print-version of Encyclopedia Britannica!  You will be missed.

According to the Fairlawn-Bath Patch, two door-to-door salesmen were selling steaks. When they knocked on the door of one of the homes in the area they were working, a little girl answered the door. When she opened it, a German Shepherd rushed out and promptly bit one of the solicitors on the calf.

The steak-sellers called the police to file a complaint only to be cited and given a summons because… wait for it… they did not have a permit to sell in the township.

To sum this up: Two men selling steaks door-to-door, one gets bitten in the leg by a big dog, they call the police to file a complaint and end up in trouble themselves… and just like the article points out – the road the home was on: Bittersweet Road. Irony.

Moral of this blog post: always do the right thing by getting a solicitation permit where required and watch out for big dogs!  This is something we do at Southwestern Advantage.  (The permit part, not the get bit by dogs part….)

A van crew with Texas plates was stopped in Maury County, Tennessee.  WKRN, a Nashville-based ABC affiliate, caught up with the Maury County Sheriffs Office  to find our more.

It turns out the five occupants of the van were selling magazines door-to-door and had a variety of arrest records ranging from theft and weapons to solicitation of a different kind – prostitution.  Some had no form of identification.  Currently, there is no solicitation permit required in Maury County.  The business the van crew was selling magazines for has an “F” rating from the Better Business Bureau.  

I hope these young people are able to turn their life around and focus on helping people rather than the activities their records show they have been involved in.    As a homeowner, be safe by asking questions to know who the person at your door is, what company they are with and look for red flags to see if they are ligitimate or not.  If you are ever uncomfortable, it is okay to tell them “no.”  Also leep in mind, there are way many legitimate door-to-door salespeople than there are bad ones.  You just don’t hear about all of the good ones because they are operating the way they should be.

In researching traveling sales crews, I often find a commonality with them: many of their paying customers don’t get the magazine subscription they ordered.

To me, that’s a problem.  That is one of the many problems and is a contributing factor as to why rogue door-to-door sales companies tarnish the door-to-door direct selling business model. 

In fact, like many others, a Sacramento, California homeowner was scammed out of $134.  Fifteen months later, she has still not been made whole.  The  person who solicited the her spoke of having financial woes and how selling the subscriptions door-to-door helped feed her family.  RED FLAG!  Anytime someone uses this type of sales tactic to invoke an emotional response of apathy, there’s a good chance they are playing on one’s sympathies to collect more sales. 

When attempting to contact the traveling sales crew company, Freedom Sales, she gets nowhere.  This, by the way, is also a RED FLAG.  These companies change names and numbers more than Lady Gaga changes outfits during a concert.  In a news feature from CBS Sacramento, “Call Kurtis: Is My Door-to-Door Salesman Legit?“, it was pointed out this particular company had some sort of disclaimer that “refunds will no be issued.”  More or less, this amounts to the company not really having a refund policy.  I can tell you if they do not honor the three-day cooling off period, they are in violation of Federal law. 

It’s also noted in that Freedom Sales has never been granted the required solicitation permit in Sacramento.  This is a big deal, as it is also another frequent reason as to the tarnished reputation door-to-door has.  

TAKE-AWAYS:
     1) Be careful of door-to-door solicitors who have an emotional story attched to their sales talk.
     2) Ask about the refund policy.
     3) Ask to see a solicitation permit if required in your town (may not be)

Don’t be afraid to do business with a door-to-door solicitor.  The majority are just trying to make an honest living.  Southwestern Advantage has been helping college students run their own business in this way for well over a century.  there are honest people and honest companies out there doing it the right way.  Never let up your guard, but never give up hope, and hopefully you will not be let down.

As I’ve touched on before with this blog…  is this really fixing the issue or is this simply a band-aid to make the public feel like city leaders have done something to address the issue?

Sometimes limits have to have limits.  When it comes to restricting door-to-door sales, towns run the risk of restricting an individual’s First Amendment right to Commercial Free Speech.

This recently came up in St. Peters, Missouri.  In this case, additional limits on door-to-door was reviewed and dropped after City Attorney Randy Weber was heard from.  Weber specifically cited courts who have deemed limiting door-to-door times for only specified times as unconstitutional.  Weber further added there has to be a nexus between criminal activity and solicitation – which in this case there was not.

One idea that came form the city meetings was to put the enforcement part in the hands of the citizens by having those who wished not to be solicited to on their properties to post a sign.  

For those with a good sense of humor - both home-owner and solicitor - this sign would work well.

By posting their property, the solicitor has a clear indication of the wishes of the homeowner – unless of course, if the original homeowner who posted it moved.  But by far and away, in my experience with homeowner associations, local law enforcement and elected city officials, I think this is the best option. 

On a side note: Southwestern Advantage has long worked with local officials and citizens to make communities safer for both the residents and the solicitors.  We appreciate all the people over the years who have assisted in this endeavor – from the thousands of Southwestern Advantage alumni to town administrators and clerks. 

To view the entire article about St. Peters, MO: http://www.stltoday.com/suburban-journals/stcharles/news/st-peters-backs-off-limiting-solicitations/article_bf8d3f67-f346-5c07-af0b-26ef0de05f61.html

While they vary from town to town, they often have some of the same elements: a registration process which may include a background check, a moderate fee, and enforceable hours of operation are a few of the norms. 

Another thing that is becoming more and more common is towns that are updating their ordinances.  Recently, the town of Bath, Ohio updated their peddler regulations to be stricter than the current ordinance that had been enacted during the 1980s.

Why?  Because of the infiltration of traveling sales crews.  While town officials, specifically Bath Police Chief Michael McNeely, said this would not stop the van crews from visiting the town, they do think it will assist in letting them know who is legitimate.

An excerpt from the Fairlawn-Bath Patch (Dec. 29, 2011) said the following:

McNeely said no regulations will prevent national magazine sales companies from dropping vanloads of young adults off in the township to conduct their door-to-door sales, so township officers will continue issuing misdemeanor citations for vending without a license.“This won’t stop them. They’ll still come in, bring these kids in from all across the country. We’ve cited people from the deep south and other parts of the Midwest,” McNeely said. “Some of the young kids are okay, but we find others have a past history that residents should be concerned about.”

Southwestern Advantage has always guided the young people who run their business selling our products to do the right thing.  If it is the law to register for a solicitor’s permit, they need to do it in order to sell in that particular jurisdiction… or they are breaking the law.  I think it’s a real shame how the burden of additional regulation affects those who go through the process rather than those who choose to ignore it.  This is not an issue unto Bath alone… no, it stretches far and wide throughout the country. 

The article, “Getting a License to Solicit at Bath Homes Now Tougher,” can be found here in its entirety: http://fairlawn-bath.patch.com/articles/getting-a-license-to-solicit-at-bath-homes-now-tougher.

Guest blogger to Southwestern Difference

Coppell, Texas’ Kyler Henderson made a goal to be the top popcorn salesperson in Cub Scout Pack 841. Henderson set his eyes on the prize of winning a Cowboy’s football or Dallas Maverick party for his friends. He realized what he would have to sell was about $5,000 in sales in order to win.  It’s natural for kids to be motivated by cool toys & gadgets, but very few go through the hard work of earning the prize.  However, in this case, Henderson had a plan. He would knock on doors at night and on the weekends when people were home. His dad, Brad, went along with him for safety purposes. After all the knocks were tallied, they estimated about 1,000 doors had been visited.

In comparing Henderson’s work ethic to that of other door-to-door sales programs who sell the right way, there are many similarities in the lessons learned. I share this example – of this 9-year-old boy – to illustrate a point.

He no doubt heard “no” lots of times. I’m sure he had to pick himself up from the rejection and go to the next door. In sales you often have to hear a series of “no’s” before you hear a “yes.” But one thing is sure, Henderson will no doubt experience a lifetime of success if he keeps up his hard work. How valuable of a lesson has this young man learned at an early age about hard work, results and goals? If only all children could learn such lessons. If only all adults could learn such lessons…

Congratulations Kyler!

Original article about Kyler:  http://www.prweb.com/releases/KylerHenderson/2011/prweb8999161.htm

Top Row: Dr. Carl Roberts, Henry Bedford, Tabitha Taylor, Courtney Kylman, Lee McCroskey, Rita Streator, Mahendra Chowbay, Greg Boucher. Bottom Row: Dustin Hillis, Trey Campbell

The Better Business Bureau of Middle Tennessee celebrates its 50^th Anniversary this year.

In 1961, Southwestern, along with 509 other Middle Tennessee businesses pledged $50,200 for the first year’s operating budget for the new charter of incorporation for a Better Business Bureau as approved by the Tennessee Secretary of State. 

Southwestern’s name came up several additional times during the ceremony in addition to the recognition.  Earlier in the year, Southwestern presented the BBB of Middle Tennessee with the original framed charter from 1961.  The replica made for Southwestern was printed on the commemorative program.  It also turns out the keynote speaker, Clifton Lambreth, was a three-summer alumni of the Southwestern summer sales program.  Lambreth is a long-time Ford Motor Company employee who has written two books, Ford and the American Dream and Return to Greatness, Driving the American Dream. 

Southwestern is an accredited member of the BBB of Middle Tennessee and maintains an A+ rating.  We appreciate the work the Better Business Bureau does for businesses and consumers in our community.

The session was titled “The ROI of Ethical Business Practices” and focused on the distinct marketplace advantages companies experience when in compliance with DSA’s ethical standards. 

I was honored to represent Southwestern Company.  My fellow panelists were:

• Laura Beitler, Chief Counsel, U.S. – Mary Kay, Inc. (panel moderator)
• Kevin McMurray, Deputy General Counsel, International – USANA Health Sciences, Inc.
• Spencer Reese, Partner, Grimes & Reese

Ethical topics for the panel included how to develop a culture of ethics, specific tools used to promote ethical behavior, values & returns because of ethical behavior, and proselyting.

The conference had three tracts of emphasis attendees could choose to attend.  They included topics on global operations, legal and government relations and tax & finance.  Having the different tracts was great because it allowed the direct selling executives the flexibility to attend varying topics and blend the tracts for their company’s needs.

The next DSA conference will be in December in Lake Las Vegas, NV.  It has four tracts including communications & marketing, sales force development, public relations and direct selling 101 courses.  I look forward to contributing to this conference, as Southwestern Company has been asked to present many times in the past.