Hi there. I’m Lucy Morton-Hicks, the Communications Specialist for Southwestern Company. I’ve run my own business as an independent dealer the past three summers selling Southwestern Company’s educational products door-to-door in their summer program for college students. I’m also engaged in the training and mentorship of students from several Florida universities.
I graduated from Florida State University in May of 2008 with a degree in communications and have successfully run my own business working with families in and around Nashville, TN, Newark, OH and Granite Falls, NC. For the past two years, I have served as a mentor and leader to other students to help them also run a successful business and gain skills beyond the classroom to prepare them for life.
Too much pressure in a sales situation... not a good move.
In a new series of posts to this blog, I will answer common questions related to the purpose of this blog. Question: AT WHAT POINT DOES “PERSISTENCE” BECOME “PRESSURE?”
Answer: Good question. Prior to my future being shaped by running my own business selling products to families door-to-door, I had two experiences with door-to-door sales people.
While a sophomore in college, a young person selling magazines knocked on my apartment door. He gave me a pitch about how the more subscription he sold, the closer he would be to winning a cruise through his school. Feeling in a charitable mood, his insistence paid off and I bought one. Another time, a persistant young man was asking for donations in exchange for a magazine he wrote about his views on politics and religion. Again, I bought.
As I think back, and knowing what I know now from my training and experiences, I am amazed I bought. I also remember the pressure put on me by these individuals.
Any sales person worth their weight will have just enough persistence to be short of pushy. Once the line is crossed, the customer will feel pressured or forced to purchase. Rule #1: If the customer has to buy to get a salesperson to leave, the line has been crossed from persistence to pressure. This is not an effective or even moral way to sell your products or yourself door-to-door.
Over time, I have become comfortable with rejection, as it is not personal. I can hear it and still leave the customer (and myself) in a good mood. Whereas, one of the young men, in all his efforts to sell, made me feel guilty for not wanting to help him win his school trip. The only reason I really bought was because I was pressured to feel sorry for him. Rule #2: If the sales person uses a guilt trip to get you to buy, the line is crossed from persistence to pressure.
The magazine seller was relentless with his sales tactics and methods of persuasion (which I now believe the trip/cruise to be a pitch to get me to purchase). I can only imagine he seldom felt wholeheartedly good after those pressure sales. When I knock on a family’s door, my primary goal is to find out how the children in the household are doing academically and whether or not the products I sell will be of use to that particular family. More often than not, if the child is present, they personally see how and if the product would benefit them. When that is the case, I know I have helped a family - pressure-free. After the sale, I feel good about it. I feel good about myself and my level of persistence, but more importantly, the family feels good about their purchase. That fulfillment is something I feel can be missing when “persistence” becomes “pressure.”
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Lucy Morton-Hicks is the Communications Specialist for the Southwestern Company, the nation’s oldest direct selling company based in Nashville, Tennessee. She is an award-winning, top sales person and recruiter.
I would like to point out something multiple traveling magazine sales crews are using as a pitch at the door. Although I know it has gone on for some time, it is still shocking every time I run across it.
Various traveling sales crew members are scamming homeowners by saying the subscriptions they buy will go to members of the military stationed overseas.
What a perfect ploy! Not only does the magazine seller collect money from the customer, they are off the hook for having to deliver a product. The crafty scammers are taking advantage of families with loved ones overseas. There’s plenty wrong with this. For starters: they are take advantage of a vulnerability some military families have as their emotions and stress levels may be at a peak. They also have sympathy for our overseas soldiers, as they are directly affected due to family members being among those deployed.
This happened in Amarillo, Texas, as recent as November 11. The article from the Amarillo Globe & News, “Men selling magazines might be part of a scam,” said the young men involved in this scam were not even providing the homeowners with a receipt – which is a violation of Federal law, as you must provide two copies. This is definitely one of the differences between reputable and disreputable direct sellers.
Beyond lying about their association with our armed services, they also lied by saying they were raising money for a college choir trip. The local college has denied there is any such fundraiser underway. It also looks as if they also did not register for a solicitor’s permit with the city.
Scammers preying on military families, this is surely a low. Certainly not a new low, but ranks with the lowest of lows.
This week, the National Consumers League (NCL) issued a press release in response to the discovery of the remains of Jennifer M. Hammond, a young traveling sales crew member who disappeared in the summer of 2003.
Hammond was dropped off by the magazine-selling crew in a trailer park in Milton, NY. It was the last time she was ever seen.
In the release, Sally Greenberg, NCL’s Executive Director, issues a warning about the dangers posed by traveling sales crews including the risk of financial, physical and emotional victimization.
The warnings from NCL regarding traveling sales crews are not new. The job has been a fixture on the annual NCL “Five Worst Jobs For Teens” list.
Upon reading the release, I wrote a letter to Executive Director Greenberg applauding her and the NCL for their efforts to warn about the inherent risks associated with traveling sales crews to both the young people who make up those crews and the consumers they target.
Southwestern Company and NCL have long shared a similar disdain for the unscrupulous magazine sellers. Among other efforts, Southwestern has helped support the printing of two NCL-produced consumer brochures: (1) “Is this job right for you? ,” a brochure about traveling sales crews; (2) “When a door-to-door salesperson comes knocking,” a brochure on door-to-door safety. As well, we have sponsored a month in the NCL Consumer Calendar three times in the past regarding the same topics of traveling sales crews and door-to-door safety tips. (See “Education & Awareness Initiatives” widget to left of this post for brochures and calendar information.
I think Ms. Greenberg had it right when she said, “Jennifer Hammond’s death should serve as a tragic warning.” The dangers are real, proven over and over by the carelessness, crimes and collateral damage left in their wake.
PARENTS AND CONSUMERS ALIKE: KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LEGITIMATE DOOR-TO-DOOR SALES (DIRECT SALES) AND DISREPUTABLE SCAMS.
In yet another article about magazine scams, Scott Whipple, staff writer for The Bristol Press wrote something that caught my eye in his October 12 article, “Magazine scams hit front doors.”
Whipple paints the picture of having a young person at your door claiming to be raising money for something or other. The scam? The young person may be part of “an aggressive sales force that preys on low-income people.” He further states the young person may be also be a victim of “rip-off artists” who may not pay as promised. Thus, the vicious cycle of the traveling magazine sales crew continues.
Getting back to what caught my attention, Whipple reports the Connecticut Society of CPAs are noticing an upswing in the complaints of their clients about being scammed by the door-to-door traveling sales crews. What a great connection! CPAs are always looking out for their clients and are knowledgeable about financial scams and the community.
Throughout the article, Whipple does a fantastic job of remaining balanced (stating there are some legit companies out there), while presenting options for his readers when presented with a magazine offer at their doorstep. He covers everything from the Federal Trade Commission’s three-day “Cooling Off Rule” to questions to ask the solicitor prior to purchase.
I recommend a quick read – even if only for the tips.
In a follow-up to my last blog, New York Times reporter Ian Urbina has brought the dangers of traveling sales crews into the national scope once again in an article on October 15, “Six charged in beatings of salesmen.”
Warning - Magazine Crews!
I say “once again,” as Urbina penned one of the most complete features I have read regarding traveling magazine sales crews. I have his article linked on the “Resources” page of this blog, or you can read it from this link: “For youths, a grim tour on magazine sales crews.” If you have not read this, it tells the story of the real-life daily grind of life on the road in a sales crew – warts and all.
His most recent piece provides a little more information than the article I had resourced in my previous blog: Brutal beatings with bat, golf clubs – par for the course on road with traveling sales crew. It also happens to include the subject of another of my previous blogs: Fresh Start Opportunities (Fresh Start Opportunities not so fresh after all, reeks of scam). This company has a long history of complaints… still.
What’s wrong with this picture? Warnings have been issued about Fresh Start, it “claims” to be a charity, many consumers never received ordered magazines, and their phone has been disconnected. The Washington AG’s office is even considering “civil penalties” according Urbina’s article. I guess so… It is shameful these types of operations continue to operate the way they do.
My parting thought - I hope the two young men who were beaten for wanting to leave the sales crew are able to make a full recovery, physically and emotionally.
As frequent readers are aware, one purpose of this blog is to serve as an educational resource about the hazards posed by traveling sales crews - both for potential young people who may consider engagement and the potential victims/consumers they prey on. These rogue groups are in no way associated with legitimate direct sellers as evidenced by their lack of ethics and their criminal actions.
Further evidence of the brutality of life in a traveling sales crew:
Notice of a news article dated October 14, entitled “Hotel brawl involves fight over magazine business” by Stacey Mulick of The News Tribune in Tacoma, WA was sent to me by a reader of this blog.
Police in Lakewood, WA arrested six suspects, all members of a traveling magazine sales crew, in the assault of two young men who are alleged to have wanted to leave the crew.
Around midnight at a hotel, the two victims were beaten with baseball bats and golf clubs. Police stopped an SUV in the area for not having the lights on. Matching a description over the scanner, they searched the car and found one person to have a gun and brass knuckles.
Some traveling sales crews are known for using violence and fear as a tool for retention and control. Some even have an “enforcer” that travels with them that regularly beats up crew members who do not hit a quota, question authority or simply want out.
Violence is an all too familiar and sad reality for life on the road in a traveling sales crew. It’s a grim reminder as to why these groups are a danger to themselves and the public in general.
I came across a blog posted on October 12 by Jerry Davich, the metro columnist for the Post-Tribune newspaper in Northwest Indiana. It caught my attention, as it was titled, “Don’t be scammed by phony door-to-door 2010 Census workers.”
This made me think, of all the door-to-door safety rhetoric I preach, this is an important one, as the Census workers only come around every ten years. It’s an open invitation for those who wish to misrepresent themselves for purposes less than pure.
Jerry picked up on a warning from the Better Business Bureau, cautioning while many will feel they don’t need to be told this stuff, there will, no doubt, be fraud victims in his community. I think he’s right. The biggest threat is identity theft according to the BBB.
Over 140,000 U.S. Census workers will scatter across the country to gather data about each person at a specific address including their name, age, gender, race and other information deemed relevant to the survey.
The BBB offers several ways to tell the difference between a Census worker and a con-artist:
- (1) A Census worker will have an identification badge, a handheld device, an official Census canvas bag and a confidentiality notice.
- (2) Do not provide them with information such as your social security number, credit card or banking information.
- (3) Census workers will not solicit donations.
- (4) You really only have to tell them how many people are living at your address.
- (5) The Census Bureau will not be working with anyone from Acorn, therefore no one with Acorn should approach you regarding the census.
- (6) The Census Bureau will not e-mail you, so do not provide an e-mail address. They may follow up via phone or mail in the future, however.
- (7) It is not necessary to invite them into your home.
With some of the negative attention door-to-door sales receives (thank you traveling sales crews), residents should not have to fear the Census worker. Armed with knowledge, they can feel comfortable and answer the door with relief – whether a Census worker or someone legitimately making ends meet.
For more information, check out the BBB at www.bbb.org.
They get nailed for the most basic of basics - not obtaining permit / tax evasion.
When I train the independent college students who run their businesses selling Southwestern Company products, I tell them this:
“If you are selling without a solicitation permit where the local ordinance requires it, you are breaking the law.”
It’s that simple.
In Sioux Falls, SD police recently arrested members of a traveling magazine sales crew for what is typically their eventual down fall – not getting the required permit. It’s very similar to taking Al Capone down for tax evasion. You know there is more here than meets the eye, but you have to go with what will stick and what you can prove at the time.
The crew members were with a company out of Dallas called Destiny Sales Inc. While most of the nine arrested were in Sioux Falls neighborhoods, several were taken into custody at a gas station as they peddled to customers in the parking lot.
Previously, a concerned resident became suspicious after handing over a check for just under $200 after being pitched for over an hour. Calls to Destiny Sales Inc. and an online search did not ease her nerves. The resident then drove around until she found her and called police. The young lady selling the magazines was subsequently arrested and charged with two misdemeanors.
I guess it truly was destiny the Destiny salespeople were to get busted while sellig without permits…
Links to articles of reference:
Salespeople arrested at gas station
More salespeople arrested for not having permits
SF woman warns of door-to-door salespeople
It seems brains are not a pre-requisite to sell magazines door-to-door for a traveling sales crew.
In reading an article in the Rocky Mount Telegram, it seems the city of Rocky Mount, NC ordered a traveling sales crew out of town and is warning residents about their presence. The crew leader, Paul Kristian Ferrell, and 16 crew members have created headaches for local police during their recent run through the town.
The sales crew was selling magazine subscriptions under the name American Circulation Enterprises. Not only was Ferrell charged with soliciting without a required permit, two other crew members stole a golf cart from Northgreen
Authorities give traveling sales crew the boot
Country Club – in front of the staff, no less. The two brainiacs were arrested several miles away. While trying to be one step ahead, they thought the golf cart would “speed the door-to-door sales process.” I chuckle when I think of the progression of their flawed logic. To them it probably seemed like a good idea, so why not?
According to the article, the Better Business Bureau has bestowed a rating of “D” to American Circulation Enterprises. They’ve had over 35 complaints. To read their BBB report, click here.
For the full Rocky Mount Telegram article by Mike Hixenbaugh entitled, “Police advise: Be leery of door-to-door magazine sales.”
As I have mentioned previously on this blog, and chronicled in past posts (example here), traveling magazine crews often use unethical and false pitches to deceive their unsuspecting victims. They play on people’s sympathies in order to peddle their subscriptions. Doing so is the classic mark of unscrupulous sales.
Another example is chronicled in an article entitled “COC does not endorse magazine sales,” posted September 24 in The Signal, out of San Clarita, CA.
Some residents have let the College of Canyons (CoC) know about solicitors that have claimed they were CoC students selling magazine subscriptions to help pay for expensive textbooks. According to CoC, they do not have students engaging in door-to-door solicitation.
Apparently, the increasing cost of already expensive textbooks was a hot issue in the area for several years (recent Signal article about textbooks). Conniving crew leaders often use current topics and weave them in to their sales pitch to try to make a quick sale.
If only Pinocchio were true...traveling sales crews would need lots of rhinoplasty
What continually gets my goat about this slimy sales tactic, is it makes those that really are selling a product door-to-door or running a legitimate business directly to consumers seem disreputable as well. I know the college students who participate in our Southwestern Company summer selling internship get turned away at the door sometimes because of negative experiences created by the traveling sales crew in San Clarita and other just like them.
Yes, a few bad apples (another recurring theme of this blog) is all it takes.
