The Southwestern Company Difference Blog
Having a degree in journalism, I know reporters, and the media in general, are supposed to take a non-biased, balanced approach to a story. However, in practicing corporate public relations for 13 years, I also know the balance is not always there. This is not on purpose, but occurs often when they simply have only one side or not all the information to present. Reporters have a tough job.
It’s nice when the media gives you an opportunity to present facts in light of unsubstantiated claims or complaints. That’s what happened in Springfield, MO when KY3-TV News called to see why they had received several phone calls about a so-called misrepresentation.
It turns out Southwestern Company independent student dealer Matt Seitz, from Asbury College in Kentucky was on the scene. After speaking with him and following him for a while, they were able to see first-hand what he was doing and how the customers were approached (not like what was reported by a few, in what amounts to the so-called miscommunication I referred to previously).
The news story was titled “Door-to-door salesmen defend themselves against false accusations.” It can be tough being in an industry when some people have a negative attitude towards you – for no real reason other than being different or because of the job you choose to have. Quick to judge and even quicker to sentence.
In the training I do with each student dealer in Southwestern Company’s summer program, I explain the most basic of communication models:
source> message > receiver
The source is the sender of the communication. If the message is distorted in some way, the receiver does not receive the message as intended by the sender, or source. This sometimes happens at the door when someone is not listening to the student. It is an unfortunate part of not only door-to-door sales, but life in general.
Maybe if we all paid more attention to each other, we would ALL communicate better.
