The Southwestern Company Alumni Blog
Pounding the pavement as a door-to-door salesman definitely comes with more than its share of rejection. However, if you stick with it long enough you learn how to put that aside and enjoy the rewards. Through my years of selling books with the Southwestern Company I was commonly asked: Does that still work? Even in the computer age? I am proud to say, “Yes It Does!” Even in today’s fast paced information age, a salesman with a good product, that works hard and treats people right will find success. The Los Angeles Times recently ran a story on possibly the oldest Fuller Brush man, “Fuller Brush Man: A 90-year old foot in the door”. It is the story of Art Pearson, who as has been selling Fuller products for 71 years throughout Washington. Art is well versed in what many of us learned from the Southwestern bookfield.
Reading Art’s story gave me a sense of pride in how I chose to make my living for those eight years I worked with Southwestern. Door-to-door selling is most often viewed with the perception of the shady magazine crew operating out of a white van that quickly moves from town to town. I know that many of us that carried the Southwestern samplecase can go back to those communities we worked in and, as we drive down those familiar streets, recall the names of the many people that touched our lives. When you treat people right your sales area becomes your community filled with people you consider family. Former Mississippi Governor Ronnie Musgrove once told me that twenty-five years after he had sold with Southwestern he happened to be going by the town he had sold in his fourth summer. He decided to visit his host family from that summer. The little old lady he had stayed with was now quite elderly, but fondly remembered Ronnie and the summer he spent there. Having no idea he was at the time the Governor of Mississippi, she looked him dead in the eye and asked what he had done with his life. I am so thankful for the people I met on the bookfield. From my amazing and generous host families, to my customers and even those who simply shut their doors–they all served a purpose in the lessons I learned. I am also thankful there are salesman like Art that allow me to say with pride that I was a door-to-door salesman. Click here to read the full LA times article on Art Pearson. You’ll be glad you did. |
The story of Art Pearson is inspirational and a lesson to us all.
Having been with Southwestern Company for ten years, I have had many wonderful opportunities to hear from alumni how selling door-to-door during their college years with Southwestern has affected their lives. Many tell me they use the lessons they learned on a day to day basis in their professional lives and personal relationships.
It is amazing how the interaction with customers and communities can touch someone’s life so much. Equally amazing is the unmeasurable positive effect had on the families, landlords, children and roommates by the student dealer.
Southwestern and door-to-door is certainly about more than sales. The by-products such as life skills, personal development and relationships are immeasureable – just ask someone like Art Pearson or any former Southwestern book dealer.
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I could not agree with Trey or Art more now than at any other time in my life. At McNeill Designs we manufacture games and have over 1,200 independent stores that carry us in the US. For the past two months we have kept making payroll by simply picking up the phone and contacting everyone of our retailers to see how things are going for them. Invariably, 2 out of 10 buy more product becuase we took the time to check up on them. Keep knocking!
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The Southwestern experience totally transformed me into the person that I am today. What starts as a very humbling event knocking on doors, the struggle turns you in to a lean, mean, never quitting machine.
Only 3 years of my working life have been spent as a salaried employee. The remainder has been total business bliss assembling partnerships for real estate ventures, selling Commericail Real Estate in the 80’s, Residential Real Estate today, starting buisiness, etc.
I was a very average producer the 3 summers I spent in the field but it helped me grow out of my shell. We’ve hosted “Bookmen/women”, stopped bookmen on the side of the road – scared the hell out of them when demanding to buy whatever they had in their bookcase.
It’s been a real treat to be associated with such a fine group.
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