Recently I noticed this short blurb in Thisweek and sent it to my wife to alert the members of her Farmington-based mom’s group that college aged girls misrepresenting themselves as approved by ISD 192 were attempting to sell books to families in the city. Afterwards another mother posted her personal experience with the girls from Southwestern Company who are trolling neighborhoods in Apple Valley, Farmington and Rosemount from their home base in Rosemount this summer:
I was at a friends house today when this happened. Apparently the girls are college students that are studying to become teachers from Texas AM and doing an ‘internship’ this summer for Southwest books. I asked her some blunt questions (if you know me this isn’t out of the ordinary) about the program. She was careful to say that they aren’t directly related to the school districts–but seem to know a lot about them. They are educational hardcover books for your kids. Nothing really special about them. They aren’t too cheap either. Their goal is to talk to 35 moms a day about the books.
The biggest issues those who have encountered the Southwestern Company booksellers are that they continue to claim they are affiliated with the district when they are not including saying they are interning for the district itself, are selling books recommended by Farmington School District teachers, and that these reps go to great lengths to get information from others in the neighborhood to sell more books to families who really don’t need them.
Basically the representatives of this company prey upon unknowing parents in areas all over the country hoping to use information provided by other parents in the neighborhood to sell books. According to this article in the Decatur Daily News, one sales rep in Alabama took nearly $300 from a family living in a trailer-home who admitted that shopping for books at Wal-Mart was too expensive for them.
From what I understand these Southwestern Company representatives ask questions of all neighbors in a particular neighborhood and learn kids’ names, what grades they’re in, what friends they have, etc and then use that information to coerce others into buying books they really do not need. While small little notes come out from the school district and appear in a paper few people read you end up getting blindsided by a group of young and savvy salespeople who average over $8000 a summer.
According to the Decatur Daily article these sales reps spend 80 hours a week working and their “day off” meeting with other regional sales reps to exchange ideas on how to take people’s money. Southwestern sounds almost cult-like:
Working for Southwestern is more than overcoming fear of rejection. It’s an almost nonstop, 80-hour week that begins with showers at 6 a.m., breakfast and self-motivational reading by 7 and knocking on the first door by 7:59. The knocks, generally 45 households per day, continue till past 9 p.m. Then it’s home to finish paperwork before heading to bed in the home of a host family.
[...]
At breakfast, the sales trio reads books like Oswald Chambers’ “My Utmost for His Highest,” Og Mandino’s “The Greatest Salesman in the World” and even “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” by Dr Seuss. The latter is to remember not to take yourself too seriously, they said.
After this article came out in the paper alerting residents to Southwestern Company’s tactics, my wife called the Farmington PD to check and see if the girls roaming the neighborhoods of ISD 192 had a valid license from the city. As of her last check the Farmington PD representative she spoke with noted that these Southwestern Company sales reps do not have a license and anyone who encounters them should call the Farmington Police Department’s administrative number directly at 651-280-6700 to report the violation.
But even though they don’t have a valid license they sure do appear professional. According to one Farmington mother, “The girl that I saw did have a badge around her neck, but I only could see the picture of her, it didn’t look like a permit.” So even if they show you something be sure to call the police and double check and make sure they aren’t peddling their wares illegally.
Have you encountered Southwestern book selling reps in the South Metro? If so what was your experience with them? Do you agree that these representatives sound shady and as if they are taking advantage of unknowing parents? Do you believe your neighbors would share your family’s personal information with these representatives? Whatever you have to say, please share your thoughts on the Southwestern Company reps who are attempting to sell unnecessary and expensive books around town.
Dakota Complaints Map
Dakota Inmate Dashboard
Loading ...
July 23rd, 2010 at 8:10 am
YES! They stopped by our neighborhood a couple weeks ago. Exact same scenario. They stopped by all of our neighbors too and would use my neighbors name to make it sound like they bought something. “Oh, I was just talking with your neighbor Wendy and she thought you would be interested in these as well” implying she already bought them. Ya no. We get solicitors like this a lot in our neighborhood and they are really annoying and sometimes a bit scary. We had a Kirby guy come buy once and he freaked me out. I will call the police if I see them again in our neighborhood.
July 23rd, 2010 at 8:25 am
Any group that requires showering at 6 AM is a cult and I want no part of it.
July 23rd, 2010 at 8:34 am
I had one hit me up back in June one night. I was pissed off because it was almost 8:30 and she made me miss a repeat of “30 Rock”. The books did seem a bit overpriced and I fail to see how they are different than any other book I could grab off the shelf anywhere else.
July 23rd, 2010 at 8:39 am
We have had groups come through Burnsville the past couple of summers doing pretty much the same thing. They talked up “my neighbors by name” and were also “interning” selling books. I just pretty much told them with the economy I’m as broke as they are so after the word “No” came out of my mouth enough times finally they left and kept trolling…They also had badges but I did not look close enough to check the validity of them.
July 23rd, 2010 at 9:30 am
This is just one more reason I won’t answer the door unless I know the person ringing the doorbell. I don’t want to sign your petition, listen to your sales pitch, convert to your religion, etc.
July 23rd, 2010 at 9:39 am
Sounds like the worst job ever. I wouldn’t recommend buying anything from someone who comes to your door to sell you something if they are over the age of 12. Lame. Lame. Lame.
July 23rd, 2010 at 12:22 pm
Wasn’t there a company that runs kids around in big white vans to sell magazines door to door and a bunch of kids died when the van went off the road in Wisconsin just a year or so ago?
I don’t hesitate to answer the door, but I also don’t hesitate to tell people I’m not interested if it is someone I don’t recognize. I buy stuff from neighborhood kids when they have school stuff they sell door to door. Though last year I just wrote them a check and told them I don’t want what they are selling. Just take the donation to the group. I think they were selling pizza’s or something.
July 23rd, 2010 at 1:24 pm
Do you really have to have a license to sell books door to door?
Sounds like a crappy job though. Wonder how much of the 8k they get to keep? Better be alot to work 80 hour weeks all summer long.
July 23rd, 2010 at 1:54 pm
good answers, i think you need to register with the city if you are soliciting door to door, i dont think there is a fee. but i dont know for sure
I usually dont answer either, but my wife does sometimes, says no, asks them if they have been walking alot and if they are tired and then gives them a bottle of water and tells them to have a good day. when encountering a “mark” who drops a bottle of water on them they typically give up and move on ….
July 23rd, 2010 at 2:00 pm
sornie: a rerun of 30Rock? you are truly smitten.
July 23rd, 2010 at 2:58 pm
Chad- If you are a non-profit like the Girl Scout cookie girls or the school kids selling restaurant cards to raise money for their sport you don’t need a license.
However, if you are a for-profit solicitor or peddler you have to have a license. Most cities charge a fee and the license is typically only valid for a window of time, say 6 months, which is why so many solicitors skip getting a license. The majority of cities, including Farmington, require that the solicitor carry the license when going door to door so that residents can request to see it.
July 23rd, 2010 at 3:58 pm
thanks to the Wife for answering… getting a license is nonjudgmental though… you can be a scam artist and get a license, its just a fee, i dont think the city does any due diligence on it.
July 23rd, 2010 at 4:57 pm
If they work 80 hours a week, they’re not making much money. If they work for 10 weeks, that’s 800 hours, which means $10 an hour. For a marginally productive worker, that’s not bad, I suppose. But the point to observe is that the kids aren’t getting rich by doing this.
Are they selling people books “they don’t need?” I think it’s presumptuous for anyone but the purchaser to answer that question. Do you need a dishwasher in your house? Do you need a house? Do you need a Whopper for lunch? That’s not for me to say.
Is this a cult? Uhm, not if you’re looking strictly by the hours the students keep or the fact that they read books. A lot of salesmen work hideous hours (I suppose–never had the personality for it), and it would seem that “inspirational” reading is not that unusual in the world of sales, at least among newbies.
Now, if the door-knockers are saying that they are sponsored by / licensed by / approved by a school district or the teachers union, then there’s trouble in River City, and the trouble is FRAUD, and they should be busted. While I’m no fan of having to get a government license to get a job (private accrediting organizations can handle that, I say), if a municipality says “you’ve got to register with us to go door-to-door” and Southland reps aren’t doing that, the reps and /or the company should be busted.
Finally, I just don’t like door-to-door solicitations, and have put up a “no solicitors” sign on my front door. I’ve lived in four states, and I’ve never seen so much DTD activity as I have seen here–and this from what appear to be people from the county, or at least state. My theory is that, for all the folklore about passive-aggressiveness, Minnesotans have a fondness of doing business face-to-face whenever possible.
July 23rd, 2010 at 5:20 pm
Wasn’t a group like this the foundation of a Law & Order episode?
July 23rd, 2010 at 6:05 pm
Oh, Southwestern — what a piece of work they are.
I remember going to one of their recruitment sessions when I was in college ten years ago — they advertised this gig as a “marketing communications internship,” and since I was studying public relations and advertising at the time and was looking for a summer internship, I checked them out. I remember seeing the books in the session and thinking they were ridiculous for what the cost, and that even a poorly funded library would have better materials available. I also didn’t like the rep’s hard sell approach and that he was so evasive when I asked him point-blank questions about pay, hours, techniques, and whatnot. Needless to say, I decided right away this wasn’t a good idea, and told the rep I wasn’t interested.
The Wikipedia article on the company is interesting reading.
July 23rd, 2010 at 10:54 pm
I’ve encountered these salespeople before and it’s creepy how good they are at gathering information. Luckily, I have no interest in buying educational material from some random person standing on my porch. I did receive an email from ISD 192 about the fact that the solicitors were not affiliated with them, so I was aware they were in the area.
When I answer my door, I always have my 100lb dog with me, so I can usually chase anyone away quickly. I don’t mind the kids selling stuff, but despise the contractors, meat salespeople and that weird guy who sells orange cleaner door to door.
July 24th, 2010 at 5:27 pm
Good point, J. I was just going to make the same comment. We purchased ours at Office Max, I think it was less than $5, works like a charm.
Also, in this day and age I would think anyone gathering information about neighborhood children should be suspect. If someone came around and started asking about little kids in the neighborhood I would probably get pretty spooked.
June 2nd, 2011 at 12:13 pm
Young man showed up today from Southwestern company selling books. He was polite, not pushy. Showed us the list of people in my neighborhood who has already bought books from him. He is good at his job. I was interested in his books and I asked him questions. At the end we told him “we pass.” Some people don’t mind solicitors, we’re one of them.
March 30th, 2012 at 10:53 am
[...] http://www.lazylightning.org/southwestern-book-reps-not-licensed-not-wanted This piece is useful regarding the fact that the salespeople are not always properly licensed – in which case the local police have more options in ending the harassment and preventing the gathering of information under false pretenses. [...]
May 16th, 2012 at 7:51 pm
I did the southwestern program summer of 2003. I had a very difficult time. I don’t like solicitors either. I felt like I was talked into doing it. They are very good at convincing you. I think everyone in the company is brainwashed. However, I truly believe the books are very awesome. I gave a set to my family and sometimes when we are discussing something we will go into the books to see what else we can learn about any given topic. They’re actually really good books. But I’m cheap and I don’t think I’d want to buy them either. Not because they’re not good books, but just because it’s possible to live without them. Oh and just FYI, I only made about $1500 for my 80 hrs per week 11 weeks of walking the streets. Not a glamorous job if you ask me. And please don’t get mad at people who are selling things door to door. You don’t have to buy things, but be kind. It’s really tough out there. I was extremely homesick and sometimes all I wanted to do was listen to a nice old lady who wanted to tell me stories and give me a nice cold coke.
July 12th, 2012 at 5:09 pm
We had a very nice young lady stop by our home today selling books. She was not what you would expect a salesman to be. After our chat I have to say I really like the line of books but I feel they are over priced. I really hope that all the parents out there look at these people as someone’s child knocking at your door. Please even if you are irritated, be kind to them. They are working very hard with ( I am sure ) not a big pay out. I hope if you have child(ren) that you look at these kids in the same light you see your child(ren) in and decline the sales in a nice manor. -thanks-