Gold Award

32mm, octagonal, br

About this token:

• Sean writes: I sold for Southwestern in the Summer of 1989. My Southwestern Gold Award, like the coin you have, has the “B” for Belief, as well as the words “Integrity, goals, competitor, teachable,” but differs in it extols 75 hours a week and 30 Demos a day (recommended for success on the book field and what was needed to win the award after a salespersons first two weeks on the field). I believe the eight sides of the coin are related to the steps of selling. My memory is hazy on the steps but I think some might include: preparation, positive mental attitude, greeting, demonstration, build the sale, close, answer objections, close.
• Vic writes: I have a Success Coin I earned in 1973(?) with a square 30 demos a day in the center of the coin & 75 hours a week at the bottom of the face. Spencer Hays, (massively bushy eyebrows) was the new president of Southwestern at the time. 30+ years ago & the self discipline & motivational lessons I learned from selling door to door guide me every day - NEVER GIVE UP!
• Roddy writes: I spent my summers selling books with Southwestern back in the early 70's. It's called a "Success Coin". Now, it's taxing my memory, but everything on the Success Coin stood for something. When I was selling there was a 30 instead of a 25. That stood for 30 presentations or demos a day. 1868 was when Southwestern was established. 12 hours a day was what it would take to be successful. The "B" stood for BELIEF. The Southwestern Gold Award you see in the middle represents a different award, The Gold Award, earned by working 75 hours per week each week of the summer. It served as a reminder to win the award. Additionally, there was a Gold Award with a Gold Seal, earned by working 80 hours per week. The other side of the coin lists 4 attributes necessary for long-term success, regardless of the endeavor: INTEGRITY, the ability and necessity to set GOALS, you'd have to be a COMPETITOR (have a burning desire to win), and finally you had to be TEACHABLE (willing to listen and learn). There was a reason, too, why it was octagonal in shape. Or maybe someone had just decided to assign a meaning to each side. Either way, I can't remember what they were. We did have a saying back then, too. "Good things come to a man who carries a Success Coin."
• Andres writes: This is a "Success coin" presented to the students who work with the southwestern company during summer months selling educational books and software. The criteria to win it is simple – during the first 2 weeks of selling, the students must work a minimum of 75 hours a week.
• Kasey writes: Here's a lil more info on that Gold Award you were asking about. There is a Southwestern Company and every summer college students sell their Volume Libraries and Children's Books to families. We do work many hours a week, Monday through Saturday 8:00am-9:30 pm approximately (though JYD usually tries to work more) Many students get one (I hope to get one this summer, also) Hopefully, I will; my student manager for this year Ashley recieved one for her work last summer. Peace and God Bless, I gotta go get in some more SW training for Nashville.

  Getting a Gold Seal Gold Award isn't based so much on sales made as it is on work. We work 8:00 am -9:30 pm (well, we should) every day besides Sundays in the summer, and do a certain number of demos of the books. Nationally, every worker tries to get 30 a night, we try to get at least 35 a night because we want to keep our rep as being some of the hardest workers (an havin lotsa ppl in the Superstar Book) (go JYD!), and that is what it is basically based on, that way we can get Gold Seal Gold Awards if we work that extra step. Basically, the thought is that if you make all those few extra demos, u work a whole nother day a week pretty much, which would of course bring sales up, and that brings our profits up as well. They base it this way since Southwest doesn't really pay us, we pay them more like, lolz We sell the books as ourselves, like running our own little business. Salary is never guaranteed, so sales ! wouldnt really matter to them, however hard work does. Ya gotta be motivated!!!
  

• I don't have confirmation on this yet, but there is a "Southwestern Company" that uses students to sell educational books and Bibles door-to-door in the summer. They have a "Gold Award" for salespeople who work 80 hours a week every week in the summer. Southwestern began selling books in 1868, which fits with the date on the token.

Know anything about this token? Please send me a note: pineconeforge(at)gmail.com

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