Like most naive subscribers to cults, I wasn’t aware as I walked through the door of the world that I was entering although in retrospect, the signs were always there. The cult in question was something I joined with the best of intentions. Of course, the city center location and enthusiastic suited workforce created a favorable impression and a promise of great things to come.
Happiness and positivity were rewarded in kind with smiles and pats on the back. Shyness and negativity were rewarded with dirty looks and complete elimination from any future conversations as if that person had never existed. Morning meetings consisted of clapping and chanting as each cultist became more wrapped up and devoted to the system while brainwashing was taking place via so-called Impact lectures. Each and every morning we were told how lucky and privileged we were to be with a company where major things were happening and sports cars were being bought daily. We were regularly reminded that there was a recession outside but inside the office we had made the right choice as we were on the path to riches.
I’m guessing you may have realised that these riches never came our way. It turns out that the position was simply a 10hrs a day 100% commission sales job build up to appear as important as being the President of the United Sates.
There is nothing more demoralising than approaching irritated customers only to have them berate you with the occasional expletive. Then having to stretch the truth and guilt vulnerable people into handing over their card details and signing up for the product you are immorally pedaling in order to save your job and avoid ending each day in the red.
There is no question in my mind that the techniques used by Smart Circle constitute brainwashing. There are many other examples of companies that use other tactics to control their staff. Uniforms, jargon, meetings, incentives, harassment etc. are all forms of brainwashing. The insidious side of Smart Circle is the manner in which they take over the lives of their people. The amount of time for laborious meetings, going out with your crew to the movies or for dinner, calling them at night. Gimme a break! Why? Why do they do these things? Why do they want you to "get with" only positive people? Answer: To keep you cocooned in a shell of their own making. Just think, if you were a steadfast capitalist and were kept in a communist village in China without news from the west for ten years while constantly being bombarded with Chairman Mao's propaganda, you would probably end up being a communist as well. They don't want you to spend any time away from their business so you stay focused on them.
Understand that "owners" have been figuring out how to get people to stick with their business since 1980. They have been through countless teams quitting on them. They have plenty of ammunition to give reps or their family members when they rail at them. They practice rebuttals to get them to calm down and stick it out. Advice is given at rallies and phone calls are made all the time just on these topics. They have years of trial and error on their side. On the other hand, an anguished girl friend or worried parent is dealing with something they have never heard of. Something that someone they love has embraced. Such a person wants to be open minded but when they see that their loved one is working 70 hours a week and not making money with a changed personality, they worry that he might be in a cult. Their loved one is not worshipping a strange God. They have been enslaved by the Smart Circle psychology of financial independence through retail sales.
Think about it, if all that talk about money were true, wouldn't you have seen some?
