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Article of the Month |
Impulse buys and effective displays
by Tom Shay
15 ideas. This past week I was in New Jersey and had the opportunity to share ideas of what will get a customer's attention.
The article of the month has 15 of those ideas. You can affect what a customer sees and what they will buy.
Especially for the customer that visits your business most frequently, and spends the most, you can affect how they shop.
These ideas are not expensive, complicated, or requiring a lot of time. They are easy to implement and you will begin to see results immediately.
Click on Article of the Month to read this article. |
Book of the Month |
The Distribution Trap
by Andrew Thomas and Timothy Wilkinson
When we were interviewing Bill Brunelle before he was our guest for the January e-ret@iler conversation, he mentioned how the Independent We Stand movement was started.
The folks at Stihl, a manufacturer of power equipment, were a feature story in this book. The book tells how this company refuses to do business with the chains. With that inspiration, Stihl started the Independent We Stand movement.
Bill told us the book also speaks to manufacturers who produce a product for one distribution chain (independents) and a slightly different version for the other businesses (box and mass merchants).
Our job as independents is to explain that not all of us are on the same, level, playing field.
This book is not telling us how to operate our business, but what is going on in business. With that thought in mind, let me invite you to read this month's suggested book.
Click on Book Referral to see the complete list of small business books we have found that can be helpful to your business.
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Contact Us |
Profits Plus
P.O. Box 128
Dardanelle, AR
72834 USA
(727) 823-7205 Voice
(727) 898-3179 Fax
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Check up; 8% of the way through
When I speak on the topic of 'cause marketing', I mention that your participation has to be more than just spending money; you need to believe in the cause and support the cause.
My 'cause' is a local transitional residency for individuals with issues of drugs, alcohol, incarceration and chronic homelessness. The cause for me is Faith House Florida.
Within a community such as this, as well as for those that are working to lose weight, they use a phrase of, 'falling off the wagon'. It refers to a set back with regard to their goal of being clean and sober. The analogy is that of a wagon going forward and they are no longer on it.
The wagon is a poor example. It implies that life is going forward and that in addition to having fallen off, they now have to work harder to catch the 'wagon' before they can get back on.
Instead, a better example is that of a bicycle. When you fall off the bicycle, the bicycle also stops. You pick up the bicycle, get back on the seat, and continue your journey. This example gives you more hope in that it says you do not have to do additional work. Instead you just have to decide to start again.
So, what does Faith House Florida have to do with your business?
With today we are 8.33% through 2015. Perhaps you made resolutions for the new year about your business; many did not make any resolutions.
Most operate their business without any plans. Business is more of a 'survival of today', or a 'working hard and it is going OK' mode.
With thinking like this, when you get to the end of the year how can you know if it was a good year for you?
Wouldn't it make more sense to know how you are doing with only 8% of the year gone?
If you have not made plans for 2015, then it can be like the bicycle. Simply stop, consider what the other 92% of the year is to look like and act accordingly.
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Christine Corelli visits the e-ret@iler conversation - February 12
We are going to help distinguish the difference in buying and selling. Hopefully you and your staff are selling and not settling for a customer that is just buying.
Thursday, February 12 at 8pm eastern, Christine Corelli will help us make 2015 a great year of selling for you and your business. Whether you are product or service oriented, this can be a great investment of one hour for you and your business.
Previous e-ret@iler conversations are recorded and available on the Profits Plus website by following this link.
E-retailer conversations
| Internet Tip of The Month |
Accounts receivable turnover
Does your business have accounts receivable? If so, the Internet tip of the month is something you should be aware of.
An account receivable is essentially a loan to your customer. If you are collecting that money within the terms specified, then all is well. However, if you are not, this becomes an interest free loan.
The bank does not loan money for free. Why should your business? The best place you can invest your money is in inventory or equipment necessary for your business.
If you are going to have accounts receivable, at least find out if it is turning properly for you.
Accounts receivable turnover
| The Incentive Idea of the Month |
A celebration for recognition
A story I have told to audiences is that of a very talented store manager that quit because of the failure by his employer to recognize his accomplishments for the business.
His comment was, 'Working here is like having your finger in a glass of water; when you take the finger out, you see no difference.'
Perhaps more than just telling someone thanks for their work, it is appropriate they hear it in front of their coworkers. It also works when they are recognized before your customers.
While on this point, I want to comment that the old method of having a plaque on the wall is just that - old. I have seen too many of these that are very out of date with the most recent recognition being months, if not more than a year, behind.
If you want to build energy from recognition, then you have to put the energy into the celebration for that individual.
We want to recognize A Carrot A Day by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton, whose book provides the basis for each month's incentive idea.
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