e-ret@iler
June 2000
Sent to you at your request by Tom Shay and Profits Plus Seminars
Visit our website at www.profitsplus.org

Good morning to all of you within the trade. I hope your Memorial Day weekend was a great selling event for you. It sure is nice when those Monday to Friday folks have an extra day off so we can get them into our businesses to shop.

Our topic of discussion this month is "boomerang employees". We will explain this idea in just a moment, but let us first tell you about the article of the month on the website.

On the website this month, our new article is entitled, "Using Demographics". While many of us would immediately think demographics would imply big, expensive research programs, this article talks about the easy and inexpensive ways many of your counterparts have been gaining information about their customers. I expect those of you who have attended seminars I have presented will remember the idea I share as I have said, "Finding a new customer will cost you $20, but keeping a current customer will cost only $4.00.

With many e-mail programs, you can click on the link at the end of this sentence to go immediately to that page on our website. Using Demographics

OK, back to the employee question. Of course, one of the items of concern to you is employee retention. It is the "bad news" side of the economy that has been growing for so many years.

Probably all of us have lost an employee who has gone in search of the greener pastures of employment elsewhere. Many owners and managers, myself included, have had a policy at one time or another of refusing to rehire an employee who might ask to come back. There is some current research showing that a returning, "boomerang" employee could actually be good for your business.

Many times the greener grass they left for has turned out to be nothing more than crab grass. You probably knew this before the employee ever left; you just can't get the employee to believe you. But, if you hire this employee back, what better person to tell their coworkers how good they really have it working for you.

A second advantage to the boomerang employee is the chance they have gone to work for a business that has some new ideas that the returning employee can bring to your company. It can be similar to having the opportunity to pick up some of the best ideas from the competition.

The third possible advantage is that the returning employee now has contacts within the other business, and may be able to invite their best employees to consider applying to work for you.

I can easily see all of the advantages. I can, however, see the possibility of the person wanting to return and your not having a space available for them. It does take a brave employer to bring an employee back, hoping there is a sales increase to justify their salary. And of course, you would have to decide if you would terminate a current employee if the person who had been your best employee wanted to return.

All of these are tough decisions. But then again, isn't that a part of managing your business?

Thank you for allowing us to visit your computer this month, and taking the time to read our newsletter. We trust you have received some business building ideas from it, as we look forward to seeing you again next month.

Get your profits plus,
Tom Shay