|
Article of the Month |
Boosting Your Sales
by
Tom Shay
I believe the old saying was, 'the devil is in the details'. I never quite got what the devil had to do with it, but I know in taking care of the details you find the best businesses.
This month's article is about the details of a sale.When I personally get past the issue of bad service, this is the area of business that gets to me the most; a business that can't seem to take care of the details. What a wonderful opportunity to set yourself apart from the competition, and too often an opportunity that is missed.
This is what we will be discussing in the July conference call.
Click on Article of the Month to read this article. |
Book of the Month |
Hollowing out the middle; A call to duty to save small town America
by Patrick Carr & Maria Kefalas
You might refer to this book as stereotyping. I think it provides insight to people. And while the book title includes, 'America', I suspect it is appropriate for small towns in other countries.
The message from the authors is that a community has four types of young people; those that stay, those that join the military (often because of a lack of money to attend college), those that leave for 'the big city' and are referred to as the achievers, and those that are 'boomerangs' - they go to the city and then want to return.
Part of this book tells why a community should be paying more attention to those that stay as compared to paying attention to the achievers. While it is a great read for those in a Main Street District, I believe it can relate to businesses as we can draw examples of our own customers and who we are paying attention to.
Click on Book Referral to visit this page on our site.
|
|
|
|
Contact Us |
Profits Plus
P.O. Box 128
Dardanelle, AR
72834 USA
(727) 823-7205 Voice
(727) 898-3179 Fax
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Understandably, the most requested presentation from my catalog of topics has been the one on cashflow management. It is unfortunate that it took a downturn in the economy to get business owners to pay attention to a component of management they should have always been paying attention to.
Make July 1 a date for a New Year resolution for you and your business. Take the time in the next few days to follow this link and learn about cashflow management. If you will look at this powerpoint, look at the pdf of the presentation notes, and listen to the audio track, you will be able to accurately project the amount of cash and inventory in your business for each of the next 12 months. The title of the presentation is, "Black Ink: Cashflow Management Secrets Your Accountant Never Shared!"
Black Ink: Cashflow Management Secrets
Obviously this is some valuable information for every business. I have used it in my business for almost 20 years and know it is the most valuable management tool I have. You should have it, too.
$$$$$$
Sunday the 18th of July marks the start of National Independent Retailers Week. There were two purposes to our creating this event several years ago. One was to demonstrate how easy it is for you to create an event for your business, or community, and have it gain recognition.
The second purpose was to help you influence people in your community to make more of an effort to shop with a local business. You should never try to 'shame' people into doing business with a local business because it is their responsibility, or that by doing so they will 'save' a local business.
Keeping a local business open is the responsibility of the owner and staff of the business. The business is there to make a profit, so no one should feel they have to shop with a local to keep it there.
But there are several good reasons why it is to the advantage of a resident to do business with a local business; reasons that can directly affect that same resident and community.
Spend a dollar with a local business and sixty cents will stay in the community. That same dollar spent with a chain store means only twenty cents stays in the community; spent with the box store and only six cents stays locally. That is 60 compared to 20, compared to 6.
Another report says a dollar spent at a locally owned store is usually spent 6 to 15 times before it leaves the community. From $1, you create $5 to $14 in value within that community. Spend $1 at a national chain store, and 80% leaves town immediately.
For every square foot occupied by a local firm, the impact on the local economy is $179. Yet that same square foot occupied by a chain firm results in a local impact of only $105; a difference of $74 per square foot!
Are local businesses important to a community? Do local businesses make a difference? How could anybody possibly think that a locally owned business is not important? That is the second reason we created the event and invite you to join in.
You can share with these individuals the website we have created for the event, IndieRetailerMonth.com We have just completed a series of changes to the website. It now has sample proclamations you can share with your local government to ask them to recognize the event. There is plenty of artwork for the event that we gladly share with you.
$$$$$$
June was a great conference call. We talked about how to extend margins as well as how to deal with the issue of people thinking of the local independent as being high priced. We also talked about where we are leaving profits on the table by not knowing what the competition is charging.
This hour long conversation has been cataloged for you to hear on the Profits Plus website. You can listen to it through your computer or download the mp3 file. It is free for all our e-retailer subscribers. Follow this link:
E-retailer conversations
The conference call for July is going to be Tuesday, July 20 at 8pm eastern. We are planning to discuss the opportunities of selling. Aspects to be included will be add on selling, impulse selling, repeat and referral selling and several more. If you want to get more from the opportunity of selling, then plan on joining us on July 20.
| Internet Tip of The Month |
Break even analysis
What is it going to take? That is likely a question you ask yourself when you are first opening your business. It may also be a question you are asking yourself during a tough economic time as you wonder just how low sales can go and you still manage to keep the doors open.
This calculator is free for you to use, as are another 30+ calculators on the Profits Plus website. And, we will have a new calculator to announce in the near future.
Break even analysis
| The Power Promoting Idea of the Month |
Invite customers to see what you do
The presentation I give on making a sales floor more appealing includes a point about appealing to as many of the five senses as possible. The five senses are see, hear, touch, smell, and taste. The more senses you touch, the more likely you will make a sale. As an example, ask someone in a hardware store what happens when they turn on the key duplication machine and they will likely tell you that more customers walk to the machine wanting keys duplicated. The sound of the machine attracts customers.
This strategy can work to your advantage in many areas of business. Unfortunately, too many businesses hide what they do. Let customers see what you do; as an example, a florist could let customers see them build an arrangement. You could even tell the customer how to rework the arrangement as some of the flowers die. The same is true for an area where you offer gift wrapping.
Many businesses hide components of their business that appeal to a sense. Yet those that allow customers to use their senses see an upswing in business. Have you ever noticed how the seating at the kitchen bar area of a Carrabba's is always full? People want to experience what is going on. What can you change in your business to allow customers to experience more of your business?
|
