e-ret@iler from Profits Plus and Tom Shay
ideas to sell more merchandise and service
August 2004 - Our 57th consecutive issue

The August issue of the e-ret@iler contains:

1. The article of the month: 21st
Century Profitability
2. e-ret@iler advisory of the month: Improve
the business
3. Sales tip of the month: Can I help you?
4. Web tip of the month: What is a customer worth?
5. Our Power Promoting idea of the month: Maximizing
the school advertisement
6. Book of the month: The 80% Minority
7. Your e-ret@iler subscription and contacting
Profits Plus and Tom Shay

=> Print the August issue of the e-ret@iler so
you can read it at your leisure.

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1. Article of the month: 21st Century Profitability

In spite of computers having been available to
small businesses for over 20 years, there are
still too many that do not take the advantage
of having a computer system.

It is not an expense! It is an investment in
technology that will increase your profitability
when you use the information to help you make
decisions. One report we have read states that a
business with annual revenue of $100,000 or
higher should have a system.

Read the article of the month to see what you
should be considering when you make your next
purchase.

21st Century Profitability

O <= After printing the August e-ret@iler, check
here if you plan to read the article of the month.

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2. e-ret@iler advisory of the month: Improve
the business

This is the sixth month in our series on the
characteristics of a successful business. In the
first five months we covered having a clear image
in the mind of your customer, identifying the
best customers, technology, financial understanding,
and advertising and promotion.

Whatever the health of your business, the successful
business person is always working to improve it.
They work on the finances, the stability of their
staff, the efficiency of their advertising, and
all other aspects of the business. You don't hear
these people talking about how they have achieved
"it", and now are ready to coast.

There is an old Will Rogers saying. It states,
"Even if you are on the right track, you will
get run over if you just stand there!"

If you missed these past issues, we have archived
them on our website. Here is a link to that page
on our website.

Archieve of e-retailer columns

Next month's topic is Having a dependable staff.

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3. Sales tip of the month: Can I help you?

Many people disagree with me when I state that
saying, "Can I help you?" is an incorrect
statement to make to a customer. From a recent
personal experience allow me to explain why I feel
it is incorrect.

In a business, I had a very poor experience with
a salesperson. When I went back into the business
to pick up the item I had left for repair, I made
a point to tell the owner of the business about my
experience. He said that he agreed with me with the
exception of the salesperson's opening statement.

It was, "Can I help you?"

The owner told me how he had taken many sales classes,
including the Dale Carnegie sessions, and he saw
nothing wrong with that statement. I asked if he
had ever experienced a 16 year old working their
first job in a fast food place. He said yes, and
I asked what did the 16 year old say to him at
the fast food place. The answer was, "Can I help
you?"

My follow up question to him is also my reason
for the objection to this sales approach. If you
are a professional, and you say the same thing as
a 16 year old on their first day at work, at what
point in the conversation do you begin to demonstrate
the professionalism that you are telling me you
possess?

Wouldn't it make more sense if the first statement
by a professional, were actually more professional?

"Good morning", "Hello", "Welcome", "How are you?",
or noticing something about what they are wearing,
or what they are carrying. Anything that is different
from what we hear from salespeople everyday, tells
that customer that their experience with ou is different.

O <= After printing the August e-ret@iler, check here
if you plan to use this tip.

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4. Web tip of the month: What is a customer worth?

Have you ever stopped to calculate how much money
a customer actually spends with you over the life
time of shopping? If you have a customer that
shops with you for ten years, how much have they
spent overall in those ten years? How much
profit have you made over those years?

If you were to calculate this, and share it with
your staff, you would probably be able to convince
them to take care of each customer whether they
spend $1 or $10,000 on their next trip to your
business.

Thinking this could be a valuable tool, we have
created another calculator on our website that will
help you perform this function. Here is a link to
that calculator.

What is a customer worth?

O <= After printing the August e-ret@iler, check here
if you plan to visit the customer's worth calculator.

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5. Our Power Promoting idea of the month:
Maximizing the school advertisement

It is that time of year when school starts and
soon students will be at your doorstep wanting
to sell you advertising space in their year
book or newspaper. Many businesses will agree
to placing an ad, but will simply insert their
business card. They won't expect anyone to
actually look at their ad.

From page #27 of our blue Ideas book is this
suggestion: Have the ad be a picture of a
popular teacher, a coach, a sports team or
cheerleaders. One business that sold hot tubs
had the baseball coach sitting in a hot tub
for their ad. People will notice the unique
combination, as well as the name and location
of the business. If you are going to place
an advertisement, make sure it provides you
with some kind of return on your investment.

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6. Book of the month: The 80% Minority: Reaching
the Real World of Women Consumers"

From Richard Diver of Mississauga, Ontario comes
this recommendation:

"This book is by Joanne Thomas Yaccato. Women
apparently control 80% of the consumer dollars
spent in North America, but you'd never know it
by the way many companies treat women consumers.
The book shows what's wrong and what many companies
are doing right - better 'gender intelligence'."

If you have already read this book, or are wanting
to find other interesting titles, follow this link
to the Profits Plus website where you will see
a list of suggested reading.

Book Referral List

O <= After printing the August e-ret@iler, check here
if you plan to read the book of the month.

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7. Your e-ret@iler subscription and contacting
Profits Plus and Tom Shay

The subscription is free. Just remember if you
are changing your Internet service provider, you
will need to enter your new e-mail address
to keep the e-ret@iler coming.

If you received the e-ret@iler by way of someone
that passed it to you, then you can easily get your
own subscription.

Click on the link in the upper left corner of this page to subscribe.

Contacting us is just as easy:
The phone is 727-823-7205
The fax is 727-898-3179
The mailing address is:
PO Box 128
Dardanelle, AR 72834 USA

Thanks for visiting with us this month. We
appreciate your taking time from your
busy schedule. Our goal is to help you and
your business to become more profitable. We hope
we have done that.

We encourage you to seek out and do business
with other independently owned businesses. If
you are wanting people to do business with you
because you are a locally owned business, then
it stands to reason that we should be doing
what we are asking others to do.

Get your Profits Plus. May God bless you and yours.
We will see you in September.

Tom Shay