e-ret@iler from Profits Plus and Tom Shay
ideas to sell more merchandise and services
November 2005 - Our 72nd consecutive issue

The November e-ret@iler contains:

1. The article of the month: How are you
counting your music?
2. e-ret@iler advisory of the month: Pursue
your wildest dreams
3. Sales tip of the month: Write it down
4. Web tip of the month: Days Sales Outstanding
5. Our Power Promoting idea of the month: Turkey
sale
6. Book of the month: The Ice Cream Maker
7. Your e-ret@iler subscription, contacting
Profits Plus and Tom Shay

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

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1. Article of the month: How are you counting
your music?

This is a very timely article. Most every business
has inventory at this time of year which can be
a holiday gift. The question we frequently hear
deals with how much to order, and if it is OK to
run out of inventory. The example we gave to a
group yesterday was to ask them to consider being
in the Christmas tree business. On December 1, would
you like to hear a customer say, "you have the
best selection of trees in town"? What if you
were to hear the same question on December 23?
At which point are you pleased with yourself?
And at which point is your inventory a concern
to you?

Read this month's article to a new perspective
on inventory control.

How are you counting your music?

O <= After printing the November 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: Pursue your
wildest dreams

Last month we started examining the points in
the book, "The Stuff Americans are made of". And
of course, in looking at this book we do so
with a twist toward retailing. So whether you live
in the states, or you are one of our readers from
other countries, we hope you will look at these
traits with the idea of improving your business.

The second of the seven traits is that we like
to pursue our wildest dreams. I remember hearing
a statistic stating that 80% of all the books
purchased are never read. This tells me there
will always be a market for self improvement books.

But in your business, how can you help your
customers pursue their wildest dreams? In a hardware
store, selling a person a scrolling saw so that they
can build a piece of furniture for their home can
be helping that person fulfill a dream.

At my house, I do a very poor job of playing the
piano, but all my family knows I still want to
own a grand piano. My wildest dream is to be
able to sit at the piano, play it, and sing
along as I play some of my favorite jazz, oldies,
and crooner's music. The plain old keyboard that
sits in my office would do, but I want the baby
grand.

My suggestion is that as retailers we look at
what we are selling from the customer's perspective.
And that perspective is that we want to pursue
our wildest dreams.

O <= After printing the November e-ret@iler,
if you plan to review this material for your
business.

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3. Sales tip of the month: Write it down

Recently I experienced a person that was one of
the most exceptional salespeople I have ever seen.
As they were helping me make a purchase, they
pulled a pen from their pocket (we talked about
pens in the July 2004 e-retailer). Then they
pulled a small notepad from their pocket and
began to make notations on the notepad.

Of course, as a customer you would ask why they
are writing things down. The answer was that this
salesperson made notes on all of their customers.
They wrote down favorite colors, sizes, and of
course the contact information for that customer.

You could see that this notepad had been around
for quite a while. And you could tell that this
salesperson treated the notepad with a lot of
respect and rightfully so, considered it to be
very valuable.

If you were to experience this salesperson, would
you be impressed? Wouldn't you want this person
to write down information about you? They could
save you a lot of time in the future as they would
be acting as your personal shopper in that store.

I think it was a very sharp sales technique and am
glad to have experienced it so that I can share
it with you.

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

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4. Web tip of the month: Days sales outstanding

Many businesses offer "house" charge accounts to
their customers. A house charge account is a great
tool for developing loyal customers. However, this
tool has a substantial price to it. The money due
from the customer takes many days to be collected,
and then there is the usual chasing of the customers
that are slow to pay.

Days sales outstanding is a measure of how long it
takes for you to collect the accounts receivable
from your customers. We invite you to visit this
page and see how much your accounts receivable is
costing your business.

Days Sales Outstanding

O <= After printing the November e-ret@iler,
check here if you plan to look at the financial
ratios calculator.

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5. Our Power Promoting idea of the month: Having
a turkey sale

The turkey sale is a great way to start your
holiday sales. And while this power promoting idea
is based upon the timing of Thanksgiving in the
states, the concept can work everywhere.

Let me explain the event as the original retailer
held their turkey sale. With Thanksgiving being
Thursday, November 24, the retailer will set up
several tables at the front of the store. There
is no merchandise on the tables when they are
first assembled on Friday November 18. The
tables are decorated in fall colors with a paper
turkey from the local card shop placed in the
middle.

A sign indicates that the sale will begin on
Monday, November 21 and will last for only that
one week.

On the 21st, the table is filled with items.
These items are a combination of all of the
products that have been marked down as well as
a selection of products that have been purchased
from vendors for the specific purpose of the
turkey sale. One of the keys to making this a
successful sale is that the markdowns are
substantial. And for items that have previously
been on the markdown tables, they need to be
dusted off, and all signs of the previous markdown
stickers should be removed.

The better you make this sale appear before your
customers, the more excitement this event can
create for your store.

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6. Book of the month: The Ice Cream Maker

The Ice Cream Maker is a fun, quick read book.
When I first saw the book, I thought of Fish and
Who Moved My Cheese? It is the story of an ice
cream manufacturer that is wanting to get their
products into a local grocery store.

While the dialogue between the two main characters
is a bit corny, if you read past that aspect and
look at how the ice cream maker works to improve
his business, you will find this book a great read.

I found that it was quite easy to translate the
situation of manufacturing into the situation of
a store. Doing so, makes the book even more
fascinating and informative.

If you have already read this book, or are looking for
more books to read, follow this link to the list
of suggested readings on the book referral page
of the Profits Plus website.

Book Referral List

O <= After printing the November 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
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The upper left of this page has a link to subscribe to the newsletter.

Contacting us is 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 December.

Tom Shay