What you will read in the December issue of the e-ret@iler:
1. A new article on the Profits Plus Seminars website - The Sky is Not Falling!
2. e-ret@iler advisory of the month - How to let your employees vent after a problem customer
3. Your free subscription to the e-ret@iler
4. Contacting Profits Plus Seminars and Tom Shay

1. The Sky is Not Falling
Our December article on the Profits Plus website is entitled,
"The Sky is not Falling!".

If you have concerns about a new competitor in your market, then you need to take the time to read this short article about dealing with competition. The article will give you some new insights, and a bit of encouragement!

And new this month with each of the articles, we have made it very easy for you to send that article to a friend. The couple of steps of direction appear on each of the articles on the site.

2. Stop the screaming!
Ever have a customer rant and rave to you or one of your employees? It does not matter if it happens on the phone or in person; either way it seems to ruin your day. And if you just "bottle up" all of that tension, it really can affect how you are doing your work.

We found a survey by Dr. Alicia Grandey that said you could improve your employee morale by creating a method of resolving the complaints as well. Here are the ideas:
a. Have a written procedure for solving problems. (And if you do not have one, send me an e-mail and I will share with you the one I illustrate in my seminars.
b. Practice how to use this technique during your staff meetings.
c. Show your staff how to use deep breathing or internal self-talk.
d. Create a backup network so that there is someone available to help or take over a troublesome situation.
e. Consider creating a place where a person can blow off steam. You may even want to have a "partner" for each team member so that a person can return to work feeling they have "vented".
f. Define the limits of verbal abuse. Allow your staff to use their own judgment.
g. Make sure you have told your employees that they are not required to take verbal abuse from customers.

3. Your free subscription to the e-ret@iler
If you have received this edition of the e-ret@iler by way of someone passing it onto you, you can add your name to the free subscription list by clicking on the link in the upper left corner.

4. Contacting Profits Plus Seminars and Tom Shay
Thank you for inviting us onto your desktop, and taking the time to read our newsletter. The year 2000 has been a great year for most of you, and we trust you have received some business building ideas from the e-retailer, magazine columns, books and seminars that we have provided in the past year.

Most definitely, I look forward to seeing you again next year.

Get your Profits Plus,

Tom Shay