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Article of the Month |
What do you want to ride?
by
Tom Shay
The article for May is about customers using coupons. Somehow when I wrote the article I envisioned a tie-in between coupons and amusement park rides here in Florida.
The title may have been a stretch, but the issue of customers utilizing coupons is so relevant in today's market. I think you will get some ideas as to how you can use the coupons to increase your foot traffic and sales
The May 2009 article of the month is posted on the Profits Plus website and ready for you to read.
Click on Article of the Month to read this article.
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Book of the Month |
Solution Selling
by
Michael Bosworth
There was a group of stores within the US that we were working with. They had an educational program for the sales reps that came from the central office to call on the various stores.
Unfortunately the book they chose was a very poor choice and did not produce the results they desired. I found this book and am sharing it with you this month as an idea of making the sales sequence better.
This book is written about the sales process as compared to dealing with the issue of a customer walking in the door and making a purchase. It is about working your way through a sale over a period of time. My thought was of people that were outside sales people or situations where the customer would be taking a period of time to make a decision about a purchase.
I enjoyed the book and think you will too.
We have more books to suggest for your reading. Click on Book Referralto visit this page on our site.
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Contact Us |
Profits Plus
P.O. Box 128
Dardanelle, AR
72834 USA
(727) 823-7205 Voice
(727) 898-3179 Fax
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Business advisories for May 2009
1. Sunday, May 10 is National Small Business Day
It is a day to celebrate. You are a unique bunch of people. You are brave in that you follow your dreams and ideas to make a big gamble in opening and operating your business. There are many people that look upon you with envy for your having the fortitude to do what you do. This is your day, and I am proud of you for what you do.
2. The May e-retailer conversations conference call
I love it when technology works and for the April conference call everything did come together. We were able to record the call. And to save you money, we are archiving the call on the Profits Plus website; you will not need to pay for hearing the event if you are unable to be with us for the live version.
And then the president cooperated by having his speech on a different night. So, for May we are going to try the same format; we will send you an announcement during the month to let you know what evening the call will be, and then we will send you a last minute reminder.
The dial in number and pin number will remain the same. To participate you need to dial 1-218-339-4600 and upon getting the recorded message, enter the pin number of 270985#. Pressing *6 will mute your phone so that you can continue your work while you listen, and pressing *6 again will unmute your phone so that you can ask questions and participate in the call.
For those unable to listen to the live call, there are a couple of links to the recording on the Profits Plus website. One link is with the green phone at the bottom of page, and the other is through the e-retailer navigational tool on the left side of any page.
To help us prepare, send your questions and concerns to us via e-mail today. Send your questions by using the address in the column on the left; NOT by hitting the reply button to this month's e-retailer.
In addition to your questions, I am preparing a discussion on soft drinks; Coca-Cola, Pepsi, 7 Up and Mountain Dew. I will share with you the ideas of how their four marketing plans can relate to how you market your business.
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Internet Tip of The Month |
Days of Inventory on Hand calculator
Inventory control is at an all time high on the list of importance with most businesses. The answer is not in selling off inventory and holding onto cash. You can't make money with cash sitting in a checking account. Using this calculator one time is not going to produce an answer that will help you. Instead you need to be watching it over a period of time and comparing it to your anticipated sales.
Days of Inventory on Hand calculator
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The Power Promoting Idea of the Month |
Your existing customers and more business
The Power Promoting idea for May 2009 is the one that got us stated with the book series and is the basis for the two Power Promoting presentations that I frequently give to trade shows and conferences.
We had customers that had 'house' charge accounts (Often referred to as accounts receivable). One month I asked the office staff how many statements we were sending and the total number of accounts that we had. The answer was that we were sending statements to just under half of these customers.
To me, this mean that half of them had not likely shopped in our store during the past month. Thinking these should be my most loyal customers, I should be doing something to get them back in the store. Newspaper, radio and television advertising were not going to be the answer.
The answer was quite simple; we printed statements for the customers we thought had not been in the store. On their zero balance statements that we mailed to them, was a handwritten note of, "You owe us nothing. We wish you did. Please come see us."
Our only cost was a stamp, envelope and the paper the statement was written on. The results were great as many of these customers came into the store and said, "I got your message".
Yes, customers to appreciate your noticing them whether it is by way of their presence or their absence.
Here's my schedule for the next six weeks. Hope to see you at one of these events.
May 3 Vancouver, British Columbia
May 4 Denver, Colorado
May 7-8 Meredith, New Hampshire
May 18 Alexandria, Minnesota
June 9 Johnstown, Pennsylvania
The calendar for all of 2009 is posted on our website and updated daily. Click here to see when I am going to be in your area.
Where's Tom?
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