What you will read in this month's issue of the e-ret@iler:
1. The article of the month on the Profits+Plus website
2. e-ret@iler advisory of the month: No! That's my answer, and I am sticking to it.
3. The September e-ret@iler contest and the prizes
4. A new product on our Resource Page
5. Your free subscription to the e-ret@iler
6. Contacting Profits+Plus and Tom Shay

A quick and special thanks
We want to take a quick moment to say thanks to all of you our readers. The Profits+Plus website has now earned the "featured site" designation from retailindustry.about.com, and know we have achieved it only because of you who read the e-retailer, our books, the articles in many trade magazines, and attend the conferences, trade shows, and events that Tom speaks at.

1. Article of the month: Managing with your financial statements
"Managing with your financial statements".
Although the story was originally created for folks in the printing industry, the information is true for any type of business. In the article we are discussing financial statements and what you can gain from them. As most of you have heard me speak, you know I believe the relationship between an accountant and your business has to go a lot further, deeper, and stronger, than it does for the majority of businesses. This article is talking about that idea.

2. September 2001 e-ret@iler advisory: No! That's my answer, and I'm sticking to it.
You have probably heard the old adage of, "Some people just will not take NO for an answer." There is also the humorous version in the form of a question, "Just what part of NO, do you not understand?"

You may find neither of these to be funny, because you have found them to be true. So, here are some ideas of how you can wrap your answer of "NO" in a different type of package, and get back to what you want and need to be doing.

Many business owners and managers report their day is consumed by too many people such as insurance salespeople, groups wanting donations, stock brokers, telephone long distance sales people, and some sales representatives. Here are our ideas.

With each of our suggestions, it is important that you follow your answer with a "thank you", (or "thanks, anyway"), a handshake if you are comfortable doing so, and then moving on. If you give one of these NO answers, and then just stand there, you are leaving yourself open to another comeback from the person asking the questions.

How about the sales representative asking you to change to their line of products? Give them credit for coming back and asking. And most definitely don't tell them to stop calling, but try this one:

"I like your product line, but I just would not feel right about dropping the line (or sales representative) that I have had for so many years. Thanks anyway."

Our second example is again a sales representative:

"I will be glad to change to your product line, if you will …. (buy back my old inventory from the other vendor, pay the freight, give a 10% discount, give me 120 days dating). You can use any one, or combination of these conditions. When you stack up enough conditions, you can make it impossible for them to get the order.

Example number three is someone calling to make an appointment:
"Let me look at the calendar. I have some time on my schedule on Friday afternoon, September 28. Are you going to be in town that day? If not, then perhaps the next time".

Our fourth example works great with many of the phone calls you receive:
"I would be glad to look at your idea. Send me some printed material so that I can read about it, and seriously consider it. I understand things much better when I read about it as compared to hearing about it. Then we could follow up later".

If they say they don't have any printed material, then finish the call with a "Thanks anyway", and hang up.

Idea number five for saying NO is the time delay. "You know, we have talked a lot internally about this, and we find that we just have to say NO. This is all the time that we can spend with this. Thanks anyway."

Sixth and final example for this month is the situation where you are invited to attend an event. Your answer can be, "I would love to be there. But I already have another commitment."

We have another batch of NO answers, but we will save them for next month. Several of next month's NO's deal with the ability of passing something on to someone else.

Perhaps you have some that have worked well for you that we could ask you to share with others in the October newsletter. Send us one that we use in next month's e-ret@iler and we will send you a copy of one of the Profits+Plus Ideas books.

3. Our September e-ret@iler contest
Congratulations to our winners in the August e-ret@iler contest. The winners received t-shirts from the folks at Screen Graphics. Let me get a quick 10-second "plug" for this vendor. The folks at Screen Graphics understand how retailers work, and would be glad to work with you on creating shirts for your staff as well as shirts that you can use as giveaways.

Here is a link to our friends at Screen Graphics:
Screen Graphics

The prize for our September contest is a CD copy of our new book, "What does Tom say? Winners will be the first six people who send us an e-mail with the correct answer to this question: How many different book titles are there in Tom's Profits+Plus Ideas series? Take a look on our Resources Page and send us your answer. Don't forget to include your address so we can get your prize in the mail to you.

4. The resources library at the Profits+Plus website
We are thrilled to tell you our new book is here! And, because you are the Internet savvy readers, we will first be releasing the book electronically. It will be available on a CD, or as a downloadable PDF file.

For those of you not familiar with PDF files, this is a format that will allow anyone to download a page and print the book regardless of what type of computer they have. It is a great book and is filled with great information, as it is 210 pages long!

Knowing that you don't have a lot of time to read it cover to cover, it is written so that each of the 50 chapters can be read in any sequence. As a CD, the book is $15; as a downloadable file, the book is $10. See the cover of the book, and place your order on the Resource Page. Here's a link:
Resource Page

5. Your free subscription to the e-ret@iler
Was this issue of the e-retailer a hand me down to you? No one likes to read second hand news, so send a note for your own free subscription.

6. Contacting Profits+Plus and Tom Shay
Thanks for stopping to see us. There is a whole lot more information on the website. www.profitsplus.org

Got a question? I am honored that you take the time to write and ask me to answer them for you. And, thanks to those who have done so. Here is a link to create an e-mail:

Last, and most definitely, thank you for inviting us onto your desktop, and taking the time to read our newsletter for September 2001. See you at an upcoming trade show, conference, and most definitely right here for the October issue of the e-ret@iler.

Get your Profits Plus,

Tom Shay

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