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: What is a name worth?
3. The October e-ret@iler contest and the prizes
4. The resource library available to you
5. An important bonus point regarding your business and the media
6. Our Power Promoting Idea of the month:
7. Your free subscription to the e-ret@iler
8. Contacting Profits Plus Seminars and Tom Shay

1. Retailers don't die, they inadvertently commit suicide!
Our October article on the Profits Plus website is entitled,
"Small businesses don't die, they inadvertently commit suicide!".

This article is the basis for one of the most popular presentations that I have ever done. In this article we will discuss many of the fundamentals of operating a business. You will undoubtedly know many of them; there will probably be a couple of items that will be a surprise to you. And with each of them, we will be giving you some thoughts of where you should direct your attention.

2. October 2001 e-ret@iler advisory: More of NO! That's my answer and I am sticking to it. Last month, we discussed six ways of telling someone no. Anticipating that often you are in a situation where you need to be creative, have a list of ways to say no.

Several of you sent us your suggestions. Faith Rodell, a friend and reader of the e-ret@iler provided one of the best. She credits an aluminum siding salesman with having taught her this one for use on the telephone.

"After you have tried all of the polite ways, and the person still does not hear, 'no thank you', hang up in the middle of one of your own sentences and don't re-answer the phone. The thick headed person will think it is a phone problem: after all, no one would ever 'hang up' on themselves."

Sounds like a winner to me, Faith. Thanks for sharing it with everyone. And now, here are our last six ideas for saying NO.

Our seventh in the series of answers is the soft no. "I would love to, but ….." Perhaps, the rest of the sentence could be, "but it would not be right to my other customers to give you a special break."

No number eight is the delay tactic. "Let me get back to you on that. We are quite busy right now, and I have some other projects on the table. I am sure I have your phone number."

Passing the buck is our number nine no. "I am not really the right person for this. Now, … is very good with that type of stuff and would do you a much better job."

For number ten, how about a NO from the 'Seven Habits of Highly Effective People' book? Sure I would be glad to do that for you. Which one of these other projects would you like me to quit so I can get this new one done?

The eleventh NO is one that is easy to do. It is the 'dumb' no. "Who was supposed to do that? I don't remember anything about it". Or, "That project was assigned to me? I didn't know about that!"

The twelfth NO is the short, simple and flat "NO". Don't give any additional reasoning, and remember with negotiations the next person to speak after the NO, is the one who is going to give in first.

So, there is our twelve ways of NO, and with the help of Faith Rodell, an extra one. Faith allows us the opportunity to remind you of one strong point of business: Always give your customer more than you promised!

3. Our October e-ret@iler contest and the prizes
We gave away a bunch of copies of our new CD book, "What does Tom say?". And since there was so much response, we decided to have this be the prize we give away for this month.

The question of the month is, "On what page of the Profits Plus website, is the American flag? Send your answer, and be sure to send your name and address so we can send you the CD book, "What does Tom say?"

4. Your business and the media. This is a very important bonus point at this critical time in the economy of the world. It has been the experience of this speaker and writer from the years of having been in business that the only time the media is looking to speak with you is in a problem situation. Think about the various newspaper, radio, and television stories you have heard.

The media is constantly getting merchants to tell the story of how bad business is for them. Folks, this is not the time to tell this story to the media!!! I am not suggesting that you lie, but by speaking and telling of any possible downturn in business, you are only adding to the problem.

What can you do? Tell the media your business is OK. Tell them you still see smiles on the faces of your customers. Find the good points of your business and tell them about it. Tell them of your sales increases; tell them your business is not participating in any down turn in sales. All the world needs to hear is the positive points. And it begins with YOU!

5. Our Power Promoting Idea of the month:
How often would you like a customer to walk into your business? Many of us would be pleased with once a week. If so, then you should be changing the merchandise in the front of your store at least once each week. One of the retail oriented management books says that over half of your customers have made up their mind about coming back to your business within the first 10 seconds of their initial entry.

6. 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 this link in the upper left corner of this page.

8. Contacting Profits Plus Seminars and Tom Shay
Thank you for inviting us onto your desktop, and taking the time to read our newsletter. We trust you have received some business building ideas from it as we look forward to seeing you again next month.

God Bless America!

Get your Profits Plus,

Tom Shay