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e-ret@iler
September 2000
Sent at your request by Profits Plus Seminars & Tom Shay
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What you will read in this month's issue of the e-ret@iler
1. This month's article on the Profits Plus Seminars website
2. e-ret@iler advisory of the month
3. Your free subscription to the e-ret@iler
4. Contacting Profits Plus Seminars & Tom Shay

1. What's new on the Profits Plus Seminars website
Each month we post another "take-action" business management article on the website. Our September article is entitled, "Here's Looking at You". The article suggests ways in which you should be looking at your business to see if customers are being exposed to the maximum number of purchasing opportunities.

With many e-mail programs, you can click on the link at the end of this sentence to go immediately to that page on our website. Here's Looking At You

2. One of the newsletters we receive in our office is from the Herman Group. Recently they were discussing what they saw as the upcoming changes in the world of retail. Their list included:

Employees will be more difficult to come by. This makes customer retention all the more important, and as we discussed a couple of months ago, you may want to reconsider your re-hiring policy to take advantage of "boomerang" employees.

Smart retailers will use technology. One example they give is the use of smart kiosks. These are information booths that are computer operated and tell customers about your store and your products and services.

Get the customers e-mail address. In addition to the age-old necessity of getting your customers name and address, an e-mail address now is important. This monthly e-ret@iler you are receiving is an example of how you can send something to your customers each week. We use a company called Oaknet Publishing and can send a monthly letter to 10,000 subscribers for only $35 per month. Advertising does not get much cheaper than this.

Some customers will call for items because they don't want to go to the store and don't trust online ordering. Have you thought about creating an order desk, much like an order desk your wholesalers may have?

Employees will get more personal with customers. With the Internet, and way too many stores, your customers have many choices of where to buy. Think about the store that would call a customer to let them know they have just received a shipment of the customer's favorite brand of merchandise.

Create a shopping experience to include socializing and entertainment. Think about a mall - it is not just where you go to buy things. It is a place to see people and be entertained. Some of the more progressive strip shopping centers are finding ways of creating this type of excitement. But, it should not end at your front door. Decorate your store; have something made for every employee to wear, etc. Make it so that any customer walking into your business will want to ask what is going on. That is excitement!

4. Your free subscription to the e-ret@iler

The subscriber list to the e-ret@iler is shared with no one. Period.

5. Contacting Profits Plus Seminars & 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.
Visit our website at www.profitsplus.org

Get your profits plus,

Tom Shay