Rude gun dealers again

[Brad Johnson]

gmshtr,

You probably already know this stuff, but here's a couple of tidbits from a guy who spent four years managing a store running double-digit sales gains in retail electronics (customer service is universal).

- Make every customer feel like they are appreciated. You may not be able to get to them immediately, but at least acknowledge that they are there. A quick "Hi - we'll be right with you" when they come through the door is all it takes. A postcard thanking them for their business after the transaction is also a nice touch, and it only costs a couple of cents (and some newer computerized POS systems will generate them for you automatically).

- Be knowledgeable, but also don't be embarrassed to say "Hmm, I don't know that. Let me find out."

- A positive attitude makes up for a lot. First and foremost, smile! It's infectious and makes for a much smoother transaction.

- Stocking 20% of the most popular brands/styles will service 80% of the customers that walk through your door.

- If you don't have it, offer to get it at a reasonable price.

and above all...

- Be honest.

Run your business like a business. Your sales staff is the primary point of contact for the customers that you rely on to pay your bills. Train your sales staff regularly in product knowledge and customer service skills. Take the time to watch your employees as they deal with customers. If you identify one with poor customer service skills give them the opportunity to resolve the issue - either with outside training or one-on-one education. If they don't shape up, let them go. Even if they are your best friend. One bad employee can be the downfall of an otherwise good business.

Brad

 

[Wakal]

Speaking from personal experience on a bunch of different ranges, Phil is a hell of a nice guy (and a amazing shooter...both at the same time). Must be time to flog the help at Shooter's Paradise






Alex

 

[Edmond]

I for one don't understand why dealers keep acting this way. With the internet, everyone I know and don't know will be told about a rude experience. At the same time; if I have a good experience, I will let everyone know about it as well. It's like free advertising.

I once had a dealer tell me and my buddy, "Unless you guys have $700 cash, don't ask me to take nothin' out of dose cases." We promptly left.

 

[Rockrivr1]

There's place here in Mass that is the same way. You walk in and you'd think you were bothering them or something. Thier prices are always higher then anyone else and to be honest I have no idea how they stay in business.

The owner is this guy who has one of those old fashioned handlebar mustaches and he always has a story to tell. He can be ok to deal with sometimes, but the guys he hires all open carry around the place and basically look down thier noses at you if you ask a question. I've actually seen one of them get mad at a customer and basically yelled at that person while having his hand on his pistol. Geez, you sell guns, your not Jose Wales.

I've stopped going there as a rule after seeing that.

 

[SiG Lady]

Shooting oneself in the foot...

Well, and along with rude customer service comes the gun shop owners who bad-mouth other local gun shop owners! Gah! Talk about burying yourself in your own s**t!! This maneuver backfired big-time here in town some few years ago and the offending party, I heard, lost a tad bit of business (to the party being bad-mouthed) as a result. Goes to show ya.

"I once had a dealer tell me and my buddy, "Unless you guys have $700 cash, don't ask me to take nothin' out of dose cases." We promptly left"

Well, like I said in the other active thread here about 'sexist gun dealers', this idiot would NOT want to be visited by the SiG Lady or hear her response to that outrageous remark!!!

 

[bfox]

Hey Beren
You pegged the place exactly .

 

[jdkelly]

...sounds like the place on Rt 9...

Rockriv1,

Handlebar mustache, sounds like the place on Rt 9 that I visited during the big liberal party a week or two ago. I told them I was from the DNC and asked for a donation. Talk about a vapor lock stare.


Respectfully,

jdkelly

 

[SiG Lady]

And you got out alive...?....

 

[iamhistory]

Well.........I wrote earlier in this thread that I almost always go to one shop exclusively and today I was reminded why I do, yet again.

I went in to the largest shop in my area and one that has been on the same corner for over 40 years, run by the same family. That's one of the shops that I dislike going in to because my experience is rarely pleasurable, the environment (except for only one of the counter guys who wasn't working today) is less than friendly or welcoming and to be honest.......usually I get the feeling I am a burden on their time.

I don't care for the owner and have had that feeling since I used to go in to that shop as a boy with my Dad who knew the owner personally and got along pretty well with him, but always said "you can't make any deals with him." The owner is the guy who puts a damper on the whole damn place. When he's not there, it feels like a different place.

So anyway to get to the point..............my favorite shop doesn't sell hunting licenses and this shop does. I was right across the street for an errand today so I figured I'd go in and get my muzzleloader stamp, since Wal-mart and their usual cluster f*** operation couldn't manage to figure that out the other day. I open the door, step inside and I'm face to face with the owner and one of his counter guys...........I stand there face to face with them, nothing separating us but the pistol case and I waited about 2 minutes to even be acknowledged. There is only one other customer in the shop and he's at the other end of the store taking rifles off the rack behind the counter and checking them out by himself.

I finally broke the silence and asked them if they had muzzle stamps, the owner nodded yes. I asked if I could get one and he said "yes, in a minute, I'm busy right now." I said, "no problem, take your time I'll just look around". I browsed down an aisle to the other end of the store and the counter guy finally said "I'll take care of that stamp for you" Which we then completed.

After he put the stamp on my license he tossed my license on the counter and said "11" (meaning 11 dollars for the stamp). I asked him a question about an application deadline for bonus doe licenses and his reply was "it's always the same time frame every year, look in your book." meaning the rule book.

I nodded, thanked him, picked up my license, browsed the store a bit more on my way to the door where the owner was STILL standing in the same spot and I said thank you and see you later. The owner said "did he get you set up?" I said "Yes, thanks" The owner said something to me as I was opening the door to leave and I didn't hear him. I stuck my head back in the door and said "say again?" since I hadn't hear him and he put his hand up in a stop gesture and said "never mind, goodbye" in a very awkward tone.

I don't know.......it might not seem like a big deal to some of you, but this sort of thing happens almost EVERY time I go in there and it has for years. I try to avoid the place at all costs............it's not fun to go in there and for me a trip to the gun shop is the highlight of my week. Not to mention they are the highest priced shop in the area. Half the time they don't bother to offer any help and the other half they make you feel like an idiot with the way they interact with you. I guess that's why they have products on the shelves with the packaging so dusty and faded from sitting there so long they look like the same things in the store when I went there as a kid.

I'd chalk it up to having a bad day or something happening before I went in there, but how many of those are they going to have??????????

 

[SiG Lady]

(cue suspenseful music here...) ...And someday you'll walk in there--however reluctantly--and they'll be standing there, sorta propped up weird-like, dead as doornails... and no one will care. No one. (creepy music fades...)

 

[Rockrivr1]

JDKelly,

Yep, that's the place. The times I've been there in the past I always see stuff that is priced so much cheaper up at Four Seasons.

Like I said before. I have no idea how that place stays in business.

 

[Beren]

bfox:

Lol!! I thought I knew who you were talking about. Everyone's experience is different. I stop in there once every other month or so, and chat a little with the owner at the Monroeville shows. He can be a decent enough guy - he even sponsored my membership at a local range. (I keep forgetting to follow up on submitting my membership app, life gets busy.) I asked him once about ordering a particular handgun and he told me pretty much the same: "those guns are crap." He probably just wants to sell what he has in stock. Can't blame him for that, and as for the opinion, well, he's welcome to voice it.

I've bought a handful of pistols from him over the last couple years, so maybe that makes a difference. I usually try to give him my business first - his shop is ten minutes from where I live. The last time I tried, he wanted more than I thought it was worth, so I thanked him for the offer and purchased elsewhere.

And that's usually how I do business - be respectful, have cash in hand, be reasonable in offers and be prepared to walk.

 

[SOT_II]

From a delaers perspective:

It's sort of crazy to hear all this stuff...I can't imagine what these guys are thinking when they act the way they do. As it is it's getting harder and harder every year to even keep a gun shop running about the ONLY good thing about dealing guns are the customers.

Margins are tight, laws are confusing at best, distribution is going into retail and law enforcment sales, some dealers are running 5% markups on guns that cost $200....the one saving grace is the customers.

You get a good customer you treat them like the person that puts food on yoru table. You meet new customers, knwo that this man or woman might pay yoru electric bill one day....granted I've had to "fire" a customer a time or two but 99.5% of my customers are peopel that car about our rights, have to put up with all kinds of BS...and at the counter when wanting to buy something...they shouldn't have to put up with it.

If you get bad service, let them know RIGHT THEN, if they don't fix it on the spot, let them know again with your wallet and don't shop there.

FYI: We all buy from some of the same places...Davidson's, Amchar, Camfour, RSR, Jerry's...most are computerized and we can check inventory almost any time. Considering the ATF regs on shipping handguns and the resource of all these distributors...most guns are about a day to two days away. Now if it's a new model it may be on allocation or only sold via "special" dealers...but your plain jane everyday guns...one to tow days max delivery time.