Kentucky_Rifleman
Member
Consider this an open letter to gun shop owners everywhere. Let me begin by saying that I don't feel I belong to either category, but like most gun enthusiasts, fall somewhere between the two.
Dear shop owners,
As a well-read, well-informed gun enthusiast, I find myself frequenting certain gun shops and avoiding others for a simple reason that many of you may overlook.
It isn't all about prices, I frequently pay a little more for a firearm I suspect I could purchase more cheaply elsewhere.
It isn't just about service either. I often enjoy loitering about gun shops, listening to the friendly conversations that come and go, and am rarely in any hurry to make my purchase and leave.
No, I often choose the shops I frequent based on the tone of the conversations held there. I make most of my purchases at one particular shop because the owner and I have become close friends over the years. We are close because we share a similar world-view, and I enjoy our conversations immensely. Just as I choose Hensley's for the quality of conversation, I also avoid others for the same reason.
To put it bluntly, unfounded paranoia will not sell me a single firearm. Not one. I refuse on principal.
Few things sour my afternoon more quickly than shop owners and counter workers who misrepresent facts, either out of ignorance or out of a desire to pressure customers into impulse purchases based on unfounded rumors.
Worse still are shop owners/workers who insist on arguing, often in the most patronizing tones possible, their points of view. It's simply bad for business.
Yesterday I spent the entirety of my afternoon going to four, count them - 4, gun shops here in central Kentucky. I had a little extra cash in my pocket, and I went to find an interesting addition to my meager collection and buy it. I passed over three guns I might well have bought, had I not been put off by store personnel.
The following is indicative of the conversations I had in the first three stores.
In store one, I was looking over the S&W and SigArms .22LR "military" clones, the ones that look like AR-15s but shoot the rimfire cartridge. They were cute, and store #1 was running an especially attractive sale on them. A worker came over and asked me if I needed any help. I told him I was just enjoying the day, and looking at some guns. Then came the sales pitch. "If you're considering buying one of these, you should pick one up now, before the feds close them down."
"Really?" I asked. "These seem harmless enough. They're just .22 rimfires that have been made to look like assault rifles. Are they really going to be on some new Assault Rifle list I haven't heard of?"
"Oh, absolutely!" he responded. It's only a matter of time, and not much time, before Obama comes after our guns."
"Oh. I know there are some people in the current administration that are gun-control proponents, but it seems like lately the tide has kind of turned against gun-control. It seems like gun-owners have won some significant victories lately, and that we're poised to win even more. Is there some new legislation pending that I haven't heard of?"
"Oh my God, you haven't heard? They're trying to push the Clinton Assault Rifle Ban back in."
"No. I hadn't heard that. Are you sure?"
"Oh yeah! And Obama will push this through just like he did the health-care reform. He doesn't care about the American people, he wants to turn us into a communist state like most of Europe."
I smiled, looked around a little more, and then left.
The second store tried to sell me over-priced primers and reloading components. The clerk actually used the phrase, "in a few months, ammunition will be the wise man's gold. You'll be able to trade it for whatever you want." The store got stuck hoarding components at inflated prices, and now they're trying to dump the stuff without losing money. I didn't buy anything there either.
The third store was hawking handguns before the health-care czar banned them as "bad for your health."
Finally I get to Charlie Hensley's. I came through the door, Charlie was smiling, "Well, what are you doing boy?"
I replied, "I came to buy a gun. What do you have that's interesting?"
I left - three hours later - with my new-to-me Winchester 94, two boxes of shells, 100 pieces of .30-30 brass, dies, shell-holder, swivel studs, new leather sling, and primers, powder, bullets to load some .38 specials.
I could have ordered a lot of the extras online, and ordering them all at once MAYBE saved a little dab of money even after the shipping. I didn't care. I spent my money with Charlie. Not once did he BS me about any phantom legislation. Not once did he try to sell me anything. He knew I would find a gun I liked and buy it.
Charlie and I both understand that there are elements/people within our government who would love nothing more than to disarm the American people. We're realistic enough to know that we can never rest on our laurels in the 2A crusade. We're also realistic enough to know that panic is not a sustainable mindset. The fight for our 2A rights will remain after I'm dead. It's a war we'll never win. All I can do is my small part to keep us from losing it.
This is not a fight that can be waged with panic tactics. It's going to take patience and faith and persistence.
So, when conversing with customers, keep the conversation polite, and let the customer set the tone. Even if you disagree with the customer's political view, by keeping the conversation to the customer's liking, you'll still sell more to that customer.
Isn't that the point of being in business?
KR
Dear shop owners,
As a well-read, well-informed gun enthusiast, I find myself frequenting certain gun shops and avoiding others for a simple reason that many of you may overlook.
It isn't all about prices, I frequently pay a little more for a firearm I suspect I could purchase more cheaply elsewhere.
It isn't just about service either. I often enjoy loitering about gun shops, listening to the friendly conversations that come and go, and am rarely in any hurry to make my purchase and leave.
No, I often choose the shops I frequent based on the tone of the conversations held there. I make most of my purchases at one particular shop because the owner and I have become close friends over the years. We are close because we share a similar world-view, and I enjoy our conversations immensely. Just as I choose Hensley's for the quality of conversation, I also avoid others for the same reason.
To put it bluntly, unfounded paranoia will not sell me a single firearm. Not one. I refuse on principal.
Few things sour my afternoon more quickly than shop owners and counter workers who misrepresent facts, either out of ignorance or out of a desire to pressure customers into impulse purchases based on unfounded rumors.
Worse still are shop owners/workers who insist on arguing, often in the most patronizing tones possible, their points of view. It's simply bad for business.
Yesterday I spent the entirety of my afternoon going to four, count them - 4, gun shops here in central Kentucky. I had a little extra cash in my pocket, and I went to find an interesting addition to my meager collection and buy it. I passed over three guns I might well have bought, had I not been put off by store personnel.
The following is indicative of the conversations I had in the first three stores.
In store one, I was looking over the S&W and SigArms .22LR "military" clones, the ones that look like AR-15s but shoot the rimfire cartridge. They were cute, and store #1 was running an especially attractive sale on them. A worker came over and asked me if I needed any help. I told him I was just enjoying the day, and looking at some guns. Then came the sales pitch. "If you're considering buying one of these, you should pick one up now, before the feds close them down."
"Really?" I asked. "These seem harmless enough. They're just .22 rimfires that have been made to look like assault rifles. Are they really going to be on some new Assault Rifle list I haven't heard of?"
"Oh, absolutely!" he responded. It's only a matter of time, and not much time, before Obama comes after our guns."
"Oh. I know there are some people in the current administration that are gun-control proponents, but it seems like lately the tide has kind of turned against gun-control. It seems like gun-owners have won some significant victories lately, and that we're poised to win even more. Is there some new legislation pending that I haven't heard of?"
"Oh my God, you haven't heard? They're trying to push the Clinton Assault Rifle Ban back in."
"No. I hadn't heard that. Are you sure?"
"Oh yeah! And Obama will push this through just like he did the health-care reform. He doesn't care about the American people, he wants to turn us into a communist state like most of Europe."
I smiled, looked around a little more, and then left.
The second store tried to sell me over-priced primers and reloading components. The clerk actually used the phrase, "in a few months, ammunition will be the wise man's gold. You'll be able to trade it for whatever you want." The store got stuck hoarding components at inflated prices, and now they're trying to dump the stuff without losing money. I didn't buy anything there either.
The third store was hawking handguns before the health-care czar banned them as "bad for your health."
Finally I get to Charlie Hensley's. I came through the door, Charlie was smiling, "Well, what are you doing boy?"
I replied, "I came to buy a gun. What do you have that's interesting?"
I left - three hours later - with my new-to-me Winchester 94, two boxes of shells, 100 pieces of .30-30 brass, dies, shell-holder, swivel studs, new leather sling, and primers, powder, bullets to load some .38 specials.
I could have ordered a lot of the extras online, and ordering them all at once MAYBE saved a little dab of money even after the shipping. I didn't care. I spent my money with Charlie. Not once did he BS me about any phantom legislation. Not once did he try to sell me anything. He knew I would find a gun I liked and buy it.
Charlie and I both understand that there are elements/people within our government who would love nothing more than to disarm the American people. We're realistic enough to know that we can never rest on our laurels in the 2A crusade. We're also realistic enough to know that panic is not a sustainable mindset. The fight for our 2A rights will remain after I'm dead. It's a war we'll never win. All I can do is my small part to keep us from losing it.
This is not a fight that can be waged with panic tactics. It's going to take patience and faith and persistence.
So, when conversing with customers, keep the conversation polite, and let the customer set the tone. Even if you disagree with the customer's political view, by keeping the conversation to the customer's liking, you'll still sell more to that customer.
Isn't that the point of being in business?
KR
