Gun ownership is skyrocketing (yay!), and we get so many new shooters and new gun owners at the range it stands to reason that gun stores are too.
A little help, guys.
Retailers, I know you're all about trying to make that sale.
No hate in my heart for that, at all.
Heck, that’s why you’re in business and I don’t begrudge you. You have mouths to feed and bills to pay, too. But having your customer walk away with a new gun AND a little bit of knowledge really helps with repeat business for you and good will in the gun community.
I was talking to one of our regular shooters who watched me work with a new gun owner who was experiencing malfunction after malfunction with his new gun. The guy so mad he was ready to drive back to the store and demand his money back because he felt they sold him a defective gun. I took it up front, broke it down, lubed all the bits and gave it back to him and it ran flawlessly for the rest of the session. After he left, the regular commented about how patient I was. “It wasn’t his fault. He’s a new shooter and I know the store that sold it to him. They just sell and try to get you out the store as fast as possible”.
"$800 BUCKS FOR THIS??!!!!
Granted, most serious gun owners would have already done their due-diligence and researched the functionality of their weapon or the accessory they’ve added to it and they know how to maintain it, but gun ownership is skyrocketing (yay!). We get so many new shooters and new gun owners at the range it stands to reason that gun stores do too.
As you probably know, the 2020 Summer of Love and Riots was the first time A LOT of new gun owners had ever set foot in a gun store.
Yes, they could be annoying.
Yes, they could be frustrating.
Yes, they could be aggravating.
But they were there for a reason.
They didn't need to be belittled, talked down to or pandered to. I know it's not your job to teach and educate but these people are the newest members of the 2A community so if you can, try to go the extra mile when making a sale.
I knew a woman who was a top salesperson at a ultra luxury car dealership. She did very well for herself. Because I was in marketing I asked her about her sales process, what made her so successful. She said it begins with your mindset at the start. “My average sale is $120,000. People that buy a car like ours are passionate about driving. It’s not a car for them it’s a way of life. It’a a very exclusive club, so to speak. With customers like this you have to think “I’m not selling “ONE” car, I’m really selling “FOUR” cars.” They will be back an average of four times in their driving lifetime if you treat them right and I want them coming back to me”. I can think of very few products that elicit that sort of passion outside of a gun purchase.
Lube first, shoot second.
Most new shooters are so excited about their purchase that they can’t wait to get to the range. Heck, we have customers come in right from the store with the tags still attached.
They get extremely frustrated with malfunction after malfunction caused by shooting a bone-dry gun. Many are convinced that they made a bad purchase or the gun store sold them a faulty weapon. They didn’t get sold a lemon… it’s just that the gun is as dry as the Sahara Desert and the salesperson didn’t tell them that they should lube a new gun before running rounds through it.
What you see when you remove the slide of most new guns.
Know your customer and their level of expertise.
My favorite professor in college said something in class that still resonates years later:
“Never overestimate the intelligence of your audience but never underestimate their capacity to learn”.
If someone takes the FSC test from you then looks to purchase their first firearm, this may not just be the first gun they've ever owned. It actually may be the first gun they have ever fired in their entire life. Do a little due diligence. Ask some questions. Just because you may get a bonus for clearing a bunch of XD-45s from inventory does not mean it’s the right gun for a 60 year old first time shooter that is purchasing her first gun for home defense.
One day in 2020 just after the riots started popping off in L.A., a guy called the range and asked if we allowed shotguns. I told him we did and he sounded very relieved and said he would be there later that afternoon. A few hours later a man walked in with a Benelli box. He said he had just purchased the last gun available at a large, local gun store and he would pay for someone to teach him how to use it. He opened the box and we all stared at his brand new Benelli M4. “It was the only gun left on the rack” (You REALLY don’t want to know what he paid for it).
When you sell someone a Benelli M4 as his/her first gun you know things have either gotten really, really good or really, really bad.
Sights… Yes, you do need them.
Unless you live in a free state or sufficiently beyond the reach of overreaching law enforcement, being around guns is pretty natural and most of your shooting is done outdoors. Most everyone else shoots at indoor ranges, and indoor ranges have equipment that doesn’t take too kindly at being shot so sights on your guns is mandatory. When you sell an AR for heaven’s sake throw in some sights. I can’t begin to tell you how many people come in with brand new ARs with no sights and didn’t know they needed them.
Keep up on what kind of ammo is allowed on local ranges.
Nearly every indoor range has some kind of ammo restrictions. Our range doesn’t allow aluminum cased, steel case, steel core, frangible or tracer ammo. There are reasons and it’s not because we’re ammo snobs.
No aluminum because we recycle our brass and most recyclers ding us big time if they find aluminum or steel in the brass.
No steel core because of the fire hazard.
Frangible is a no-no because it clogs the filtration systems downrange.
No Tracer rounds, either… ‘cause it’s a freaking hot tracer round fired into 60,000 lbs. of rubber. Duh.
A deal on Green Tips is not a deal if you can't shoot it anywhere.
We had a guy come in with 1,000 rounds of green tip .556 that he got a great deal on. Needless to say he was a little miffed that we wouldn’t let him shoot it. He wasn’t mad at us, just the store that sold it to him without telling him he had nowhere to shoot it but private property.
Also, some retailers are purposely confusing customers by selling brass-coated steel as perfectly legit FMJ range ammo. The rounds look just like brass but are still prohibited on our indoor ranges. Folks, it doesn’t make us look bad, it makes YOU look bad.
Yeah, I'd be a little upset if I just bought 500 rounds of 9mm and couldn't shoot it anywhere. Note: Take a magnet with you when you buy ammo.
Upsell newbies on some good eye and ear protection and mix in a gun cleaning kit.
If you’re going to upsell a new shooter on anything, start with things they actually need. Lay off the “Tacicool” stuff. 5.11 pants, multiple mag carriers, tactical vests… all cool stuff, but if they only spend 30 minutes on the line because their ears can’t take it they WILL NOT enjoy the experience. Explain the need to clean and maintain their weapon. They will appreciate it.
Remember, we love referring our customers to you.
We don’t ever trash retailers. We may warn customers about specific products you may sell that we find dubious or even bad, but for the most part we view our relationships with gun stores and shops as symbiotic. We actually hate it when we hear a shooter leave the range saying, “I’m never going back to that store again!” Retailers are probably the first people new shooters will have any extensive contact with. But with all the new shooters that are joining our ranks we just ask you to take some time to make a good and prudent sale and create a customer for life. We're all in this together.
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