Quote:
ORIGINAL: mobow
DON'T ORDER CUSTOM ARROWS 2 DAYS BEFORE SEASON OPENS, and expect to have them tomorrow. [:@]
|
I was working over on the firearms side of the house last week. Came upon a guy giving one of our other counter guys all kinds of hell. Turns out he is going bear hunting in Alaska on Monday (this was the Friday before he left) and he had ordered a left handed A-bolt in 338 the previous Monday (thats 5 days....but 4 really as he was there at 9am sharp Friday morning). Moral of the story, if you want it, be prepared to wait for Browning (insert company here) to make it.
OK... wow.... where can I start... I get to vent without reprocussion!
Hereis what I want (or don't want)from a customer:
As a prelude to the list:Customers need to understand that this is a business. This isn't the playground, this isn't the amusement park, this isn't your buddy's house. I'd rather be fishing or hunting myself than working. I enjoy what I do, and nothing makes me happier than helping people and having them bring back pictures full of dead things I in a small way helped them acheive, but I'm not Willy Wonka.
1) Understand that customer service is a two way street. If you come up to me with a chip on your shoulder, I'll give you one right back. If you want to be treated with all the hospitality I can provide, an open mind, open ears and a positive attitude are all I require. I'll bend over backwards to make you happy. But if you are going to be a jerk, don't expect me to kiss your ass. Thats not customer service, despite what most people think.
2) I want you to get what you want. I'm not going to sell you a football bat. But we need to keep the lights on around here too, and I do require a little food now and then, the dog needs his mash, and the bank needs the mortgage. Margins in this business are slim, and while I want you to get a good deal, I don't want to sleep on the street either. Don't ask me for a bunch of free stuff. No I'm not going to give you a dozen arrows because you bought a $300 bow. Asking just proves that customer service is really what the customer makes of it.
3) This is my biggest gripe with customers.... and it happens every day.....
DON'T COME IN THE SHOP TO SEE WHAT WE ARE OUT OF TODAY. It never fails. You'll get one old codger (almost always older and wearing velco laced shoes) who will come in, and you'll ask him how he is and if you can help him with anything or if he is in search of something in particular. He'll grunt something about looking around or killing time and wander off for the better part of a hour. He will pick the place apart. 45 minutes later, he'll come back up and say "Y'all ain't got none d'em Mathews bows?" My reply, "No sir, we aren't a Mathews dealer." His rebuttle, "Well why not, y'all don't carry what I want, you got all this stuff and nothing I need!" Just an example. More often its some obscure reloading part, like a set of RCBS dies for a 6.5/.284 or something like that. Ordering what the customer wants is never good enough either.... he doesn't need or want it... he just wants to remind himself he knows more than you.
4) Don't come in the store and run customers off. If you aren't going to buy anything, and I am having a conversation with someone who has asked for my professional opinion, keep your trap shut unless you have something positive to contribute. If you are on the bomb squad and defusing a time bomb, I don't walk up to you and suggest you try cutting the green wire. And don't ever cut me off and suggest the customer go buy something someplace else, or go with a product line we don't carry. I send folks to other places for things we don't carry or haveevery single day.My competitors and I have a great working relationship, and actually give each other discounts on lines the other doesn't carry. As long as you get what you want, I'm happy. But that is my business to send elsewhere, not yours. Sometimes I think people do this just so it can be their turn to be waited on.
5) If you ask for an opinion, expect to get one. I don't BS people. I learned very early on in this business that BSing people does positively nothing for sales. I'll tell you why I think like I do, and my experiences with such things. But don't ask for opinions if you are going to just be arguementative. We have a few members on HNI who are getting pretty notorious for that sort of thing.... and it reminds me of some of the jerk's I've had to deal with, and I feel my blood pressure go up a few points. This ranks right up there with shopping for what we are out of today.
6) If you need help with something. Ask. Its why they pay me you know.
7) Don't come in to have your bow worked on when you have to be back to work in 15 minutes. If you don't have time for me, then I don't have it for you either. Rushed work is crappy work, and I don't do crappy work. I'll be here tomorrow, and the season won't be here for 8 months.
8) Don't bring your kids with you. Especially if you just went next door and got them doughnuts and milk. I hate kids. I know that sounds awful.... I can handle them one at a time.... but a nightmare to me is a kindergarden class. There are lots of things in a gun/bow shop that are delicate and expensive, please, if you can't watch your children, leave them at home... better yet... just leave them at home. I need your full and undivided attention just like your bow needs mine.
9) Don't waste my time. I don't mind answering questions, and I like to chew the fat and swap stories as much or more so than anyone. But don't ask me to shoot every bow in the shop, because I know full and well you have no intention of buying anything. And believe it or not, this isn't an amusement park where anyone who comes in can ride as much as they want. I know when you are serious and whenyou are bored at home.
10) This is another major one.... if I am answering a question, or if I am helping you find something or showing you something you asked for.... next to robbing me at gunpoint the worst thing you could do is answer your damn cell phone. This goes double if there are people waiting for my attention. I don't care if little Johnny crapped in his pants at school again, and neither do the othre three people in line. I'm here to do business, if you are not here to do business, you remember where you came in?
OK, what would pro shop owners/employees like from
)
