How does a gun shop earn your loyaly?

[Technosavant]

What would it take for a particular gun shop to earn your repeat business to the exclusion of others? As in, you'd drive past other shops just to go to this one or you'd willingly order through this shop before buying in stock from some other retailer?

Or do you even consider having that kind of loyalty?

 

[twins]

No such thing. A shop is in it to make money. I'm looking to save money. I don't expect the shop to lose money and they shouldn't expect me to pay more than another retailer. The question is superfluous in a free enterprise society.

 

[Aduc]

I'd say it'd be based on customer service and knowledge. I want to deal with nice people but also knowledgeable and informative people. Prices matter too... but I'd pay slightly more if the other things are up to par.

 

[Charlie98]

I feel it's a balance between most of those choices...

I'm not going to pay 30% over normal retail because a shop has decent customer service, nor am I going to gleefully plunk my money down at a shop filled with self-absorbed jerks... and every combination therof.

It's a balance between them having the firearm I want, at a price I'm willing to pay, at a shop I can get to, with a guy behind the counter that's decent enough to fill out the paperwork and take my money.

 

[Brian Pfleuger]

Superfluous?! That question is the BASIS of free enterprise! How's does a business owner convince us to buy his wares when we're FREE to buy from anyone? It is what DRIVES free enterprise.

For me, the answer is simple... Treat me so well that I'm willing to pay to be treated that way, then make the amount I have to pay to be treated that way small enough that I'm willing to pay it.

In other words, great service/environment/people and fair/competitive prices.

 

[egor20]

The one gun shop that had my Loyalty closed a few years ago, owner died and his kids were never into the business. I'm kind of "Bip Bop" between a few stores now.

 

[Brian Pfleuger]

Incidentally, no such gun shop has ever existed in my sphere of awareness. They all suck. There is a relatively new one, owned by a guy I knew growing up and he was great the one time I went in but I haven't had any time to spend there. No gun shop has ever cone close to having my loyalty.

 

[KenL]

Gun shops get my loyalty the same way that any other store gets my loyalty. Customer service. Plain and simple.

 

[twins]

Peetzakilla,
Are you saying loyalty promotes free enterprise? I guess I have to agree to disagree.

It's a gun shop, nothing else to me. I use it when I need it, I use another shop when it fills my need. I get to determine my needs, not the other way around. That's free enterprise to me. It keeps business growing and not be stagnant. IMO, loyalty to a business will kill it in the end.

 

[Stressfire]

I had to vote service, prices is a secondary. But having the experience be pleasant is a definite plus in my book.

The shop nearest me is split ownership between 3 guys. I refuse to go there when 1 in particular is working. He's just unpleasant and unhelpful.

 

[oneounceload]

IMO, loyalty to a business will kill it in the end.

Make that BLIND loyalty and I agree with your statement

 

[Brian Pfleuger]

Peetzakilla,
Are you saying loyalty promotes free enterprise? I guess I have to agree to disagree.

Not at all. I'm saying that the goal of a free enterprise business is to CREATE loyalty. Loyal customers make a business. That's why they try for "brand loyalty". That why there's loyalty marketing strategies. One-time customers are almost never sufficient to make a business profitable. Profit, free enterprise, REQUIRES some level of loyalty.

Loyalty, to a degree, is good for everyone involved. Think of it. What if I burn somebodies pizza? Sooner or later, it's going to happen. What would happen if they had no loyalty? They'd never come back, they'd get pizza somewhere else... Until THAT place burned their pizza. Pretty soon, they're out of pizza shops, we're all out of customers and nobodies happy.

Loyalty allows them, the customer, to say, "Hey, mistakes happen, I'll give them another shot, no big deal". My goal as a business owner, to create loyalty, allows me to say "I'm really sorry about that. Let me make you another one, here's a gift card for a future visit, oh, and I've just put some wings down, they'll be ready when your new pizza is... on the house." Without some level of loyalty, they lose my pizza and I lose their money.

See, my job is to create loyalty. It's how I make money. You, the customer, must have SOME loyalty or you'll hate every business in town, we all make mistakes, and you'll be very unhappy, not willing to do business with anybody cause they all made you mad.

Loyalty isn't a bad thing. If you want to be a happy customer and I want customers, we BOTH need it.

 

[efield]

First and foremost, I try to buy within the community I live as long as their prices are comparable............say within 5-7%. This includes what I would have to pay to have something shipped to me.
Next, do they offer good customer service? Are they willing to order what I want and service what they sell?
Third are the intangibles...........the personal touches so to speak. Is the counter help personable? Do they have a training center? A shooting range? A reputable gunsmith on site?
Those are what I look for.

 

[klcmschlesinger]

Don't treat me like an idiot....

In my neck of the woods the biggest and most successful gun shop is the most expensive one with the most jerks working there. I can't explain it but they don't get a penny of my money anymore. I take part of that back. The owner is the big jerk, some of the employees are fine.
I am willing to pay slightly more for good service. I am not asking to have my butt kissed, just treat me like a person, not like a checkbook.

 

[D-Ric902]

When I ordered a gun and had it shipped to my local gunshop the owner didn't charge me anything for the transfer. He told his clerk "No, he spends enough money here already"

He has done this twice now. All my orders will be shipped there.

May not be much to him but it is a lot of consideration for me.

 

[psyfly]

Price is important, but not the most important.

I live in a small city. Not as many choices as some.

We now have left four gunshops. (Including an Academy and a Big 5 where I don't often shop).

Of the two "real" gunshops:

One carries a buttload of stock, employs people who are basically polite but not particularly knowledgeable. Will not go out of their way for anything but basic service (bus. model is perhaps what twins suggested, decent service but costs too much to provide any 'extra' care). Not. by the way, discount prices.

The other is smaller, employs people who seem to take a genuine interest in what I want, and seem to be eager to provide me with more personalized service. They will both ship and receive for me for a reaonable fee (the other shop won't do either).

I will pay a little more if they have the same thing in stock that I want in order to help them stay in business (not a big issue as their prices are usually competitive anyway).

Service and loyalty do have a part in my decisions. I will buy from a local merchant rather than Wal-mart if the differential is not too steep.

Best,

Will

 

[geetarman]

Good service and fair prices for sure. The sales people actually listening to you is a big plus.

When I got into reloading, I went to a place in Godfrey, Illinois and told the folks what I wanted to do.

One of the guys took me aside and asked a bunch of questions and when we were through, he said that you could do what I wanted to do with a small manual reloader like Lee or you could get into it with a system that would really allow you to make ammo.

I ended up buying a setup from RCBS that served me for many years. I still think of that man taking the time to ask me if I really wanted to produce good ammo or just something to go bang.

At the time, Lee was really a small company and the small manual die sets were ok, but did not work well if you wanted to shoot a lot.

I still have the RCBS although I use Dillon equipment today. The folks at Dillon treat me the same way as the guy did a Godfrey Reloading. . .'nuff said.

Geetarman

 

[BigPapa4147]

It's all about customer service. My favorite shop used to be right across the street from my house. They built their own range about 15 min from my house, and then lost their FFL and closed down the shop, which was unfortunate. They had good prices and employees who weren't brand pushers. If you asked their opinion, you got it. But if you wanted a particular brand, they didn't try to force something more expensive on you, which is what earned my loyalty. Even though they don't have a shop anymore, I still frequent their range, even though there is another range closer to my house, I prefer to give my guys my business, and refer other people to them to.

 

[raftman]

Definitely has to be a combination of factors. Customer service matters, but if the shop is run by the friendliest, most service-oriented, knowledgeable people, but they never stock anything I want, why would I go there? Or if they have everything I could ever want, but the place is run by jerks who charge twice the going rate for everything then that does me no good either.

Unfortunately, I have yet to find a gun shop that truly has the right combination. The one that comes closest is about an hour away and I am often quite reluctant to make the trip.

 

[FrankenMauser]

Making sure you are happy with your purchase and their service, is what sets the good apart from the bad.

For example:
It is pretty universal, that there are no returns or exchanges on firearms. But, when you get a real lemon, and the shop is willing to exchange or refund your money... They're a winner (so long as they take care of it; rather than pawning the POS off on some unsuspecting party).



On the other hand, a single bad policy can ruin an entire store's reputation. My favorite local gun store used to be my primary stop for firearms and reloading supplies. Still, today, the number of firearms I bought at that store outnumbers any other store I've ever bought from (and most of them, combined). Now, I won't buy powder or primers from them, even if it's the last place in town that has any (and it always is ). And, I avoid buying other reloading supplies and firearms, out of principle.

This otherwise great store sold some powder to Cornbush, that later caused a catastrophic failure in his M77 Hawkeye. After Hodgdon determined the exact type and lot number of powder that had contaminated the H335 he bought, he called the store:

I called the store I bought it from today, said I bought the wrong powder and asked if I could exchange it for the right stuff.
Guess what "sure bring it on down", I informed them what had happened and was hung up on.

Just for clarity, since his grammar isn't the greatest...
Cornbush called the store, told them he bought the wrong powder the day before, and asked if they would exchange it for what he wanted. Their reply was, "Sure, bring it down."
When he elaborated that he was testing their policy, since a can of powder from their store had caused the Hawkeye failure, they hung up on him. Though he doesn't detail it in that post, he called back a second time. The "Reloading Guy" and store manager just argued with him, that that has never been their store policy, they never would have allowed the exchange, and they could have never sold contaminated powder.

Someone calls your store, points out that you have a very dangerous policy (allowing the "reloading guy" to return and exchange gun powder ), and you call him a liar? That'll win some loyalty...