Firearms store attitude

[DirectDrive]

It varies like anything in life.
A "junior" counterman at Sportman's Vancouver was showing a customer how to take the slide off of a Glock.
He put his palm right over the muzzle while unlocking the slide.
Hey, we all saw him dry fire it (required for Glock field strip) but it just seemed weird to see him teach that.

So there are "Know-It-Alls" and "Don't Know Enoughs" in the gun selling business.

 

[DirectDrive]

A good gun salesman needs to realize that he may be dealing with a total n00b when he/she starts the conversation.
And then tailor the conversation as the customer reveals his experience through his words or actions.
As soon as the gun salesman tries to dominate or belittle, he has revealed himself for the dooshbag that he is.
Book it.

 

[Trevor Hicks]

A good gun salesman needs to realize that he may be dealing with a total n00b when he/she starts the conversation.
And then tailor the conversation as the customer reveals his experience through his words or actions.
As soon as the gun salesman tries to dominate or belittle, he has revealed himself for the dooshbag that he is.
Book it.

Agree 100%

 

[bbbass]

Just throwing this out for general discussion, I like to check out different firearms stores throughout the NW and I have noticed that fairly often I see a stand offish & not so friendly attitude from employees & owners I am just not to sure why this is, it seems like stores and our industry would have a much better result with a friendlier approach.
I have heard of & witnessed potential new customers just walk out because they feel intimidated, as a dealer myself I think it would help our case and our industry to make the customer feel comfortable and give as much guidance as possible especially if they are new to firearms.

It's not just gun stores... Welcome to customer service in 2019!!!

As with numerous folks, I've been into many stores. A lot of the time it is hard to even be acknowledged when i am standing 10' from the employee, in front of something I'd like to look at. I've turned and walked out of too many to remember because of that. Then, if they do acknowledge you, it's as if you are burdening them by being there, and their attitude starts. HUGE turn off! I've even said "if it is too much trouble for you to do your job, maybe you should get a different job." And I've just turned and left the store.

I've also been in a store and watched people walk up and ask the same question(s) over and over, just rephrasing it. The employee was answering the questions, but clearly agitated. The the customer putting down the firearm and walking away. I can imagine that this gets REAL old for the employees, and makes them take on an "attitude" of sorts.

I've also been standing next to someone (a "customer") asking specific questions, about a specific firearm, that the employee couldn't answer. One of "those" customers that thinks they have to belittle and make themselves "superior" to the employee. I've even interjected a few times asking the "customer" questions in the same manner, and putting them on the spot - like they did to the employee. They didn't like it, put down the firearm and left.

I can imagine getting customer after customer coming in and complaining to them about everything.... prices, selection, the weather, home-life, blah, blah, blah.... I'd get tired of it too, and would probably have an "attitude" right from the get-go too.

Having been in them with the "good customers" and the "bad customers", I don't know how long i could stay sane and employed in one.

Keep up the good attitudes! Keep the employees attitudes good too. BBQ's for the employees, a small gift card every once in a while, a "good job" every so often goes a long way keeping the employee attitudes good and positive.

Those are the stores that i ALWAYS return to and spend my $$$ at.

Retail sales employment is not for everybody... store counter workers should be trained and ready to deal with the joys and frustrations of working with the public, and hold both their egos and their feelings in check... if not, they need to get a job as a night janitor somewhere... no excuses!!!

 

[Wombat of Doom]

LuckySG is probably the best I know of to deal with. I go to about 3 places that all know my name and are friendly.

 

[Member 34319]

Sort of a good video I recently watched, and recently produced, that is good information for this topic.

 

[AMT]

It's not just gun stores... Welcome to customer service in 2019!!!



Retail sales employment is not for everybody... store counter workers should be trained and ready to deal with the joys and frustrations of working with the public, and hold both their egos and their feelings in check... if not, they need to get a job as a night janitor somewhere... no excuses!!!

This may be true, but also standing your ground to unruly customers. The customer is not always right, and doesn't always deserve to get their way.

 

[CLT65]

Gun Pro Shooting Supplies in Springfield

Thank me later


P

Neal is a good guy. I bought stuff from him when he first opened his shop. He strikes me as a genuinely honest, friendly person. I always respect anyone who takes the risk to start a small business and makes an honest go of it. TJ's is another good one, as well as LuckySG; all good people.


Anyone remember Marvin at SM Guns in Eugene? Such a wonderful, friendly, soft-spoken, levelheaded guy, dedicated to honest customer service...

Actually NOT. That place was the polar opposite of the good guys mentioned above. Marvin was not a fun person to be around, actually yelled at customers from time to time.

 

[Jdc75]

Northwest Armory on McLaughlin has good customer service Keith has improved s in the last couple years and there's also shooter service center in St John's which is pretty good as I used to work there

 

[Jdc75]

John simm still own shooter service center but he's basically retired Don runs the front counter and John's daughter Nikki runs it on a day-to-day basis

 

[Jdc75]

Shooter service center is located at 8242 North Lombard Street phone number is 503-289-1280 located in downtown St John's

 

[ZA_Survivalist]

Just throwing this out for general discussion, I like to check out different firearms stores throughout the NW and I have noticed that fairly often I see a stand offish & not so friendly attitude from employees & owners I am just not to sure why this is, it seems like stores and our industry would have a much better result with a friendlier approach.
I have heard of & witnessed potential new customers just walk out because they feel intimidated, as a dealer myself I think it would help our case and our industry to make the customer feel comfortable and give as much guidance as possible especially if they are new to firearms.

Gun guys in general are like that too.
If you come in eager and excited about firearms they cast judgement and expect you to just be quiet and listen to their ignorant, often elitist advice.. most often because they are bitter individuals with inflated egos.. lots of wannabe operators, has beens, never-weres..etc. Always talking about tier 1 gear nonsense.. never open minded about entry level firearms or inexpensive common man firearms.

Works the same way with sports fans, gym guys..etc.

I almost always pretend to know nothing. Its hilarious to have them explain things to me so I can see if they know what they're talking about or push their firearm related opinions onto me.

Some shops are great though. Not all, but some.

 

[Alexx1401]

This comes up often because so many leave so many places with a bad taste in their mouth. Sadly MANY small business open and do poorly squarely on the fault of how they are run. Damn do gun shops seem to see this in spades for some reason. The "help" I often write off as I have to guess most don't get paid much? Often help appoint themselves experts because they work there. Cringe when I hear them give piss poor advice to some new shooter. It is why I feel it's important to share both the good and bad at places like this. Especially the good. Give others a place to try if they live in the area. Gun shopping is something most of use don't do all the time. For me it's seldom enough that I have no problem driving out of my way, so to speak, to give my money to someone good.

 

[Kruel J]

I've been to MANY gun shops and although most are generally OK I have experienced the "elitist" attitude at least once in almost every one of them at one point or another.

@OregonArmsAmmo is the only "brick and mortar" gun store I've been to where this issue is non-existent. Matt and Tony have been doing it right from day one. Give them a try if you're on the west side of Portland.

 

[titsonritz]

Who cares, don't want my money, no problem drive on. No one has anything I NEED.

 

[Southpaw]

I really like Northwest Armory in Tigard. The two seasoned Salesman there, Steve and Pat are professional, courteous, knowledgeable and comical.
Steve used to work at the same store front back when it was the Gun Broker.

They always call you by name when you drop by and I have never had a bad experience there, they talk to noobs patiently and professionally.

 

[bbbass]

This may be true, but also standing your ground to unruly customers. The customer is not always right, and doesn't always deserve to get their way.

I'll stick by what I wrote... Please note that I did not say to cower to unruly customers, nor that customers should always get their way. And regardless of whether the customer is not always right, the customer is always right. Working with people requires tact... having tact requires mindfulness, thought, keeping ones cool, and expressing verbally in a respectful way. It means finding a way to tell the customer to go to hell and having him look forward to the ride. People that cannot do that, do NOT belong in a job working directly with the public. They belong in jobs as night janitors safely tucked away from the excess stimulation of working with difficult people.

I know these things to be factual because of the work that I did and the businesses that I owned and ran. Try working with a radio customer that won't understand why he can't talk over his two-way to somebody on the other side of the mountain and tells you that you are lying when you explain the physics of radio wave propagation. Try giving the results of a home inspection to the buyers when the buyers have allowed the seller to sit right there and argue with every finding. Despite being upset and frustrated by both buyers and seller, I had to calmly explain to the seller that I would leave if he didn't stop challenging every bit of my report and explain that if I left, his deal wouldn't go thru because the home inspection clause of the purchase contract could not be fulfilled. Then it was the seller's turn to talk. I never had problems after a calm statement of the facts.

There is always a way to phrase things so as not to offend most sensible people. Most that can't do it are too egotistical, too wrapped up in their own feelings to realize it is a job performance factor, or too lazy to think of a pleasant way to state something. At the very least a salesman needs to speak neutrally. That doesn't mean you let people misbehave or mistreat you.

No excuses for employees to disrespect or mistreat ANY customer!!!

 

[Alexx1401]

Who cares, don't want my money, no problem drive on. No one has anything I NEED.

Yep, my attitude has long been, don't like me, my wallet and I are best friends.
Now days most have a lot of choices in everything, even gun shops. This is why I like to see people mention when they are treated well. Makes me want to try the place. Same to some extent when someone is treated badly. I mentioned year or so back one shop here who had my Wife in tears when she came home with their "F You" attitude to her. I have to say I was kind of glad to see they are going out of business. Have to guess my Wife was not the only one treated like that there.

 

[Alexx1401]

I'll stick by what I wrote... Please note that I did not say to cower to unruly customers, nor that customers should always get their way.

No excuses for employees to disrespect or mistreat ANY customer!!!

VERY well written! Anyone who deals with the public for work runs across A holes. I have to work with the public and run into my share. Normally I can let it roll off and deal with it. Now and then I have to use force in my job and when I have to, well it is what it is. Way too often a business goes under because they take the attitude that they are doing you a favor to deal with you. This is not a recipe for success. This does not mean kiss the butt of every jerk. It does mean try to treat the customer right. Goes a LONG way to making something work.

 

[cigars]

To play devil's advocate here for a moment, look at the clueless noobie dolts that walk into gun shops and drive them crazy with nonsense they learned from the Internet. They also get pummeled from the life long gun people who walk in expecting to be instantly awarded customer gun God status because all they buy is JM Marlin's and nobody is going to tell them different(just a random example don't get into a kerfluffle).
Of course it doesn't help if they have flaky people behind the counter, it goes both ways. Whatever the case, you have the LGS that can accommodate all kinds of clientele because they hire well seasoned and balanced people and you have LGS that don't quite get that concept.
That's about all I have to say about that, for the moment.