Offer a sag-wagon. My favourite local store will pick you up from anywhere in the area if you have a major mechanical and take you back to the store. The only time I’ve ever had to use the service I was so grateful I bit the bullet and replaced my cassette and tires while I was there. Had they not offered the service I’d have taken a cab home, replaced the parts over the internet and probably still saved money.
First I have heard of this. Now that, is an amazing idea. That is the kind of service that when applied, really let’s customers know you are looking out for them.
You are going to make most of your money on people who hardly ride. Make sure you have great mechanics who will take the time with people who know nothing about bikes. The parent that brings their kids bike in for a tune up does not want to pay $55 for that, so also have reasonable prices. My biggest pet peeve with some shops is that when you go in they talk to you like everyone is an idiot and you know nothing about bikes (and in my opion I forget more in a day then they know about bicycles). Hire people with people skills and not the “used car salesman” types. As others have said have the small stuff in stock, do lots in the community; bike safety clinics, ride to work days, sponsor races and group rides, work with your local government on involving bicycles into the city/town master plan. Building that relationship with loyal customer (like doing small repairs for free) will again in my opinion get you more business. If someone wants to buy a bike based on color you have to just sometimes suck it up and deal with that, but if someone needs to spend hours talking about why one is better than the other, test riding multiple bikes then switching out the seat 5 times you also have to suck it up and deal with that too. Pleasing the person who spends $10 is just as important has pleasing the person spending $5,000…and sometimes more important.
Be flexible. I found this incredibly odd last week. Went to one of our LBS’s to buy some shift and cable housing by the foot. LBS said ‘we only sell those in kits with cable, but we can install cables/housing and do a tune up for $60’ as he gives me some snide look as it’s obvious I do my own work. I can clearly see 2 giant reels of housing on the wall through the doorway into the back. ‘What are those for?’. Those are for us to use, we don’t sell it. Then went down to Trek and the boys said ‘sure thing it’s $1 a foot how much ya want?’. I always go to Trek, but tried this other place b/c it’s near my buds house where I had just finished helping install an LCD on the wall.
If you are even in Tampa go to the Trek Store b/c they just plain rock. Old school LBS mentality with cutting edge products and guys who are just as happy to send you in the right direction even if they can’t provide what you need…and to see how NOT to run one go down the street about 3 miles.
Good luck and let us know how it works out if you open up a shop!
I don’t see why anyone would get in the bike business. Reading the comments posted here, I see people want:
-engaging, knowledgeable staff who know the sport but don’t push sales
-Reasonable repair costs…even gratis if small enough but done by decent bike mechanics who don’t f*** up even basic repairs
-Don’t nickel and dime your loyal customers
-Have a lot of inventory
-Have lots of useful, obscure small odds and ends parts in the store that you will give away.
-free coffee but good coffee
-cater free weekly rides with free pre-ride coffee, bagels and OJ.
-get INVOLVED with whatever is going on in your community. Kids, schools, races, group rides, free coffee… whatever.
-sag-wagon service
-and sell all the products at not much more then the Internet stores
Where are you going to make money? How are you going to pay rent, salaries, utilities, and all of the other costs?
I’m not saying that I am any better, I live in the DFW area with plenty of LBS, but I hardly ever buy anything there. I’ve been riding long enough that I tend to know what I want before I go to the store. I often find that I know more about the subject then the people that work there, and I don’t like paying much more then the Internet stores. Why bother going to the store and paying more, when I can order from home or my iPhone, know that they have what I want in stock, and have it in 3 or 4 days for much less.
My biggest pet peeve with some shops is that when you go in they talk to you like everyone is an idiot and you know nothing about bikes (and in my opion I forget more in a day then they know about bicycles). Hire people with people skills and not the “used car salesman” types.
Key.
The art and business of selling, starts with *listening! *How else are you to know what the customer really wants! Sadly, this is something that rarely seems to happen in any retail environment these days.
I don’t see why anyone would get in the bike business.
I agree completely! The internet has been the demise of many LBS’s in my opinion, followed closely by shops with a modus operandi of selling the most expensive items rather than the right items…finally killed with the hiring of arrogant employees.
I spent a little over $3k last year on bikes/equipment, but spent less than $200 at my LBS. Why? Because on average the prices were at least 30% higher and in some cases 2x. Also, sales tax isn’t a value added service…and that works against the LBS’s. I feel for the good shops, truly, but not at the expense of throwing money out the door. I kept track of what I saved last year at one point by going through the internet, but my global nut saved was about ~$1,000…meaning my $3K would have been 4K if I had used a dealer:(
I know I’m in the minority of riders and to that end send everyone I can to Trek:)
I don’t see why anyone would get in the bike business. Reading the comments posted here, I see people want:
-engaging, knowledgeable staff who know the sport but don’t push sales
-Reasonable repair costs…even gratis if small enough but done by decent bike mechanics who don’t f*** up even basic repairs
-Don’t nickel and dime your loyal customers
-Have a lot of inventory
-Have lots of useful, obscure small odds and ends parts in the store that you will give away.
-free coffee but good coffee
-cater free weekly rides with free pre-ride coffee, bagels and OJ.
-get INVOLVED with whatever is going on in your community. Kids, schools, races, group rides, free coffee… whatever.
-sag-wagon service
-and sell all the products at not much more then the Internet stores
Where are you going to make money? How are you going to pay rent, salaries, utilities, and all of the other costs?
I’m not saying that I am any better, I live in the DFW area with plenty of LBS, but I hardly ever buy anything there. I’ve been riding long enough that I tend to know what I want before I go to the store. I often find that I know more about the subject then the people that work there, and I don’t like paying much more then the Internet stores. Why bother going to the store and paying more, when I can order from home or my iPhone, know that they have what I want in stock, and have it in 3 or 4 days for much less.
You have to take into account that this thread is being posted on by people who, in general, spend HOURS on their bike every week. Most of us know our bikes as well or better than we know members of our family. Hell, the bike I race on sits beside my bed while I sleep for a week in advance of the race. We are not the majority of people who spend money in a bike shop. Just like most people that come into my car lot to buy a car aren’t race car drivers. Average people are where you make your money, not the guy that spends 5 hours a day on slowtwitch. That said, there is a fine line between “competitive pricing” and completely screwing somebody over that knows nothing about bikes.
But, I do see what you are saying… it looks like we want the perfect shop for no investment…which I suppose we do haha.
Don’t tell me you can order it. I can do that myself. Doing a bike fit? Have the new stem you want to sell me in stock. DO NOT SAY YOU CAN ORDER IT… just have it.
I’m not saying that I am any better, I live in the DFW area with plenty of LBS, but I hardly ever buy anything there. I’ve been riding long enough that I tend to know what I want before I go to the store. I often find that I know more about the subject then the people that work there, and I don’t like paying much more then the Internet stores. Why bother going to the store and paying more, when I can order from home or my iPhone, know that they have what I want in stock, and have it in 3 or 4 days for much less
Well said?
Not disputing what you have said here at all.
However, the key question to ask is, what percentage of the buying consumer tri/bike public do you represent?
it was said before in some form or fashion, but you will not beat the internet on pricing and availability. impossible. so you have to focus on what you can beat them on.
knowledgeable staff (even just one person that knows what they are talking about goes a long way)
upsell (if they come in to buy a tire, ask them if they need any nutrition, tubes, repair kits, etc. the guy in the in mood to buy, why not try to add on $5 to $25 at that time)
fits (strive to be THE guy in town that does proper fits…you’ll end up getting all the business)
remember the customers (know what they ride or what big race they are training for)
be willing to negotiate. (you will lose the sale to someone else if you keep the price at MSRP. it sucks to sell on price, but a bike on the floor does you no good.)
be involved in the community (hold group rides from the shop, invite vendors to do clinics afterhours and have customers come in to get the inside scoop on new gear, etc)
vendors (insist that they run any team sponsorships/discount through your shop. they give you a discount and you pass it along to the the local team)
have a cute girl on staff (guys will be less likely to ask for discounts on stuff if a cute girl is within earshot. trust me, this shit works.)
first and foremost, hire people that love bikes. hire people that want their customers to love bikes, too. when I bought my first bike to prepare for my first race at my LBS, the fitter listened to my intended usage and then proceeded to try several bikes on me and sell me the one that fit the best and not the most expensive one. he then did a very thorough and complimentary fitting.
needless to say, the excellent service impressed me, and I’m back there all the time buying things. they recognize me and ask me about my riding. that alone is worth whatever overhead they have over internet pricing; the personal relationship. can’t emphasize that enough.
get hooked up with local rides/rallies. my LBS always has a SAG wagon or two, a few of their best wrenches at the rest stops with parts and usually some of their sales staff with water and sports drink. you can bet they made some friends and customers helping people on the long ride.
Don’t tell me you can order it. I can do that myself.
This is a biggie for me. If you are ordering it and it takes 2 weeks to get in and you are more expensive it is a turn off. Although if you said I can have it here next Thursday, it takes the sting out a bit and I would bite.
The best LBS I’ve used was 1:30 minutes from where I use to live. It was a shop geared toward family bikes with limited selection of midrange road bikes and 2 models of tribikes. With that being said, the shop was always full of customers and not just recreational riders but also MTB and road bikers that were ranked in the state.
The owner and staff greeted every customer that came in. I didn’t go in very often (maybe 1 a month) but the owner took the time to learn my name and would greet me by name.
The owner would interact with the “regulars” and the more knowledgeable riders.
Any bike that left the shop, whether it was a new bike or a bike that was in for a major or minor repair was inspected by the owner for quality control measures.
If an employee didn’t know an answer to a customer’s question, they would admit that they didn’t know and then they would go ask another staff member who did know.
Simple adjustments were done at no charge - even on bikes that weren’t purchased from the shop.
I saw a lot of good riders come into that shop and order thousands of dollars worth of gear that they could’ve ordered online but didn’t. The LBS made their prices competitive and if they said we can order it and have it here on X day, then that is what they would do. I also heard them say “No, that vendor has X item on backorder and it’ll be a few months before we will get it in. You’ll be better off ordering it online.” That level of honesty and customer service is what made that shop successful.
I think you may have another reason in mind for that, but I do note that more than a few of the very successful tri and bike shops have women heavily involved in the business. Makes sense, with apologies to the ladies, who does most of the shopping in the family? I guarantee you if you are a guy and you buy, set up and merchandise a store how you like it, you may be sub-consciously alienating a sizable number of your customer base( almost all women)
I know that shops are free to sell items at whatever price they want, but we all have the internet, if the MSRP of a bike is $2200, don’t tell me the best you can do is $2400. That infuriates me.
Now that we have established that we all have the internet, when you don’t have something in, don’t offer to order it for me if it will take 3 weeks for you to get it in from a supplier. Be honest, tell me that I can get it quicker on the internet, or say that you can order it and will install/set up the item for free since you didn’t have it in stock.
I agree with everyone on reasonable cost of repairs, but the one that kills me is telling me that service X will cost $75, and when I pick up my bike you claim to have done $200 worth of work with new parts
And my bike shop used to do this, but have water bottles with your logo on them. I’d be happy to advertise for you, if you’ll give me a water bottle for like 1-3 dollars.
upsell (if they come in to buy a tire, ask them if they need any nutrition, tubes, repair kits, etc. the guy in the in mood to buy, why not try to add on $5 to $25 at that time)
Oh hell no. As a customer I *hate *this.
This is the #2 most annoying thing about the whole retail “experience” for me. #1 is not having stuff in stock, visbile and accessible on the sales floor. If your crap is out there on the floor where I can get to it I’ll have everything I want in hand by the time I make it to the cash register. No need to upsell me anything.
Get’s back to my earlier post on the art of selling. A good salesperson knows the right questions to ask, to even have a sense if there is a possibility for an up-sell or to sell them something else when they are in the store. It should never be something that is forced on the customer - that will turn a few people, maybe more, off.
The problem, is that these soft skills really are advance skills in the world of sales, that are usually only found in veteran, experienced sales people.
its important for them to treat everyone with respect and not assume that everyone who comes into their shops knows nothing about bikes. ive seen so many shops treat me like an idiot or just act really off putting towards people who come in off the street looking to buy a simple commuter bike.
its important for them to treat everyone with respect and not assume that everyone who comes into their shops knows nothing about bikes. ive seen so many shops treat me like an idiot or just act really off putting towards people who come in off the street looking to buy a simple commuter bike.
If I owned and ran a shop, I would seek out a good sales trainer who focuses on retail sales and selling, in my area who I knew, and our ideas of sales jived with one another. I would then make it mandatory that every person who worked at the store needed to take one of these sales trainers courses or seminars. These things typically are not inexpensive, but this may be the absolute best money that you could ever invest in your business.
you clearly aren’t in sales. and that’s fine…to each is own. if you are a loner shopper, the bike shop will learn that about you eventually. the internet is your paradise.
and Fleck’s point is exactly right. it’s a soft sell. i’m not saying walk the customer from the tires section over to the nutrition area. i don’t really think it’s a veteran technique either. i was doing it at The Finish Line when i was in high school 20 years ago. “glad those Jordans fit. need any socks or shoe cleaner to go with them?” hardly the used car salesman approach.
but when the employee rings the tire up for the customer, here are the options:
OPTION 1
employee: that’ll be $49.50
customer: (nothing)
OPTION 2
employee: need anything else today?
customer: hmmm…no, i’m good
employee: that’ll be $49.50
OPTION 3
employee: need any tubes or nutrition today?
customer: hmmm…yeah, i’ll take a couple of GUs.
employee: cool, that’ll be $55.50
employee: OMG, i like totally forgot i needed more. soooo glad you mentioned it.
silly i know. but most people are used to people asking if they need anything else. so don’t be afraid to do it.