Retail experience
I was a professional buyer for most of my first career. My attitude which was shared by many successful suppliers was that both of us were buying into a relationship rather than products. The relationship included a lot of factors including loyalty and trust over the longer haul.
I generally take that same approach in my private buying. I take it one step further and try to deal with individual people rather than organizations. This has served me and the people with whom I deal very well through a multitude of interests. Since I got interested in handguns, I have spent at least $20k not including ammunition.
So the day I made an appointment and went to the retail situation I described earlier, only to be treated poorly, that was the amount at stake, not just one firearm. In my small business, I treated every client as if they were a customer for life. Too bad more don't follow this line of reasoning as it makes for good and pleasant business.
I have to agree as I spent almost 15 years running a retail store and learned never to judge or turn away a potential customer based on quick judgements. Someone may be inspired to get into the "sport", why turn them away because they don't have a RPAL (yet).....but that's my experience as I have seen many people spend thousands that I did not know they had. A happy retail experience makes a customer for life.
I was a professional buyer for most of my first career. My attitude which was shared by many successful suppliers was that both of us were buying into a relationship rather than products. The relationship included a lot of factors including loyalty and trust over the longer haul.
I generally take that same approach in my private buying. I take it one step further and try to deal with individual people rather than organizations. This has served me and the people with whom I deal very well through a multitude of interests. Since I got interested in handguns, I have spent at least $20k not including ammunition.
So the day I made an appointment and went to the retail situation I described earlier, only to be treated poorly, that was the amount at stake, not just one firearm. In my small business, I treated every client as if they were a customer for life. Too bad more don't follow this line of reasoning as it makes for good and pleasant business.























































