Bike shop profit margins?

[SwanTiger]

feeling a little serious today?
why not meet me in person one day

Sure, your shout.

[dpex]

When I go to purchase anything that has a high (or reasonable) value I rock up in my dirty ole track pants. I find sales people leave me alone so I can have a good look around without being hounded.

Love to see their faces when I ask for a discount for cash

I'm keen to know which outfits you have visited which give discounts for cash on large ticket-items; given that when they can sell you an HP agreement they make good, extra bucks, known as claw-back. So why would any outfit want to drop the claw-back AND give you a discount for cash?

[roadracingoldfart]

Many years ago when I was looking at buying my first ever NEW car I went to a Nissan agent (also the Shell service station) in a large North Island town to enquire about a Sentra. He looked me in the eye and said I couldn't afford one. So I went across the road to the Toyota dealer, and bought a new Corolla instead. I still enjoy the look on his face every time I went there to fill up the Corolla.

I am related to the Martins (of L.V.Martins ) and there was a story told by old L.V. and Allan at parties etc.
L.V had a shop where he excelled in offering the best service and if the service wasnt supplied then the salesman was either fired or docked a commission.
One day a bloke in overalls came into the shop and the staff ignored him and attended to some others in suits and ties.
L.V himself went and served this overalled bloke and sold him a TV and a fridge on payment terms.
After the shop had emptied a bit L.V asked the senior sales staff that ignored the overall bloke to come to the office. They were sacked on the spot.
The reason he used .......
The men in suits were just like any customer and as such may have or may not have been able to afford the products in the shop.
The bloke in the overalls was a messy dirty kind of bloke cried the senior sales staff . he could never afford the products.
Nooooo says L.V , he was here at lunch time and he was straight from work where he dresses in overalls and was pushed for time .
The biggest differance for L.V was , that bloke was the only person in the shop that had instant credit in his eyes as he DID have a job and the other suits may not have.Hence he was able to pay. That man actually went on to be one of the best repeat customers the shop ever had.
Never judge a book ( or customer) by its cover.

[Boob Johnson]

I am related to the Martins (of L.V.Martins ) and there was a story told by old L.V. and Allan at parties etc.
L.V had a shop where he excelled in offering the best service and if the service wasnt supplied then the salesman was either fired or docked a commission.
One day a bloke in overalls came into the shop and the staff ignored him and attended to some others in suits and ties.
L.V himself went and served this overalled bloke and sold him a TV and a fridge on payment terms.
After the shop had emptied a bit L.V asked the senior sales staff that ignored the overall bloke to come to the office. They were sacked on the spot.
The reason he used .......
The men in suits were just like any customer and as such may have or may not have been able to afford the products in the shop.
The bloke in the overalls was a messy dirty kind of bloke cried the senior sales staff . he could never afford the products.
Nooooo says L.V , he was here at lunch time and he was straight from work where he dresses in overalls and was pushed for time .
The biggest differance for L.V was , that bloke was the only person in the shop that had instant credit in his eyes as he DID have a job and the other suits may not have.Hence he was able to pay. That man actually went on to be one of the best repeat customers the shop ever had.
Never judge a book ( or customer) by its cover.

Damn straight.

I run our place based on Ray Croc's mantra (McDonalds).



"Look after the customers & the business will look after itself"


Seemed to work out good for him


But in all seriousness it works & works well. And the reason for that is simple...


There are two types of good customer...

A) referee; someone who will speak well about your business when the topic arises

and

B) an advocate; someone who will GO OUT OF THERE WAY to promote your business.

By "going the xtra mile" with customers you foster more B clients & it doesn't have to be big. Someone mentioned it in an above post, understate & over prove, spot on

What is complete BS is the fallacy that the number one thing the general public want is the best price, that is complete & utter rubbish & anyone with any decent amount of marketing experience will know it.


In terms of which is a better way to run a business? There is no single answer. It depends on who is running the business & what they want from it. For some it is better for them to have less work but better profit margins, different strokes for different folks, doesn't mean they are running their business badly.

Im no bloody expert, that's just my personal view on it based on running a few businesses & being on the front lines of dealing with the general public all my life.

[MarkH]

I had a good retail experience yesterday.

I went into Bivouac in Silvia Park to look at sleeping bags & bed rolls. The salesman told me that if I was in no big hurry I could come back in a couple of weeks to buy the sleeping bag and save 25% on the sale that will be on. That was damn good of him and because of that I will definitely put that store on the top of my list when I want camping gear. The sleeping bag I am looking at is $450 with down fill for smaller rolled-up size to make it easier to take on the scooter. 25% off is $112 in savings - well worth having!

While I was there I did spend a couple of hundy on a good bed roll - I'm a soft bastard and I value my comfort, even in a tent!

[Hitcher]

I run our place based on Ray Croc's mantra (McDonalds).

That would be Ray Kroc of McDonald's?

[Boob Johnson]

That would be Ray Kroc of McDonald's?

ZOMG!!! It's the grammar police run!!!!





ps: can you infract yourself for being pathetic enough to post nothing but "oh you made a minor grammatical error & the spelling of that last name was slightly incorrect even though we knew exactly what & who you were talking about"?

[Hitcher]

ps: can you infract yourself for being pathetic enough to post nothing but "oh you made a minor grammatical error & the spelling of that last name was slightly incorrect even though we knew exactly what & who you were talking about"?

A pedant's work is never done! People may have wrongly assumed that Ray Croc invented the eponymous synthetic footware. Think of the children!

[madbikeboy]

I am related to the Martins (of L.V.Martins ) and there was a story told by old L.V. and Allan at parties etc.
L.V had a shop where he excelled in offering the best service and if the service wasnt supplied then the salesman was either fired or docked a commission.
One day a bloke in overalls came into the shop and the staff ignored him and attended to some others in suits and ties.
L.V himself went and served this overalled bloke and sold him a TV and a fridge on payment terms.
After the shop had emptied a bit L.V asked the senior sales staff that ignored the overall bloke to come to the office. They were sacked on the spot.

Years ago, while still a poor student (7 years worth of that) I was slam-dunking radios for a living. A guy walks in, dreadlocks and no shoes, and our sales manager (old English snob) refuses to serve him. So, I sat and chatted with him instead. He wanted to build a good high end system, so he asked what I'd do if I had an old Merc. So, I spent 45 minutes drawing a diagram and building a good system that would rearrange his hair and get old people shaking their heads as he drove past. He thanked me, and walked out.

Next day he walked back in with a black rubbish sack full of crumpled notes.

And it was a BIG fucking bag to afford what I had drawn up.

Good times.

[FROSTY:Me]

Just wondering guys. Given we actually have a fair old range of views here.
If someone is in your shop and demonstrably wants to be left alone. what dya feel you should do?

You want to offer customer service -but how??

[madbikeboy]

Just wondering guys. Given we actually have a fair old range of views here.
If someone is in your shop and demonstrably wants to be left alone. what dya feel you should do?

You want to offer customer service -but how??

Ackowledge them, a smile or something. You're a professional sales person which means you have a Master's Degree in reading people.

[Shaun]

Ackowledge them, a smile or something. You're a professional sales person which means you have a Master's Degree in reading people.

AGREE, always say HI some how, even with the KIWI male Wink!

[FROSTY:Me]

How can you tell what someone is worth by what they wear or drive?
I can assure you that the '85 Hi Ace im regularly seen pootling around in, wearing jeans & woorkboots is not a great indicator of my net worth.
I kind of use that get up as my "fuckwit detector" if they dont want to deal with me because of that then thats fine, it saves me and them a lot of time.
I am wary of people that feel they need to dress up to gain your respect, and equally wary of people who will not respect you unless you are dressed up.

Yea I'm hearing ya dude.
BUT if ya walked into a shop selling $30000 bikes and looked at the most expensive bike there Briefly
Your first comment to the salesman was "yea I wanna take this one for a ride'
Can you understand that the salesman might wanna ask you a few qualifying questions before haning over a set of keys?

[Quasievil]

If someone is in your shop and demonstrably wants to be left alone. what dya feel you should do?

You want to offer customer service -but how??

You say "I will be (wherever)....... if you need any help just let me know"

And then leave them alone whilst keeping a subtle eye on them incase they give you the "Help me" Glance.

[Winston001]

Yea I'm hearing ya dude.
BUT if ya walked into a shop selling $30,000 bikes and looked at the most expensive bike there - briefly
Your first comment to the salesman was "yea I wanna take this one for a ride'
Can you understand that the salesman might wanna ask you a few qualifying questions before handing over a set of keys?

Agreed, customer attention doesn't equal stupidity. Tough call though, many bikers can look rough but have the dosh. I guess you need a policy set up beforehand to fall back upon if you are doubtful, something like 'the demonstrator model is out/not arrived yet...." Hard to know the right answer, guess it comes down to experience. Its a business risk.