Why did we get a "Heads-Up" memo?

It was probably 2002. We had been pursuing a vendor for over a year, and we'd finally got them to consider us. They visited several of our stores, and only one of them dropped the ball. Their Natn'l Sales Manager walked up to our counter, and wasn't greeted in a minute and a half by the tech who was doing a tune up. Not a difficult tune up, but the tech felt like that person would wait. At the 91st second she pivoted from the counter, called our buyer and let them know the deal was off.

We have people working in our stores, and people make mistakes. We do not expect you to do everything perfect, but you are expected to do your best. If the tech above was in the middle of Brain Surgery, his response would have made sense. His action did not, and lost for all of our stores a valued vendor by his choice alone.

The details always make a difference. Please be the one in your store that goes the extra mile, and achieves perfect customer service this month. Make it your goal, and you'll be much more able to do it.

That "Easy Button" looks good.

It's tough to not love those Staples commercials, where basic problems are solved by slappin' a red button. Nice!

But are we helping our customers to find the same thing in our stores? For cyclists, the "button" is called a "Survival Kit". Think of the things that ALL novice cyclists should own, maybe just five things. What would those be?
1. Patch kit, 2. Tire levers, 3. Trail use pump (As opposed to home use), 4. Spare tube, 5. Wheel removal tools if needed. This is the absolute minimum I'd want to sell, to pretty much anyone. I know some things aren't on the list, like how to carry it all on the bike. (Seat bag, Camelbak) Everyone needs water, that should be on there too. (Bottles/cages or Camelbak).
What next? Better tools, Tire liners or Slime tube sealant, and a good lock. We've now outfitted the bike, don't forget the rider...

We are experts, let's do everything to get our customers off on the right foot, er, pedal.

Why should we do Rack Installations?

In case that question has ever visited your mind, look closely at the pictures. Yakima and Thule make towers that fit into the slot-like roof raingutters on some vehicles. This Kia does not have that fitment, it has a roof panel that uses "character lines" that channel water away from the doors and requires a "Gutterless" mount tower/pad setup. This vehicle has been or will be damaged by the cargo pressure of anything placed on the crossbars. BTW- I think that's a ten+ year old set of Saris towers, could be Thule, but they're so old and wrong for this vehicle it really doesn't matter.

Why would the car owner do this? I'm sure that answer is personal, but it's probably related to budget and hard-headedness. If asked, he'll say "it works fine". That's because it has not dismounted under freeway wind pressure yet. "Yet", it will in time.

We offer advice and installation service on the rack systems we sell for this exact reason. This owner has not been informed of the consequences that will happen to him in time. This is unsafe. Our certified technicians would never suggest this, and the driver following this guy wouldn't get a big surprise.

We do good things. Let's do them more often. Find these people and help them.

Where has the time gone?

The last post on this blog was back in September! I can't believe how fast the calendar has spun thru the days, but almost constant travel can do that to you. As a blessing to me, those times have been filled with lots of work, good people and good times.

The picture above is of Brian Rinkenberger, our inside rep at Diamondback. This was taken during the Demo Ride from our Bike University. All of the other pics I took at that ride are available at CLICK HERE.

Other pictures from the Expo part of that event are HERE.

Annnd a few from Blowhard Mtn trail in Brianhead Utah. It was very cold...

Interbike Expo Day One

I've been on my feet from 07:30 to 19:40 today, so this'll be brief.

I thought this sticker from Fox Racing Shox was very interesting.

What would you give for a device that would put together a list of EXACTLY what your customer needed for thier car rack, including retail prices and updated daily? Thule's cost of $3,500 includes a printer. It's beautiful!

You know how a picture is worth a thousand words? Click on this one and just look at everyone's body language around the art bike. It was loudly playing 70's rock music...

"What else?"....Other Interbike Resources

Velonews- Leonard Zinn
http://www.velonews.com/tech/report/articles/13384.0.html

Velonews- Day Two takes patience
http://www.velonews.com/tech/report/articles/13383.0.html

MTBR Interbike Gallery
http://gallery.mtbr.com/index.php/cat/561

Day Two, part one. Pictures say more than words, right?