Tips for choosing which lbs to do business with.

[cramer]

Some people are douche bags. Bike shop employees deal with A LOT of douche bags. If they sense you might be one of them, they will treat you as such. You don't need to "get to know them" or shop there for years or spend a bunch of money in a shop in order to be treated well. You just have to avoid being thrown into the douche category. If you're not a douche but often get treated as one by bike shops, you might want to take a hard look at the way you come across to others. Most of them have pretty keen douche sensitivity so there is something about you that is tripping their douche radar. I've been to all the local bike shops in GR area MANY times and have never been treated poorly by any of them that I can remember.

that sounds like a wonderful business model.

That's what I was thinking. My federal reserve notes offset any potential douchebaggery.

Ironically, the fact that you think that puts you squarely in the douchebag category.

how is he a douchebag for not spending his money somewhere that he is not treated well?

I never said that not spending money somewhere that he is not treated well made him a douchebag. At least I don't think I said that.

I took "My federal reserve notes offset any potential douchebaggery" to mean "I have money to spend so I'm not a douchebag" or "I have money to spend so I'm aloud to be a douchebag and you should be OK with that because, well, I have money." I consider either of those two attitudes to be douchebag attitudes. But maybe I interpreted that statement incorrectly.

[iamkickstand]

Some people are douche bags. Bike shop employees deal with A LOT of douche bags. If they sense you might be one of them, they will treat you as such. You don't need to "get to know them" or shop there for years or spend a bunch of money in a shop in order to be treated well. You just have to avoid being thrown into the douche category. If you're not a douche but often get treated as one by bike shops, you might want to take a hard look at the way you come across to others. Most of them have pretty keen douche sensitivity so there is something about you that is tripping their douche radar. I've been to all the local bike shops in GR area MANY times and have never been treated poorly by any of them that I can remember.

that sounds like a wonderful business model.

That's what I was thinking. My federal reserve notes offset any potential douchebaggery.

Ironically, the fact that you think that puts you squarely in the douchebag category.

how is he a douchebag for not spending his money somewhere that he is not treated well?

I never said that not spending money somewhere that he is not treated well made him a douchebag. At least I don't think I said that.

I took "My federal reserve notes offset any potential douchebaggery" to mean "I have money to spend so I'm not a douchebag" or "I have money to spend so I'm aloud to be a douchebag and you should be OK with that because, well, I have money." I consider either of those two attitudes to be douchebag attitudes. But maybe I interpreted that statement incorrectly.

That's fair.

I don't go to a bike shop to make friends, or any other retail outlet for that matter, I go there to be helped and served in purchasing a product they are selling, and I WILL pay a premium for customer service, I do it all the time at Boyne Country Sports. I am MORE than willing to just go there rather than shop around. They treat me fantastic.

On the flip side, I have ZERO desire to give certain LBS's my business, even if they have the cheapest price in the universe. I won't name names, because I am not here to bash them, I am simply here to say that the customer service was *beep*, and I will spend my money elsewhere. They lost a potential customer for life. I am EXTREMELY brand and service loyal. Regardless of price, I want a quality product, and quality service.

[amadkins]

That's what I was thinking. My federal reserve notes offset any potential douchebaggery.

Ironically, the fact that you think that puts you squarely in the douchebag category.

Good thing I carry federal reserve notes!

[gossamer]

FRASER BICYCLE AND FITNESS
My shameless plug for a great shop and a great group of people helping whoever out with whatever they can...

Sorry you don't live close to them

See my sig.... for you i69whitey

[amadkins]

I never said that not spending money somewhere that he is not treated well made him a douchebag. At least I don't think I said that.

I took "My federal reserve notes offset any potential douchebaggery" to mean "I have money to spend so I'm not a douchebag" or "I have money to spend so I'm aloud to be a douchebag and you should be OK with that because, well, I have money." I consider either of those two attitudes to be douchebag attitudes. But maybe I interpreted that statement incorrectly.

My underlying point was that the customer is always right, and a shop owner should ensure that his/her employees treat them as such. Any such failure is an indictment of the owner in my view. The comment about federal reserve notes was just me being cutesy.

That being said, I've had good luck with Cycletherapy and Trail's Edge.

[c0nsumer]

My underlying point was that the customer is always right, and a shop owner should ensure that his/her employees treat them as such. Any such failure is an indictment of the owner in my view.

Sorry, I have to disagree with this. While I don't think shop owners should be outright asses and really need to help customers, there often comes a time to tell a customer no and potentially stop doing business with them. There are many, many unreasonable customers out there and the time a shop owner could waste on that segment can easily eclipse what they could make by helping out other less demanding folks.

That being said, I've had good luck with Cycletherapy and Trail's Edge.

This I too agree with. And Fraser, and Macomb, and Main Street, and a bunch that I'm sure I'm not mentioning...

[dirt]

Some people are douche bags. Bike shop employees deal with A LOT of douche bags. If they sense you might be one of them, they will treat you as such. You don't need to "get to know them" or shop there for years or spend a bunch of money in a shop in order to be treated well. You just have to avoid being thrown into the douche category. If you're not a douche but often get treated as one by bike shops, you might want to take a hard look at the way you come across to others. Most of them have pretty keen douche sensitivity so there is something about you that is tripping their douche radar. I've been to all the local bike shops in GR area MANY times and have never been treated poorly by any of them that I can remember.

+1

[dirt]

I never said that not spending money somewhere that he is not treated well made him a douchebag. At least I don't think I said that.

I took "My federal reserve notes offset any potential douchebaggery" to mean "I have money to spend so I'm not a douchebag" or "I have money to spend so I'm aloud to be a douchebag and you should be OK with that because, well, I have money." I consider either of those two attitudes to be douchebag attitudes. But maybe I interpreted that statement incorrectly.

My underlying point was that the customer is always right, and a shop owner should ensure that his/her employees treat them as such. Any such failure is an indictment of the owner in my view. The comment about federal reserve notes was just me being cutesy.

That being said, I've had good luck with Cycletherapy and Trail's Edge.

The customer isn't always right, and sometimes the sale isn't worth the trouble, especially if the customer might come back.

Bad customers will often be more trouble then they are worth in sales, and people who have worked on sale/service know these types of people on first sight.

[mtbfree]

My underlying point was that the customer is always right, and a shop owner should ensure that his/her employees treat them as such. Any such failure is an indictment of the owner in my view. The comment about federal reserve notes was just me being cutesy.

That being said, I've had good luck with Cycletherapy and Trail's Edge.

+1
That is after all the #1 rule of customer service, and if you work in the service industry (yes, that includes bike shop employees) it's quite literally your job to remember that. Now, I'm not saying you have lick some ass-hole's feet because he's buying something from your shop... if a customer gives you so much of a hassle that it's actually going to benefit your shop to lose that person as a customer, then by all means, treat him like he deserves and hope he never comes back. But it seems to be bad business to do it to every person who "trips your douche radar," whatever that means. When I worked in a shop, I treated the customers with respect while they were in the store, even if I went in the back and cracked jokes about them and called them a douche-bag after they left.

Bad customers will often be more trouble then they are worth in sales, and people who have worked on sale/service know these types of people on first sight.

Sorry man, nobody's that good of a judge of character, I don't care how long you've been in the game. Only in the movies.

Oh, and +1 for Cycletherapy, even though they're hours from the OP's location.

[dirt]

Bad customers will often be more trouble then they are worth in sales, and people who have worked on sale/service know these types of people on first sight.

Sorry man, nobody's that good of a judge of character, I don't care how long you've been in the game. Only in the movies.

Oh, and +1 for Cycletherapy, even though they're hours from the OP's location.

I've worked in sales off and on for years, and still deal with customer service daily, and I have family that work for LBSs. As other's have pointed out, people who work in shops deal with hundreds of customers. Trust me, you can tell the douchebags from the average customer pretty quickly. The majority of the time, about 5 seconds after they open their mouth. Sales is ALL about reading the customer, reading and reacting to people is what sales people do day after day.

*beep*, sometimes you don't even have to meet them face to face to know.

[mtbfree]

I've worked in sales off and on for years, and still deal with customer service daily, and I have family that work for LBSs. As other's have pointed out, people who work in shops deal with hundreds of customers. Trust me, you can tell the douchebags from the average customer pretty quickly. The majority of the time, about 5 seconds after they open their mouth. Sales is ALL about reading the customer, reading and reacting to people is what sales people do day after day.

*beep*, sometimes you don't even have to meet them face to face to know.

I agree that sales is all about reading the customer. It's not about treating douche-bags like they deserve, though. It's about figuring out what makes people tick and using that to get them to buy whatever it is you're selling, regardless of whether or not you agree with their disposition or attitude. There's never been a good salesman who turned away business because he thought the customer was a douche.

[black2003ss]

There's never been a good salesman who turned away business because he thought the customer was a douche.

As a true salesman...this is true, to a point, but not gospel. There is always a point of diminishing returns with some clients and sometimes, you must part ways. However, what is being discussed in this thread is the inherent difference between a "retail sales associate" and a "commission salesman". I guarantee if said shop employee had to make the sale to get the pay check, they would do whatever it took and would care much less if they liked the person or not.

That being said, from a customer standpoint, I usually try to tell people I am just there to browse or will even say "just tire kicking" to allow them to go help other customers.

[mtbfree]

There's never been a good salesman who turned away business because he thought the customer was a douche.

As a true salesman...this is true, to a point, but not gospel. There is always a point of diminishing returns with some clients and sometimes, you must part ways.

Fair enough...

Now, I'm not saying you have lick some ass-hole's feet because he's buying something from your shop... if a customer gives you so much of a hassle that it's actually going to benefit your shop to lose that person as a customer, then by all means, treat him like he deserves and hope he never comes back.

My main point was that there's almost no way you've reached this point of parting ways 5 seconds after someone opens their mouth (or sooner), as dirt seemed to imply.

[Paladin54]

It's funny but I have seen this conversation play out on gun boards also. Is it something to do with small specialized shops or the cost of the product they sell or what? I don't know.

[b_b]

You catch more flies with honey than vinegar. This goes for both shop and customer.