Outdoor Supply Stores Educate As Well As Sell
June 5th, 2008, 4:27 pm Hobbies News
For Penke, educating these new customers is part of his job in the fishing department at Canfield’s Sporting Goods. This time of year, he sees five to 20 fishing newcomers a week, depending on the weather.
“Kids get out of school, that’s the big thing,” said Penke. “People get outside. They want the basic stuff to go out and fish.”
That often includes information, and area sporting goods stores hire salespeople who are able to supply it. Many stores run various classes, such as on casting or tying lures. Penke’s department at Canfield’s has maps of local lakes to make it easier for him to direct first-time anglers to promising spots.
“You’ll get a lot of people who want to take their kids out who’ve never fished before,” he said.
“Usually I just stick with the basics - as far as bluegills, a bobber, a hook and a worm is the first thing. It’s something easy for the kids to use. And you can catch bluegills all day pretty much throughout the summer.”
At Cabela’s, there’s a rush of new campers and anglers as the school year ends.
“This time of year, a lot of people’s interests are starting to turn to the outdoors,” said company spokesman Joe Arterburn. “It seems like we get a lot of people coming into our stores and asking how to get started in fishing and camping. It’s a busy time for us.”
Salespeople have to be knowledgeable about the product, Arterburn said, and some have specialties such as walleye fishing or bass fishing.
“If you’re coming in saying, ‘I just want to fish for panfish in a local pond,’ we’ll get you with the right people to not only talk to you about the equipment you need and how to use it, but also where you can go.”
The extra help can pay dividends in terms of long-term relationships with customers, Arterburn said.
“We think that that introductory experience is a very important one,” he said. “We want it to be successful, everything to go right. Of course, it’s always fishing, so there’s always a question mark on what the success will be.
“But we know that if that experience is successful and enjoyable, we may have helped create a lifelong hobby and a lifelong customer.”
Customers come in with questions on anything from “canoes and kayaks to shooting, guns and archery, stuff like that,” said Robbie Johnson, marine and camping manager at Bass Pro Shops in Council Bluffs.
Education on these activities is a big part of what his staff does.
“That’s one of the standards that we hold,” said Johnson. “Somebody who wants to go bass fishing, we’d be able to set him up and give them everything that they’d need and at least an idea of what they’d need to do to go out and at least have an enjoyable first time.”
That’s especially important with children, said Dale Merkel, manager of Scheels All Sports at Village Pointe shopping center, who agreed that customer education is a priority at his store.
“The kids have to be successful fairly quickly, or they won’t necessarily enjoy it.”
Fortunately, spring can be an active time for fish, he added, and his staff keeps abreast of what fishing spots are hopping.
“You can learn a lot from your customers,” he said. “You can learn a lot from where they’re having their luck and what (fish) are biting on, and we can transfer what we’ve known and what we’ve learned to the next customer.”
Penke enjoys helping new customers.
He’ll run through hook sizes and baits for catfish and bass. He’ll rattle through different types of reels, lures and baits, such as a set of colorful top-water baits.
“The best thing about these is they’re really action-oriented,” he said. “You get to see the strike when it’s sitting on top of the surface, so that’s really fun for little kids.”
“After I’ve told them places to go fish, and local lakes that I’ve fished myself, I’ll give them a spot to go fish and they’ll catch fish and come back and say thanks. They’re hooked, basically.”
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