Earlier this week, I received an email from a customer. The subject line read, “A Favorable Sales Experience.” This email made my day. I read the email 3 or 4 times, and then replied to the customer to tell him thank you for taking the time to write such an incredible email. I also asked his permission to share the contents of the email with you. The full text of his email is below. It’s so good, that I just really want to take the time to touch on everything he said…and totally brag on our awesome people.
The Full Text of the Email
Here’s what our customer wrote.
A friend and I came into your Roswell store looking for a handgun to buy. We were helped by Guy, one of your salesman on duty that day. The handgun was for my friend a first time gun owner and shooter. Guy was very helpful and patient in answering my friend's questions. Guy asked the right questions of my friend to determine what he was looking for, He showed him the guns that fit what my friend wanted. Guy offered a lot of insight and experience in what to look for in a handgun, how it should feel in your hand. I think the most important thing, Guy was never arrogant, he didn't he talk down to my friend nor was he boastful about his shooting experience.
“A friend…a first time gun owner and shooter”
If you were going to invite a friend or accompany a friend to purchase their very first firearm, where would you go? He chose SharpShooters. That blows me away! When I landed at SharpShooters on January 4th, I met the team for the very first time, and I told them, “I want SharpShooters to be ‘the Chick-Fil-A of gun stores.” When someone asks me where I want to go to lunch, my very first reaction is “Chick-Fil-A!” I want SharpShooters to be the FIRST place anyone thinks of when they think about buying a gun, shooting a gun, learning to shoot or shoot better, customizing a gun, or buying accessories for a gun.
Then, once someone has made that decision to come to SharpShooters, I want them to be so happy about it that they tell all their friends. There’s really only one way to do that.
Provide A Favorable Experience
That’s it. It’s that simple. Provide a favorable experience. So how do you do that? Easy! We do just what Guy did:
- Ask the right questions
- Be helpful
- Be patient
- Answer the customer’s questions
- Determine what the customer is looking for
- Show the customer guns that fit what he wants
- Offer insight and experience in what to look for in a handgun,
- Talk about how it [the gun] should feel in your hand
- Do not be arrogant or talk down to the customer
- Don’t boast about your own shooting experience
Wow. That’s quite a list! Guy nailed it, and that doesn’t surprise me one bit. You could apply this approach to any service or sales organization in the world, and you’d have a winner. And you could put Guy in any similar situation, and get the same result. We work daily to bake this type of approach into everything we do.
What’s Missing?
You know what’s missing from that list? The word “tell“. Far too often, a first time gun buyer will go into a gun store, and the associate behind the counter will – with palms firmly planted 4 feet apart on the counter – tell the customer what they should buy. Unless that person behind the counter knows you, what you want, what you need, what you can afford, how you’ll use the gun, and everything else about you, that person is not qualified to tell you anything other than the price of the gun.
“Thanks for a pleasant experience”
That was how this customer closed out the email. “Thanks for a pleasant experience.” When was the last time you heard THAT sentiment about a gun store? It’s not about what he bought. Most people who come in our store don’t buy anything, and that’s ok! It is our mission to educate everyone who comes into the store.
Whether you buy anything or not, we’re just happy you came in the store! But when a customer takes the time to write you not about his own experience, but about his friend’s experience, that’s when you know you have a fantastic team.
Thank you for taking the time to share your friend’s experience at SharpShooters. We are humbled and blessed to have your friend as a customer. Thank you, Guy, for delivering peak customer experience, setting a great example for our entire team.
“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” ― Maya Angelou
It is our goal to make everyone who comes into SharpShooters feel like they are valued, served, and welcomed back anytime.