Here’s the final item on my gun shop inspired 7 point marketing checklist (Pt. 4) – SCN Encourager

It all began with the shop’s high standard for customer service

You might call it as the “red carpet” treatment.

I did.

Even though I’m not a “gun person” at all, the people at Barracks 616 didn’t treat me that way.

They didn’t care that I was only visiting their shop to make some noise on the firing range as part of my future son-in-law’s bachelor party.

They genuinely seemed pleased to have squeamish newbies like me cautiously roaming around on their premises.

They wanted opportunities to be friendly, inviting, and perhaps slowly expand their support base – even though they knew this was highly unlikely to happen in my case.

So this is Marketing Checkpoint #7:
NEVER GIVE UP.
Keep trying to build every relationship you can.

Now perhaps this point doesn’t seem all that earth-shattering.
(Unlike the top-drawer mind-blowing Marketing Checkpoints I’ve shared previously: #1 & #2, #3 & #4, and #5 & #6.)

But I’ve often seen a staff member (hopefully, not modeling me…) pull back from extending an enthusiastic and warm welcome to a parent once they find out the parent is a homeschooler, a charter school parent, or currently active in the PTO at our crosstown rival.

It’s like if the parent isn’t going to enroll their child in our district in the next 10 minutes, it’s not worth expending the effort.

This isn’t how I saw the staff at Barracks 616 behave.

They embraced a “you just never know what the future will bring” mindset.

They interacted with non-gun newbies and those skeptical about guns alike without the defensive attitude we frequently will shift into whenever someone questions the value of public education and what it costs.

The “long view” approach serves them well… and would do the same for us as well.

At any rate, it’s hard to see any downside to a consistently friendly, informative, and ready when you are orientation.

Barracks 616 had clubs for mothers and young daughters, singles worried about living alone, and specialty training for hunters and competitive target shooters.

Their featured promotions connected to school breaks and special events.

Dang, they even had branded table covers and graphics!

They offered classes and training sessions out the wazoo.

Barracks 616 demonstrated a wide variety of two-way engagement choices and options and make it obvious they had more than one path to attract and grow its customer base.

Now maybe I’m over-doing it a bit on the marketing lessons  I learned from a visit back in April to a gun shop.

But c’mon!

Tell me you’re branding your school bathrooms better than Barracks 616.

Their rifle plunger is unforgettable! 

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