[mountainman13]

Buy a compound bow from someone who has only the information they could gleam while ordering it?
We are considering an indoor archery range. We have come to the conclusion that the range itself would not be viable. We would need to sell archery supplies also. Problem is, I'm a longbow and recurve guy. I make my own arrows. I don't know much about the string driven guns besides people want the most compact one they can buy.

[trip286]

Many gun store owners aren't experts in EVERY gun they sell... Why should an archery shop owner be?

[mountainman13]

Admittedly I'm not an expert on every gun we have but the boss usually picks up my slack and vise versa. Neither of us is into compound bows.

[texaswoodworker]

Hoyt is one of the best brands of compound bow out there, at least for the money. That's about all I know about bows.

note (I've heard that from someone who knows a little about bows, and a review that said about the same thing. I'm not claiming it as fact, that's just what I've heard/read)

[Dillinger]

How many products are we talking about? 10 models? 15? Do some reading, print out some magazine reviews, maybe a comparison or two and be educated enough to answer all basic questions. Shoot each one a couple of times to see what fits your frame and style and clarify that when talking to the customer.

Chances are good someone coming to make that kind of purchase has done some research, they just be looking to handle and get feedback on sales.

I am sure we have all bought many an item from sales folks who were not experts.

JD

[JD1969]

Originally Posted by mountainman13

Admittedly I'm not an expert on every gun we have but the boss usually picks up my slack and vise versa. Neither of us is into compound bows.

As you might remember I sell ski and snowboard equipment. While I do know how to snowboard, I don't claim to be an expert, nor do I know everything about every board we sell. I do my best to read up on them and try to be as knowledgeable as possible.
Between the owner and myself we cover most things pretty well, but we accept that we will never know everything. What we NEVER do is BS our way through something, if a customer asks me a question that I don't know the answer to, I tell them I don't know but I will find out.
I don't see why you could apply the same tactic to compound bows. Plus, after selling them for a while, I am sure you will become familiar with them.

[tri70]

People buy from Wally World everyday, no experts there either!

[boatme98]

Well, you'll be missing out on a large hunting segment.
I used to manage specialized retail. If I didn't stock things I wasn't familiar with, the stores would have died.
Within a few months of taking over the stores I was known as the guy to go to for optics in town. And I mean everything from binos and spotting scopes to telescopes and very high end microscopes. I had never dealt with optics in my life other than owning a pair of binocs that were given to me in elementary school.
Like you stated, you can read the brochures. And read a LOT! What else do you have to do when you're on the toilet? You'll quickly gain enough knowledge to deal with most customers, and I'm sure that knowledgeable customers will always be happy to help you.
Read up and move 'em out the door.

[PrimePorkchop]

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EDIT: I just re-read your post and noticed you're talking specifically about bows. If that's the case, then I think you should know at least a little about setting it up. People need the correct pull weight, draw length, proper arrows, etc...basically they can't just walk in, buy a bow, and shoot it, it'll have to be adjusted to their frame, peep sight in the right spot, etc....

So, for me, personally, I'd come shoot there, but I probably wouldn't buy a bow if I had to take it some place else to have it adjusted to me (hope you don't take that the wrong way)

[mountainman13]

Not at all. I like all the input. I don't want to get stuck with $10k worth of bows I can't sell. Lol