You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Ever gone into a shop with no intention of buying a bike and come out with a shiny new one thanks to some silver tongued devil of a sales person?
Ever thought you needed a deore mech but walked out the shop with xtr?
Curious to get peoples opinions on what (if anything) makes a good bike shop assistant. Is it a laid back manner, friendly banter or limitless knowledge or is it none of the above? Something else entirely? Perhaps you consider yourself an expert and consider the witterings of sales people as a necessary evil?
Curious to hear what people thoughts are. Everyone has an LBS they like or dislike (prices and stock aside).
A good one is one that asks lots of questions as to how and where you ride,listens to what you tell them,and advises you accordingly.
One that rides, knows about bikes and is actually interested in them!
As a previous seller of outdoor and climbing equipment i would say a good sales assistant will depend on the customer, some people know what they want and only require you to complete the transaction, those with less experiance will require you advice and opinion, it is your job therefore, to understand what they NEED and what they WANT using your experiance, a sound knowledge of and actually doing the sport is crucuial.An understanding of the weights of every bottom bracket, headset etc is not . The 3rd and possibly most crucial aspect is the ability to make a good cuppa , eat excessive amounts of cake and stare out of windows while bored out of your brain.
I think it's also crucial to guage what the customer doesn't want to know - some can get way too techy with non-techy customers and end up confusing them to the point where they're no longer sure that the bike they were looking at is right for them or not.
A muppet in Evans nearly talked himself out of a sale when I went along with a mate to look at budget hybrids - he just wanted something fastish and fairly comfy to ride to work and some leisure stuff at the weekend. We found a last-season Mongoose with decent parts, nice colour, right size for him, hefty amount off. He test rides it, likes it. Really all the sales guy had to do was run his card through, maybe pausing to ask if there were any other bits (lights, helmet, etc) he wanted.
Nope, he *has* to start pulling out other bikes, none of which are quite so well suited and pricier, even if they're in his budget. Then he goes on at great length about the relative merits of various parts and groupsets. By now my mate is wavering and starts second-guessing his opinion of the first, and is on the verge of walking out to think it over. In the end, after riding one of others and me talking some sense into him, he goes for the first one. Madness.
Personally, I don't take any bike shop salesperson's opinions on the quality of kit at face value and 99% of the time I just need someone to get it for me from the back and run it through the till.
Product knowledge and experience in activity.
When I moved to my new home I had 4 bike shops in my town (all with in walking distance from each other). I was spoilt for choice. I did some tyre tapping at each shop and made my decision based on the repsonse the staff gave me, subsequently I chose one to spend my cash at. They have done quite well out of me.
However I am considering changing my LBS as one, not local, I visited could identify a suitible product immediately.They also gave me 2 or 3 options. Thay were well underpriced compared to my usual. I was prepared to spend x amount on brakes and they basically said that I was better to spend less on a product they recommended and used that from thier experience was better.
IME - a good sales monkey can sell anything [double glazing, cars etc] no need for any special product knowledge or interest
[img] 
[/img]
speaks English, over 12 yrs old, didn't train at Dixons, doesn't think the world revolves around jumping and has some interst in customer service. Luckilty there are lots of great bike shop people but none of them work at Evans in London. (IME).
imo the biggest flaw of all sales people is to blag it when they don't know. they start tripping up and making themselves look stupid.
Product knowledge, honesty, humility, ability to listen and read people and to be chameleon like in their presentation.
Polite, knowledgeable & Helpful.
That covers it, really. If they are nice you'll go back, if not you won't
hat on at a funny angle, face like a join the dots puzzle, skinny jeans showing arse crack, deeply unintrested unless its to do with jumpy stuff.
I like the the 'genuine' side of courteous (you know, not trying [i]too[/i]hard), and someone that gives you the impression that they want you to have the right product rather than just to make a purchase regardless.
My favourite bike shop person has not sold me anything on a number of occasions because they didn't have what i really needed (but probably could have bamboozled me into buying something else...)
I shouldn't name him or his very large and glitzy employer, in case this apparent 'good advice over making the sale' technique is not shop policy, but I would much rather deal with him than any of the other eight or so salespeople there. Oh and over the years he has sold me lots of stuff i did need too, including a whole bike, and been realistic but not completely pee-ripping both in advice and service charges over rescuing me from a couple of episodes of mechanical incompetence on my part. Oh and my kids like him.
They have to want to be there. Not smoking excessive amounts of weed in the evenings as their life has bummed out.
One that doesnt try to sell you anything!
With big purchases I like to be able to make a few visits without pressure. A good salesperson gives advice then lets you leave without feeling uncomfortable for using their time then greets you the next visit and repeat until you are ready to splash the cash.
Their labour is a fixed cost so as long as they are not losing other sales then they should be happy to stand and talk without putting pressure on.
To have an active interest in riding all manner of bikes and and have the ability to talk to and maintain a converstion with anyone.
The most important thing (and one that annoys me) is that when i ask their opinion on something, i just want their opinion, i don't want them to turn round and say 'thats shite'.
At one of my local LBS (chain store), the sales staff do not even speak to you... and when I do ask them a question they are totally un-interested. I only go there now if I want to spent some uninterupted time.
the best test is when you go in to buy something and come out with the cheaper version because it is actually what you needed.
Apart from that be there when you need them not when you don't, admit when they don't know something and tell you where to go ride/eat/drink if you are not local.
Apart from that helping to organise a couple of spare sets of brake pads to make their way to the other side of the world is a great asset.
Honesty.
When I ran a shop, way back when, I trained my folks to use what I referred to as the "Oddbins method". It works like this, if you go in to Oddbins and say, "I want to have a bottle of red, to drink with a nice rack of lamb, budget of around £10", they will sell you the best bottle for the job, even if that means they only sell you a bottle at £5.99.
Much the same with bikes and bits - Ask questions, find out what they want and then offer them the best bit for the job. If it's a little over budget, be prepared to be honest about WHY it's what they need. Don't just sell them what you want to sell them, sell them what they want to buy.