Advice to Paintball Buisness Owners..

[Jack_Dubious]

The following applies especially to Southern California paintball store owners (and fields)...

1. Acknowledge my presence. When i walk in, try to notice me, if you are busy, tell me you will be with me in a minute. A simple "hello, how are you today", would be fine.

2. Be friendly and helpful. When i have questions about your inventory, instead of giving me short yes, no answers, talk to me about what im looking for and what you can do for me. If i have questions about a marker, offer to let me handle it and maybe even gas it up and dry fire it.

3. Dont belittle me. If I am a Cocker owner and am showing interest in buying a Mag, dont act like its the stupidest idea you have ever heard.

4. Signs! This goes for both stores and fields, invest in some good looking, highly visible signs for your business. On a side note..dress up your buisness and make it look appealing to people who dont even know what paintball is.

5. (for field owners especially) I want you to kiss my ***. Im a paying customer and i expect to be treated that way. I just paid you good money, there should be no reason for having Refs with attitudes.

This is just a short list of things....but it can be all summed up in one term..."Customer Service". Many Paintball businesses (stores, fields, manufacturers) need better customer service, i think we can all agree on that.

JDub

[dmonahan]

JDud,
I can't agree with you more. The service in most SoCal stores is terrible. if you don't own a Angel or a cocker they don't stock parts. Think your a fool and most the shops have a 16 year old kid behind the counter that is more interested in playing with his own marker and talking to his freinds than help a paying cust. I have still never had a shop offer to order the parts I need. It makes me wonder how they stay alive.

[FutureMagOwner]

stores wont change inspite of the fact these are good ideas and should be obvious. if i ever opened a paintball store(which i may i have not descided my furture yet im only 15) i wouldnt open it for the money like most of the stores do. i would do it because i love the sportand having to only pay whosale for my paintball related needs is very cool

[Jack_Dubious]

Originally posted by dmonahan
most the shops have a 16 year old kid behind the counter that is more interested in playing with his own marker and talking to his freinds than help a paying cust.

Exactly!! That is the exact same thing that happened to me last week.

The points I am bringing up are not really paintball specific, they apply to all businesses in general. While maybe the large, high-profile corporate type businesses can get away with poor customer service, it is inexcusable for a small business (in a relatively small industry).


JDub

[Steve Crush]

i was up at the local store. Me and my friends from my scenerio team was there talking to the owner. One of my friends was looking at a cocker, he was showing interest in it.... i say(pointing to my Emag) don't buy that, buy a mag. The owner goes, yea i agree get the mag over the cocker. I then I proceeded to tell the owner of all the stories about how some field owners look down on mags. just a little story :)


steve

[magking1971]

I hope you don't mind but I put this on my fields website.
If you want to visit it look at my sig.
Yes I am part owner and I could not agree with you more on this.
Some of the local stores are just the same, (kid behind counter) that is why I do not shop there anymore.

[Wc Keep]

i feel bad for you guys. all the stores in jersey,especially impact paintball in edison, are great stores where they know what their doing and have the customers as number 1. mi paintball is the same. you guys should check out these shops if you ever in jersey.

[Army]

Heck, I'll even give specifics!

Big Boys Toys in Arroyo Grande Ca. (yeah, the other mail-order guys), has never been satisfactory in service to the walk in paintballer.

There is only one kid behind the counter that will stop to talk to you about your Pballing needs, and even though he is a 'Cocker fan, will help you with any gun. He's a good kid and employee, and has learned much about most guns, and is willing to help you with his knowledge. I wish I could remember his name, he's the big guy with the ever present smile.

However, the rest of the staff, including the owner, won't give you a second look if you are not an RC Car/Boat hobbyist. You must traverse the store to get to the Pball gear in the back, walking by the front counter and the RC stuff, you're lucky if you get a "Hello" when you walk in.
I understand the Internet sales are met with crass and rude phone-salesmen also.

This is so unacceptable, I am willing to drive 45 minutes to the next store and do my business there. THEY have happy, fun, willing, knowledgable players behind the counter. THEY have a round table in the middle of the showroom, where THEY encourage you to take a load off and visit for awhile. THEY all love the sport, and are enthusiasts in the promotion of it. THEY sponsor local tourneys.

THEY keep an inventory to die for, including shirts, jersey's, pants, goggles, gloves, hats, guppy's, lots of parts on the shelves for nearly all guns, lots of paint on site, posters of all the "girls" in the game, videos of NPPL/Pan-Am/Push/Avalanche/Ironmen/Scenario games playing continuously, A compressor that fills to 4500psi and plenty of Co2.

THEY own and operate Breakout Paintball in Paso Robles Ca. and you would be hard pressed to find a better walk in store.

This isn't a plug for anyone, I'm pointing out the difference in a nationally recognised store I avoid, and one I am willing to go out of my way to patronize.

[kopfjaeger]

Yeah, make sure whatever you buy is wrapped and sealed or it has probably been used by the workers there who are too loaded to answer your questions. Every time I go in, everyone looks high. It is a haven for employees to try out all the new stuff, repack it, and sell it back to you for full retail price.

[Jack_Dubious]

A couple weeks ago I bought a drop forward from someone on Ebay. Turns out this person has a small store on the east coast and sells some of his excess stuff on Ebay. After I won the bid, I get a voice mail from him asking what color i wanted the drop. I call him up to tell him what color i wanted.....and the conversation lasts more than half an hour...from him and me just talking about new markers and pball equipment. He was one of the most friendly and talkative guys Ive met. It really had an impact on me. It made me want to do more business with him.

Im with Army, I would (I have) drive 45 minutes to patronize a store that valued me as a customer.

JDub

[Schnitzel]

where in SoCal? I've drievn from San Bernardino all the way to Uniqe Paintball in Anaheim just to buy green marbs for $60 a case. they know what they have, and always give some sort of helpful tip.

[Jack_Dubious]

Im living in orange county...Cypress to be exact. Ive been going to Unique Sporting more and more, they are pretty close to me. Next closest store is I&I Sports, and ive never been to impressed with them or thier service.

JDub

[Mango]

The closest store to me is about 20 minutes away, and they have maybe 2 angel parts, the rest are for Cockers/spyders/etc. Very few mag parts. But they rarely ever let people hold/touch the markers they have and the place seems like its run by an old woman and 3 or 4 young teenagers. Most of them are "cocker fans" and they like to walk around and show off thier Dye cockers. One of the kids is very open minded and loves the sport in general, he is the only one I have respect for.

I totally agree with the above threads though, I think we've all experienced lack of customer service. I think it stems from how subjective our sport is. Like in other sports, equipment plays a big roll, but not as big a roll as SKILL. No pair of shoes is going to make you a better free thrower in basketball, no football helmet is going to make you a faster wide reciever. But in paintball, your equipment is crucial. Skill plays a large part dont get me wrong, but the player/equipment BOND is what makes paintball so unique. And that bond is very subjective. Just my $.02

[Tom Sparkman]

Naming names

I live in SoCal and I've also noticed the trend.

I once drove 75 miles to ANS in Simi Valley looking to buy an HPA setup. The owner Pete, went out of his way to ignore me - going so far as to help regular customers that just walked in after my family and I had been standing around for 10 minutes. Funny thing is, I bought my first gun from ANS when it was located in Santa Clarita.

I'll never shop there again
Tom

[Jack_Dubious]

Something I noticed today...

I went to Starbucks this morning for a latte. After handing me my coffee the girl behind the counter smiles at me and says "Have a Nice Day"...

This weekend I was at a field and the girl taking the money and registrations barely looked me in the eye and acted like she hated being there when I tried to buy snacks or paint.

Coffee =$2.50

Paintball = $20 field + $20 air + $40 extra paint + $$$ etc.

There is something wrong here....


JDub


ps- also the entire staff was really unfriendly, unless you were someone they knew. It was a field in San Diego, and i was just visitng...but If im ever in the area again..i definately will NOT go back. I dont name names....but I can say it rhymed with the word Melocity :P