You Can Learn To Be A Better Fisherman Too!!

by Roby Holland, National Sales Manager

Change Tactics land bigger fish..errrr..more customers
As some of you who know me I like to fish. I have had the opportunity to fish in one of the most productive fishing areas for Striped Bass on the East Coast. The majority of the time I have been able to land fish that are between 24 and 28 inches in length. This year I wanted to land a 40 to 50 inch Striper and so I began to ask my fishing confidant and internal company mentor Dave Miller. After a few conversations during the winter months it was apparent to me that if I wanted to land bigger fish I needed to change my fishing tactics. I went out and purchased or was given a fine rod and reel for Father's Day that was to help me change that type of fishing I was doing. Now all I needed was some time on the water to try out all that I had learned from my many conversations with Dave. That day was last Saturday July 5th. I had some time to kill and the day was overcast with no wind, a perfect day for fishing around the bay. Well I'll spare you the details of the adventure, but it was the best fishing day of my life! I caught not one but two HUGE stripers in all of about two hours. Here is a picture of the larger striper that I was able to get back to the dock and then release. What occurred to me is that by changing the way I fished I was able to change the type or size of fish I was looking to catch. If I never did this then I would have had to resign myself to the same old size fish when ever I ventured out into the bay. The reason I point this out is the same philosophy applies to retail and the way we present our stores. You want more sales, change your presentation to your customer. This does not mean you have to do a total remodel of the store, just make some small changes here and there. Ask some of your employees for ideas, they are a valuable source of information on what changes you can make to your presentation. You also might want to look at your customers purchasing trends, are the purchases headed in a specific direction of price point or style of bike? If so then you might want to make a small department of accessories that is focused towards this type of purchase. Making a few changes here and there can really make a difference to your catch! Good luck!