Click here to download the catalog as a PDF file. To view this site you need Adobe Flash Player and your browser must allow javaScripts. Go here to get the latest Flash Player. By Carolee Anita Boyles OPTIC SALES! SALES! Revisit The Basics, Dial In Features To Increase Profits! REFOCUS YOUR REFOCUS YOUR K eeping your business profitable during extraordinary economic times requires focus and attention to detail. Even during a harsh economic downturn, devoting special attention to your business can help you generate sales of riflescopes, spotting scopes and binoculars. “In this economy, when someone comes in to look at optics, he’s coming in to buy,” said Tony Proper, vice president of Alpen Optics. If a customer has lost his job, or doesn’t have the money to buy a new spotting scope or a pair of binoculars, he’s not even going to come in and look at them. Given that, how do you attract those customers who do have the money to purchase optics? you’re strong with your advertising, such as monthly fliers, or ads in local newspapers or on radio stations, you’re going to bring in customers.” McBride said many retailers drop the ball on advertising by failing to use co-op money that’s available from many manufacturers. “A smart retailer knows how to get every penny out of his manufacturers, and he uses that money to his best advantage to draw customers into his store,” McBride said. In a down economy, it’s more important than ever to qualify your customers and determine exactly what they’re really looking for. “If he’s looking at riflescopes, ask him what rifle he’s going to mount it on,” Proper said. Or ask him what he’s going to use the binoculars for. “He’ll always tell you that right up front,” Proper said. “Then you can ask, ‘Is dusk to dawn important?’ That tells you what kind of product he wants.” Look for a way to lead into the money question. “For example, everybody wants to look through a high-end optic that sells for $2,000,” Proper said. “But when you ask the customer if he wants to buy it, he always says, ‘That’s too rich for me.’” This is your opportunity to politely ask your customer what kind of a budget he’s on. “Many dealers think they have to be everything to everybody. Big-box stores have 100 feet of counter space and every brand of optics known to man. It’s so confusing to the customer that a lot of people walk away,” Proper said. “One big-box store that recently went out of business had probably 150 different pairs of binoculars in a single cabinet, all piled on top of each other,” said Richard Cameron, president of Carson Optical. “If a customer New for 2009, the model VX3L features Leupold’s Xtended Twilight Lens System and the cut crescent shape. Qualify Your Customer Carefully Select Lines “One big key to selling optics is advertising,” said Mark McBride, a Leupold manufacturer’s rep from Outdoor Marketing Group. “If Always Advertise SI DIGITAL VIDEO 22 JUNE 2009 Read SI DIGITAL www.shootingindustry.com