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. “If you’re selling highend knives, you need to present and display them reflecting their value,” Fadden said. “Think of how you would display fine watches or jewelry. Keep glass displays spotless and counter mats neutral in color to show the knives off. Arrange lighting to highlight the blades, edges and markings. Clean off fingerprints and smudges regularly — they detract from perceived value.” Fadden recommends keeping a magnifying glass handy so you can show your customer the precise fit of handle scales to tangs or bolsters, and the handfinished surfaces. “And remember, enthusiasm is contagious!” Fadden said. “If you’re enthused about the quality, Dave Duggin, Buck Knives V.P. of sales, says the company’s utility and value of a knife, blades, like the Omni Hunter, are ideal for gift-giving and it will leap right across the seasonal sales. counter to your customer.” Much of Columbia River Knife & Tool’s success can be traced to its aggressive recruitment of some of the best-known and most successful custom knife designers, like Kit Carson, Allen Elishewitz and Knifemakers’ Guild founder A.G. Russell. CRKT takes the best of their custom designs — many costing thousands of dollars — and renders them into affordable production versions. This provides, according to Pat Haudbine, CRKT’s national sales manager, “your opening pitch.” “The toughest moment of a knife sale can be the icebreaker, striking up a conversation with a browsing customer. If a buyer is hovering over a Kit Carson M4 folder, you can simply ask, ‘Did you know the handmade version of that knife costs from $900 to several thousand dollars — and this one lists for $99.99?’ That’s powerful appeal and it puts you on the fast track to a sale. Custom designs and affordability are a great combination,” Haudbine said. The folks at Buck Knives are keenly tuned to the sales potential of knives as great gifts for many occasions. Buck sales reps will even help dealers develop Selling Gifts, Seasonal Knives Circle No. 214 on Inquiry Card www.shootingindustry.com MARCH 2008 37