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. Massad Ayoob Meeting Customers’ Needs In Times Of Shortage he retail firearms industry is still in the midst of the “election aftermath” run on product. Traveling the country, I’m seeing gun shops that are flat out of stock in some calibers of ammunition. There are shops that don’t have an AR-15 on the shelves, and where the entire incoming “on-order” list is already promised to eager buyers. What’s a dealer to do? Talk with your customer and analyze his needs. Satisfy those needs with another product you have at your fingertips. Once you’ve done your salesman’s job of educating him as to how the features of the product you have fit his needs, all of a sudden the substitute becomes satisfactory — or perhaps even a better choice than what he had set his heart on previously. T The driest drought in the defensive firearms market right now is the AR-15. Most manufacturers are backed up by several months, and a huge percentage of forthcoming production is already spoken for with backorders. Let’s say you don’t have a single one on the racks, and a customer comes in and says, “I’d like to buy an AR-15.” Ask a few questions to define the customer’s needs. Why does he want an AR15 in particular? If he says it’s because he already has lots of magazines and accessories for that platform and just wants another one to sock away in case they get banned, it’s likely he won’t be swayed toward another type of .223 rifle. However, there are other possible reasons customers want an AR-15. If your customer says, “I want an AR-15 because my brother-in-law says it’s what I should get,” then you have options. As the resident gun expert, your customer will soon figure out your credibility trumps that of the resident expert at the family barbecue. You’re most likely very experienced in explaining to customers — in a gentle way — why there are better choices for them than what some third-party with limited experience has advised them to buy. For the customers with an expert brother-in-law or the person who says, “I want an AR-15 because there are people predicting social breakdown, and a powerful, easy-to-shoot rifle that carries enough cartridges is suddenly making sense to me,” Ruger Mini-14 SI DIGITAL VIDEO New for 2009, the Ruger ATI Mini-14 is equipped with a six-position collapsible/side-folding buttstock from ATI. It comes with one 20-round magazine. In SI Digital, click the video logo for a look at the new Mini-14s. Offer 9mm Handguns, Ammo Substitutions P erhaps your customer wants one particular model of full-capacity, polymer-frame 9mm pistol, and you’re out of stock. The good news is there are so many variations on the theme that a brand you do have in stock won’t be that much different in capacity or performance. Glocks, Springfield Armory XDs and Smith & Wesson M&Ps are all very similar in operation and shooting characteristics. Remind your customer that if he or she were a Chicago cop buying their own service pistol (the custom with Chicago PD), they would have their choice of all three brands. Let them handle what you have, try the action and gauge the feel. Odds are that if the customer came in asking for the one brand you didn’t have in stock, he or she will be comfortable with one you do have for sale that day. When ammunition is in short supply — particularly high-tech, defensive ammo — customers are more likely to ask for policeonly ammo. Remington’s Golden Saber line and Speer’s Gold Dot series are two examples of high-tech, high-performance defensive ammunition not considered “law-enforcement only” by their manufacturers or anyone else. Both are “thoroughly street MAY 2009 proven” in police line-of-duty shootings. The FBI has adopted both in various calibers. They’ll do the job, and you can sell them without looking over your shoulder to see if you draw the ire of manufacturers. Rifle ammo in the military calibers is now hugely backlogged. If home invaders were kicking down my front door and I reached for my Sabre Defence carbine, it would be loaded with 55-gr. hollowpoints. In a home environment, these are proven to provide optimum stopping power with less Speer’s Gold Dot series will meet the needs of likelihood of overcustomers who want high-tech, high-perforpenetration. mance defensive ammunition. 16 Read SI DIGITAL www.shootingindustry.com