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. Good Times Or Bad, Be Aggressive! t Red’s Trading Post in Twin Falls, Idaho, the display cases routinely fill and empty with full-capacity handguns and extra magazines, as well as all the other “endangered species” of firearms. Sales have been amazing, manager Ryan Horsley reported. “People from the big-box stores are coming in asking ‘How and where are you getting your stock? We can’t!’” The answer, Horsley says, is simple, though making it work demands dedication. “In good times, you’ve got to be aggressive. In uncertain times, tough times, you’ve got to be more aggressive. We now deal regularly with 25 distributors, including one who does not, by policy, do business in Idaho — but I talked them into it,” Horsley said. And, Horsley doesn’t wait for distributors to make sales calls. “We call constantly,” he said. “Dis- A “ tributors don’t all get the same allocations at the same times. Distribution throughout the industry is uneven and erratic, so we go after everything we want hard, keep the energy pumped up on our sales, and distributors know we can sell anything we ask for, any amount. They like to supply a winner.” In good times, you’ve got to be aggressive. In uncertain times, tough times, you’ve got to be more aggressive. Horsley also was prepared to meet the spike in handguns sales. “We saw this situation coming early on, so we took maximum advantage of stocking dealer programs and promotions,” he said. Even during the early, frenzied days of the “big rush,” Red’s held deeply stocked sales events supported by HK and SIG SAUER, offering discounts on fullcap guns other dealers couldn’t get. “We arranged for them well in advance, anticipating the crunch, but knowing one way or another, we’d have great sales,” Horsley said. To maximize sales, Horsley urges dealers to invest their staffs in the process and supercharge their enthusiasm. “Routinely, my staff briefs me on how many units of what they can sell. They are ” confident and positive, and they make it happen,” he said. Horsley confirmed that full-size Glocks, S&W M&Ps and Springfield XDs, especially the hot new XDM, are in big demand, but cautions dealers not to overlook products like FNH USA’s full-capacity FNP pistols. The FNH USA semiautos are offered in 9mm, .357 SIG, .40 S&W and .45 ACP, and come with three magazines. “Don’t forget the 20-shot FiveseveN pistol in 5.7x28mm. We’ve sold lots of them and they’re easy to sell if you’ve got personal experience with them and explain their many advantages. The inexpensive 5.7 round is a very capable personal-defense, varmint and target round, with extremely light recoil, great accuracy, low penetration and ricochet potential — and remember that 20-round magazine.” Horsley said sales of Five-seveN pistols often result in sales of FNH USA’s PS90 carbines, which sport 50-round magazines in the same caliber. Red’s Trading Post was FNH USA’s top-selling American dealer in 2008. Horsley recommends the FNH USA Five-seveN. “ “I hear dealers say, ‘I’m dealer-direct,’ or ‘I belong to a buying group, so I get a deep discount.’ But are you getting what your customers want? Is your big discount on nothing? The future is uncertain, and you’ll have to be aggressive and creative to survive,” Horsley said. Work With Distributors The future is uncertain, and you’ll have to be aggressive and creative to survive. Ryan Horsley, manager of Red’s Trading Post, urges dealers to maximize their supply sources and be aggressive in searching for products. 40 MAY 2009 Again, Horsley emphasizes the importance of communication. “Distributors and their reps aren’t mind readers,” Horsley said. “Be diplomatically demanding if you have to, but arrange to sit down with their top people and ask what you can do to get higher priority on allocations. And, considering your business, exactly what you can do, with their help, to make your business grow. “If your rep isn’t calling you on your day off or in the shower at 6 a.m. to offer you first option on hot products, tell that distributor you need someone more aggressive — one who will charge for you!” ” Read SI DIGITAL www.shootingindustry.com