Customer Service

[WhirlyGirl]

Hi I am brand new to this group and excited to get some good info and share some insight as well.

I have a first question. We own a bicycle store in southern AZ, I have just began working there although the store is 11 years old. I am setting up a corner of the store just for females so I'm hoping you can help me out with what to put there and what services to offer.

1. What if your must have item besides a bike?
2. What do you look for as a woman in a bike shop?
3. Are you "sold" on items in the shop or do you do your studies and know what you want?
4. What service in your local bike shop is a "must have"
5. Is it important to you to be treated as a female cyclist for clothes, bikes, accessories.
6. Are you attracted to other items in a shop besides cycling items, such as high end strollers, natural body care/sunscreen/salves or would you be if they were available.


Thank you so much for your help! And feel free to add any "negatives" you expereinced as well as anything else!


Make it a Great Day
Whirly Girl

[Tuckervill]

There are lots of threads about bike shops here--you might want to search.

If I could frequent your shop, I'd like for the bike clothes for women not be the type that only fit size 0s, please. It's cool to have the latest and greatest, but I think you'd sell more of the basic stuff in real world sizes. It would be an excellent way to make sure the new cyclist doesn't get exasperated at how little is available locally (a regular occurrence for me) and quit cycling altogether.

In other words, cater to newbies. It's how you get new customers.

Karen

[WhirlyGirl]

Thanks karen, I was just reading the threads on losing weight and I thought the same thing, larger sizes! I've been riding for only over a year and am a "hefty" girl myself so really a goal for me is to show women that they can ride, ride comfortabally and get in great shape with this sport!

Thanks again for your input, and I'll check out some of the cycling shop threads.

[lph]

Well - to take a negative first - the thing that pisses me off more than anything is if the high-end stuff is all for men, and the specific women stuff is all mediocre. I know demand is less, but still. I enjoy good design and a feminine look to a certain degree, but function is a lot more important.

Being a commuter I really appreciate shops that cater to commuters, and will fix a flat or adjust brakes or derailleurs during the day while I'm at work.

And I'd be interested in cycling-related products like sunscreen, anything that would be useful on a ride.

[onimity]

Agree that there are some great threads here with a lot of suggestions.

But I really actually dislike it when there is a 'corner' for women... there is one store here that does that and I find myself cramped in the corner realizing how much of the store wasn't designed to apply to me. Make a section of your clothing for men, a section for women. Same with saddles. Put WSD bikes in with the rest but mark them as such. Don't overcrowd your store. If I want a trailer, I'll ask if it can be ordered, but I won't go to a bike store where I can't bring my bike in and walk around easily. Hold maintenance classes and encourage women to attend. Encourage your staff to treat women with respect, even women that don't look like cyclists.

Anne

[KnottedYet]

Mix the women's stuff in with the mens.

I don't have cooties, so I don't need to be put in a corner. At least not very often...

Get someone who KNOWS how to measure for saddles. Not just one of those Specialized butt-o-meters, an actual PERSON with a TAPE MEASURE who knows how to measure a pelvis and isn't afraid to do it! Someone who understands how to tell when a saddle is likely to fit or not. (eg: "Yes, ma'am, you have 155mm sit bones, but you won't get the best fit from that 160mm saddle. Let me show you this 175mm saddle, and here's why...")

Stock some of the saddles in the hard-to-find sizes. Don't lose a sale by telling someone, "oh, you really need something like a Brooks B68, but we don't have that." Stock the B68! Stock the B68-S in case someone prefers a short nosed saddle. And don't just stock those puffy wide over-padded misery-makers, stock "real" saddles. Women don't need more cushion, they need more width!

(saddle selection and mis-direction is one of my pet peeves, can you tell?)

[Blueberry]

Or, even if you can't stock the B68 and the B68S, make sure your folks know HOW to order something and that they're willing to do it. When my shop offers, I usually take them up on it, even when I could get it for less mailordering myself. I *know* I can't mail order bike repairs, and I want my shop to be there

[KnottedYet]

Encourage your staff to treat women with respect, even women that don't look like cyclists.

Anne

ESPECIALLY women who don't look like cyclists! We're the ones that need an LBS, and will be loyal to an LBS who treats us right. We will fall in love with cycling and send our friends to our LBS. The woman who doesn't look like a cyclist might be the most devoted cyclist in your shop!

(I can't tell you how weird it was to go into a different LBS with someone who routinely does 600 mile rides, and both of us were treated oddly because we don't look like *cyclists*. This happened at two shops in a row, we didn't buy anything, and we went back to our LBS in shock. It was quite an eye-opener!)

[Thorn]

Yep...treat me the same, but know that I'm different. The roads I ride are the same roads as the men. Many of the guys are faster, but some are slower than me. I ride for some of the same reasons and I want a bike for the same range of reasons.

The differences comes in size. Make sure there is someone who understands this and can help. As mentioned, saddles are a big one (heck, even saddle manufacturers don't seem to get it, sometimes), but also handlebars. And, of course, bikes. But, please don't put me in a corner....

But, most important, is attitude. Don't assume women want hybrids and cruisers. Talk to the women. Ask them questions. And treat them like intelligent consumers. Yes, I will do research before buying, but help me out by giving me ideas of things to look for. Stretch me by giving me ideas I hadn't considered. If I'm buying a bike, make me test drive above and below my price range so that I understand what I'm buying.

[KnottedYet]

Don't assume women want hybrids and cruisers.

Don't assume we all want high end strollers, either. My teenager just won't fit in a stroller anymore. And when we did pull him behind the bike, it was usually behind his DAD'S bike.

Perhaps men would be the ones most interested in strollers? Instead of boasting about how they reduced bike weight with hollow carbon titanium dilithium kryptonite brake levers, they could be boasting about how much weight their baby gained and how it hasn't slowed 'em down a bit!

[Zen]

+1 for Knott

[Trek420]

(I can't tell you how weird it was to go into a different LBS with someone who routinely does 600 mile rides, and both of us were treated oddly because we don't look like *cyclists*.

Was that me? Probably me, I've done done ALC 5 times including crewing twice which is harder than riding. MM_QFC here's done more AIDS rides than I can count anyway..... It's not routine, it's very hard but I seem to have figured out how to get my aging bod up and over that ride ('cept this year when it was a true challenge).

We went to a shop advertised as a leading distributer for Surly and a shop I still think of as good.

I wanted to test ride a LHT, I know why and which bikes I'd compare it to and so on ..... they have never heard of Surly ("oh really? Their site/your add says you stock them) they try to sell me another bike as if I won't know the difference.

You had to see the wrenches jaw drop as Knott explains the difference between the bike I want to try and the one they carry including gearing, frame composition and manufacture, standard kit and wheels, sizing and fit why it's preferable .... it's not that the bike they have is bad, I've considered it but want to try the this and yes, I know why.

I'm 51, I'm not skinny, I don't look particularly fit .... that is until you're passed out at the last rest stop of a century and I breeze in, top off the water bottles and head out and you're thinking "didn't I pass her on this hill and that hill and ...."

Treat us like riders. Don't talk down to me, don't talk over me, just talk to me.

Lastly there is no formula of what gewgaws and we want, get this on aisle 4 and that on aisle 5 and women will beat a path to your door. Most of us are pretty sick and tired of everything with hibiscus on it My favorite shop is tiny and his focus is on building bikes, not a lot of stuff. But when I can not find gloves in extra small ... he finds them and orders, if there's anything I need ... he gets it. That's why I keep going back.

All riders, any gender, want and deserve good service.

[rhiannon008]

In my opinion, a must have in any shop is female employees with real riding and technical experience. In the area where I live there are a ton of shops to choose from, but very few women wrenching or dealing in high end sales.

I think it stands to reason that women may feel more comfortable shopping in a place where a staff member actually understands their unique needs and have used alot of the equipment themselves. Let's switch the scenario up a bit, would most men feel AS comfortable in a shop exclusively owned and operated by women? Judging by the fact that I have yet (but would love) to see this, I would say the answer is no.

[Eden]

Don't worry, its not just you. I can walk into certain stores in my (real) state championship jersey and still get treated like I have no clue about what I want.

[Trek420]

Don't worry, its not just you. I can walk into certain stores in my (real) state championship jersey and still get treated like I have no clue about what I want.

Yeah, but you look like a cyclist and athlete