The Bike of Doom

I had my “marketing” hat on yesterday; I guess I cycled home from work with it on instead of my helmet. They feel roughly the same. I started thinking of Local Bike Shops and how they could win the hearts of the unwashed masses of Department Store Bike riders.

Tactics I’ve seen used include “We just won’t provide service to shoddy department store bikes, that’ll teach them,” to “We’ll publicly scoff at people who ride those pieces of junk, that’ll teach them,” to “Let’s play the ‘made in China’ card and send out waves of guilt, that’ll teach them.”

I don’t think any of those approaches work. In fact, for the most part, I think they have the opposite effect. They cause potential customers to think Local Bike Stores are arrogant and unfriendly. Now, in my personal experience, I know this is not true. Of the five Local Bike Shops I have patronized, I’ve only had a mediocre, almost clichéd experience, in one, and I haven’t been back. The rest have been great. Even so, I don’t think they’re doing much to reach out to a huge potential market.

So, here, for what it’s worth, are what I would consider the Seven Deadly Sins of Local Bike Shops, virtually ensuring that riders of Department Store Bikes won’t become your customers.

1) Forgetting that every point of contact your business has with the public, or internally, shapes your brand. When the owner writes in a blog, when the stock boy talks to a friend, when the mechanic turns away a Department Store Bike owner with a sneer, or when the guy manning the cash register disses a client after the client leaves - every one of these instances forms the amorphous identify of your brand and, once it has formed, changing it can be difficult. Not only that, when you treat a non-customer (read: Department Store Bike owner) badly, he spreads the word. Some of his friends may actually be patrons of yours, and that patron’s opinion of you might begin to change, too. It can get ugly.

2) Thinking that people who ride Department Store Bikes are your enemy. Quite honestly, most of them probably haven’t even heard of you, or even stepped foot in a Local Bike Shop. In fact, around here, many potential cycling customers could be forgiven for thinking you were a Ski Shop, or an Outdoor Shop. Let’s face it, you guys aren’t particularly good at advertising. DSB owners didn’t buy their Department Store Bikes to spite you, or to make a statement. They bought them because, hey, department stores are where you buy bikes, right? That’s what they know.

3) Acting like every department store bike on the road is a loss for your store. It’s not. Each one is an opportunity: clearly not to make the immediate sale (the poor bugger already has a bike, right?), but to communicate your brand! Think about it. Department Stores don’t service bikes. You do. When that Bike Shaped Object needs adjustments, or repairs, that guy is coming to you. So what’s your opportunity? Show him that you’re not just the Local Bike Shop, you’re the Friendly Local Bike Shop. Don’t scoff, don’t sneer. I’m not saying you should provide free service, unless it’s something you can do in 30 seconds while the guy waits, but it does go a long way toward cementing relationships. If it takes a little work, do it with a smile and charge a reasonable rate. Make it clear that you wouldn’t advise investing a lot into this particular bike, but be magnanimous and tell the poor bugger he’s probably got some good riding left in his beast if he’s careful. You don’t have to tell him he’s bought a piece of crap, the bike will do that just fine on its own as he rides it. Telling him that will just make you seem like a jerk, and possibly lose you a customer.

4) Thinking that Department Store Bike owners already know about your Local Bike Shop. Maybe they do, but they probably don’t know you’re the Friendly Local Bike Shop. They still think you’re the bike shop where the arrogant teenage extreme mountain biker clerk sneered last time they brought a bike in to see you. Put a BIG sign on your window. “We service Department Store Bikes,” or if that’s too galling for you, “We Service ALL brands.” Provide the service at a reasonable price, keeping in mind that these bikes usually cost less than $200. Don’t complain that this will take time away from your “real” customers. Hire a kid or an apprentice to do it, give him basic training in bike maintenance. It’s called investing in your business; try it on for size.

5) Failing to be proactive in attracting Department Store Bike owners. Why not sell service contracts on Department Store Bikes, providing the same “free tune-ups” you would to your good customers, for a small up-front fee. I was initially going to suggest you approach your Local Department Store Bike Retailer to make the offer there, but I realized they would turn you away quickly. Why? Because they’d know immediately that such a tactic would win customers away from them, to you. If you’re providing friendly, reasonably priced service to the department store bike owner, where do you think he’s going to buy his next bike? Yep, that’s right. Your store. And if he doesn’t… oh well, you can’t win ‘em all. Keep trying with his next bike.

6) Failing to have an inexpensive, low-end bike in your line-up. Some people do actually buy Department Store Bikes because of the price, even though they’ve heard about your store. How do you attract them? Well, for a start, you could stock a low-end bike in the sub $200 range, no frills, that could be used as an errand bike. And I’m not talking about one of those brand name “Commuter Bikes” that cost $500 and up. If you have to, buy the low-end bikes from the Department Store itself, strip the decals, make a couple of judicious upgrades, and sell the thing yourself. Why is it that Department Stores chains have realized there’s a huge market for an inexpensive errand bike, but you haven’t? Fix that problem right now. You could buy the Bike of Doom model for $100 a pop, right from the department store, add a decent back wheel and a sealed bottom bracket and still sell it for under $200 at a profit… and get a long-term service contract and a loyal customer out of the deal, too.

7) Acting like it’s all about the bike. It’s not. Your customers come to you for the service and knowledge you provide. Don’t sneer at low-end bikes from traditional bike makers. Raleigh bikes make some very nice low-end models, as do Trek, Giant, Schwinn and others… all with components manufactured in China or Taiwan, by the way. Some Local Bike Shops don’t carry them, or sell out so quickly there’s never stock. In a perfect example of shooting yourself in the foot, One Local Bike Shop around here stopped carrying Raleigh bikes because Raleigh started to sell bikes through department stores. Instead of seeing this as a huge opportunity to sell a low-end bike supported by LBS service, this LBS stopped carrying the Raleigh brand altogether. I just shook my head in astonishment. Didn’t they think it through? Raleigh is a brand name familiar to many cyclists, particularly those of British origin. For many of us, Raleigh bikes are THE bike to own for everyday use. That’s the power of brand. When this store owner stopped carrying Raleigh, he wanted to send a message. Well, he sure did that. The message: go to a Department Store to buy the bike you want.

In my experience, almost every Local Bike Shop is guilty of these sins to one degree or another. Some to a lesser degree than others. Overall, I think there’s one change in attitude that would address all these issues:

Promote cycling, not bikes.

People who ride Department Store Bikes are cyclists. If you accept that, you’ve won half the battle. From there, it’s not too long a stretch to turn them into customers.

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