There`s at least two sides to every issue. Regarding the operation of surf shops… should the customer always be right?
Absolutely NOT!!
That one in a thousand customer who comes in trying to be a jerk, trying to get away and get ahead of anyone else. He’s in it for himself, just to be a crook, and it happens if you deal with a thousand customers!
Misunderstandings do happen, and compromises must be made, of course.
You open the shop first to serve yourself, then to make some money. Being a nice guy and cooperative is farther down the list.
No, the customer is not always right. half the time, the customer has no idea what is best for them.
For example, richkidjoe comes into your shop and wants a new board made for him - because his surfer friends want to teach him how to surf. (This is all very general)
However, he doesnt want to look “old school” or “out of fashion” out there with a funshape or something, so he wants a brand new custom designed shortboard or fish to go out there with to learn on.
Of course if he insists on it, no one is going to turn him down. However, it doesnt make him right. I’ve seen people lie about their skill while ordering boards or buying boards in shops just so the shop attendents wouldnt try to talk them out of it. Then, I see those same people at the beach, with a really nice brand new board - just not able to ride it.
No Dale, the customer is not always right. In fact, many times, the customer is always wrong.
That’s not to say if you get an experienced surfer who wants a board a certain way - and it seems ludicrous to the shaper to make it like that. So I suppose it CAN go both ways. Most of the time the first example applies.
For some reason people dont like being seen in the Ocean with funboards - especially BICS, now a days. I sure as hell dont mind. If I have to drive 2 hours a day (like i was doing back in SC) just to surf, I want a board that isnt going to ding up on me. So I would usually bring the BIC and something else. shrugs Just food for thought.
Aloha
Bryan
I’ve shaped 120 homemade boards and about 400 for a surfshop, about 30 of which were customs.
Nowadays, I ride TWO different Bics, and I get razzed for it on SurferMag.
Doesn’t affect my choices tho.
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There`s at least two sides to every issue. Regarding the operation of surf shops… should the customer always be right?
Heh… you got this one aimed at a few of us… and as I’m getting ready to open for the season pretty quick, it’s time to put my game face on for that…
Customers can be idiots, indeed I’d say the percentage runs close to half. The beginners who want to buy the board Big Name won the Surfclothing Invitational on, no matter that they weigh 372 lbs, are 5’3" tall and have the coordination and general surf skills of a drunken water buffalo. Or variations on that theme.
“OOh, Mister Surf Shop Guy, do you have a 6’2"Zing-zang with seventeen fins and a triple stringer in green , just like ____ uses??”
No, I don’t. And if I were to get it, I’d have it about fifteen seconds before _____ was seen in a cover shot on one of the teenybopper contest coverage clothing ads that pass for surfing magazines using something a little different, in red, with a quadruple stringer and one more fin and I couldn’t unload that first item for love, money or a loss leader discount with six free t-shirts thrown in.I dread the time of the month when the magazines come out, as there’s a cyclic bell curve of stupidity that starts right there.
Or the other beginners, who want to go out my door with the 6’2" rental I keep around for 87 pound beginner kids, even though they weigh more than I do and are here at the ocean for the first time ever. All they’re gonna do is flounder, but try telling them that - they are gonna be the next winner of the Surfclothing Invitational next winter, just ask 'em. First World Surfing Champion from Iowa, right?
The kind I really dread are the ones that go over to my rental glass longboards, put one under their arm and check themselves for looks ( Hey, lookit me, I’m a reeel serfer duuude) , turning this way and that…and smacking the board into doorways, beams and whatever. I want to send them off with a 9’ foamie and if I can’t talk them into that then I strongly point out the 'you damage it, you pay for it, including lost rental time ’ clause at the bottom of the rental form they have to sign. And every now and then I won’t let somebody loose with a particular board, I’ll take it away from them and put it back in the rack. I have some standards, low as they are.
The question is, how to play to the idiots. The smart ones ( that is, those who agree with me, he wrote with tongue firmly in cheek ) are easy.
You can either go with the ‘Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full. Will that be paper or plastic bags, by the way??’ and give them what they want no matter how asinine, or you can only carry the stuff you like and hope that enough potential customers will agree with you to make you some money before you fold up like a cheap beach chair. You might subtly mention that you really don’t think it’s right or especially good, that’s your out so that if they buy it they are stuck with it, no refunds.
In the long run, educating your customers somewhat pays off; they get good stuff that works for them and holds up and your customers tell all their friends and you have repeat business forever. But managing to stick around until that happens ain’t easy and you gotta dumb down a lot to survive.
Of course, there’s new idiots all the time too, and they plunk down wads of cash for garbage and then get out of surfing, but their money goes to the bank just as well, buys my beer just as well as anybody else’s. Ron Jon’s hasn’t folded up like one of their Ron Jon brand cheap beach chairs, y’know?
Just go with what works for ya, I guess.
doc…
I work in a casino in AC and we are told that “the customer may not be right, but they are never wrong”. I may not believe that but that’s the way we try to conduct ourselves when dealing with irate patrons.
With more than a few years of experience and lot’s of idiotic conversations with shop salespeople behind me, I’d like to turn the tables on my friend Dale and ask, “Is the kid behind the counter of every surf shop always wrong?”
“The costumer is always an asshole.” -from Malrats
No one “should” get the runs in the middle of a date. My students “should” not jerk off in class. But, these things happen.
One would hope that a costumer should know what they are talking about when making a 400-500 dollar purchase. Usually it doesn’t happen. My first board was a 5’9" Island Scene that I bought for 60$. I should go back in time and kick my own ass.
I guess it comes down to the store owner. It seems hard to turn down the jerk who really wants that performance board when you know it will help pay rent for the next month. Hard to be like Spock and say “for the good of many” when the owner himself is interested in maintaining a lifestyle.
I say sell the board that is impractical. Let the new ones become frustrated and quit. This way the market will be flooded with great, barely used boards at cut rates while keeping the breaks body free.
Damon
Hey h2ofxk,
That’s a very good phrase…
The statement “The customer is always looking for help” may in addition be a little easier for some to digest as well…
HerbB
I guess I’m not too surprized at the arrogant responses from people in the surfshop business. How many times have you walked into a shop to look at the boards or grab some wax and the guy behind the counter treats you like you were just another “dick in the water” and not a potential long term customer? I am surprized your are able to stay in business for longer than two weeks. I don’t buy from any retailer that is not curtious or unprofessional or nice to my kids. Mike
(John Mellor): With more than a few years of experience and lot’s of idiotic conversations with shop salespeople behind me, I’d like to turn the tables on my friend Dale and ask, “Is the kid behind the counter of every surf shop always wrong?”
Of course not… but then again, I avoid surf shops.
The old adage, “Let the buyer beware” is more true than ever… thankfully the internet (esp. Swaylocks) can help educate surfing consumers like never before.
As Ive gotten older, I reckon Ive become a little better at listening, observing and thinking BEFORE speaking… important attributes which were often in short supply when I was that kid behind the counter.
i’m gonna think all dat about this one what a point of deprture…ambrose…hmmmmm
They’re not always right. But whether they are right or not is irrelevant. The most important thing is to make them believe they are right. And that doesn’t mean giving them what they want.
Yes, the customer should always be right but unfortunately it is just not the case.
The first board I purchased form a shop was a 7’11’’ gun. A $450 custom Scott board with tribal airbrush that looked so cool to me as a Grom. What a joke for a new surfer coming off a sponge, I thought it was junk until I finally got good enough and the waves were big enough to see it was clearly a great board for overhead hurricane waves.
As an EastCoaster it was rideable on average 8x’s a year max, so off it went to another surf shop swap and sold immeadiately to someone else who probably wouldn’t ride it much. It got me $300 towards a custom 9" Yater Spoon which I still Love.
Anyway, I really wish the shop owner took the time to sell me a longboard based on ability rather then sell me something he knew would be difficult to ride for quite awhile. I was pretty sold out on the look of the board but could have easily bought something more expensive and appropriate if the guy tried. To top it off the shopowner who sold it to me was a guy I would regularly meet at the shop and surfed with for 5 yrs.
In any business there are going to be bad customers, Stupid, nasty, etc but I think it is the job of the shop owner / sales person to educate and care enough to make a customer happy to return. Any shopowners out there who want to share their great stories ,trappings, blessings or pitfalls of shop ownership, please reply.
thanks all,
Write On, Ride On!
I’m not a surfshop owner, but as a human and business owner, I stand in with Mr. Murphy. The reason to treat customers - people - well is to educate folks and make new friends. Last summer I took my 11 year old to numerous shops in socal. We are from Texas and he was in awe of the surf scene. How great were the several shops (Mitch’s, Surfride, Encinitas) where the staff was helpful, professional and friendly. These places gave him a sense of surfing as a friendly and constructive (as well as fun as h*ll) pursuit.
As a doctor, I deal with all sorts of people every day. Some are pretty obnoxious. Spread respect, and it comes back to you. A well-lived life, according to Emerson, leads to the respect of intelligent people and the admiration of children. Seek that.
Should the customer always be right? Well worded, Dale. Yes, the customer ‘should’ always be right, but often isn’t. It’s the shopkeeper and or the assistant who ‘should’ make the customer ‘think’ that they are right.
Before I started surfing, the surf shop guys and girls were so frigging cool that an idiot like me was never right. But they always tried to get money out of my pocket and into theirs, and laugh behind your back as you left the store.
Then I started surfing, and the surf shop keepers approach was a little different. They were helpful and friendly, then laughed at you after you left the store.
Then I got into it, started making boards for myself, and the attitude changed again. You were greeted with more of a ‘one of us’ type tone, and given authoritive advice on the intricacies of planshapes, fins and edges. I left the store this time feeling at least a little involved and informed, even if they thought I didn’t have a clue.
Then I got better, hair got the cool sunbleached look, got a few orders, and started working in the industry, offically. Now I got treated like one of the boys, even before they knew if I had a clue, or who the boys were.
Then I got older, mellowed out, gained experience, lost hair, and made better boards. The store keepers and assistants started to revert back to the old habit of treating you like a kook. That is until they find out that you made boards for many years, and possibly knew more about their boards than they did. Back to being one of the boys.
Now I’ve gotten even older and wiser, gained more experience, lost more hair, and cut off short any blond tips that were left. Now when I go into a surf shop I like to act like a bald kook, just to see what sort of reception I get. In general I don’t get much attention at all, maybe because it looks like I’m just another old guy checking out the surf shop. Some salespeople give the speel, asking with no interest at all questions on how were the waves, or about how I need the latest fun board, because that’s what guys my age are riding.
Some don’t even ask if I surf, let alone whether I know anything about boards.
But there are a few out there who have genuine interest in the customer as a person, and find out what they know and what they can do. Those are the people who have the right attitude, and a belief that the customer should always be right, even if they have to use all their best people and sales skills to make them think so.
The customer Should always be right. unfortunatly they aren’t…The custom in retail is to facilitate the wants and needs of people that come into the store …If you got what they want sell it to em at an agreeable price…agreeable to everyone concerned…not agreeable ? try elsewhere… a familiarity with the local supply will make it easy to recomend an alternative…being stupid and obnoxious is unacceptable for either customer or merchant…the grey area inhabited by surfboard makers who sell their products directly to users is like having a wire with no insulation…easy to short circut mentally and socially…seller self esteem ,builder self esteem can easily clash with bargining attitude of the shopper ,a customer is not a shopper.A shopper is a speculative entity a looky louis as it were …when they buy yourstuff they become a customer they become right…when they dont like your stuff, from green beans to garden gloves , they bring em back in saleable condition they ae still right but they are not a customer they go back to shopper…easy…the customer is always right because they buy your stuff. There are too many people in the world with varying ideas you cannot please them all…please the ones you can and make them your customer base and they will keep you busy enough…If you wanna sell a million units your product will have to be a watered down easy to understand and use product and your obsequious salespeople will have to take infinite quantities of drivel from the customers because thats what the mass market is about…the market share for custom made surfboards is cultivated on a one to one basis customer to shaper builder where the customer should always be right …or they must stay a shopper shopping in shops until they find what they want…ambrose… sitting in a store,retail is hell
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I work in a casino in AC and we are told that “the customer may not be right, but they are never wrong”. I may not believe that but that’s the way we try to conduct ourselves when dealing with irate patrons.
Yeah those drunk and irate Casino patrons that blow smoke in your face and just gambled away and lost enough money to
bring back their familar feelings of ‘Self Hate’ are always
right when they tell your boss that you’ve been rude to them.
When your young and go into a surf shop with some
bucks to spend, you invariably meet the ‘Teenage Salesman’.
The Teenage Salesman can take any feature of a board
such as a hard edge,(speed bead) or a single or double concave to explain why this is the fastest and best board
for you even though it may be best suited for someone
50lbs heavier.
Why dont sharks eat salesman?
–Professional Courtesy.
Having run my own high end surf/skate/ski shop in the pre-“Becker” style shop days, There is one rule in retail,“the customer is always right”. Complete written agreements between shapers and client ,everything discussed and planned is up front and clear as glass. Connections with a good glassing company and accessories dealers are a must.
Do you want the customer to become a loyal returning customer who will tell all of his friends about your honesty and fairness? I would cheerfully refund many a sale and in most cases, that customer would return and spend much more then the amount involved in the refund.
You must have a super, articulate sales staff,who can relate effectively with many age groups.These practices helped my business “kick ass” over my competitors for over ten years.