Razor-shard sales: hone your gun shop knife profits!

Shooting Industry, March, 2005 by Jim Gardner

"Not everyone who walks out of our store with a firearm leaves with a knife, too," said Shannara Grosch. "But the appeal is so similar, they're likely to be back for one."

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Grosch knows a lot about such sales. She is the manager of Arizona Tactical, the successful military and law enforcement sales division of the well-known Shooter's World in Phoenix, Ariz.

Shooter's World is a huge facility--approximately 40,000 square feet with half of the space devoted to the sales floor. Shooter's World is a full-service operation, offering its customers every category of firearm along with accessories, training, a large indoor range and quality cutlery.

Are knives an important add-on to the store's firearm sales?

"Not just to firearms, but knives are quite important in relation to all of our sales," Grosch said.

To stress the importance of knives, Grosch points out that the store's main knife display occupies four large, lighted cases near the center of the sales floor. There also is a small stock of inexpensive knives near the register to attract impulse sales.

In addition to giving knives a prominent, central location, Grosch stresses three key elements to boost cutlery sales:

* Educate the sales team.

* Inform the customer.

* Offer high-quality products.

This is a winning strategy for Arizona Tactical.

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Knowledge Is Vital To Knife Sales

"First, I think it's vital to educate the sales staff," Grosch said. "We do that through standard training, providing reading materials, and we even make the Internet available. I find most of the staff also do a good deal of study on their own."

While knives are one of man's oldest and simplest tools, such education is necessary in today's market. There has been more advancement in folding knives over the past two decades than in firearm design.

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Yes, the classic slip-joint pocketknife and the trusted lockback remain, but they've been joined by exotic folders with aerospace-grade designs, materials and manufacturing methods. Even fixed blades have evolved, mostly with improved handle and blade materials.

To profit from knife sales, a dealer is challenged to understand the advanced features of today's best knife designs. Plus, because new and improved models are released constantly, such education is ongoing.

For example, consider blade-locking systems. While there are a staggering number of different designs, the market is dominated by just a handful of them. Recognizing the systems and understanding their merits is important. It's just as important to your knife sales as understanding the features of the latest HK, Beretta or SIG pistol is to your handgun sales.

Fortunately, most major knife companies offer a wealth of educational material to help dealers learn about locking systems, knife designs and handle and blade materials. Talk to your sales reps, distributors and knife manufacturers. You'll soon have the educational materials, including DVDs, to educate yourself and your sales staff on knives and how to sell them.

Many manufacturers also offer videos/DVDs that you can play in your store to draw attention and help make sales.

Help Customers Make The Right Decision

Grosch's second tip for top knife sales concerns the customer. "The first thing our salespeople do is listen to the customer to find out what they are going to need the knife for," Grosch said. "For example, are they looking for a utility knife, one for self defense or do they want a general-purpose knife?"

Based on what the customer wants, Grosch says the salesperson makes several educated suggestions.

"The employee may offer overall information, such as blade composition, opening and locking mechanism, warranty information or technical aspects."

Grosch's primary selling tip, however, is one of the old standards: "You've got to get the product in their hands," she said.

It's not enough, Grosch emphasizes, to simply tell a customer that a Chris Reeve Sebenza, for example, is a superb knife. You've got to help customers discover this by letting them feel the smooth operation, hear the bank vault-like lockup and see the obvious care and attention to detail that went into the knife's construction.

Placing quality knives in dedicated display cases helps create opportunities to educate customers and guide them in making the right selection. It also distinguishes these products as something your store takes real pride in offering. Viewed through the average customer's eyes, gun shop inventory is comprised of two things: firearms and all that "other stuff."

Tossing a few knives into a corner of your miscellaneous products display won't generate much interest. However, placing them in a first-class knife display pulls the product line out of the "other stuff" category. It also silently tells customers that knives are something they should be interested in, and your store is just the place to learn about them.

Perhaps your floor plan isn't suited to adding a large display of knives. There are other options. Look into the excellent countertop displays offered by many knife manufacturers.