When service actually works...

[silentbutdeadly]

How's this for a way to do business? Mate decides to get a new bike (entry level MTB). Does usual trick of looking around town at normal lbs. Service fail (again) leads to unhappy potential customer. Then goes online to capital city bike shop who tries to sell him too small model. I get involved and suggest that's a stupid idea. Advise him to ask new local bike studio that is currently single brand and said brand might have an option.

Contacts said shop on Thursday arvo. Shop enquires with distro. Distro supplies options. Shop contacts customer with said options. Customer considers options and asks more questions. Questions forwarded to distro over phone. Questions answered. Customer decides and shop submits order Thursday evening. Win.

Distributor sends bike out Friday. Shop gets bike on Monday. Assembles that afternoon. Customer picks it up that evening.

A very Focused effort on behalf of both distro and shop.
Many kudos for the sake of a $750 bike.

Why is that so hard for so many other LBS and distributors?

[WhingingPom]

It's funny how good service over the smaller things keeps you going back for the bigger things isn't it? Maybe post in the great shopping experiences sticky up above?

We had an LBS around here that actively targeted the higher end of the market to the point where they wouldn't stock puncture repair kits (apparently nobody rides on repaired tubes), didn't have any 26" road-ish tyres in stock/wouldn't order them in and would only sell an overpriced specialized floor pump. Gave them a few tries, but obviously I wasn't their target market and gave up.

Fortunately, I came across a not-quite LBS who give a high level of service, happy to walk through benefits and dis-benefits of just about anything they have in stock (accessories as well as bikes) and don't look down on you because you're not dropping eleventy billions dollars on the latest and greatest custom-build frame.

Unfortunately, we've had another LBS open up much closer to home who seem to be giving just as high a level of service. Now my loyalty to the shop that has been looking after me for the past few months is being torn by my laziness and wanting to use the shop down the road. Decisions, decisions!