What do you look for?
Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2009 3:41 pm
Ok ladies and gentlemen,
We have a wonderfully academic and energetic discussion going about the bylaws someplace else on this forum. It is pretty interesting, you should stop over and see it, but fortunately this isn't a forum on organization policy or small group politics, it is a about fish and all things related. So, I thought I might breath a little life back into that part of the discussion.
I have had the wonderful opportunity in the past 48 hours to poke my head into 4 different pet stores. These ranged from big box stores to smaller "regional chain" stores. I enjoy just going to visit, sometimes to my wife's frustration.
These particular visit were interesting as I reflected on them, because as a result, I have actually changed my opinion on one of the shops from "probably don't need to go there unless I am bored" to "this will be my new primary shop to visit." This is a full 180 degree swing obviously, and it was caused by really a very simple combination of factors. On the other hand one of the shops went from, "a place to pick up supplies on occasion" to "don't care if I ever go there again." Now this change didn't happen over night. The store seems to have been working on earning this status with me for quite some time. So, I won't bad mouth the second store, but I will tell you what changed my mind about the first. After that, I would like to hear from all of you. What makes your favorite store your favorite store? What do you look for in an aquarium shop?
This was the second time I have visited the store this month. The first thing that began to change my mind was the person working there recognized me and said hi. Keep in mind, he hadn't seen me in 3 weeks or more. When I was in last we did have a long discussion about fish and the fish trade. After recognizing me, he immediately asked me to help one of his customers identify fish from the "mixed cichlids of the world" tank. When the three of us were done identifying cichlids and talking about cichlid behavior the worker asked if I needed anything. As usual, I responded with, "just grazing." He didn't bother me then as I looked through the selection of fish. When I had stopped he asked me a surprising question, "You mentioned wanting to see my fish list. I have it here, would you like to look through it?" He wasn't holding a list of his current inventory, he was holding a list from their wholesaler, prices included. I of course jumped at the opportunity having not seen a wholesale list from this supplier before and as any fish head should be, curious about the possibilities. He started helping customers and I started drooling, not over the prices, but over the shear diversity that was available to the store. He came back a few minutes later and asked if I could point out the "shell dwellers" that I had purchased out of the "mixed cichlids of the world" tank on my last visit. I found them listed on the paper and pointed them out. He asked me if he wanted a bag ordered. I had expressed disappointment on the last visit that they only had 2 (which I purchased, both girls). I declined the offer, not knowing when I would make it back to the store again. He then handed me a pen and asked me to circle fish on their list that are "interesting like the shell dwellers" so that his boss could see it. I happily obliged.
I was in that store for nearly an hour. I helped customers, chatted with the employee, and ogled the colony of 12 adult rams that were competing for space in one of his tanks. I left with no fish. I did though by some dry goods for more money than I would normally spend on them. It is 3pm here today and the store is an hour, I won't say that I am not tempted to make that drive again today.
So, what do I look for? I look for customer service. I look for a willingness in the store to improve and listen to feedback from their customers. I also look for a good selection of fishes at a reasonable price. Anybody want to guess why I won't bother to go back in the other store?
Kevin
We have a wonderfully academic and energetic discussion going about the bylaws someplace else on this forum. It is pretty interesting, you should stop over and see it, but fortunately this isn't a forum on organization policy or small group politics, it is a about fish and all things related. So, I thought I might breath a little life back into that part of the discussion.
I have had the wonderful opportunity in the past 48 hours to poke my head into 4 different pet stores. These ranged from big box stores to smaller "regional chain" stores. I enjoy just going to visit, sometimes to my wife's frustration.
These particular visit were interesting as I reflected on them, because as a result, I have actually changed my opinion on one of the shops from "probably don't need to go there unless I am bored" to "this will be my new primary shop to visit." This is a full 180 degree swing obviously, and it was caused by really a very simple combination of factors. On the other hand one of the shops went from, "a place to pick up supplies on occasion" to "don't care if I ever go there again." Now this change didn't happen over night. The store seems to have been working on earning this status with me for quite some time. So, I won't bad mouth the second store, but I will tell you what changed my mind about the first. After that, I would like to hear from all of you. What makes your favorite store your favorite store? What do you look for in an aquarium shop?
This was the second time I have visited the store this month. The first thing that began to change my mind was the person working there recognized me and said hi. Keep in mind, he hadn't seen me in 3 weeks or more. When I was in last we did have a long discussion about fish and the fish trade. After recognizing me, he immediately asked me to help one of his customers identify fish from the "mixed cichlids of the world" tank. When the three of us were done identifying cichlids and talking about cichlid behavior the worker asked if I needed anything. As usual, I responded with, "just grazing." He didn't bother me then as I looked through the selection of fish. When I had stopped he asked me a surprising question, "You mentioned wanting to see my fish list. I have it here, would you like to look through it?" He wasn't holding a list of his current inventory, he was holding a list from their wholesaler, prices included. I of course jumped at the opportunity having not seen a wholesale list from this supplier before and as any fish head should be, curious about the possibilities. He started helping customers and I started drooling, not over the prices, but over the shear diversity that was available to the store. He came back a few minutes later and asked if I could point out the "shell dwellers" that I had purchased out of the "mixed cichlids of the world" tank on my last visit. I found them listed on the paper and pointed them out. He asked me if he wanted a bag ordered. I had expressed disappointment on the last visit that they only had 2 (which I purchased, both girls). I declined the offer, not knowing when I would make it back to the store again. He then handed me a pen and asked me to circle fish on their list that are "interesting like the shell dwellers" so that his boss could see it. I happily obliged.
I was in that store for nearly an hour. I helped customers, chatted with the employee, and ogled the colony of 12 adult rams that were competing for space in one of his tanks. I left with no fish. I did though by some dry goods for more money than I would normally spend on them. It is 3pm here today and the store is an hour, I won't say that I am not tempted to make that drive again today.
So, what do I look for? I look for customer service. I look for a willingness in the store to improve and listen to feedback from their customers. I also look for a good selection of fishes at a reasonable price. Anybody want to guess why I won't bother to go back in the other store?
Kevin