Opinion: Building Community

This is the second of three articles in an opinion series submitted by Dan Hensley.

So where were we? Oh yes, you were waiting on solutions. That’s right.

Let’s begin with what I believe is the second most important tool for success in the future of the cycling industry here in America: Building Community, not a customer list.

Do you have those customers that just come by to hang out at the shop, chat, bring beer or lunch?

How about the parent who’s wide eyed child rings every single bell in the place ten thousand times once a week?

Let me tell you a little story about my father and my nephew. My nephew is a very accomplished musician for being nine years old. For real, if the kid keeps it up he is going to go places. Every Thursday, Pops picks him up from school and they go to one of the three music stores in their sleepy little town. Pops patiently encourages my nephew to play and fiddle and monkey with whatever he likes. Now, my dad is not a jerk, and he understands going too far and taking advantage, so he keeps it under control and typically purchases something with each visit.

One day, my nephew was raging on a guitar having the time of his little life, and an employee walked up and asked him to leave due to him being too disruptive. I get it, no problem; and Pops understood as well. There are two more shops in town, so it’s no bother. The employees in the other two shops champion the little dude, show him the latest and greatest, and encourage him in his gift.

From those two stores he now has five guitars, two amplifiers, a drum set, and a group of like minded and talented peers to share with. They understand building community. They see that he is a really good and aspiring musician, and they do whatever they can to help him grow. They know both Pops and little dude by name, and smile when they walk in. Sure he can be a little too rambunctious and annoying if there was an ice cream stop along the way, but they champion him and he is growing with the businesses.

The employees’ investment in him is paying off. So is your shop like the one that threw him out, or the ones that lift him up? Just something to think about.

Another aspect is your local trail building group.

Do you sell mountain bikes? If you do, you should be invested in the local trails because without them you won’t be selling very many mountain bikes. I know you don’t have time to attend trail work days, never mind asking a staff member to take one of their days off to dig instead of ride. Sure, there are those people that do it out of the kindness of their own heart, but those are far and few – especially in this day and age.

So how do you get involved with no time? Pizza. Burgers. Food. Your shop is understaffed and money is tight, so you give a couple bucks or a t-shirt or gift card to the organization to give away… so bland and impersonal. What if you showed up at the end of the workday with a bunch of hot pizza and cold beer for the people who spent the day digging? That would sure go far, and I know this.

I spent years leading volunteer trail work crews only to watch them lumber to their cars after the day’s tasks were completed. No one stood around and chatted, talked about the feature we just built, or how the trail is going to ride so much better after adding the bridge or drainage. They just went home tired. What would it look like if when we trudged out of the woods weary and spent we stumbled into a pizza party? It would look like a community, not a customer list.

There are so many opportunities that cost little to nothing compared to the outcome of the effort.

All you have to do is think beyond what the big marketing budgets and glossy photographs portrait. The big companies can not compete with this, even though they try. They are sluggish and slow, dinosaurs in the land of quick fuzzy warm blooded free thinkers, and they throw money and branded swag at things from afar instead of showing up to shake hands and say thank you for helping me stay in business.

Another thing I did with my old shop was partner with other shops to have parties. Literally.

Once every month or two the owner of the other “cool” shop in town and I would pick a date for a community bike ride from one shop to the other where a party was waiting. We took turns hosting, and both our customer bases grew in numbers as well as commitment from something as simple as leaving the doors open and grabbing some drinks for everyone to share after a hard day’s work. We were not competing, we were working together and shared the bounty of the community.

You have to look at the competition as it is, and the other local shop down the way is not your sole competition any more than the new Trek store is. Your competition is every single customer facing business your current customers and potential customers experience. You are competing with the thirty minute oil change place, the local deli, the auto dealer, the HVAC technician, and the health insurance customer service agent on the phone. Every single one of them makes an impression on your customer, and your job is to outshine them by making them feel like they are part of something, championing their efforts, and lifting them up.

There are more ways that I can imagine to do this, and each community has a different culture and a different vibe so you have to find what works for you.

I just want to encourage you to think outside of the box, find ways you can support your community that the mass marketing, lumbering behemoths can’t.

Find Dan at:
Westside Joe’s Bikes
4319 Piedmont Ave.
Oakland CA