A Case For Automation

We’ve all experienced this joy at one time or another — the travails of “human error.” Its effect on business is staggering. Though difficult to quantify, some estimates calculate “human error” costs businesses hundreds of millions (if not billions) of dollars every year. (In one instance alone last August, a Citigroup “clerical error” resulted in nearly $1 billion wired to Revlon Inc.’s lenders, who were involved in a lawsuit against Revlon — and refused to give it back, leading to another lawsuit.)

Of course, losing money is a concern for any business — but the stakes are raised significantly at the counter of a storefront dealer, especially when human error materializes at the point of sale on Form 4473s.

A strategy dealers have employed to mitigate errors is to put their trust in automated systems. In one example, Jay’s Sporting Goods President Jeff Poet shared his two Michigan stores utilize Celerant’s third-party integration with FastBound to enhance accuracy and speed of firearms transactions — and noted its impact on the customer.

“It really speeds up our process,” he said. “And how does it affect the customer? We’re just a lot more efficient, with less errors. We don’t have to worry about following up with a customer because we did something wrong — that’s been very beneficial for us.”

Besides elevating customer service, another aspect of mitigating errors is it gives your store an additional layer of protection against the threat of fines. Responding to President Biden’s “merchants of death” jibe to dealers, John Phillips, founder and president of Poway Weapons & Gear in Poway, Calif., shared of an effort by the California legislature to punish dealers for infractions on paperwork.

“We have a bill coming in next year [CA AB-2362], that’s going to put anywhere from $1,000 to $3,000 fine on dealers for the slightest infractions,” he said. “It doesn’t take too many times missing a dotted ‘I’ or a crossed ‘T’ to put a dealer out of business.”

Poet stressed the need to have good procedures in place, in the event an error occurs.

“Even for the best dealers — nobody’s perfect — you need to be as good as you can possibly be when it comes to compliance,” he said.

Besides compliance, other areas of your business would benefit from automated procedures include auto replenishment, range/class scheduling and digital communications.

What procedures have you successfully automated to benefit your business? Which providers have filled the need? Let the us know: editor@shootingindustry.com.