On The Range

Written By Doug VanderWoude

2021

Participating in NSSF’s #RangeChallenge Series is a simple
way to boost the fun appeal at your range. (Image: NSSF)

Another chance, let’s make the most of it.

Our industry has more new blood coming in than ever before, are you taking full advantage of it?

This is isn’t the first time we’ve had a rush of new customers after a huge event. We’ve been through this before — of course not to this degree — but we’ve had huge spikes followed by very deep drops. The question is what can we do differently this time to keep these new customers and lessen the drop?

Capitalize On Interest

One key to our industry health will be interacting with all the new firearms owners in a meaningful, fun way.

Think of it through the eyes of a new gun owner, the same way we all do when we start a new activity.

Take, for example, if I suddenly had the urge to get into golfing. Other than knowing I’m officially old, I would need to go to a store to pick out new clubs, shoes, a bag, etc. Now what? How do I learn to actually hit the ball where I want it to go? Where are the nearest courses, how do I get on them? Can I get on them or do I need to be a member? Did the store I purchased the equipment from provide me this information when I was buying, did they market to me after the sale, point out how much fun I will have once I get on the course?

With any new activity, the longer the time after the purchase until you participate, the less the chance you will participate. Would I put the clubs in the corner of the garage and forget about them for a while? After the urge has subsided, will I give golf another shot later, or will I lose interest entirely, never get on the course and end up selling the clubs at a garage sale? This is exactly the battle our industry faces right now. Time is ticking on all these new gun owners. If we don’t get them pulling triggers we may lose our golden opportunity to get them into the fold.

Many of these new firearms buyers are buying out of fear and using the firearm almost like a pill. The fear of what is going on around them has them sick, so they go buy a gun (i.e., take a pill) to feel better. They can quickly lose interest if we don’t get them shooting, and they’ll just quietly move on to other matters. When/if the fear goes away, they may bring the gun back to you and want to sell it. Of course they’ll be astonished you’ll only give a low price for the gun when they paid over MSRP for it during the crisis.

Marketing Tweaks To Encourage Participation

How do we get these new gun owners to actually participate in our sport and pull the trigger on their new purchase? Of course, beginner classes like the recently revised NSSF First Shots program is a great start. Many of these first-time gun owners may have purchased a Modern Sporting Rifle, so a beginner AR-15 class is an awesome way to go.

The latest statistics show — more than ever before — these new owners are likely to be minorities and females. In 2003, only 13% of women identified as gun owners; in 2020 this number went to nearly 25%. Does your marketing reflect these new numbers? Back to the golfing example, if I see ads for golfers and the golfers look nothing like me, I would be less likely to participate. The same is true with our new gun owners. Look at the last six months of your social media posts and general advertising — do you have minorities and females represented? Or is it still all stale, pale and male?

Target The “Fun” Appeal

While looking back at your marketing, how much of it is devoted to having fun with a gun vs. defense tactics? I think sometimes we forget how much outright fun it is to shoot a gun. If you have a range, are you using the new NSSF Range Challenge Program? A new, fun-to-shoot target comes out quarterly with chance at prizes offered to shooters who share the target on social media.

The idea springs from the success Paul Bastean, owner of Ultimate Defense and Range, in St. Peters, Mo., had at his facility. Bastean would debut a new target once a month and had several hundred shooters returning every month to purchase the target, shoot it and be entered in a monthly drawing for a firearm (a good way to clear out slower moving inventory or get a manufacturer to sponsor the giveaway gun). The goal isn’t competition related, instead it’s rooted in fun and improving one’s skills.

Speaking of fun targets, many companies offer a huge array of targets that aren’t silhouettes. One of them, Gun Fun Targets, has lots of styles including carnival shoots, corn hole, broad side of a barn and date night, where you shoot for the next activity (dinner, movie, drinks). Consider targets geared toward the growing women’s market, like a toilet-seat target with the lid up or a bathroom-scale target.

What about shooting falling targets? Steel popper targets are a great way to draw in shooters wanting more fun — they love seeing targets fall over and pop back up. Over the years, many indoor ranges tried steel poppers but ran into issues like range damage or the need for special frangible ammo, so they stopped.

Time is ticking on all these new gun owners. If we don’t get them pulling triggers we may lose our golden opportunity to get them into the fold.

Matt Siebert owner of Insight Firearms Training Development in Prescott Valley, Ariz., recently licensed Range Systems to sell his Indoor Range Safe Target System, the Challenger. Using pneumatics and self-healing targets, which fall down after being hit by standard FMJ handgun ammo or .22 LR, the air system pops them back up. Adjustable timers dictate how long a target is presented before dropping out of view. The unit with three targets only takes up one lane and is portable.

Action Target offers a pop-up system called AutoTargets, which combines metal-backed paper targets that fall down and pop up using standard metallic ammunition. It even shows the score on a screen.

Look at offering non-paper targets that can up the fun appeal. Champion and many other companies offer self-healing, plastic targets in shapes such as pop bottles, soup cans, bowling pins, etc., that swing when hit. Not much investment here to dial-up the fun factor.

On the surface, Melanie Murray’s partnership with
TuxedoCentral.com may seem “out there,” but it
checks all the boxes in efforts to expand her store’s
prospective customer base.

Checking More Boxes

On my last trip through Alabama, I learned of another new way to attract customers from Bullet & Barrel Owner Melanie Murray. She has a very unique way to get new customers to her store/range in Huntsville, with — get this — tuxedo rentals through TuxedoCentral.com.

After initially laughing at the suggestion, I thought more about her program and it checks a lot of boxes. Get people from outside your current customer base into your business: check. Get a younger demographic through the door (think: tuxedo fittings for proms): check. Build up your special events calendar with range rentals from more bachelorette and bachelor parties: definite check.

For brides this is a win/win: no more complaining from groomsmen about having to go get fitted for a tux at some bridal shop with all the “lace and fuss.” Now they get to go to a gun store to be fitted — how cool is that?

Having the bachelor and bachelorette parties at the range, keeping everyone away from the bars longer, is another win. Heck, she can even buy the bridal party gifts from the gun store, a surefire win for all!

Murray gets more return on her money by working with local schools and clubs to donate $10 per tux rental back to the organization for events like proms/dances. They do a lot of word-of-mouth advertising for her with this program.

To sum it up, take full advantage of your opportunity to bring new shooters into our sport by marketing to them and promoting all the fun the shooting sports has to offer.

Dealers, have any “best practices” you’ve incorporated at your range to considerable effect?
Let the SI team know: comments@shootingindustry.com.

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