What would the perfect lfs have?
- Thread starter fishgeek01
- Start date
fishgeek01
Active Member
i was thinking more of a spend x dollars get x dollars free sort of thing, buy one get one is always so selective, and you never really want two of what they are offering... so i am going to do the spend x get x deal i think
Y
yeffre kix
Guest
Forget anything FREE !
In-home service is a great idea but you'll need to pay an experienced person to perform the services. If they do great work for a reasonable rate you'll get some business from it.
Make sure you limit your liability in case of a tank crashing or damage to a clients home.
I gladly pay 60 cents a gallon for ocean water for water changes. It still saves me time and is easier than mixing it myself.
It's very tough to compete with the mega-stores like pet-co and of course internet service.
The key is to have a knowledgable staff and offer a good selection with a lot of turn over so customers want to come in and see whats new.
In-home service is a great idea but you'll need to pay an experienced person to perform the services. If they do great work for a reasonable rate you'll get some business from it.
Make sure you limit your liability in case of a tank crashing or damage to a clients home.
I gladly pay 60 cents a gallon for ocean water for water changes. It still saves me time and is easier than mixing it myself.
It's very tough to compete with the mega-stores like pet-co and of course internet service.
The key is to have a knowledgable staff and offer a good selection with a lot of turn over so customers want to come in and see whats new.
oceana
Active Member
our area has several fish stores. almost all of them really are bad. the staff knows nothing. nothing is worse then asking a question and getting an answer that you know is flat out wrong. or even worse hearing them say something to a noob that is way off base. i will say something right in the store if i see someone giving bad advice.
the best way is to have nice corals as a fair price. make your money in quantity not off one peice. meaning. its beter for the customer if your make 10 bucks off one coral then tryign to make 50 off the same coral. if you sell 5 peices you still make 50 bucks but if you try to make that same 50 on one piece you sell less and have less turnover. people need choices. if your corals look good and your prices are right the store will be full.
IE: we have one store in town that had REALLY nice prices. killer deals all the time. and nice corals. the employees were dumb as rocks yet the store was always PACKED. now the store raised prices ALOT and there coral quality went down. in turn the stores reputation is in the gutter. no one respectable will listen to a word anyone says in the place including the owner. the price is not the problem. its the quality. people want to see bright well cared for corals. and they want good information that they can feel good about.
if you combine good well trained employees with well priced good looking coral your store will be packed all day long.
if you want to hire cheap labor the only way to get away with poor customer service is to have a product priced so cheap that noone cares how bad ther service is lol. Like walmart haha
the best way is to have nice corals as a fair price. make your money in quantity not off one peice. meaning. its beter for the customer if your make 10 bucks off one coral then tryign to make 50 off the same coral. if you sell 5 peices you still make 50 bucks but if you try to make that same 50 on one piece you sell less and have less turnover. people need choices. if your corals look good and your prices are right the store will be full.
IE: we have one store in town that had REALLY nice prices. killer deals all the time. and nice corals. the employees were dumb as rocks yet the store was always PACKED. now the store raised prices ALOT and there coral quality went down. in turn the stores reputation is in the gutter. no one respectable will listen to a word anyone says in the place including the owner. the price is not the problem. its the quality. people want to see bright well cared for corals. and they want good information that they can feel good about.
if you combine good well trained employees with well priced good looking coral your store will be packed all day long.
if you want to hire cheap labor the only way to get away with poor customer service is to have a product priced so cheap that noone cares how bad ther service is lol. Like walmart haha
rara12
Member
for the price match, only do local stores. If you do internet they can always drag you down. To get the price match they must have a fliar or reciept to prove the price is indeed cheaper. But for your sake only do it on equipment, ***** has really cheap prices on Alot of fish (in example the clown gobies are only $7). Have the store devided into six parts. Fresh water, cichlid, brackish, saltwater fish, coral/live rock/ inverts, pond, and dry. and if you know what your doing then add copper to the fish only section of both salt and fresh. It helps cut down illness. Another thing i suggest is cycle your tank with a little bit of copper, not a full dose but just enough to allow it to cut down diseases.. Dont go over bord with display tanks. They are nice but it draws to much attention from what your selling. Have one main saltwater one and one main freshwater one. You can have a few little set ups that have it all and sell them as a whole. In the fresh water section have a plant section. Dont use plant in your fish tanks (the ones holding the fish for sale) This will make it harder to keep clean. HAVE A GENERATOR, after a storm one of my lfs lost half their inventory due to no power. Advertise before you open in the towns around your store. Open on a friday so you can have an opening weekend. Call in all your friends who know the hobby to start then start to ween onto new staff as it becomes available. Start small and work your way up. Keeping new fish in the back for 2 weeks might be good in the hobby but not for the store. Put the hardy things out on the floor right away and let the less hardy sit in back for no more then a week. I know you dont want to have to worry about another chemical in your tanks but adding copper will save you money. Allow people to sign up for a mailing list and send out the list of fish you get in to them. Use brine shrimp and cheaper foods. The fish are only there till sold so as long as they are fed they dont really need all the nutrience.
I know it sounds like i dont know what im talking about but these are all thing i do or that other stores do to save money and sell fish.
I know it sounds like i dont know what im talking about but these are all thing i do or that other stores do to save money and sell fish.
D
davidmwj
Guest
I don't know how feasible this is for a brick and mortar store, but I was thinking about it when looking at Wrasse's on this site. It would be nice if the store could have a "reef safe", "non reef safe", "aggressive", "large tank" section, etc. It would definitely be easier for the customer expecially in the larger stores.
That way customers won't find a fish that they want only to be told it won't work with their system, tank size, etc. That might also help alleviate the complaints I was reading in another thread from people who work at lfs's. Specifically, complaints about people not caring if the fish is compatible with their tank, they just want it, lol.
Dave
That way customers won't find a fish that they want only to be told it won't work with their system, tank size, etc. That might also help alleviate the complaints I was reading in another thread from people who work at lfs's. Specifically, complaints about people not caring if the fish is compatible with their tank, they just want it, lol.
Dave
J
jdragunas
Guest
i didn't read anyones, but my fav. lfs has a display tank where you can look down into it. They also have some incredibly giant catfish... that's one of the things that keeps me going back there even though i'm not into freshwater. They're wickedly cool! You gotta have good customer service. you can't hire those crappy know-nothing teens that have no idea what they're talking about. i agree with david about separating them out. You could also have a "compatibility chart" set out so they can see what kind of fish they can get with their existing ones.
OOOHHH!!! you could have some sort of seminar. In my business, we do first time homebuyer seminars. All we do is inform buyers what they should expect in the
[hr]
process. In the same way, you could hold a first time saltwater-er seminar to teach the basics to people thinking about possibly doing saltwater. This will not only get them into your store, but they'll feel more comfortable with you because you taught them from the beginning.
hmmm... let's see... my other fav. LFS has a seahorse breeding tank where you can see the little tiny babies... that might be a little difficult, but that gets people into his store.
The #1 thing i look at is how well the tanks are maintained and how healthy the fish look. Maybe put together a display QT tank for new fish in order to acclimate them and make sure they're healthy. People will ask about them, and you can say "oh, they're acclimating and not for sale yet... i want to make sure they're healthy". That'll also gain trust. I've found that if people trust you, they'll pay more and/or refer friends.
OOOHHH!!! you could have some sort of seminar. In my business, we do first time homebuyer seminars. All we do is inform buyers what they should expect in the
[hr]
process. In the same way, you could hold a first time saltwater-er seminar to teach the basics to people thinking about possibly doing saltwater. This will not only get them into your store, but they'll feel more comfortable with you because you taught them from the beginning.
hmmm... let's see... my other fav. LFS has a seahorse breeding tank where you can see the little tiny babies... that might be a little difficult, but that gets people into his store.
The #1 thing i look at is how well the tanks are maintained and how healthy the fish look. Maybe put together a display QT tank for new fish in order to acclimate them and make sure they're healthy. People will ask about them, and you can say "oh, they're acclimating and not for sale yet... i want to make sure they're healthy". That'll also gain trust. I've found that if people trust you, they'll pay more and/or refer friends.
J
jdragunas
Guest
i also agree with the frequent shopper coupons. if my lfs did that, i'd shop there more often. I also agree with a variety. Looking from a business standpoint, you have to offer something the competition doesn't... Really exotic pets for example. You bring in something not many people have, the word gets out, they bring friends. It could even be a store-pet... you know, not for sale. My LFS - i hate them because they're incompetent, over priced, and don't treat their fish right - always has some cool exotic pets. They're mainly a fish store, but in the front of the store they always have some weird pets... for example they have a pot-bellied pig for sale. A few weeks ago, they had a skunk. I dragged my cousin there to show her, thus introducing her to the store. It's a great marketing tool...
J
jdragunas
Guest
you could also research the phrase "LFS sucks" on this website and just don't do anything that comes up in the search results... HAHA
clown boy
Active Member
Originally Posted by jdragunas
i didn't read anyones, but my fav. lfs has a display tank where you can look down into it. They also have some incredibly giant catfish... that's one of the things that keeps me going back there even though i'm not into freshwater. They're wickedly cool! You gotta have good customer service. you can't hire those crappy know-nothing teens that have no idea what they're talking about. i agree with david about separating them out. You could also have a "compatibility chart" set out so they can see what kind of fish they can get with their existing ones.
OOOHHH!!! you could have some sort of seminar. In my business, we do first time homebuyer seminars. All we do is inform buyers what they should expect in the
[hr]
process. In the same way, you could hold a first time saltwater-er seminar to teach the basics to people thinking about possibly doing saltwater. This will not only get them into your store, but they'll feel more comfortable with you because you taught them from the beginning.
hmmm... let's see... my other fav. LFS has a seahorse breeding tank where you can see the little tiny babies... that might be a little difficult, but that gets people into his store.
The #1 thing i look at is how well the tanks are maintained and how healthy the fish look. Maybe put together a display QT tank for new fish in order to acclimate them and make sure they're healthy. People will ask about them, and you can say "oh, they're acclimating and not for sale yet... i want to make sure they're healthy". That'll also gain trust. I've found that if people trust you, they'll pay more and/or refer friends.
Wow, that sounds cool!
J
jdragunas
Guest
hey, thanks! It's pretty easy... i constantly think about why i hate my LFS and ways i would do it if i opened one... maybe i'll do that someday.... i would LOVE that! hmmmmmmm....