Words by Peter Koch

World Wide Welcome Mat

If you Google “best bike trails Duluth” or “Duluth Traverse” or, heck, even “fat bike Duluth,” one of the top results is BikeDuluth.com. When you click on it—and you will, if you’re Average Joe Traveler, who’s heard good things about the Minnesota city and wants to see the Gold-Level IMBA Ride Center for himself—the homepage that loads displays “Duluth Area Cycling Guide” across the top (even above the menu bar), and, in somewhat smaller print just below, “Brought to you by the friendly folks at the Ski Hut • theskihut.com • 218-724-8525”.

To the right is the iconic, 64-year-old Ski Hut logo. “We made that,” Ski Hut owner Scott Neustel says of the free, WordPress-hosted website, letting go a mischievous laugh.

Duluth’s landmark Aerial Lift Bridge spans the port city’s ship canal and serves as its unofficial welcome sign. ( Flickr/Sharon Mollerus )

Despite what you’re thinking, the website is more than a thinly veiled advertisement. In fact, it’s exactly what it purports to be—a super detailed, earnest, and, ultimately, useful insider’s guide to local riding options, from tarmac to trail to packed snow. It also covers dining, lodging, gear shops (even linking to competing bike shops), and weather. “The whole idea,” says Neustel, “is we just want people to come here because it’s not easy to get to Duluth.”

You can bet when they get there, though, that they also know who the local experts are. It’s such a simple, obvious idea—to harness SEO like that, and establish yourself as the local experts—that every destination shop should be doing it.

Put Yourself on the Map

Publishing—and updating—maps and guidebooks to Fruita’s extensive local trail networks has helped establish Over the Edge as the region’s go-to experts with local knowledge. (OTE Sports)

In a similar vein, Over the Edge Sports Fruita publishes local guidebooks, as well as updates and maintains the most detailed local trail maps. On the “Trails” section of their website, the shop declares: “…we take pride in helping our visitors have the best rides of their lives. We gladly give trail advice and will help you, whether you make a purchase with us or not. We DO offer the best maps in the area and, despite online maps and phone apps, our in-store advice with an updated map often saves people from making terrible decisions about their rides. For example…Thinking of riding the Edge Loop in March? We’ll talk you out of it and save you from dragging your bike through endless miles of gumbo mud. It’s what we do, trust us and we’ll steer you to the best trails, considering conditions, season and your ability level.”

This Welcome Center approach has turned Over the Edge into the town’s point-of-contact and ambassador for every cyclist who comes to play in the dirt, dispensing cheap trail maps and boatloads of free ride advice (not to mention beers) while offering high-quality service. Founder Troy Rarick describes the approach as “honoring your people.” “When a person walks in the door,” he says, “that’s one of our people. We just take care of them in whatever way they need. It may be telling them where to get sushi, it may be telling them where to ride, and it may be putting a new fork on their bike. Honor your people, make it awesome to be in your store, and customers will honor you by giving you their business.”

The NBDA has been here since 1946, representing and empowering specialty bicycle dealers in the United States through education, communications, research, advocacy, member discount programs, and promotional opportunities. As shops are facing never-before-seen circumstances, these resources offer a lifeline. Together, we will weather this. We at the NBDA will not waver in our commitment to serving our members even during this challenging time—but we need your support.

Now is the time to become a member as we join together to make one another stronger. Whether you’re a retailer or an industry partner, your membership in the NBDA is one of the best investments you’ll make this year. 

Learn more about the benefits of being a member and join now.

The post Broadcast Your Local Knowledge appeared first on National Bicycle Dealers Association.

For years now, the folks at Absolute Bikes have been giving out a handy, self-produced owner’s manual with every bike sold. “Bike companies’ owner’s manuals are more written by lawyers than people who care about whether you and I are going to have a good time with our bikes,” says shop manager Anthony Quintile. So they created a plain-English pamphlet that outlines beginner riding safety, gear recommendations for bike and rider, and basic maintenance (how often to check tire pressure and lube the chain, for example), as well as included warranties and info on Absolute’s service packages.

Professionally designed and easy to understand, the Absolute Bikes Owner’s Manual is an invaluable resource for new customers.

It’s beautifully designed by a professional and contains everything a new customer needs to keep their new bike rolling dependably. “We developed the owner’s manuals and similar collateral to help pre-empt typical customer concerns,” Quintile says, pointing out that they do something similar when making repairs. For example, when they install new cables and housing on a repair, they let the customer know there may be a break-in period that will require a quick follow up for readjustment, and that that’s normal. “It sets customer expectation and alleviates a lot of frustration, potentially with us, on their part.

“Communication to a customer about what they should expect helps to raise credibility for our expertise,” he continues. “Without it, customers can view otherwise normal occurrences as a failure on our part. It’s easier to help someone with something they knew to expect rather than after their derailleur skips around on only their second ride, making them think we sold them a faulty or poorly assembled bike.”

Beyond managing expectations, it’s about encouraging communication and fostering an ongoing relationship between shop and customer. “The owner’s manuals also prompt customers to consider additional purchases and to assure them that we’re here for all of their after-the-sale needs, as well. It reinforces that we aren’t only trying to sell them that one bike and that we want to see them again.”

Getting Technical

A few years ago, an incident with a customer made Absolute realize that advanced mountain bike technologies necessitated an addendum to the standard manual.

“We had a customer who was really upset about our failure to communicate service intervals on modern suspensions, which have come down to something like 25-30 hours of riding on some forks and rear shocks,” Quintile says. “We took that to heart, and—once we addressed her concerns—we produced a sort of rack card that we give out with our in-house owner’s manual.”

The addendum includes all of those things one needs to know about a modern mountain bicycle, including information about carbon fiber, suspension service intervals, disc brakes, dropper seat posts, etc.

The incident also led to a store-wide change in policy in regards to how they talk to customers about such matters, requiring that everyone be more diligent in repeating the maintenance requirements that come with newer, better technology.

“If you bought a mountain bike in 1989, it was this steel thing without any suspension, and you expected to be able to throw it in the back of your pick-up and beat the crap out of it for 10 years before you needed to do anything to it,” Quintile says. “Now, you take your bike out on one ride and you have to check the shock pressures and the tire pressures, or you’ll ding up your rims and smash up your frame.”

It’s an ongoing conversation, of course, and the owner’s manual is just one way to keep it going. “We’re listening to people as best we can, and doing our best to address their concerns.”

The NBDA has been here since 1946, representing and empowering specialty bicycle dealers in the United States through education, communications, research, advocacy, member discount programs, and promotional opportunities. As shops are facing never-before-seen circumstances, these resources offer a lifeline. Together, we will weather this. We at the NBDA will not waver in our commitment to serving our members even during this challenging time—but we need your support.

Now is the time to become a member as we join together to make one another stronger. Whether you’re a retailer or an industry partner, your membership in the NBDA is one of the best investments you’ll make this year. 

Learn more about the benefits of being a member and join now.

The post Make Owner’s Manuals: The Little Idea appeared first on National Bicycle Dealers Association.