Archery shops successfully compete against big box stores and the online marketplace by providing unparalleled sales staff and outstanding customer service. By offering consumers friendly, knowledgeable sales advice, high-quality equipment maintenance and repair, and recommendations for maximizing equipment effectiveness, pro shops offer unique experiences customers just can’t get anywhere else.

Another unique experience that many archery and other sporting goods stores provide involves bringing in outside speakers to give presentations on a host of topics, including bowhunting strategies, introductions to new hunting destinations, and tips and tricks for maintaining equipment. At these presentations, audience members can personally meet renowned archery competitors and hunters, learn new information, ask questions and make personal connections with presenters. Such events can greatly increase the number of visitors to an archery shop, leading to sales increases the store wouldn’t experience without these events. 

Due to rising costs associated with compensation, travel and accommodations, as well as an abundance of social media content available to everyone, many archery shop owners are hesitant to hire outside speakers. Now more than ever, every dollar a shop spends must translate to increases in loyal customers and sales. To achieve these goals and make your shop more successful, let’s take a closer look at the myriad of benefits you get from holding such events. We’ll also review the challenges that must be met to make these events successful and conclude with important strategies that will make speaker engagements successful, leading to greater sales and more repeat customers.

Advantages

The most obvious advantage to hosting outside speakers is elevated foot traffic, which can lead to a lot more than just increased sales. “Some attendees follow [on social media] the influencer you hire, but they’ve never visited your shop, so they’re exposed to your shop and all you have to offer,” explained Chris Scott, pro shop manager at Lancaster Archery in Lancaster, Pennsylvania (www.lancasterarchery.com).

When attendees come through your door, they’re entertained by a knowledgeable speaker and have a chance to experience the unparalleled sales and service your archery shop offers. This strengthens your brand as THE store to go to for all archery competition and/or hunting needs. 

“It sends the message that you’re strong enough for the speaker to recognize you, so you must be doing some things right,” said Jim Brunette, archery manager for Northwoods Wholesale Outlet in Pinconning, Michigan (www.northwoodsoutlet.com). “This validates your reputation in the community, so consumers think, ‘These are the guys to go to,’ and they’ll keep coming back to you for years to come.”

Bill Hahn, hunting buyer at Jay’s Sporting Goods in Clare, Michigan (www.jaysportinggoods.com), calls such loyal consumers “relational customers” – the backbone of any successful archery shop. 

“They’re people who shop here because they’ve enjoyed their experience from the event, and we’ve built quality relationships with them,” Hahn said. “They might not get the best price, but they know if there is something wrong with a product they purchased from us, that we’ll take care of them.” 

Archery influencers are often sponsored by equipment manufacturers and/or lifestyle brands, providing an ideal opportunity to sell their products during the event. It’s important to only offer sponsors’ products that meet your stringent standards and that are a good fit for your store. After the speaker event ends, your reputation is at stake if you sell substandard items. 

Besides forming relationships with new customers, Hahn believes these events can also strengthen relationships archery shops have with equipment vendors. 

“My experience has been that some vendors don’t like doing business with big box stores because they’re very demanding. We can offer the sponsors of our speakers something that’s mutually beneficial to both of us. Over the years, we’ve built personal relationships with many vendors, so when we ask them for something, they’re more likely to help us out.” 

Hiring outside speakers provides attendees AND your sales staff a unique opportunity to talk one-on-one with renowned shooters and/or hunters, giving everyone a memorable experience they can’t get anywhere else. These events also enable your sales personnel to learn additional information about new equipment, helping your shop better take care of customers.  

“Hiring speakers really is a form of customer service, because you’re often giving customers more information on something that they want to know more about, which also keeps awareness of your business on the minds of customers,” said Steve Hayes, president of Bob’s Gun and Tackle Shop in Hastings, Michigan (www.bobsgt.com). 

Challenges

One of the greatest challenges is selecting the right speaker who will bring in the most visitors to become relational customers. Many archery shop owners and managers recommend using social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and X to identify influencers who are trending and creating viral content. Archery forums where competitors/hunters are chatting is another good place to find experts. The right influencers can also be found by having sales staff ask customers who they’re interested in seeing at your store. When making hiring decisions, keep the focus on what the speaker has to offer. 

“You don’t want the event to be about selling products, but about creating a unique experience,” said Chad Stearns, vice president of operations for Jay’s Sporting Goods. 

You don’t have to spend a fortune hiring world-renowned experts. Instead, hire individuals who have knowledge and experience attendees can’t get online. 

“Most archery shops have relationships with people who have knowledge on a topic that they can bring into the shop,” explained Jay’s Sporting Goods marketing director Matt Poet. “You want to be relevant in your area and give customers what they want.” 

Whatever speaker you hire, make sure they’re aligned with your store’s image and values. 

“If I’m bringing in a hunter, I need to know their background to make sure they haven’t had any hunting violations,” noted Scott. “If they’re a professional shooter, make sure they’re a good representative of the industry and growing the industry.” 

Another challenge is the significant planning time it can take to bring in a particular speaker. While there are no concrete guidelines, Hahn recommends contacting national influencers 6 months before the event to determine availability, discuss both of your goals for the occasion and to establish compensation, travel arrangements and other logistics. Local celebrities usually require less lead time.

Determining the best time to hold an event can be tricky. Avoid periods when attendees are actively engaged in bow and arrow pursuits, like during archery competitions and hunting season. And stay away from holidays like the Fourth of July and Labor Day, when attendees are likely busy with family celebrations. Again, ask customers when they’d be most likely to attend an event and solicit advice from the speaker you want to hire. 

Finally, don’t judge the success of an event merely by register sales.  

“They may not spend money that day, but people are walking away really giddy and excited over the speaker,” Hahn added. “These events help you become an integral part of your community, and sales will come as a result of this.”

Strategies for Success

Archery influencers often have sponsors, providing opportunities to collaborate with vendors to offset speaker and marketing expenses. Ask a potential speaker if their sponsors provide any incentives for inviting them into your store.

“Occasionally vendors offer us credit to buy merchandise from them for the event that we can then use to buy other products down the road,” Stearns said. “This can save us money when making purchases later in the year.”  

Remember that any store event, including an outside speaker engagement, will be successful only if potential customers know about it.

“You can have the best person in the world coming in, and if you don’t tell enough people, you might as well throw your money down a drain,” Brunette said. “Do radio spots, billboards, social media postings and everything you can to get the word out ahead of your event.” 

Important reminder: Be sure to work with your planned speaker to have him or her promote your store event on their social media challenges. While the vast majority of their followers won’t live near your store, you’ll be surprised at how far some of them might drive to attend an event. These followers will also help spread the word about your event with their network of friends.

Keep in mind that social media promotions tend to be more successful when targeting customers who are under 40, while those over 40 are more likely to respond to advertising placed in local newspapers, statewide hunting/outdoor magazines and shopping publications. If a nearby school has an archery program, see if they’ll let you put up an advertising flyer in high-traffic areas. And don’t forget about the power of word-of-mouth marketing. Periodically check in with sales staff to make sure they’re sharing information about the incoming speaker with customers weeks before the event.

The timing of your advertising campaign is key to achieving a successful speaker program. 

“We typically begin our advertising efforts a month before the event, as we often see attendee commitment only a week or even a few days prior,” explained Poet. “Advertising too early can lead to it [the event] being forgotten. We also recommend smaller, continuous promotions like updating your website calendar and posting the event on Facebook and other social media sites.”

While it’s fine to offer customers some free incentives for attending, Brunette points out the importance of keeping the focus on the speaker and the extensive knowledge and experience they’re sharing. In other words, skip the bounce houses, carnival games and other ancillary activities that could turn the day into a dog and pony show that customers won’t respect. Build and advertise events around the speaker and the type(s) of customers you want to bring into your store.

Speaking of promotions, be careful providing extensive sales and deep discounts on products sold at your shop – it can inadvertently encourage consumers to visit your business for the wrong reason. 

“Some stores get really aggressive with their sales, but what they could be doing is conditioning customers to only come into your store to cherry pick for door busters or to save a few dollars and then leave,” Hahn explained. “Those customers are going to shop somewhere anyway to save $5. Instead, give them something that they can’t get elsewhere, so that next time they’re looking for something, they’ll come to you for it.”

Finally, bringing in outside speakers means spending money in order to generate future sales, so be adventurous and creative with the influencers you hire. As Stearns noted, taking chances can push your business in a new direction, one that makes your registers sing, build a stronger customer base and create lasting returns on your investment. 

Sidebar: Manufacturer Rep Events

Another type of expert event is an open house with manufacturer sales representatives who introduce customers to cutting-edge gear and technology. Consumers can learn about new equipment and how to get the most out of it, and get their questions answered by knowledgeable sales reps. These engagements also give your own sales staff an opportunity to collaborate with reps to learn more about the new products they’ll be selling in the upcoming year.

“We like to have our own sales staff first greet the customer to find out what they’re looking for, enabling us to determine the direction the customer wants to go before we turn them over to one of the manufacturer reps,” explained Matt Poliski, owner of Grand Valley Sporting Goods in Allendale, Michigan (www.gvsportinggoods.com). “Some people come in because they’re local users of a particular brand and just want to talk directly with the manufacturer representative, so we send them directly to the rep.” 

Collaboration between your sales staff and manufacturer representatives strengthens consumer confidence in your pro shop.

“Our sales representatives work with the vendors to become knowledgeable on the new products. When they are telling customers the same thing that the manufacturer rep is telling them, it builds customer trust in our store,” said Chris Scott, pro shop manager for Lancaster Archery (www.lancasterarchery.com). 

Communicate extensively with each company representative before the promotional event to determine what you both want to get out of the day, and how best to support customers and to accurately inventory the new products you’ll have for sale during the event. If you’re unsure how much inventory to have on hand, ask the company rep for recommendations, but always keep the focus on your customers. 

“Manufacturer reps are always going to try to sell their product line, but we might not have some products in stock because we really don’t like them,” Poliski added. “We’re always honest with the customer about why we don’t sell a product, even if we have to do it in front of the vendor.”

Sidebar: From Speakers’ Perspectives

Outside speakers who have done many presentations have a lot of good advice for archery shop owners/managers. It starts with NOT making the event about pushing products. 

“When I do speaking events, I’m focused on providing the audience strategies for becoming a better bowhunter, which is very different than doing a promotional event where I’m sitting at a table and people come by to see what I’m selling,” explained John Eberhart, renowned whitetail bowhunter and author (www.Deer-John.net). “Some people are hungry for real information on what equipment to purchase, and I’ll give them recommendations, but I’m doing these events to help hunters be more successful.”

Other than having sufficient space for the event, technology fails are one of the biggest problems when hosting outside speakers.

“The most common mistake is that the A/V doesn’t work, or there are no microphones, or the screen is too small for the audience,” said famed wildlife biologist Dr. Grant Woods (growingdeer.tv). “Folks get bored if they can’t see details on the screen. Results also shouldn’t be measured on the day of the event, but by the number and quality of attendees.”

Quality speakers provide an experience you just can’t get online. Brian Murphy, wildlife biologist and vice president of corporate relations and strategic partnerships at HuntStand (Huntstand.com) explains:

“You can truly interact and engage with a speaker in person. A good ‘live’ speaker reads the crowd and can quickly determine their level of expertise and interest, which allows them to speak specifically to the questions and needs of attendees. This is nearly impossible with online or social media. Despite the convenience of online content, there’s no substitute for learning from a live human. This was clearly demonstrated during COVID, when students were forced to learn online and lost the equivalent of one grade level in 2 years of lockdown.”