When we say that “everyone has to start somewhere,” that means archery technicians, too. Shop owners shouldn’t be afraid to hire novice employees and young staff. A confident employee will provide better customer service and better results for your shop. Helping your employees become properly certified and encouraging them to interact with customers are key steps to helping them gain that confidence.
When you hire a new employee, make sure they watch you as you service bows and explain what you’re doing as you go. Let them know you’re happy to answer their questions and discuss anything they don’t understand. Then, take a step back and observe them as they conduct the service. Once you’re certain that they can do it correctly, leave them to it. Letting them conduct services unobserved will show you have confidence in them and will help them develop self-assurance. Of course, let them know you’re available if they have any questions.
As the shop owner, it’s important to introduce yourself to customers and create personal interactions, but you should allow your staff to do the same. As you’re talking to a customer, introduce them to the new technician, highlight the employee’s abilities, and let them build the relationship from there. The employee will be encouraged by your recommendation and will gain experience talking to customers.
To assist in the transition, encourage the employee to interact with customers about the products they like, what accessories are available based on what the customer needs or discuss the bow options you have on hand. Let them know not to take it personally if the customer doesn’t go with their recommendation. Teach them to be realistic when they give customers a timeline for the completion of a bow service and let them know you’d rather have them estimate conservatively and come in ahead of schedule than be overambitious and fail to meet a deadline. The pride of beating a deadline will garner more confidence in the long run than a confident, but incorrect, estimate will in the short term. You, the employee, and the customer all end up satisfied when expectations are met or exceeded.
Another important way you can give your new staff confidence is by offering them the opportunity to become certified. The ATA offers Bow Technician Certification courses for compound and crossbows, and, as of April 1, we now offer a recurve certification course. Interested service technicians can purchase each course through our Learning Center individually for $600, two courses for $995, or all three courses for $1,395. Course bundle pricing will automatically be applied to your cart when you purchase more than one. Visit archerytradeassociation.learnupon.org to register your staff.
Through this certification program, your employees will learn how to properly and safely tune and set up a bow, as well as diagnose issues and repair a bow. Participants will first view instructional videos that show them, step by step, how to service the bow, followed by assessments and surveys to test what they’ve learned. Once they complete the online portion, participants will schedule an in-person practical assessment. This includes an observation by industry professionals who will make sure they’re conducting the service in a correct and safe manner. If everything meets the criteria of the official grading rubric, they will pass the course and receive official certification. Successful participants will receive a banner to hang in their shop to show that they are a certified bow technician. The ATA is preparing to add a feature to our Store Locator that indicates which shops have an ATA-certified technician on staff. Look for that feature in the coming months.
USA Archery Instructor Certifications highlight the ins and outs of coaching so that you can properly teach, encourage and cultivate the next generation of archers. USA Archery certifications offers five levels, as well as the option to become certified to teach the USA Archery practicals. Have your staff go through the entire process to receive the maximum certification so that they’ll be able to certify any new employees that are hired after them, creating the building blocks of a solid, educated team.
Being a certified ATA Bow Technician and USA Archery Instructor will bolster your new employee’s confidence, and allowing them to certify others will increase their confidence two-fold. As they continue to service bows and talk to customers, they’ll progress from a novice technician to an expert in the archery field.
Visit archerytrade.org to become an ATA member, access business resources, and learn more tips and tricks to make your archery shop as successful as possible.
WE ARE HERE TO HELP THE INDUSTRY, TO HELP INDIVIDUAL BUSINESSES GET THE MOST OUT OF THE INDUSTRY, AND TO HELP YOU.
