How Can Local Bike Shops Improve Customer Service?

Question

What strategies can local bike shops adopt to improve their customer service while remaining competitive?

Answer 1

At local bike shops, customer service can be elevated by availing training on appropriate sales, and product orientation to the personnel working at the shops. The employees understand what the customers are looking for or need and can guide the customers accordingly. The shops should also encourage their employees to acknowledge their areas of ignorance, and seek information from those who know it. They can hire full-time employees, specialists for these categories, and make sure that such employees are available for every shift instead of trying to make all employees learn a long list of products’ descriptions. This will help such shops in turning out to be of a better service to the customers and stand in competition with the online shops.

Comments

My sister is new to MTB and rode a local trail with me. She crashed and bent her derailleur. Our lbs fixed it on the spot for free and was very encouraging and non-judgmental towards her when she told her story. Before moving here I would drive 45 minutes, passing multiple shops, to get to the shop that gave me the most respect and talked to me as a fellow rider instead of a cash box.

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I've had exactly the same experiences with most of the bike shops in my area, I really wanted to find a place I could build a relationship with and continually work with but I always got treated like they were too busy to help or completely lacked the knowledge to do so. After a while of searching I ended up ordering parts and tools and learning to do my own maintenance. It's a shame really.

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Wow.  You nailed it.  And you did it without anger, rancor, or cynicism.

You are correct about the state of affairs in bike shops.  I can’t tell you the number of times that I have gone in and known more about the product than the guy working there.  Sure, I’m autistic and bikes are my thing; but they should know more than me.  It’s what they do.

Bike shops need to become more approachable.  That means through attitude — making people feel welcome — and through pricing.  The folks who walk into an LBS wanting “just a bike” need product that works and is affordable.  That’s the hole in the market.

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I recently bought a new bike (trying transition back to a non assist bike after riding an ebike for 4 years, crazy, right?) I narrowed my choices down by the knowledge and enthusiasm the  LBS staff had for the choice I  was considering. I bought from the most knowledgeable shop that had a concern for the goals I was setting for this purchase and who engaged and challenged me to think about my choices. In one big brand shop, I felt I was walking on to a car lot.

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My LBS has been so good my whole life that I feel like I’m walking into a family members place. No judgement on the type of bikes I bring them, and most of the time they’ll fix a -5 minute problem with no cost because they know I’ll DIY the next time that problem happens. It helps that I show up during non busy hours, so keep that in mind.

good content!

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The problem I see with the local bike shops is that they are catering mostly to the MAMIL persona - middle aged dudes with a tonne of money to spend on a fancy bike and gear and they are here to drop dollars. But when I as a woman who mostly bike commute go in, I can never find anything that I want, let alone in my price range. For example, if I'm getting a new helmet, I can probably afford something in the $35-80 range, but at my now closed LBS, it was more like $80-$200, way beyond my budget.

 Another thing is that most of the stock are not meant for family or bike commuting. I've been trying to find an aluminum front rack (!!) to go on my little bike for 5+ years and not really succeeding. A front rack is so key because if you have a child seat, you still want something at the front to hold your stuff so your back is not sweaty. Most of the racks are black, if it's even available, it will ruin the esthetic of my bike, and it probably doesn't even fit properly to my bike. It's small things like that that makes a huge difference to customers. Or what about a waterproof rain poncho for cycling? The only 'good' one is the one from Decathlon in Europe. Therefore, whenever I go to Europe, I also try to stock up on my bike commuting accessories. The Netherlands, and France has good selection vs price and I even get it duty free when I bring it home. It seems to be the only way until the shops in North America figure this out and start expanding ideal client profile.

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I just had a bike shop come and pick my e bike and then delivered it after repair and tune up - a huge help !
I ride my ebike30 mile a day commute. I had to use my old /spare bike during the repair . The service by Propel located in Brooklyn . They were very thorough and the bike is running like it is brand new. They took the time to ride the bike and call me to make sure that the problem was corrected.
Superb service and great e bike coaching.
There are some great bike shops.

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Very insightful! This reflects my own experience when I bought my first road bike. Went to a bike shop to a look at some bike I had read reviews about. The owner seemed as if he wasn’t even interested in selling anything.

It’s even worse in those flagship bike stores that seem to pop up in every major city. Mostly clueless salespeople. Why go to a store if people hardly know more than I do.

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Since the day I started cycling I have found that employees at an overwhelming majority of the shops I've set foot in were incredibly arrogant.  In fact, I now do all of my own mechanic work and orders parts, framsets etc.  online just so I don't have to deal with these jerks.

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My LBS has no interest in doing a bike fit, they carry no parts and just want to clerk out bikes. Their service department changed a cassette for me and didn’t bother to adjust the gearing. It’s frustrating.

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I learned to repair my bicycle over the time. And I'm buying all my parts on the internet. So no need for me of a bicycle shop.

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My LBS, Black Arrow Cycles, in Kitchener, ON, is fantastic for their customer service, and for their understanding of bikes as a way to get around, not just a fun hobby thing. Their level of service is why I keep coming back, and why I was seriously impressed when they recommended a different brand of bike than they carried, because it was clear that what I needed (a front-loader cargo bike) wasn't something they sold (although they sell Surly and Yuba long-tails). They were also happy to service the bike I did end up buying elsewhere, and have been fantastic about it.

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I love my Gazelle electric assist bike that I bought after I researched electric assist bikes at several shops locally. I was previously more allied with the bike coop and the used bike resellers where I had shopped and gotten repairs done for years. I was not impressed with the Trek electric assist bikes the coop was featuring which seemed aimed at some racing  enthusiast and not a dedicated all season commuter. I eventually settled on the Gazelle as it did seem clearly engineered to endless miles of enjoyable trouble free commuting. I chose the shop closest to my home who carried Gazelle so repairs and seasonal tire swaps could be as easy as possible. I talk up my bike whenever someone notices it, offer friends a test drive, encourage people to visit the shop I got it at. I still get my road bike repaired at the coop and encourage women looking for help getting properly fitted in a standard bike to go to the coop because they do that well. I encourage price conscious folks to check out the used resellers. I love bikes and wish the US would get much more into bikes for commuting and errand running. Thanks.

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Big egos and bad customer service are my very quick indictors of whether a shop is worth bothering with.  I’m lucky enough to have several shops fairly close to me, but the closest two are like chalk and cheese.  One is a bigger shop with some premium brands for both road and MTB and any time I’ve walked in there I’ve been made to feel like they’re doing me a favour by even looking in my direction, let alone serve me unless I express an interest in spending €10k on whatever bike they have in stock (needless to say I don’t go there anymore).  The second shop is much smaller, has no premium brands but they are always happy to see you, always want to help you find a solution to whatever problem you have, have a great mechanic and great pricing.  Guess where I go locally now!

I’m also lucky enough to have some cargo bike specific shops near-ish.  One of them went out of their way to have some Larry vs Harry posters shipped from another shop in a different city at no extra cost to me, next day delivery and all for the listed in-shop price of the posters.  Another cargo shop hosts races at bike shows and festivals.  They are very welcoming of new riders to the cargo space, often lending bikes for races as well as also hosting community rides.

If your focus isn’t good customer service (regardless of whether that’s for “just” an inner tube sale or a whole new bike), then I don’t know why you’d open a bike shop.  I know a lot of folk who try new shops on smaller purchases first but then go back to buy bikes if they’ve had a good experience.  I’m not saying you have to go out of your way to build a cycling community around your shop, but if you’re not willing to listen to your customer and disregard your own preferences in favour of what your customer actually needs, then don’t bother opening in the first place!

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I bought my first bike years ago at a good shop who took the time to listen to me, understand me and sold me what I actually needed. When I moved to the Southeast I was eager to get into cycling down here and move more toward road and in town cycling and away from trails. What I found going into the stores down here is that if you don't look like a professional cyclist they don't want to deal with you. I've been snubbed so many times because of my size (I guess that's it but who knows) that I never upgraded my equipment and got out of cycling altogether. Just killed the joy.

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Well said
I lived through that exact experience on my last purchase, went a little out of my way to buy local and saw these exact issues, highly distracted staff, lack of sales and setup process sent me home with brand new bike that had air in front brake lines and faulty XO derailleur

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Sales and services in general are atrocious across most industries in the U.S. It’s why online sales are thriving and the DIY business continues booming. The problems you describe are even worse with car dealers where sales staff are truly uninformed and uncaring because the turnover is so extremely high. There’s also a shortage of capable, experienced mechanics.

However, I did come across a decent local bike shop recently from whom we bought 2 Yamaha e-bikes. The shop keeper spent time with me and my wife for test rides and provided advice. I could have saved a few hundred dollars on shipping and sales tax by ordering online, but this LBS had earned the sale. I also wanted to develop a relationship with this shop for my future services needs. We’ll see if my faith was misplaced (Yelp reviews are polarizingly mixed).

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In the area I moved to 3 years ago, Birmingham Alabama, there is one large bike shop that has 4 stores here, one LBS is actually part of a chain, and the sixth LBS is independent. None of them could even do a complete service on my RockSox Recon fork and Monarch shock. I called the local shop where I did live. He told me to text him the serial & model numbers that when the parts came, he could service them in 24 hours. When I picked the bide up he gave Mr the old seals and wipers.

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Great content! People will travel for a good shop with people that care and are knowledgeable. I have a great shop for mountain biking and commuting oriented cycling, but we will drive 2 hours to go to a shop that specializes in bikepacking and touring. As an older guy riding bicycles, I’ve found I really appreciate someone who understands bike fitting!

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I've been so disappointed with the quality of service I've received from bike shops in my area. I bought a Team Marin 2 in 2022, it had a bent derailleur hanger - I took it back to the shop I bought it from, and another shop before I bought my owner alignment gauge to get it shifting properly. A couple months after purchase the same frame developed a crack in weld between the bottom bracket and the chainstay yoke. It creaked like crazy. I brought it back to the shop I bought it from numerous times and they outright refused to do a warranty for a creak (I hadn't found the hairline crack yet). After about a year of trouble shooting, I ended up taking it to a different local dealer for the brand. They were nice about warrantying the frame, but they couldn't figure out how to get tektro barbs for the TRP brakes. They didn't install the rubber grommets for the brake and dropper ports either. They held my bike for like 6 months too. After both of those experiences, I've resolved to do all of my own maintenance and repair except for fork overhauls.

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They are  least 5 LBS in my area, but only one of them will service and even assemble internet purchased e-bikes. Now I know that these bikes are part of the problem, but when buyers feel like they're being gouged by their LBS with the prices on their brands, I understand why purchasers will jump to the online sellers. Here's the thing - after owning a couple of online bikes, I now have a relationship with the shop that will work on them and will likely purchase my next e-bike from them, because I'm ready to spend the extra cash for a brand name. So their past service has driven a future sale.

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What I experience here in Los Angeles is large indy bike shops that carry all the newest biking eye candy is this PERVASIVE elitist attitude which I expect and accept; its like walking into a auto dealership.   Especially in shops that deal almost exclusively with MTB clientele who have the money to spend, the techs who usually man the counter as well,  don't want to bother with me and my quasi-vintage Flintstones 9 speed.   They want me to buy a new $5K bicycle or would you please, GTFO of the store because they're too busy souping up mechs for the well-heeled MTBer. I kind of laugh at it and then go over to my grimy neighborhood Bike Shop which is a true neighborhood joint they'll fix anything you wheel in gladly.

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i needed a replacement tube for a family bike, i wanted to support local bike shop (that i got my bike from), when i called to ask if they had one in stock they said they did have it but after they gave me the price  for that TUBE ONLY i was SHOCKED i will never ever ever call them back again. I can do a target or walmart order for less $10 and not have to deal with them trying to sell me in "installation" and price gouging on a tube. I couldnt beleive they wouldnt want to get me in the shop at all.

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I made it to 2 local shops in the last week and was pleasantly surprised at the service and quality of stock on hand, as well as the pricing. We get hammered by tourists with their 1st world bike problems and needs all summer, so it’s pretty easy to be a little surly by September, but gotta admit our shops are doing pretty good in Tahoe this year

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Totally agree, same here in the UK, arrogant staff with big ego's who actually don't know much. They haven't figured out we tend to buy of people we respect & like.

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I’ve been a mountain biker for 35 years. Bro culture and falsely inflated egos among shop workers have always been a problematic in certain shops. As an old dude who raised a mountain-biking daughter, I see three main things shops should do: First, train your staff to provide welcoming service in an inclusive environment, and don’t tolerate egotistical employees. Second, make y shop invaluable by providing rock-solid service and quick repairs. (No, people don’t want to wait days for a new derailleur.) And third, hire women! Knowledgeable women on the sales floor generally calm the bro culture of the shop, make it far more welcoming to female customers, and provide expert advice on all gear, but especially the stuff designed for women. And they’re great with men, too. When I first got started and was buying my first shorts with chamois/padding, it was a woman who recognized I was a noob. She deftly brought up everything I needed to learn, like not wearing underwear, show to wash and dry my gear, etc.  I loved that shop, mostly because of that one person who was so great with customers.

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Thank you for this <3 I just bought my first bike in over a decade. It took me months to do so because I was so discouraged by the mentality of $3k+ or don't bother. I'm short with terrible hip ROM, and know from past experience that I need 155 or shorter cranks. The 175s on my bike right now make it unrideable for me. I contacted the most popular LBS and they told me no one my height needs below 165 and refused to help me if I wouldn't accept that. I get they are harder to source, but it's wild to tell me that no one could ever need below 165.
The industry has made the barrier to entry for a new cyclist extremely high. I hate to be all "back in my day", but I never faced the kind of elitism and exclusiveness that seems so normal now.

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Yes to all of this! I’ve had really great interactions and just a few really awful ones. The attitude, helpfulness, and knowledge (admitting to “I don’t know” is better than pretending to know) directly impact if I’ll go back to a lbs and give them my business. I buy online a lot but I can be swayed to buy local, it all depends on the interactions I have!

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I think an unwillingness to accept, let alone embrace, e-bikes is a common oversight. So much of what they know easily translates to eBikes. Plus, most e-bikes are bought by casual riders that NEED local service. I’m a senior ebiker who is enjoying biking again and wish my local bike shop would help instead of sneer.

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Bike shops in my area (a huge road and gravel biking market are) can’t seem to do basic maintenance jobs. I have given up on them after a botched brake bleed and pad replacement.  I spent the extra money on-line to buy tools specific to my bike (one of the well known brands) and do the work myself.  My bike now rides better than when I was leaving the maintenance to the shop and I am saving money

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At first I thought your opinions might not be giving shops enough credit but as you talked I agreed more and more. I find my local shops friendly but not as knowledgeable as they think they are. Example: one shop told me Shimano Di2 is practically obsolete compared to SRAM because it’s not wireless. I explained the shifters are now wireless and that the only wire is from the battery in the seat post to the derailleurs. He was the shop owner and  didn’t read the memo on this change. I’ve seen several more examples of this and I chalked it up to so much new technology but if you expect people to trust the shop, you should know the product or say you don’t and check (like you said).

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When I was a kid in the 80's,a trip to local shops were incredibly fun and inspiring. I still have that feeling for bikes,but,the shops now are completely lame.

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Suppliers are too restrictive on who can order parts, making it somewhat difficult at times for a small, mobile, or out-of-home shop to start. With shop space being so expensive, the investment needed for inventory and everything else, the barrier to entry is very high right now. This means we have too few shops for the demand. So you wait for 2 weeks to get a bike fixed (or longer), then you get it back and they either missed something or did it wrong, etc etc. It's very frustrating and it can be enough to make people wonder why they are doing this sport. It becomes economically exclusive and that creates all its own problems.

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In the Dallas area there is a chain of bike stores that dominate the market in the Dallas area. I’ve bought several bikes there and get repairs done there. The people there are knowledgeable and go out of their way to be as helpful as possible. The customer service there is exceptional, better than any other business I deal with. I don’t doubt that there are bike shops that suck but that is not my experience.