About Passion Trail Bikes
Posted by Charles Wed, 10 Aug 2005 06:34:00 GMT
(Note – this was written over a year ago. As Charles took Passion from idea stage to making it a reality, some things have changed a bit. But the vision he talks about here has largely been what was implemented.)
Passion Trail Bikes will soon be the source for the highest quality equipment, advice, and repairs for those that appreciate service over price, and desire 100% confidence in their shop and their bikes. All the bikes we will sell will come with rider specific fitting and tuning, and will be built to the highest spec available. Component inventory will be chosen using quality and value as criteria. The intention will not be to stock everything available, but to ensure everything in stock is a great product, either the best in its class, or a very good value for its level of performance. Clothing and other soft goods will also fit the high value, high quality theme of the store.
Passion’s most outstanding feature will be its service department. Our intention will be to earn your 100% confidence by offering the highest quality service available anywhere. Your expectations will be our minimum standard, and we will strive to exceed that. We will have the parts, tools, and technology to provide complete service on the best bikes on the trails and will specialize in getting the best performance out of every bike we work on. Service will be limited to good quality bikes to ensure meeting these standards, and will include all categories of Mountain and Road bikes. The quality standard in the service department will pervade every part of the shop, setting the tone for the brands in the store, how new bikes are assembled, tuned and fitted, and how parts, accessories, and upgrades are recommended.
All staff will be cycling enthusiasts with plenty of general cycling knowledge, but will also be specialists in some area of product or service, and will likely be specialists in a number of areas. Passion will foster a system of in-store referrals to make sure each customer is getting the best service from the best employee available, and incentives will be available to encourage all employees to expand on their areas of expertise. We will remain on the cutting edge of product and service information and technology by ruthlessly pursuing information from manufacturers and riders.
We will not strive to be the least expensive option for our customers as much as emphasize a reputation for protecting them from buying bad or inappropriate products or being subject to inferior repairs. Passion will not have as much value for someone that is very price motivated and knows exactly what they want, but will have incomparable value for those that won’t want to or can’t do the research into each component or bike, and want to have confidence they are getting the right products for the trail experience they are pursuing. The service department will have a done once, done right philosophy that will cost customers more per service hour than most shops, but ultimately save them repeated trips, and offer the benefit of a better experience on the trail.
Our target customers will be the type to patronize the personal shoppers at Macy’s and Nordstrom’s, use architects and landscape designers for their homes, and hire contractors and consultants at their businesses rather than exclusive do-it-yourselfers. This target is a small percentage of all Bay Area cyclists, but is a segment that is not being adequately served.
