This starts the worst season in the gun industry. Between now and September is going to be a challenge for all of us. Today what I want to go over is the top seven things to skyrocket growth during slow season.
The biggest thing that’s going to grow your business the fastest or hurt your business the fastest is actually not in your control. It’s market and seasonality. You can’t outwill the season; you can only outexecute the competitors who freeze.
Why May Through September is Brutal
It’s your calendar. People’s tax money is gone by May. Hunting gets dormant until the fall. People’s wallets get redirected to vacations, weddings, fuel, and barbecues. It’s every shooting range—membership churn is going to spike. Gun stores have fewer transactions, instructors see class enrollment fall off a cliff, and online e-commerce cost per acquisition goes through the roof.
National Shooting Sports Foundation adjusted NICS numbers show that January is good and May is bad. This is the time of year where you need to double down on three things: More, Better, and New.
The Playbook: More, Better, New
More: Volume of what is already working, such as more calls, classes, and emails.
Better: Quality on the same actions; train, record, and split test.
New: This is the last choice. New funnels or offers are the most likely things to wreck progress.
The 20% Law of Change
Whenever I implement a new process, I have had a 20% law of change. While the team is learning a new change, just the fact that we made a change leads to a 20% drop in productivity. If you stack five changes at once, you’re at 100% productivity drip. I am very slow to change. I write ideas down and walk away. Most ideas only feel brilliant because they’re new; time kills bad decisions.
Between now and September, you will have many opportunities that are like the “woman in the red dress” that get you focused off what is important.
The Top 7 Things To Do Now
1. Dial 100 prospects a day: Call previous customers or leads every single day. Record every call and track bookings on a scoreboard.
2. Add more classes to the schedule: Adding more dates means more time slots that people can attend. Don’t wait for classes to fill; add the dates first.
3. One video a day: Commit to at least one organic video a day between now and September. Repurpose long videos into short reels.
4. Email like you want a reply: Email your list four to seven times a week and optimize for replies. Every reply is a hot lead; call them immediately.
5. Record and coach from every call: Record every incoming and outgoing call. Use scripts to close deals over the phone, such as taking deposits for guns or registrations for classes.
6. Run split tests: Always have a split test running on your website to learn what headlines or variations convert better.
7. Invest in your team: Conduct weekly drills and role-playing. Measure everything, including close rates, average tickets, and follow-up speed.
The Rule of 100
Guys, this is the most important part of going into the next season. I want you to focus on the Rule of 100. The Rule of 100 means you need to either spend 100 minutes creating content and videos every single day, or you need to do 100 phone calls every day, or you need to spend $100 on Facebook every day. This should be your goal immediately.
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