Competition is not usually the real reason a firearm instruction business struggles. The bigger problem is lack of visibility: people do not know the business exists, they do not understand the offer, or they cannot find a clear path to take the next step.
In this coaching call, Andy Hallinan breaks down how to ethically research competitors using information that is already public. The goal is not to sabotage anyone. The goal is to understand the market, serve customers better, and find the gaps that other businesses are leaving open.
The Public Information Playbook
“Spying” is simply a more memorable way to describe public market research. You can study public advertisements, landing pages, class schedules, reviews, booking paths, and other information that a competitor has chosen to make available. You can also review materials you receive by legitimately subscribing to a competitor’s email list.
The boundaries matter. Do not create fake reviews, fake bookings, or fake inquiries designed to waste a competitor’s time. Do not impersonate customers or attempt to access private systems. The playbook is about observation, not interference.
What to Look For When You Audit a Competitor
When you audit a competitor, look for the pieces that reveal how the business is positioned and how well its customer journey works:
- Active offers: What classes, packages, prices, and promotions are being advertised?
- Capacity signals: Are there waitlists, remaining seats, frequent classes, or long gaps between available dates?
- The booking path: Can a new customer move from the ad to a clear registration page without confusion?
- Customer language: What do people praise, question, or complain about in reviews?
- Message and outcome: Is the business selling a specific class, or is it clearly communicating the transformation the customer wants?
Live Audit: Where Competitors Lose the Sale
In one live audit, a competitor was spending money on a short video ad that appeared to promote training. The problem became obvious after clicking through: the landing page led to a two-hour permit-renewal class aimed at people who were already trained. The ad suggested one price range, while the registration page presented a different checkout price. The path created friction before a prospect ever had a chance to become a customer.
A second audit revealed a business relying on a single static-image ad for a generic basic pistol-safety class. Instead of sending traffic to a focused landing page, the ad sent people to a cluttered homepage. The checkout system was not functioning, so even a motivated prospect had no reliable way to buy a ticket.
These examples are valuable because they show how much opportunity exists in the market. Many businesses are either not advertising at all or are losing interested prospects through unclear messaging, weak offers, broken links, and incomplete booking systems.
Audit Your Own Funnel Before Spending More
The same process can be used to improve your own campaigns. During the call, a member’s ad was reviewed after only two days. The ad promoted a specific class but did not lead with a compelling outcome, and it sent people directly to a Facebook event page rather than capturing their name, email address, and phone number in a proper funnel.
The recommendation was straightforward: stop spending money on a path that cannot follow up with interested prospects, then build a real landing-page funnel. The lesson is simple, do not confuse activity with progress. An ad can receive attention and still fail to create an owned follow-up opportunity.
Let the Numbers Tell You What Is Working
Another member believed an ad campaign was failing, but the numbers told a different story. The campaign had spent $191 and generated three trackable online signups. At approximately $63 per signup and a $75 class ticket, the initial revenue was already close to break-even. Because the offer included a bring-a-friend component, those three purchases brought six people into the facility, lowering the effective acquisition cost to roughly $31 per person.
That is where the back-end offer matters. If a portion of those attendees later accept an invitation to a $1,000 program, the campaign can become highly profitable. Before shutting off an ad, measure the full customer journey, not just the first transaction.
Member Wins That Reinforce the Strategy
The call also highlighted several member wins that reinforce the same principles:
- One member added 42 new members in two weeks after moving to a monthly membership structure and bundling introductory pistol courses.
- Shaunie discovered that a “couples’ date night” message attracted people looking for entertainment but did not prepare them for a $1,000 beginner-shooter program. After repositioning the offer around an intermediate live-fire experience, she achieved immediate buy-in. The coaching adjustment was to keep the higher-ticket offer and make it more compelling by allowing a spouse or significant other to attend the full program free.
- JB and Glenda generated approximately $9,000 from a six-day county-fair booth. The strategic lesson was that local fairs attract families and couples, creating a different buying environment from a traditional gun show.
- Charles turned a one-student laser-simulation class into a meaningful opportunity when the student gave a strong testimonial, upgraded to a $550 program, and planned to register her son as well.
The Pregnant Pause: Why More Words Can Hurt the Close
The coaching call also covered a sales lesson that applies well beyond advertising: the pregnant pause, sometimes called the shut-up close. After making an invitation, the speaker demonstrated how a ten-second silence allowed students to decide and step forward. Filling that silence with nervous explanations can interrupt the buying pattern and weaken the offer.
When the offer is clear and the next step is easy, give people room to respond. Confidence is not always more words. Sometimes it is the discipline to stop talking.
The Competitive Advantage Is Visibility
Ethical competitor research is not about copying another instructor or hoping someone else fails. It is about seeing the market clearly. Study what is public, identify the gaps, improve your message, and make it easier for the right customer to choose you.
Track your numbers inside your marketing platform, review the complete funnel, and fix one broken step at a time. The businesses that win are often not the ones with the loudest advertising. They are the ones that create the clearest path from attention to action.
Get armed, get trained, carry daily. Long live the Republic.
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