Warrior Marketing Group recently had the opportunity to speak at the NBS Fall Semi-Annual Market.
I spoke to hundreds of businesses about something I care deeply about: how our industry can create more new shooters, turn those new shooters into trained customers, and ultimately grow the shooting sports.
Following the event, there was discussion about making my presentation available to NBS members.
That is no longer happening.
If you attended the Market and were expecting the presentation, I want to explain why.
It stems from a video we published following an interaction I had while visiting an NBS member’s range.
What Happened
While I was in town for the NBS Market, I went to shoot at a local range that happens to be an NBS member.
I was recording content during my visit when an excellent teaching moment came up organically.
During an interaction with an employee, I expressed interest in training. Rather than asking questions about what kind of training I was looking for, my experience level, or what I wanted to accomplish, I was handed a brochure.
I wasn’t upset, and I didn’t think poorly of the employee or the range.
I saw a teaching opportunity.
My company works with shooting ranges and firearms instructors across the country, and one of the biggest challenges we work on is converting interest into actual students.
Businesses spend enormous amounts of money generating leads. Yet here was a potential customer standing inside a range, actively expressing interest in training.
That’s about as qualified a lead as you can get.
That’s what caught my attention.
Not the employee. Not the company.
The missed opportunity.
The Video
Because I was already recording, we had captured the interaction. We turned it into this educational video:
There’s something important to notice when you watch it:
The employee’s face is blurred, and there are no company logos identifying the range.
That was intentional.
Unless you work there or are intimately familiar with the facility, you would have no reason to know where the video was recorded.
My goal wasn’t to embarrass an employee or call out a particular range. If it had been, anonymizing both would have defeated the purpose.
My goal was to teach.
The lesson was simple: When someone expresses interest in training, engage them. Ask questions. Understand what they’re looking for. Help them take the next step.
A brochure can support that conversation.
It shouldn’t replace it.
We Discussed the Idea With the Member
Before the controversy developed, I spoke directly with the NBS member’s Director of Brand Communications about the video idea.
I explained what had happened and the educational concept behind it.
He was on board with the idea.
That was important to my decision to move forward.
I had gone to the range to shoot, an interaction happened organically while I was recording, we took steps to anonymize everyone involved, and I had discussed the concept directly with a senior communications representative of the company.
Based on all of that, I believed moving forward was appropriate.
After the finished video was published, concerns were raised about it.
I Reached Out Directly
As soon as I learned there was a concern, we took the video down quickly, and I reached out directly to the NBS member to apologize.
The conversation was cordial.
They didn’t sound angry or hostile to me. They understood that we hadn’t intended anything malicious, and they were thankful that we had responded by taking the video down so quickly.
That conversation mattered to me.
Whatever concerns they had about the finished video, I wanted them to hear directly from me that hurting their business or embarrassing their employee had never been the intention.
From my perspective, we understood each other.
How This Affected NBS
The member had also contacted NBS about the video.
That put NBS in a difficult position.
They had invited me to speak at an event built around relationships with their members, and now one of those members had raised a concern about content I published during the same trip.
I understand the position that created for NBS, and I regret putting them in it.
Ultimately, NBS decided not to distribute Warrior Marketing Group’s Fall Market presentation.
That’s why those of you who were expecting it haven’t received it.
There wasn’t a dispute over the presentation itself or its message about growing the shooting sports. The decision followed the controversy surrounding this separate video.
I don’t blame NBS for making the decision it believes is appropriate for its organization and members.
They have relationships to protect, and I respect that responsibility.
I’m also genuinely grateful they invited me to speak in the first place.
What I Could Have Done Better
I still believe in the business lesson behind the video.
But there’s a lesson here for me, too.
Even when you anonymize a real-world interaction, the people involved still know it’s them.
I saw a missed sales opportunity worth teaching. The member ultimately had concerns about how that interaction was portrayed.
I can take that seriously while also being clear about what our intention was.
Looking back, I could have done a better job ensuring the educational lesson was unmistakably the focus of the finished piece.
That’s on me.
Why I’m Sharing This
I considered saying nothing.
But people who attended the presentation were expecting to receive it, and I don’t want speculation filling in the blanks.
So that’s what happened.
An interaction at a range created what I thought was a valuable teaching opportunity. We anonymized the employee and business. I discussed the concept with the company’s Director of Brand Communications, who was on board with it.
After publication, concerns were raised. We took the video down quickly, and I personally apologized to the member. Our conversation was cordial, and they understood there had been no malicious intent.
NBS ultimately decided not to distribute our presentation.
I’m intentionally not identifying the company or employee here for the same reason we didn’t identify them in the original video.
There doesn’t need to be a villain in this story.
The Bigger Lesson
I hope what happened afterward doesn’t overshadow the original point.
Our industry spends tremendous energy trying to bring new people into the shooting sports.
But generating interest is only the beginning.
When someone walks into our range and says, “I’m interested in training,” that’s the moment we’ve been working for.
Talk to them.
Ask questions.
Understand why they’re there.
Help them take the next step.
That’s what the video was about, and I still believe it’s an important conversation for our industry to have.
Moving Forward
I’m disappointed the situation unfolded this way, but I’m grateful that when I reached out directly to the member, we were able to have a professional conversation about it.
I regret that something intended as an educational piece created a difficult situation for NBS, and I’m grateful for the opportunity they gave me to speak to their members.
More importantly, the mission hasn’t changed.
There are more than 200 million Americans who don’t currently own firearms. There are millions of potential new shooters who have never taken their first class, visited their first range, or purchased their first firearm.
Helping our industry reach those people is much bigger than this controversy.
That’s the work I’m interested in continuing.
We can own what we could have done better, learn from it, repair relationships, and get back to work.
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