vishezfish Posted June 2, 2005 Report Share Posted June 2, 2005 How do you guys work with em? If they live out of your state? Do you sell em your product for less or just send as many as you can to em for free? If so, how do you know your not getting ripped off?? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GB GONE Posted June 2, 2005 Report Share Posted June 2, 2005 I have one guy in IL right now and getting ready to add a lady in LA (Louisiana not Los Angeles )!!! You will know right away if they "fit" with you!!! I give them a discount (15%) but always am sending them other colors to try for nothing. I use them to test out new designs and colors all the time. You will know if they are working for you as you will get calls or bait orders and the customer will tell you..I'm a friend of so and so..He/she said you would take care of me. My pro staff guy ROCKS!! Not only is he a great angler, he emails and calls me all the time with ideas. He talks my baits up all the time. I would definitely get a resume!!! My guy also guides and works at a tackle shop so he has my baits in front of anglers all the time!!! I'm sure everybody else has a thousand anglers asking to be pro staff for them like me but you can just feel out the person by talking to them and you will know if they are going to take care of you like you are taking care of them.. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dicknite Posted June 5, 2005 Report Share Posted June 5, 2005 Yeah, there is no shortage of potential "product testers", "guides", and "Pro-staff" out there! We have a Guide Program and a Pro-Staff Program. Two totally different animals. The term "Guide" has to be defined in order to set either program. By a "Guide", I don't mean a guy that is on the water most Saturdays and Sundays with a couple of people in the boat! That is a "Weekend Warrior". A Guide takes paying customers out on the water on a regular basis, usually NOT just weekends, as a business venture, has a guide license (Washington State now requires one - some states still do not), is insured as a guide (another requirement of WA now), and charges for the seats he rents out. A "guide" also has a historical record of guiding - or in the case they are brand new, it is evident they are set up to do business - brochures, cards, etc... Our Pro-Staff Program is a VERY RESTRICTED program. Pro-Staff get a set amount of product free each year. In our case it is several hundred dollars worth (Right around a thousand dollars this year, I think). After they have received their free allotment, they are allowed to purchase product at true wholesale - the price we charge wholesalers for our product - or earn more by doing promotions, clinics, or taking out someone we want to treat to a day on the water, like a customer, politician, or father-in-law (grin). They also get listed in our promotional materials. We allow them to attend shows we display at and have their own promotional brochures and cards there also. In return for this, they do what I believe "Pro-Staff" means, which is PROmote our products - most people think of them as "PROfessional Staff", and to an extent that is true - they are Professionals in the fishing world, but from a manufacturers standpoint, I use them for PROmotion... Anyway, they work with retailers giving seminars/clinics on fishing (and I don't require it is a "Dick Nite" clinic, because I think that limits the attendance - I would prefer it is a "River Fishing for Salmon", or "Lake Fishing for Kokanee", or something like that where they showcase how to use our product... More credible.), and they are required to attend/staff our booth at shows and give demonstrations/answer questions from fishermen who stop by. Pro-Staff also have connections into the media - whether that is radio (local), TV, Magazine, or Newspaper, or other means of public information dissemination such as a regular class at the community college, parks department, or something similar. Pro-Staff are also required to be guides. Our "Guide Program" is much less restrictive. In order to be on our Guide Program, a guide must meet all of the restrictions of being a guide set forth above, but does not have any of the promotional requirements. They get listed in our show literature under "Recommended Guides" , and are allowed to purchase product at slightly over wholesale. This is the main benefit to them - in our neck of the woods, our lures are used in rivers for salmon and lakes for trout/Kokanee - a LOT of lost lures due to snags. I have one guide who, on a 2 day salmon weekend (that means 8 to 16 people through his boat - $150 a seat = $1200 - $2400) will go through upwards of 200 spoons... At $3 a pop, that takes the profit out of at least one of those trips! Being able to bring his cost down to $1.25 a lure will save him a substantial amount! A couple of things that our Pro-Staff and Guide Programs have in common: They sign a contract with us. Basically it states that they will NOT sell our lures, they are NOT a representative of our company and as such, cannot make agreements for us, they will act respectfully when on the water and not give our company a bad name, etc... The reason for the "Non-Sales" clause is that we have had guides decide that it is okay to sell our lures on Ebay, bulletin boards, etc... since they are getting them so cheap, they can make quite a bit on each one! Of course this really makes retailers and wholesalers mad! As for knowing if you are just getting ripped off, you can do a few things. One thing I have done in the past is call them and just talk about their season, what they have been doing, etc... You would be surprised how much you can tell by having a conversation! I will tell them that I am taking some notes for "the computer" and then get specific - "How many customers do you take out a week?", "Where are you fishing?", etc... Also - if you are NOT getting taken, you can know that by customer response. I have a guy who works in California, who I am constantly getting emails and letters about - "There is this guy in that came up alongside my boat when he saw we were having trouble getting fish, asked us what we were using, and proceeded to tie a Dick Nite on the end of my line, told me how to fish it, and gave me 3 extras in different colors!" Sorry for going on so long here - those of you who know me know that I have a hard time keeping it short... Just thought, since you were asking about Guides, I'd throw in some of what I know... d|:^) Dick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeeter Posted June 5, 2005 Report Share Posted June 5, 2005 Dick, This is probably the most informative post I have seen on the subject. Thanks for sharing it with us. Skeeter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiverMan Posted June 10, 2005 Report Share Posted June 10, 2005 I have one guide that I consider "pro staff" that I provide baits to for free. At times I have charged him for postage, particularly when he wants them NOW! It's worked out very well for me thus far. jed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
