Firearms Training for Women

Not sure if this is the correct place to post this so if the moderators think it should go elsewhere please send it there.

My question is about developing a clientele for my business concept.

Last year I moved to Eastern PA to look after my aging Mother. It was my idea to start a business teaching defensive shooting skills to civilians. My research tells me that the largest and fastest growing sector of the shooting community is women. This is the market niche I had hoped to tap into. Thus far I have circulated my business cards and tried to talk to as many people as I can about teaching shooting skills to the novice. I am running a big zero. I have a had number of women seem receptive to the idea and even say they would like to learn but nothing further...no follow up calls or inquiries.

I know that the economic downturn is part of the problem. Money is tight. I also know that there are many folks who purchase a gun and think that is the end of it. To these folks I would reiterate Jeff Cooper's famous quote:
"owning a gun and thinking you are armed is like owning a piano and thinking you are a musician."

I cannot emphasize the importance of training enough! Even if you don't want to take a class from me, please get some level of training in the safe and proper use of the gun! It goes hand in hand with the responsibility of gun ownership.

A gun is not a magic talisman that will keep away evil. Training and understanding the law of self defense is paramount to safe and proper use of firearms in self defense.

My background and credentials are good and I think I have a lot to offer. I also think if I can just get the ball rolling with a few women (or men) taking the class that would be the start as most small business is grown by word of mouth.

Does this esteemed body of gun enthusiasts have any suggestion or advice on to how to market defensive shooting classes to the public?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by twoguns

Does this esteemed body of gun enthusiasts have any suggestion or advice on to how to market defensive shooting classes to the public?

---

When or "if" you "crack the code", please let me know.

Best of luck.

You are correct, this is a marketing question.

I don't have the answer, but I think I know who does. Check with a PAFOA member running under the nom de plume of "Annie Oakley". She recently did an extensive firearms marketing survey, women in particular. Here's the post:

http://tinyurl.com/oohvr9

Also keep location in mind. I see you're in Monroe County. You might have a low head count in your area, which might affect turnout.

twoguns,

I think it all goes back to the phrase I'm sure we have all heard many times before.

"They don't know what they don't know."

I have preached the merits of training to my coworkers for the past 10 years.

I think one guy is finally going to take a basic pistol class and another is interested.

I'm not a trainer although I have helped a bit on a few one day handgun familiarization classes.

Marketing?

With the cost of a 21 hr class at $400 +, ammo at $200 coupled with a day off (perhaps unpaid) , lodging,meals and gas thrown in, you get into quite a few bucks. That equates to a new gun or a few thousand rounds of ammo and many people cannot justify putting out that much money for something that they cannot comprehend as a tangible return.

A one day class is almost useless as there is so much info, it cannot be processed and retained( a one day class can barely bring people up to speed on weapon familiarization). Two days is a bit better as you can finally start to get enough repetitions to make info stick. A three day class is about the most realistic time frame to present the needed information . A 5 day class is probably the best but traveling to Arizona is too expensive for many of us. :)

Good luck with your endeavor and marketing skills.

Vicki Farnam does an all women class in Pittsburgh almost every year but i don't know how she advertises it nor do I know how many students she entices with DTI marketing strategy.


27hand

Is the phrase "Firearms Training for Women" sexist?


Jan

My wife and I are NRA Instructors, primarily to conduct range training for our community shooting range, and we have only held a couple of courses just to help the club. Now, I’m not saying this is a good idea, but something you might consider.

One of the hardest things (darn near impossible from my experience) in business is to sell a customer something where they don’t perceive the need, which is what appears you are facing. The other problem that I have seen with women concerning firearms training is that they are interested, but are not always comfortable, especially if handling a firearm in the first session.

This would suggest a progressive offering (pyramid) strategy for your marketing approach.

The first step is to offer a broad, general introductory lecture. “ALMOST everything you wanted to know about firearms, but were afraid to ask”. Offer to present it, free of charge at every available opportunity. No hands on, no interaction, just discuss firearm issues relevant to women. Close with an offering of one day, basic course, with fees, in whatever format you think is best.

A subset of that initial group might attend the next course, which concludes with a description of the next level of training offered and a subset of this group might proceed to the next level. The numbers will decrease, but the level of interest will increase, meaning subsequent courses could secure higher fees as the customer perceives greater value.

Continue the progression and you may end up with a core group that would certainly be a very small subset of the original, but this is the group you are looking for, you just need to get them herded up and cull them out.

The key would be to continually feed the pyramid with entry level customers and keep generating the potentials. Sort of like a farm system in baseball, a bunch of lower level leagues so you get the stars to come out on top.

If this makes any sense and you want to kick around some ideas, let me know. If not, it wouldn't be the first time I came up with a screwy idea and won't be the last, either!

Greetings,

TonyF: I continue work on the code.

PA Rifleman: thanks for the link I will check it out.

MostlyHarmless: Not meant to be "sexist"....not sure what that means, actually.

27hand and sksmith75: You guys seem to be thinking in the same mode as I am.

Thanks to all for the input,
twoguns.

TWO GUNS TWO GUNS.
TWO GUNS ARE BETTER THAN ONE.

This is a good niche and I have done some academic research into this topic. Following is a large chunk of my abstract:

"Many interesting results were seen from the analysis of the surveys. Females showed signs of significant difficulties in all of the steps of the product adoption process with the exception of awareness. In the interest stage it was seen that females tend to rely more on information from friends and family than males while males rely much more on information obtained from gun related websites and online communities. Females are also less likely to purchase a firearm in the future than males and have more difficulty in finding meaningful information. The major obstacle in the evaluation stage was that 95% of females identified personal protection as the main reason for purchasing a firearm but 13% responded that other products are either the same as or superior to a firearm when considering protection.

In the trial step of the product adoption process females found it extremely important to try a firearm before they buy it but that need is not being met. Compounding this problem is that they practice less often so there is less opportunity for socialization with other shooters and less opportunity to try different firearms. Finally, females are struggling with the adoption step simply because they are not getting to it.

Many recommendations can be made on how increase the success rate of the firearms adoption process when it comes to females and it all comes down to trial. This is because the product adoption process often does not go in order from awareness to adoption when considering firearms. Often the trial stage comes first and determines if the person moves on to the rest.

The major recommendation that results from this conclusion is that more and different opportunities be provided for females to try different firearms. There should be more organized and promoted events around the release of new firearms that are geared towards females. They should be invited to ranges where free demonstrations, trials and education take place complete with refreshments and socialization with other female shooters. Other suggestions include discounts at ranges, female targeted training classes and more females behind the counter at gun stores."

I think that this ties in to what you are talking about. In my mind, if you've heard about them, taser parties are a perfect model but in a more structured setting. Something could be hosted at a local shooting range where women can socialize, have some assorted desserts and coffee and try out a variety of different guns.

I also think that what sksmith75 said about a pyramid strategy is also a good idea though this would apply more for someone who has never handled a gun. Overall I think that the socialization and networking opportunities are most important.

Just thought about something else. Are you a guy? There is a possibility that females may be more receptive to a female approaching them. This was true for Smith and Wesson when the rolled out their Ladysmith program in the 80s that went extremely well. They put female reps in stores and had a 1-800 informational hotline that was exclusively staffed with females that answered questions about local laws, training classes and shooting ranges.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by twoguns

MostlyHarmless: Not meant to be "sexist"....not sure what that means, actually.

---

And I didn't assume you meant it sexist in any way.

I just wonder if some here think there is a fundamental difference between

"Only for women, men need not apply"

and

"Only for men, women need not apply"

when it comes to firearms training courses? The thing is, I was looking online for some basic training lately and only found one of those "for women only" courses anywhere close to where I live. That got me thinking. Would the same people, who think "women only" training is a good idea, support "men only" training advertisement just as well?


Jan