
Handle With Care
Estate sales are an inevitable part of the retail life, and compassion is a vital component.
Miles Hall has written The Simple Truth, which you’ll find on the last page of SHOT Business, for three years now. When we sat down to discuss this column back in late 2021, I was looking for an experienced retailer who could deliver pithy selling tips for our readers. Miles had something else in mind.
He wanted to go bigger. He believes that being a shooting sports retailer is a high calling, one that requires dealers to be leaders in their communities. That means leading by example. He also dismissed my original title for the column as “too small,” and proposed “The Simple Truth.”
I wasn’t sure about it at first, but since the first column I’ve been totally on board—to the point where I believe it’s a unique product, one with a simple selling point: act with honor.
This month’s installment is a perfect case in point. Estate sales can be painful affairs for a grieving family, and all too often these families can be taken advantage of. They usually do not know the true value of a sportsman’s collection, and in their sorrow, end up unloading the lot for far less than it is worth.
When Miles handled such sales, he made sure that the family received a fair return. But there was more. Through his care and concern the family learned that this customer was more than an ATM for his store; he was a valued member of the store’s community. As Miles notes, creating that customer connection establishes a bond of trust. “This should, and can be, a long-term connection, a connection that sometimes extends past death.”
The column deeply resonated with me, as it brought to mind how my mother disposed of my father’s enormous collection of books and records after his death. I knew this collection had real value, but like any lifelong assembly, it would take time to sort the gold from the dross. I was trying to set up a system to do just that when she told me she had sold the entire collection “lock, stock, and barrel” to a second hand shop that specialized in such sales. I didn’t even ask what that dealer paid her for the collection, but I knew she didn’t get anywhere near what that collection was worth.
She moved quickly, out of deep grief, to get on with her life. This is at the heart of what Miles is saying; as a dealer faced with such situations you need to act with compassion. Certainly, doing so will be profitable to you. That’s expected, but it’s how you do it that matters.
As he sums up: “The Simple Truth is that the long-term connection you have built with a guest goes beyond this earthly life. As a respected leader in your store and in the industry seeing beyond today is the best and most profitable path.”
