Speakers – SHOT Show Blog

SHOT Show University Adds Seats, Encourages Exhibitors to Attend

Thanks to an outstanding lineup of topics and speakers, we’ve received numerous calls from exhibitor representatives asking to attend the 2015 SHOT Show University. Though SHOT Show University is generally geared toward firearms retailers, with the number of seat requests we received, we took a look at the panels and realized that there was indeed value in many of them for exhibitors at the show. We recently sent an invitation to the full list of exhibitors announcing the expanded seating, and I just want to take a moment here to emphasize the breadth of information they’ll receive by attending SHOT Show University.

For those exhibitors unfamiliar with the forum, SHOT Show University is a one-day educational event that takes place on Monday, Jan. 19, the day before the official start of the SHOT Show. Sessions are geared toward the unique needs of professionals in the firearms business and cover such varied topics as working with the Federal form 4473 and other important compliance issues, as well as business development forums such as digital and content marketing, cash flow practices, store security, loss prevention, advertising planning, store layout maximization and more.

The day starts with an opening address by Dr. Linda Talley, one of the country’s most respected business-development leaders. After that, University attendees will break into one of four educational tracks—ATF Compliance, Drive Your Sales, Retailing 101 and Veteran Retailer—learning about developments in our industry through leading experts such as Gene Marks, Tom Shay, Larry Mersereau, Karl Stearns, Bill Napier and NSSF’s own ATF Compliance Consultants Wally Nelson and Harry McCabe. This year’s University will end with a dynamic closing address by former Marine pilot Patrick “Lips” Houlahan, a team leader with business consultant company Afterburner, Inc.

“After seeing the number of requests to attend SHOT Show University that were coming from exhibitors, we realized that they had a genuine and valid interest in knowing the business through their retailers’ eyes,” said Randy Clark, NSSF Senior Director, Business Development. “There is tremendous knowledge to be had by learning about what’s important to others in the chain of people who move product from maker to consumer within our industry. Thus it makes perfect sense to open the doors wider to the unique forum that is SHOT Show University.”

Though NSSF has added additional seats to accommodate the many exhibitors wishing to attend SHOT Show University, seating is limited and this event will sell out. We encourage everyone to register for this event now. Exhibitors interested in attending can email me at pshay@nssf.org for assistance with registration. Remember, NSSF Premium Retailers are offered a complimentary ticket to SHOT Show University. Additional tickets for both Premium Retailer members and all other NSSF members who wish to attend are $250 per ticket; non-members may attend for $500 per ticket. To learn more about SHOT Show University and its many sessions, click here. To upgrade your membership to the Premium Retailer level or to join at NSSF at the level that best serves your business needs, visit nssf.org/join or e-mail membership@nssf.org.

NSSF Welcomes Business Expert Karl Stearns to 2015 SHOT Show University Speaker Lineup

KMS_2014_WKC_cropped Entrepreneur and small business expert Karl Stearns is the newest addition to the growing list of highly respected individuals lecturing at NSSF’s 2015 SHOT Show University. Stearns will conduct two sessions for this year’s University:

The Four Pillars of Digital Marketing—During this presentation, retailers will learn how to “get found” in today’s vast world of cyber presence. The session will focus on ways to nurture relationships, grow contact lists, increase customer loyalty, and utilizing dedicated digital campaigns to drive customers to your business. Attendees will also learn how use and understand digital analytics to make better decisions for their businesses and their customers.
Tactics to Improve Your Ecommerce Plan—Give your website, online store and digital marketing plan a tune up with this exciting and insightful presentation.

With a background of accounting skills, sales and marketing expertise and the advantage of owning several small businesses, Stearns “walks the walk and talks the talk” of small business people. A winner of numerous automotive industry awards, Stearns writes for a number of industry trade journals and serves as a marketing consultant to clients nationwide. As a speaker for Tom Shay’s Profits Plus small business seminars, he addresses groups throughout the United States on a wide variety of small businesses topics from pricing strategies, getting better results from employees, business management and reading and understanding financial statements. He also is a Platinum Solution Provider for Constant Contact, one of today’s most-used business client mailing list platforms, having attained certification in presenting programs on digital marketing.

“We are extremely pleased to have someone like Karl, who’s knowledge of digital business marketing—how to plan it, how to analyze the results, how to make it work to grow any retailer’s client base—is so important to meeting the demands of retailing firearms in the 21^st century,” said Randy Clark, NSSF Managing Director, Business Development. “Our retailers’ visibility absolutely depends on a digital presence these days. But in the lightning-fast pace of the Internet, it’s a mistake for today’s retailer to think that a simple web page with a picture of their staff and the store’s hours and phone number are enough to get people into your store. The web is the place where business is happening, and whether you’re actually taking and fulfilling orders via the web or merely utilizing its inherent functionality to drive more foot traffic into your store through the creative use of advertising, blogs, newsletters and more, Karl’s sessions will provide the foundation to do both.”

SHOT Show University is the premier event for firearms retailers. Seats are limited and this event will sell out, so retailers are urged to sign up now. Remember, NSSF Premium Retailers are offered a complimentary ticket to SHOT Show University. Additional tickets for both Premium Retailer members and all other NSSF members who wish to attend are $250 per ticket; non-members may attend for $500 per ticket. To learn more about SHOT Show University and its many sessions, click here. To upgrade your membership to the Premium Retailer level or to join at NSSF at the level that best serves your business needs, visit nssf.org/join or e-mail membership@nssf.org.

FFL Retail Expert Marily Haley Joins NSSF’s 2015 SHOT SHOW Diversity Panel

Marily Haley Headshot NSSF is pleased to announce that Marily Haley, manager of highly popular Shoot Smart ranges in Texas, has joined the list of speakers educating today’s retailers on the issues of diversity during the 2015 SHOT Show special Diversity Panel, sponsored by NSSF. Haley will be joining Don Adair, president of the African American Hunting Association, and husband and wife team Lilly Gibbs and Frank Manuel, founders and developers of the Montgomery Indoor Shooting Complex.

Haley brings a wealth of front-line, bottom-to-top retail experience to the panel’s discussion. As a founding member of the Shoot Smart staff, Marily’s cordial and friendly personality set the standard for customer service at the company, quickly earning her a reputation for taking a room full of impatient customers and making each of them feel as if they were the only one being served. Those abilities saw her quickly rise through the ranks at Shoot Smart, moving first to head cashier, then shift supervisor, trainer, assistant manager and manager in quick progression.

Through her leadership skills and abilities to communicate to a wide variety of people, Haley streamlined customer service procedures at Shoot Smart, developed best practices for customer service and a created a formal customer service training program for the Shoot Smart staff.

This string of successes saw her promotion to range manager of the second Shoot Smart range, which opened in Grand Prairie, Texas, in 2013. That range, just one year after opening, earned NSSF’s prestigious Five Star Range Rating under Haley’s tutelage.

“Marily is a dynamic individual making a noticeable mark in the shooting industry,” said Patrick Shay, co-creator of the 2015 SHOT Show Diversity Panel and NSSF’s Director, Retail Development. “She was raised in both Texas and Mexico, attending Brookhaven College in Dallas. She has strong communication skills in English and Spanish, and that duality, combined with her reputation among both her customers and peers, positions her uniquely to speak about diversity in the shooting industry. Her insights on how to engage customers of different cultures, races, beliefs and needs will be invaluable to any retailer or range owner looking for new ways to reach new customers and expand their businesses.”

Created to provide retailers with a fresh approach to connecting with new customers, the 2015 SHOT Show Diversity Panel will take place Wednesday, January 21, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

“The face of today’s recreational shooter is not what it was even five years ago. It’s younger, includes more females and is much better represented across multiple ethnicities than in the past,” explained Shay. “It’s time for firearms retailers and range operators to realize that their best potential for growth and long-term viability in the coming years is in discovering how to reach these new shooters and provide them with goods and services they need. We think this Diversity Panel will provide essential information for making those connections and turning them into happy, loyal customers.”

Tickets for the 2015 SHOT Show Diversity Panel are $20 for both NSSF member and non-member retailers and range owners, but seating is limited, so we urge you to register now for this important event. To register, go to the shotshow.org website, click on the “Apply” button and follow the directions on the page. Anyone already registered to attend the 2015 SHOT Show may revisit shotshow.org, click on “Apply,” then click the “Check Status” button on the bottom left-hand portion of the screen. Once there, scroll to the bottom of the page to “Access Your Attendee Dashboard” and provide your email and password to enter. For more information, contact Patrick Shay, pshay@nssf.org.

Two Newest Speakers to SHOT Show University to Address Veteran Retailer Needs

Our world is constantly changing, and today’s modern firearms dealer is anything but immune to those changes. Demographics shift, purchasing abilities go up and down and trends come and go—and if you’re not making the necessary adjustments to meet those challenges, your product is going to sit on your shelves and your business is going to suffer.

This is precisely why NSSF has an educational track devoted exclusively to driving sales in its SHOT Show University Lineup. We’ve already told you about expert business professionals Larry Mersereau and Gene Marks, scheduled to speak on topics such as digital marketing and market differentiation and content marketing. Now NSSF has added well-known firearms retailing veterans Doug VanderWoude and Miles Hall to the Drive Your Sales Lineup as the featured speakers for the all-important Power Promotions session.

In this session, VanderWoude and Hall will show retailers how to drive sales and increase margins and turns with a number of unique promotional ideas that the pair have developed over their combined 60-plus years of experience in the firearms industry.

“It’s not often the an FFL dealer gets to engage with successful, veteran retailers like Doug and Miles,” said Randy Clark, NSSF Managing Director, Business Development. “Not only do these have the ‘street cred’ to speak on what works, they have the profitable and long-standing successful businesses to back them up. Having gone through innumerable ups and downs during their tenure in the firearms business and come out ahead, their insight into what works and what doesn’t should prove invaluable to today’s retailers.”

Doug VanderWoude is a 32-year veteran of the retail firearms industry, having spent 29 of those years behind a gun counter. He started a firearms retail store with an indoor shooting range from scratch and was a charter member of the industry’s first performance group. He is a current and active member of the NSSF Range Committee. Today, VanderWoude is a firearms retail and range consultant who has visited more than 190 firearms retail facilities in the past 38 months. He has worked with multiple firearms companies on proven nationwide promotions that drive consumers into ranges, and he spends many of his days helping other firearms retailers improve traffic flow inside their stores and increase profitability.

Miles Hall is Founder and President of H&H Shooting Sports Complex in Oklahoma City. Started in 1981, H&H is a community educational and retail complex with a focus on developing and promoting shooting sports. The current facility houses 61 shooting lanes for Olympic air rifle and pistol, standard pistol, high-power rifle, and archery. H&H has been ranked as a top 10 dealer by the majority of major manufacturers in the shooting sports. Hall is a founding member and serves as past president of the Association of Shooting Ranges, is a founding member of the Association of Firearm Retailers, and a past board member of the National Shooting Sports Foundation. He was named 2004 Retailer of the Year by Shot Business Magazine. H&H was also selected for that magazine’s Range of the Year honor in 2006 and was the first facility to receive NSSF’s prestigious Five Star Range Rating. Inc. Magazine has selected H&H as one of the fastest growing, privately held business in the United States for the last seven years and is the only gun dealer ever on that list for four of those years.

SHOT Show University is the premier event for firearms retailers. Seats are limited and this event will sell out, so retailers are urged to sign up now. Remember, NSSF Premium Retailers are offered a complimentary ticket to SHOT Show University. Additional tickets for both Premium Retailer members and all other NSSF members who wish to attend is $250; non-members may attend for $500. To learn more about SHOT Show University and its many sessions, click here. To upgrade your membership to the Premium Retailer level or to join at NSSF at the level that best serves your business needs, visit www.nssf.org/join or e-mail membership@nssf.org.

SHOT Show University: Learn How to Hire the Right People from HR Pro Deb Kenney

DKenney Joining the growing list of talented speakers to engage listeners at the 2015 SHOT Show University, NSSF’s own Deb Kenney, Vice President, Human Resources and Administration, will bring her wealth of knowledge and decades of experience in employee recruitment, retention and management to the table.

“There are many experts in the field of human resources,” said Randy Clark, NSSF Managing Director, Business Development, “but when it comes to the highly specialized businesses that make up the firearms industry, none is more qualified than Deb Kenney. With more than 18 years at the helm of our own Human Resources Department, she has an intimate knowledge of how successful manufacturers, wholesalers, range owners and retailers profit through smart hiring practices. She truly understands the ins and outs of what our industry members do, and her insights into the core of those businesses—their employees—are invaluable.”

Kenney’s all-important presentation “Winning Teams Start with Great Players: Hiring Habits of Highly Successful Businesses” will provide SHOT Show University attendees an insider’s perspective on what makes a company successful. She will outline a roadmap on how to identify the right people for your business using behavior and attitude interviewing techniques. Attendees will learn the importance of culture, job fit and how to attract and retain exceptional employees.

“I’m very pleased to have the opportunity to talk to those attending the 2015 SHOT Show University and share why smart hiring practices should be implemented in their businesses—diminished turnover and training times, reduced product loss, increased morale, enhanced team coordination and an employee workforce that actually drives sales—as well as the steps any retailer can take to make smarter hiring choices and build a team of people who want to work for you.”

With extensive experience leading human resources, talent and organizational development, Kenney leads the human resources and administrative operations for the NSSF. She is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and is certified by the HR Certification Institute as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR). Kenney is also a certified analyst for Activity Vector Analysis (AVA), a behavioral cross-industry, work-related behavioral assessment system. She is an experienced speaker and presents educational programs on a variety of human resources and management topics. As a Vice President for the NSSF, Kenney ensures that the strength and success of the Foundation is an exceptionally talented and experienced staff that successfully carries out the NSSF mission each and every day.

SHOT Show University is the premier event for firearms retailers. Seats are filling fast and this event will sell out, so retailers are urged to sign up now. Remember, NSSF Premium Retailer members are offered a complimentary ticket to SHOT Show University. Additional tickets for both Premium Retailer members and all other NSSF members who wish to attend is $250; non-members may attend for $500. To learn more about SHOT Show University and its many sessions, click here. To upgrade your membership to the Premium Retailer level or to join at NSSF at the level that best serves your business needs, visit nssf.org/join or e-mail membership@nssf.org.

Did You Know?

Premium Retailer members are offered a complimentary ticket to SHOT Show University. To learn more about this important benefit, click here.

NSSF ATF Experts Latest Speakers to Join SHOT Show University Lineup

The National Shooting Sports Foundation is pleased to announce that two of its leading compliance experts have joined the lineup of speakers for the 2015 SHOT Show University. Retired ATF agents Harry McCabe and Wally Nelson will be moderating five classes in the ATF Compliance Track. Topics for this track include:

How to identify errors in your 4473 forms and the ways to legally correct them.
Perfecting A&D book maintenance.
A review of the best compliance practices NSSF’s team of compliance consultants has seen across the thousands of site visits and inspections they’ve conducted.
What happens during an ATF inspection and how you and your store can best prepare for one.
The top 10 compliance issues ATF routinely encounters with today’s retailers and how you can ensure your store doesn’t make these same mistakes.

“More than any other topic we encounter during discussions with thousands of retailers across the country each year, how to stay on top of compliance is a primary concern,” explained Randy Clark, NSSF Managing Director, Business Development. “Our retailers truly want to make every effort they can to conduct their businesses in a completely legal manner, and that includes working to pass an ATF audit without any errors, making sure each and every Form 4473 transaction is completed accurately and that inventory records and firearms A&D books are both up to date and accurate. This is why we are so dedicated to providing these business owners with experts in the field of compliance like Harry McCabe and Wally Nelson. These two men alone bring nearly 70 combined years of ATF experience to the table to help our retailers negotiate the maze of regulations and compliance issues that go hand in hand with selling firearms.”

Harry McCabe has more than 36 years of service with the ATF under his belt. He began his career as an inspector in Raleigh, North Carolina, eventually becoming an area supervisor in Detroit and a branch chief at Headquarters. In 1998, he became Director, Industry Operations of the Nashville Field Division. During the 12 years he spent in that position, he oversaw more than 5,000 firearms qualification and compliance inspections and conducted approximately dozens of firearms industry educational seminars. In 2010, he became Deputy Assistant Director for Field Operations, a position he maintained until he retired from ATF in June of 2012.

Wally Nelson is a retired ATF Deputy Assistant Director with more than 30 years experience. As DAD, he directed all regulatory firearms programs, including the development and monitoring of firearms inspection programs, licensing, NFA, imports, tracing and regulations, as well as the firearms technology branch. He retired from ATF in October 2005 and for the last nine years has brought his expertise in firearms laws and regulations to industry members as a private consultant. In that capacity, Nelson performs site inspections, provides employee training and helps develop compliance plans.

Both McCabe and Nelson are members of NSSF’s team of FFL compliance consultants available to our members for on-site consultations. Both men also frequently lecture at NSSF’s regional Retailer Seminars held throughout the year.

Registration for the 2015 SHOT Show University is open now, but seats are limited and this event will sell out. New this year, NSSF Premium Retail members are offered one complimentary ticket to attend this event. Additional tickets for Premium Retail members and tickets purchased by other NSSF members are $250. Non-members may attend SSU for $500. To register for the 2015 SHOT Show University, go to shotshow.org and log back into the show registration panel using the username and password you originally used to register to attend the show. Once logged in, you’ll find a full list of events and ticket prices. Not an NSSF member? Join here.

Renowned Business Author Tom Shay Joins SHOT Show University Speaker Lineup

NSSF is pleased to announce that expert small business owner and author Tom Shay will be presiding over four sessions of the 2015 SHOT Show University. These sessions include:

Merchandising and Maximizing Turns
Advertising Effectively: Your Ad Plan and Budget
Understanding Your Financials: There Are Dollars in the Details
Maximizing Your Store Layout

“While compliance is the leading concern of our retailers,” explained Randy Clark, NSSF Managing Director, Business Development, “there are many other topics important to running their businesses successfully. This is where Tom comes in. As a lifelong small business owner and the fourth generation to be involved in a family business, Tom has great insight into how to realize the potential in any store floor plan and how merchandise should be displayed within the space you have so that your customers see the products you have and they want. Getting these kinds of behind the scenes things down is what will keep product moving off your shelves and your cash flow up.

“Cash flow, of course, is part of any retailer’s overall financial picture, and that’s another subject Tom knows well. In his session on financials, he’ll help SSU attendees learn why they should drill down into their cash flow, fixed costs, overhead and more so that retailers get both the most for the money they need to spend and see ways to increase profits.

“Finally, Tom will address the value of advertising. Word of mouth used to be enough, and retailers still need that, but to be truly successful, they also need to utilize both the traditional methods of advertising, such as radio and newspaper ads, and the modern, such as social media and website placements. Tom will show this year’s SSU attendees how to discover which methods will provide the greatest outreach to your store’s community and produce the biggest results.”

Tom Shay has authored 11 books on small business management, a textbook on small business financial management, and he’s co-authored a book on retailer/vendor relations. During the past 18 years, he has written more than 400 management articles that have appeared in more than 70 national and international trade magazines. He is also the author of NSSF’s series of books specifically for firearms retailers, covering topics such as business plan writing, merchandising and financials, among others.

“Since the retailer books were first created by NSSF some 8 years ago,” said Tom Shay, “I have continually updated the content to reflect the changes that have occurred in retailing, as well as the changes that have occurred within the economy. I’ll bring those attending the 2015 SHOT Show University a wealth of these latest concepts.”

SHOT Show University is the premier event for firearms retailers. Seats are limited and this event will sell out, so retailers are urged to sign up now. Remember, NSSF Premium Retailers are offered a complimentary ticket to SSU. Additional tickets for both Premium Retail members and all other NSSF members who wish to attend is $250; non-members may attend for $500. To learn more about SSU and its many sessions, click here. To upgrade your membership to the Premium Retail level or to join at NSSF at the level that best serves your business needs, visit nssf.org/join or e-mail membership@nssf.org.