Muffet Frische is in the market for a modern sporting rifle (MSR). She's spent many evenings scouring the Internet, researching models, options and prices for a .223 rifle that's lightweight, handy and--most of all--fun! Frische, 43, of Dallas, Texas, found that fun last year at an MSR clinic hosted by DIVA WOW, a woman's outdoor sporting group. At the clinic, Frische and 125 other women were introduced to the rifles and given safety instructions. Then, with the help of instructors, they fired off up to 150 rounds apiece.
"They were very userfriendly," says Frische of the rifles that DPMS Firearms provided for the clinic. "I was incredibly surprised. I mean, they look so big and scary, but shooting them was so much fun. When I came home I told my husband, 'I know what I want now!'"
Frische and the DIVAs aren't the only ones getting an introduction to MSRs, the sales of which have been strong of late. Undoubtedly, in the first wave of heavy MSR sales (known as the "Obama Bubble" because it occurred just prior to and after the 2008 presidential election), men were the dominant purchasers. The so-called second wave is seeing more women entering the market.
"The last couple of years, the trend we're seeing is more recreational shooting of all sorts, MSRs included," says Adam Ballard, DPMS product manager. "As the men do more recreational shooting, we find that they're including their wives, girlfriends and daughters."
And when women get a chance to fire one, says Ballard, "they find the MSR is a really good fit. It's easy to operate and easy to handle, and it has little recoil."
Other retailers have seen the same thing. "We've seen a steady increase in women interested in MSRs since 2006," says Jonathan Pirkle, owner of Coal Creek Armory in Knoxville, Tennessee. "The big swell in interest happened in early 2009, and it's been growing ever since. Right now, I'd say we're getting five to ten women a month coming in and looking to buy an MSR."
Miles Hall, owner of H&H Shooting Sports, an NSSF-rated Five- Star Facility in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, says, "We're seeing more women coming into the store looking at MSRs. Also, our rifle classes used to be all men. Now we have women in every class, including our tactical rifles course, where MSRs are the focus."
But before you can cash in, you must understand the nuances of this market. Women, for example, approach an MSR purchase from a very research-based point of view. They are very receptive to certain sales techniques, and extremely put off by others.
The First Stop
Market research done by DPMS finds that relatively few women will just go to a gun shop and "check out" some MSR models. They want to know a good deal about the rifles before they set foot into a retail facility.
"Our research shows that a woman interested in an MSR starts the process on the Internet, examining manufacturer and retailer websites," says Ballard. "Others post questions about MSRs on their Facebook pages."
Male customers, Pirkle notes, often arrive at his shop with some preconceived opinions about the MSR they're sure they want. But as they explain their needs, these same men are quite willing to be sold on a model that better fits their requirements. In effect, they're counting on the clerk for their initial research. Not so with the women who come to Coal Creek Armory.
"Ladies generally do a lot of research before they come through our doors," says Pirkle. "They usually have two to three models in mind, plus possible accessories, and they want to know our opinion of them. Really, it's pretty interesting. One customer drove up in a nice SUV with two kids in tow and asked us the pros and cons of a Bushmaster M4 A2."
Pirkle recommends including MSR listings on your shop's webpage, if you have one, and making those listings fairly detailed. The women he's assisted have clearly researched manufacturer websites and then compared and contrasted those models with his shop's online inventory.
Don't have a shop website? Better get one, Pirkle advises.
Stress Points
Even with a fair amount of research, misconceptions about MSRs can linger, especially given a mainstream media that keeps referring to MSRs as "assault weapons." One of the notions this biased reporting creates is that MSRs recoil like jackhammers. They don't, of course, but you shouldn't assume your customers know this. Tell them.
"Stress the lighter weight of the MSRs and the low recoil," Hall recommends. "Nobody--man or woman--likes to get kicked around by recoil."
Early-model MSRs could be somewhat heavy and bulky, at least for a smaller-sized shooter. Today, though, there are a number of nimbler rifles available. For example, the rifles used at the DIVA clinic--the LBR by DPMS--were made specifically with the smaller-statured shooter in mind. Frische, in fact, was especially impressed by how well she could make the adjustable shoulder stock on this model fit her frame.
"It was a smart move, in my opinion, when many in the industry went to polymer-based extensions and lighter metals, in an effort to make these rifles more comfortable," says Hall. "That, I think, made MSRs more 'woman-friendly' by default."
Make sure you also highlight the versatility of the MSR.
"You can hunt with many of the MSRs, and that's been a big help with sales," Hall says. "Women come in looking for a hunting rifle, and they're often pleasantly surprised to find out that an MSR is a real option."
No Accident
It's pretty basic, but if you want to sell MSRs to women, you have to take women seriously as potential MSR customers. Put another way, that woman at your gun counter looking over the MSRs on your rack? She didn't get there by accident. Failure to take her and her questions seriously could cost you a sale.
Consider Frische. After much Internet research, Frische, her husband and a male friend visited a local gun shop. At the counter, Frische told the male clerk she was considering an MSR. Despite that, Frische says, "When I asked about what models they had, the sales associate handed a rifle to our friend, who looked at him and said, 'Why are you handing it to me? It's for her!'"
Frische took it in stride and wasn't offended.
"My guess is that their typical customer is male, so he just wasn't expecting me to be the customer," she says. "After that, the sales associate directed the conversation more toward me, and he took a good deal of time to explain product features."
Dana Giacalone had a somewhat different experience. An orthopedic surgeon practicing in the Fort Worth area, Giacalone grew up hunting and shooting on a ranch in west-central Texas. Last year, after deciding it was time to replace her .243 boltaction, she visited a big-box firearms retailer near her home.
Unlike Frische, Giacalone never told the clerk she was in the market for an MSR. In fact, she didn't know what she wanted, exactly, though she said she needed a rifle for deer hunting and recreational shooting, and maybe some competitive shooting.
"I said something a little more sporty [than her .243], a little more versatile," she recalls. "But they kept trying to get me to buy a small .22 rifle--for shooting paper targets! Which, I tried to tell them, wasn't what I wanted at all."
Frustrated, she left the store without making a purchase. She mentioned the experience to a friend who held a federal firearms license. He told her that the features she wanted very much suggested an MSR. He gave her an overview of the rifles, showed her a couple he had on hand and answered all her questions.
Today, Giacalone is the proud owner of an MSR--one she bought through her friend with the FFL.
The Voice
Deb and Bob Cheek have owned and operated Plainfield Shooting Supplies, in Plainfield, Indiana, for the last 22 years. In addition, Deb Cheek is a competitive shooter who teaches numerous firearms workshops and classes to women. All of this informs her perspective on what it takes to sell MSRs to women.
A big problem she's seen herself, and heard about from numerous women shooters, is what she calls "The Colonel Voice," and the attitudes and assumptions behind it.
"A lot of times, a woman comes into a gun shop, and the guy behind the counter goes into the Colonel Voice," says Cheek. "It's like a military order: 'I know; you listen.' Big turnoff. Women just don't feel relaxed around those sorts of guys."
Women find the Colonel Voice patronizing, she explains. It assumes they know nothing about shooting, much less MSRs, and tries to make them feel, well, dumb. Women treated in such a way tend to head for the door.
"Take more of a 'daughter approach,'"says Cam. Cheek advises. "What I mean is, don't get macho and don't talk down. Treat a female customer like your daughter: Listen to her, let her talk, answer her questions, be respectful. You're there to help her. Listen to what she wants, then make suggestions."
A Bird In the Hand...
"You want to see people's face light up?" says Hall. "Put an MSR in their hands. It's almost like a kid on Christmas morning opening up presents!"
For the female customer, hands-on shooting is a big sales tool. Given the aforementioned worries about MSR recoil, there's no better way to dispel that myth than to let a potential customer put a few rounds downrange. Coal Creek Armory has an indoor range, and Tuesday is Ladies' Day, at which women can shoot without lane fees. That generates a good deal of traffic, Pirkle notes, and among the firearms available is an M&P15 in .22- caliber. Women can fire it for free (they have to pay for the ammunition), and this M&P15 gets a good workout nearly every Tuesday. All by itself, the rifle has generated many inquiries from women thinking about buying their own MSR.
Joe Keffer owns the Sportsman's Shop, in New Holland, Pennsylvania. He sells a good number of MSRs, mostly to men. Nearly all the women who have purchased an MSR from Keffer had husbands or boyfriends who first bought one from the Sportsman's Shop. So these women got their introduction to MSRs via their significant others.
Other women, though, "hear that these are super-powerful rifles, and they are leery of them, no doubt about it," Keffer says. "The primary way of getting past that is to have them fire one and see for themselves. But we don't have a range here."
However, the Sportsman's Shop does host introductory firearms events at a local shooting club several times a year. More and more women are frequenting these events.
Hearing about the increased interest among women in MSRs, Keffer says that he needs "to make sure we have several MSRs there and offer women the chance to try them out. Doing so might not sell us any rifles right away, but we're already having these events. It could help sales down the road."
Counter Help
If you want to sell more MSRs to more women, you really should have a woman behind the sales counter. Ballard notes that DPMS research shows that a lack of female sales help is a big barrier to selling firearms in general, and MSRs in particular, to women. Many women seem hesitant to ask the guy behind the counter about MSRs, afraid of being talked down to. Even if they don't deal directly with a female clerk, just seeing one working in your store reassures female customers that they, and their questions, will be taken seriously.
"It definitely does make a difference to a number of our female customers to have a woman behind the counter," says Pirkle. "We have tried to have at least one woman on our sales staff since we opened in 2002. Sometimes, we've been fortunate enough to have two or three women on staff at one time."
Consider a female clerk or two as an investment in the future. As Giacalone says, speaking about women in general, "We're going to be doing more and more hunting and shooting in the future. So firearms retailers better be ready for us!"
