Mike

Hi FishLore Friends -

As an article idea for the next issue of the FishLore magazine we're interested in hearing your stories/ideas/thoughts/suggestions on what fish store / pet store employees should know about fish keeping in order to help their customers. They are after all selling live animals and (I think) should know at least the basics. What do you all think about this?

Post in this thread what you wish they would have told you, what you think they should know about fish keeping, etc. in order to answer customer questions.

We'll leave this thread running for a couple of weeks and then make an article of sorts out of it for the next magazine issue. Who knows, maybe we can pass it on to stores as recommened reading for new fish store employees.

Thanks,
Mike

Peterpiper

It would be nice if the LFS had a leaflet stand next to each aquarium with a discription of the fish and it requirments, ie food, water parameters, companion fish etc. and if you took home a fish, you were given a leaflet.
Nothing over the top just some of the basic's.

jsalemi

LFS employees should know three very basic facts:

1) whether a particular species is good for community tanks
2) how big the fish in question will ultimately get
3) how many should be kept together in a tank (solo fish? school? etc)

That alone will give them enough info to ask intelligent questions of their customers to steer them towards the right fish for their home tanks. And one more thing they should know to really give good advice:

4) does the species in question have any special needs (soft water, salt in the tank, etc.)

fishgirl

it would be nice if they could tell how to sex the most popular fishes that they sell.
More that once I have had to tell they how to sex Danios...Cherry Red Shrimp...even Platies.

COBettaCouple

i wish they'd told me that Cycle was expensive water and how to properly cycle a tank.. and that a tank should be cycled before adding fish.

armadillo

Or bettas! I've had one sell me a female when she thought it was a male. She sold it to me for hte price of a female, though, as I told her I'd be very surprised if it was a male.

armadillo

Three huge things they need to know about are:
- adult size of fish they sell
- overstocking
- compatibility (in terms of temper). surprisingly, they tend to be good at compatibility in terms of chemistry.

Sabi

They should also know
-That dead fish should be taken out immediately.
-Have as much info as possible on the fish they are selling.

manjil

The fishstore should atleast know how to cycle tank.
My lfs told me to keep fish after 24 hrs of setting tank when i first started fish keeping.
And the lfs should atleast have the water testing kit. In my country i couldn't find the water testing kits.

Tom

When I started out, teh people at the LFS told me to start off small with a few fish and slowly add some more. They also wouldn't let me take home anyfish until there was no ammonia in the tank, which I figure is really great. IMO, the stores should put in marker on the tank, how to tell teh difference between the male and female livebearers. They could even put the adult size of the fish just above teh price of the fish. Another store also puts little colored stickers on the 'price tags' for each fish which tell if the fish is a community, semi-aggressive, really aggressive, or cold water fish.
Tom

jsalemi

For all its faults, Petsmart does put a lot of this info on the tags by the tanks, along with a picture of the fish. Too bad most of the employees there can't seem to read, because I've heard them give entirely different info than what's on the tag that's right in front of them.

Mike

All great recommendations thus far - keep them coming and I'll compile them into an article. Thanks

MagpieTear

First, this is not your typical sales position. You are selling live animals to impressionable young kids and to (overly) passionate adults. These are not socks and kitchen utensils, they are living things that someone will become attached to. Be as passionate about your merchandise as your customers.

Second, Never be afraid to admit you don't know. One of your coworkers will. Find them, ask, and get back to the customer in a timely fashion. If you do that, you just earned your boss a repeat customer. That makes the boss happy. Happy bosses tend to reward you.

Third, Don't be afraid to start the customer off small if they're new, even if you're one of those poor commissioned salespeople. If they're going to fall out of love with the hobby, they won't be unhappy about only loosing a small amount of money, and therefore less likely to badmouth you and your boss. (see the Happy Boss comment above.) If they do love the hobby and learn about it, they'll see that you treated them right and will ask for you by name each upgrade. (again with the happy boss comment, and a plus if you're commissioned) You and boss will get a rep for treating folks right.

Fourth, Learn who the regular customers are. Good Chance they know more than you and your coworkers. Chat it up with them. They'll shed more information unconsciously than you will have time to absorb. They'll see an eager to learn newb in the store and probably become your customer. They'll usually offer assistance to newb customers if you get stumped if they see your trying. Use them to your advantage, and thank them for their help with "unadvertised specials." Don't tell anyone though or boss won't be happy.

It all boils down to the Golden Rule and (un)Common Sense.

Gozer_1

Customer to the rescue. I like to intervene on the Walmart fish people. lol

Me to Customer1- "Hmm you know, that fish is gonna get REAL big"
Walmart guy- "Well, they grow to the size of their tank"
Me- "They just die before they get full size because the tank can't sustain them."
Customer1 to Me- "Well what would you suggest?"
Ding! Success!

Personally I think LFSs need to know that there is a website where they could find just about anything they'd need to know. Even if they didn't I'm sure the nice folks at the Fishlore.com forum would be more than willing to help them find it. Yup, that's what I truly think. LFS owners need to join Fishlore

Allie

One day at our lfs a lady was asking about the african cichlids...of course my 2 cents had to be said. The fish room guy just walked away & said she sounds like she knows more than I do. I spent about 10-15 minutes helping this lady figure out which cichlids could go with which.

Gozer_1

Good choice by the fish room guy. He should have stuck around and learned something though.

Coryd55

My first fish ever, a goldfish, died 2 days after I got him. I was so excited I gave him a name and everything. They didn't tell me to cycle the tank so I think thats what got him. Poor guy....

0morrokh

I think the biggest thing that most fish store employees can't seem to understand is how big of tanks different fish need. I've seen Gups being sold for 1gal bowls, Goldies for 5gals (or bowls), Bettas for tiny jars, really big fish for 10gals........

Another thing they usually get wrong is how many of the species to get. Most stores will tell you you only have to have 3 of a shoaling species.

And of course cycling. We all know how well most employees understand that process....

I guess another thing would be a general knowledge about equipment. I've gone into stores looking for pretty basic equipment, such as a sponge filter, and when I ask if they have it I just get blank faces (or something completely different like sponge filter media from a canister).

And of course diseases. Too many stores have sick fish all over the place and don't even treat them. I've stopped shopping at most of the stores in my area because their fish are never healthy. And customers usually don't get good advice if they come in with a question about sick fish.

That's all I can think of for now...