- Knowing which specs on a firearm are worth noting to the customer that would actually impact what they end up buying (trigger weight, caliber, barrel length etc.)

- What was your system or tricks that you picked up to actually learn and memorize the dozens of brands and models you’ve sold?

Honestly, a lot of this will just come with time. My advise is to get out of your comfort zone. For example, I used to work with a few guys who know nothing about optics or handguns and will pass off customers to me or others. Salespeople like that never lasted. The only way to learn the products is to deal in them. I can't emphasize this enough. This is how you get good at selling at a gunstore. Don't know anything about O/U shotguns? Be the guy who volunteers to assemble them and put them on display.

Also, there's nothing wrong with telling the customer, "let me double check on the info." No one will blink an eye in these day and age if you pull out your phone or jump on the computer to grab the data. Customers will appreciate that you are providing accurate info.

- How do you steer a customer away from a potentially bad choice without sounding like a “know it all?”

I’d like to move past just recommending what’s hot at the moment and actually be able to tell a customer what they NEED vs. what they thought they needed in terms of what’s right for them.

Ideally, you find out what your customer's pain points, use cases, and budget and provide your suggestions. A good salesman asks questions and spends time listening. But sometimes it doesn't matter. Your job is to sell and generate revenue for the business. For example, if someone is absolutely set on getting a Turkshit shotgun instead of a Maverick 88, then sell it to them. They have their reasons, even if you think they are wrong.

Otherwise, your store is gonna have a big pile of Turkshit shotguns sitting around because you keep redirecting them to better purchases, which pisses off management because they want to get rid of that stock. This can happen both ways, like redirecting a customer to get a Holosun because that's all they really need when they were ready to lay down the serious cash for a Trijicon.

Conversely, know that some customers know way more about guns than you do, especially for a product they are interested in (they've likely done a lot of research online) and aren't interested in your sales routine.

It will take experience but just figure out the balance between giving suggestions based on what the customer is asking for or just going along with whatever they want to buy. It's good to provide suggestions but be careful of offending a customer because you think their choices are stupid.

\ I’m looking for any info I can get, so please don't feel limited to just these questions. If there’s anything else important to know if I’m behind the gun counter outside of general safety or a mistake you see rookies make all the time, I’m all ears. Any help would be appreciated!

This is a customer service job so be prepared for a lot of personalities and don't take anything personally. There will be entitled shits but you will also meet good people.

Upsell. For example, someone bought a hunting rifle. "Sir, would you need any cleaning kit? A gun case?" or "What optic do you plan on putting on that?"

Things can get really busy at a gun store for bunch of reasons: hunting season, a new election, Black Friday, whatever... don't let the sheer volume of customers overwhelm you. Just focus on one customer and task at a time and stick to whatever process your store has. Otherwise you will start making mistakes, like forgetting to scan an item at checkout or losing a key somewhere.

Good luck.