Who do you trust?

Let me start by stating that being a triathlete is expensive. I’ve been in the sport for only 7 months and have spent a lot of money, and I’m not done yet. I still have a list of expensive items I want. Buying the item at the top of my list somehow doesn’t seem to shorten the list any.

Which brings me to today’s topic: Who do you trust when buying these not cheap items? Case in point: when I was shopping for a new TT bike I visited four different stores and each sales person felt that their bike was better than the rest, though I never got a solid reason as to why. When it came, my decision was based more on my trust of the salesperson than bike specifics. I don’t want to say they lied, but two of the four stores flat out misrepresented the truth to sway me in the direction they wanted.

I’ve decided to start building relationships with people at the various stores, creating a “trust zone”. My latest entry is Luke’s Locker in the Woodlands. I had it in my mind that I was training in the wrong shoes, because the right shoes wouldn’t have let me sprain my ankle like these did. I also wanted to get a pair of racing shoes. I wanted some shoes that I could wear without socks, to save that critical 15 seconds of transition time putting on socks. So on Monday I entered their store prepared to walk out with two new pair of shoes.

I picked out the salesman I wanted, the one wearing the USAT sweat shirt. He would understand where I was coming from, and I was glad I hadn’t worn the same sweatshirt! I stood around and waited, and then got someone else. I wasn’t thrilled, but hoped for the best. I told him I wanted some racing shoes. We talked about my races, and then he talked me out of it! He actually told me not to buy a pair of racing shoes, that I would be better off wearing socks and racing in my training shoes! I was shocked!

I told him about my recent injury on a trail run, and he said these were definitely the wrong shoes for a trail run. He talked about the physics of these shoes and why they had directly impacted the severity of my injury if not the injury itself. Then he told me something I’d heard before, but not heard: if I’m serious about these triathlons, don’t risk injury by doing trail races! I’d already come to that conclusion, but I have two more off road runs scheduled that I’ve already paid for. He was actually familiar with the Seabrook marathon and said that isn’t a trail run, that both I and these shoes would be fine. He highly encouraged me to get out of the Warrior Dash. While it might be fun, it is in the middle of my race season, and it isn’t worth the risk of injury.

Then came the next shocker. He could sell me a $140 pair of training shoes, but if I like the ones I have now, and then stick with them. I might want to try something else next time around, but these are good solid shoes for me.

I walked in wanting to buy two pair of running shoes, and walked out empty handed but confident that I already had what I needed. Now that is how you earn trust! Luke’s Locker, you win today’s award.