Ski Industry Archives - Channel Mastery

141: Ryan Eittreim, Sales Director of Consumer Products, Wintersteiger

August 5, 2020 00:39:10

“…And I think we see the same thing with retail. We’re going to see a more customized service based solution in the shops. One staff member with one buyer, one customer and taking them through the stores. So you’re going to see a more personalized experience all the way across the board.”
– Ryan Eittreim

EPISODE PREVIEW:

Though it’s still a few months away, the Winter 20/21 season will be here before we know it. Specialty businesses and brand leaders are in the throes of preparing for business with new best practices in the COVID-era. On this episode of the Channel Mastery podcast, I sat down with Wintersteiger’s Sales Director for Consumer Products, Ryan Eittreim. Wintersteiger is the leader in service and rental solutions for the ski and snowboard industry. Ryan’s led a super interesting initiative that Wintersteiger is producing for the specialty community: A best practice guide to serving consumers at both retail and rental this winter. What’s more, these incredible resources are in your favorite color: Free! Check it out here

In addition to walking through these resources in this episode, Ryan and I also discuss the specialty markets’ journey through modernization of the consumer path to purchase through COVID. Specifically, we discuss how retailers and brands must be more consumer centric as the way consumers research and buy continues to change. I like to think of this conversation as a foundation of sorts to building a new plane while you’re flying your existing plane. Jedi!

I invite you to listen, learn and share this foundational episode created to help you best prepare your business to serve the moving target that is our consumer in the COVID-era. And don’t forget to grab the free resources at channelmastery.com.

LISTENER SURVEY:

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GUEST PROFILES:

Ryan Eittreim

Ryan Eittreim, born and raised in Sun Valley Idaho, is a 30-year veteran in the Snowsports Industry with focus on Bootfitting, Repair and rentals. Ryan has spent the last 20 years with Wintersteiger, Inc. in Salt Lake City, Utah as product and sales manager for machines and rentals, is currently the Director of Sales for Wintersteiger’s consumer brands Hotronic and BootDoc.

TOPICS COVERED:

Consumer Trends, Winter 20/21 Season, Winter Retailers in COVID, COVID19 Ski Resort Adjustments, Consumer Trends 2020, Preparing for Winter 2020

SELECT QUOTES:

“…We believe that, with what we’ve seen in the growth of outdoor recreation during COVID in the summer, we anticipate that’s going to be the same for winter sports. It may be Alpine skiing and maybe Nordic skiing/snowshoeing. We just know that we’re going to see a larger participation base out there. So we’re trying to figure out the best way to meet those needs…”
“…And I think we see the same thing with retail. We’re going to see a more customized service based solution in the shops. One staff member with one buyer, one customer and taking them through the stores. So you’re going to see a more personalized experience all the way across the board.”
“…I think it’s about how it works first and foremost, how we’re going to keep our employees safe. And I hear that the most from the, but we also have to keep our customers safe. On the resort level, a lot of resort operators are concerned that they’re going to open up and one case of COVID comes out of participation and they’re afraid they may have to shut down. So everything’s designed to stay open.”

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