Jason
How it is going on in Kansas City...
Hello Jason, thank you for your time.. Before we start talking about CZ-USA, could you please introduce yourself and tell us what your responsibilities are at CZ-USA?
Part of introducing me and understanding how I fit in at CZ-USA includes understanding my background with firearms.
I've been an avid hunter since I was 18 years old. My first hunting passions were for pheasants and quail. (My wife, Allison gave me a Small Munsterlander puppy for Christmas this year. Her name is Betsy and I'm expecting her to be a big help while bird hunting this fall.)
After graduating from college I was able to expand my hunting and shooting activities. I competed in rifle and shotgun disciplines before discovering IPSC competition which remains my personal favorite. Before I joined CZ-USA I was promoting responsible firearms use in the Kansas City area as a competition organizer, range officer, and NRA pistol and personal protection instructor. Currently I serve as a concealed carry instructor for the state of Kansas.
I joined CZ-USA in December of 2003. Marketing and media relations are my primary roles at CZ-USA. This involves purchasing advertising from and working with gun magazines as well as internet sites and tv shows with the goal of creating consumer demand for CZ firearms. Part of creating demand is making sure that we have the right products for the US market. I work with the CZUB product and sales managers to modify existing products and create new products designed specifically for the US.
CZ-USA launched the Safari Classics brand in late 2004 and I've managed the sales and US based manufacture of the Safari Classics line of custom rifles since then.
Why did you decide for CZ, what was the main reason?
I became familiar with CZ when CZ-USA moved to Kansas City in 1998. I competed with Alice Poluchova and the CZ-USA IPSC team for several years before acquiring my first CZ handgun, a P-01, in 2002. Both the reliability of that handgun and my respect for Alice as a competitor and business leader contributed significantly to my decision to pursue in a career with CZ-USA.
And now some questions about CZ-USA. What about shortly (main points) from the history? How long is the CZ-USA tradition?
2011 marks the 13th year of operation for CZ-USA. During this time we have seen significant growth of the CZ brands in the US market. We have seen the addition of the Zbrojovka Brno and Dan Wesson brands to the CZ family, and the addition of the CZ-USA semi-auto, O/U and SxS shotgun lines from Turkey. Of course we have celebrated major events like the manufacture of the 1,000,000th CZ 75 along with CZ-UB.
How many of you are now in Kansas and how many in New York?
Currently CZ-USA employs 22 people in Kansas City and 20 at the Dan Wesson factory in New York.
CZ-USA has a new "company face", could you please explain, who is Tom and how you have found him?
Tom Knapp is probably the most recognized exhibition shooter in the world. Tom is the original world record holder for shooting multiple hand thrown clay targets with a shotgun. Tom has also appeared on many television shows including starring as the host of a hunting show for many years.
For those not familiar with the concept of an exhibition shooter, I'll try to explain. Talented shooters can be found in law enforcement, competition and hunting, but a very small number of people are born with talent that is above and beyond what is considered normal. This type of entertainer known as an exhibition shooter can turn marksmanship into a performance art. An exhibition shooter combines their personality with their unique shooting skills to entertain crowds during live performances.
And what about Bobby Holik and his visit at our booth in Las Vegas?
It's always exciting to find out that celebrities like two-time Stanley Cup winner Bobby Holik shoot CZ firearms. We know about other celebrities that shoot CZ as well including Rock and Roll, Country music, television and movie stars as well as other sports heroes.
Where do you see the main strengths and weaknesses of CZ-USA?
CZ-USA has the advantage of serving the largest civilian firearms market in the world. We also have a small but talented and very dedicated staff working to provide CZ products to the US market. Our largest challenge remains our age. While CZUB has been making firearms since 1936 and Zbrojovka Brno since 1918, we have only been promoting these brands in the US for the past 13 years. Before the Czechoslovakia's Velvet Revolution, there was very little known about CZ firearms in the US.
What would you say about our CZ brand, how do people in States perceive this brand? How known is it in America?
The answers to these questions are constantly changing. We have made significant progress in achieving recognition for the CZ brand in the US. When I started working for the company very few people that I met at consumer events like the NRA show knew about CZ. Those that did only knew what Col. Jeff Cooper had written about the CZ 75. Some people did know about CZ rifles, but they didn't know they were CZ, they thought they were made by Brno. Today, it's rare to meet a hunting or shooting enthusiast that hasn't heard of CZ, in fact it's much more common to be approached by someone who wants to tell us about how accurate their CZ .22 rifle is or how much they like their CZ 9mm. Overall, the quality of the CZ firearms is recognized as among the best. Because the internet provides a platform for anyone who wants to speak to the world, we have to strive to maintain this reputation. If 1000 customers are satisfied with the product they purchased, one of them will tell the world how great it is on the internet. If 2 customers are not satisfied with the product they purchased, one of them will also tell the world how bad it is on the internet. Now more than ever we must strive to provide nothing but the highest quality in our products to maintain our reputation as one of the best.
Shot Show 2011
How long does it take you to get to work each morning? What is the usual working time in the company? Do you have any employees benefits?
CZ-USA offers excellent employee benefits to employees including insurance and medical benefits and paid time off for vacation and holidays. Most of the employees here are competitive shooters, hunters or firearms advocates and consider working for a company that supports these activities an additional benefit. Every year we also have an employee shoot where we take the entire CZ-USA staff to the range to make sure everyone has the chance to shoot and understand all of the products that we sell.
Our core hours are 8:30 to 5:00, Monday through Friday, though it's not uncommon to find some people here much earlier as it's easier to get more accomplished when the phones are quiet. It's also not unusual to see the office lights on well after dark for the same reasons. In addition to our time in the office, all of our sales staff work quite a few weekends. Many of the exhibits we participate in at both sales shows and sporting events take place on the weekend.
CZ-USA Warehouse
After I got married in October, I moved from the west side of Kansas City (in the state of Kansas) to the eastern side of the metropolitan area (in the state of Missouri) My daily commute was about 15 minutes each way, but it is about 30 minutes each way now. 20 -30 minutes is about average for most of our employees, but we do have a couple that drive over an hour each way for their daily commute.
The vast majority of my time is spent in my office at CZ-USA, but I do get the opportunity to present our products to our customers directly at the SHOT Show, the NRA Show and the Safari Club International show. I spend some time at the range working with our products and I'm fortunate that I get to spend a little time using them while hunting and competing as well. Every once in a while I am asked to present one of the CZ products in the field for a television show or a magazine article. On those days it may take me a couple of days to travel to the event or hunt, but I definitely consider it one of my favorite employee benefits.
Jason on one of trips to Africa
Can you give me some examples of how you promote CZ products?
Part of my responsibility to promote the CZ brand is understanding all of our products, and being able to communicate the details of them to all of our customers, both gun experts as well as first time shooters. The experts include not only the editors of magazines, tv shows and internet sites, but many of our customers as well. One of the challenges is finding ways to present the products to this wide range of users and to keep their attention long enough to educate them on the basics and to sell them on the details of our products.
We are using the internet more than ever before for education and entertainment, especially through the use of video clips. We are using video to explain special features of our products like the P-07 Duty and the 455. Other videos we have produced show how to maintain and clean some of our other models.
We recently developed a curriculum with the online training company 3point5.com to educate sales people at stores across the US on the selling points of our different models.
2011 is the third year that we have presented our annual catalog in "Magalog" format. We devote about 66% of the pages to editorial content and the remainder to the catalog portion that includes the standard product descriptions, specifications and images. The editorial section has been an effective way for us to have some of the most respected authors in the shooting and hunting media present products and concepts to our customers in a way that promotes their strengths, educates the reader, and keeps their attention through entertaining hunting stories, hands on reviews, torture tests, etc.
.pdf 2012 Product Catalog
In the US, television shows are popular with the shooting and hunting consumers with at least 3 channels dedicated entirely to hunting, fishing, and shooting. We work closely with several different shows on a variety of channels to ensure that our message about the CZ products reaches potential customers through the television.
