Chris Zane

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  www.bicycleretailer.com/news/newsDetail/2909.html - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 7/7/2009    Last Visited: 7/8/2009  

  Chris Zane, owner of Zane's Cycles, who has 15 years of experience as the exclusive supplier of Trek bicycles to the premiums and incentives market, agreed that the bike industry's model year changes make servicing the incentives market challenging.
  
  He said commitments to corporations such as Marriott can last anywhere from 12 to 18 months, which requires frontloading quite a bit of inventory.
  
  "The thing with special markets is it takes a really long time to get in it, but once you're in it, it takes an equally long time for it to go away. We try to control the offerings we have so we can continue to get the inventory," Zane said. Still, he said he sometimes receives orders for a Trek model that no longer exists. And he said a year like this, in which he was locked into last year's lower pricing, reduces his profitability.
  
  Still, Zane said the biggest challenge is providing consistently good service to the corporate customer who offers the bike and individuals who receive the bike.
  
  "It's pretty demanding-you spend a lot of time holding a lot of hands," Zane said. "Our focus has to be on making sure everyone in the loop is completely satisfied at an extremely high level. If a customer gets a bike through the Marriott rewards program and something happens, Marriott loses a customer, not Zane's."
  
  Zane said providing excellent customer service is essential for developing repeat business that makes the corporate business worthwhile.
  
  "That's what gives the business the value. You build a relationship, they become dedicated to your offering and you need to continue to earn their willingness," Zane said. "If you're just looking for a one-off program, that's a lot of work."
  
  Zane said he's seen a lot of brands come and go since he got into the incentives business in 1994. Fuji, Mongoose and licensed brands like Jeep and Columbia have all dabbled in it. He said it's tough to figure out who the players are, make the logistics work and have the inventory.
  
  "Ed's the first guy in since we got in who's had the interest and is tenacious enough to have it benefit his operation," Zane said.

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  www.pr.com/company-profile/press-releases/30416 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 9/28/2008    Last Visited: 9/28/2008  

  Chris Zane, CEO of Zane's Cycles, Talks About Passion for Service on The CEO Show with Robert Reiss
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  Chris Zane, CEO of Zane's Cycles, talks on the CEO Show with Robert Reiss about how a passion for providing unequaled customer service helped grow his business 23 percent per year over the past three decades.
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  Zane explains how he puts the long term interests of his customers first and the reasons for separating his brand from competition.

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  www.camex.org/media/news2009.asp - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 1/1/2009    Last Visited: 8/11/2009  

  Among those was Zane's Cycles, the largest independent bicycle dealer in New Haven, CT. Owner Chris Zane uses some unusual tactics to ensure customers stick with him for the long ride.

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  www.lawnandlandscape.com/news/news.asp?ID=5935 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 12/10/2007    Last Visited: 12/11/2007  

  New program elements include an intensive opening day on Wednesday with Master Classes for experienced green industry professionals and an engaging keynote address featuring renowned entrepreneur, Chris Zane, owner of Zane's Cycles in Branford, Conn., will be followed by an Expo Preview Reception from 4-7 p.m. Thursday and Friday offer educational sessions and the exposition will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days.

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  www.gpnmag.com/New-England-Grows-Announces-2008-Plans-N - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 6/11/2007    Last Visited: 2/23/2008  

  New England Grows, a green industry exposition and educational conference in the Northeast, has announced that Christopher Zane, owner of Conn.-based Zanes Cycles, will give the keynote address on the opening day of the 2008 event.New England Grows will take place Feb. 6-8, at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center in Boston, Mass.
  
  The keynote is new to the 15-year-old educational conference.As owner of one of the largest retail bicycle stores in the nation, Zane will reflect on his successful business model, according to New England Grows.A 23-year veteran of the retail bicycle industry at age 39, Zane will share his unique approach to marketing.Among the strategies Zane will describe are continual learning, a customer's lifetime value, guerrilla marketing, bootstrapping, community relations, cost controlled customer service and image branding.

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  www.1to1media.com/slideshow.aspx?gallery=1 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 9/7/2008    Last Visited: 9/7/2008  

  Martha Rogers presents Chris Zane of Zanes Cycles with his personalized 1to1 Customer Champions credo.,
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  Steve Fraser, Carlson Marketing Canada, gives his global view to Chris Zane of Zanes Cycles.,

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  www.ycfn.org/News.aspx - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 7/30/2008    Last Visited: 7/30/2008  

  New program elements include an intensive opening day on Wednesday, February 6 with Master Classes for experienced green industry professionals and an engaging keynote address featuring renowned entrepreneur, Chris Zane, owner of Zane's Cycles in Branford, CT, will be followed by an Expo Preview Reception from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

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  www.pr.com/press-release/71277 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 2/9/2008    Last Visited: 9/28/2008  

  Chris Zane, CEO of Zane's Cycles, Talks About Passion for Service on The CEO Show with Robert Reiss
  ...
  Chris Zane, CEO of Zane's Cycles, talks on the CEO Show with Robert Reiss about how a passion for providing unequaled customer service helped grow his business 23 percent per year over the past three decades.
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  Zane explains how he puts the long term interests of his customers first and the reasons for separating his brand from competition.The interview presents a classic American success story, illustrated with intriguing personal examples that reveal reasons for Zane's success.Ridgefield, CT, February 09, 2008 --(PR.com)-- Chris Zane, CEO of Zane's Cycles, talks on the CEO Show with Robert Reiss about how a passion for providing unequaled customer service helped grow his business into one of the largest retail bicycle stores in the Nation at an average pace of 23 percent over the past three decades.
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  Zane explains how he puts the long term interests of his customers first and avoids the temptation to just focus on short term profits, practices he illustrates with incredible stories in the interview.His stories also reveal leadership that values and inspires employees even at the risk of sacrificing sales.
  
  Zane's personal success is an example of the classic American success story - local boy, makes good, through hard work, persistence and with the backing of a strong family.You can feel the wisdom that helped him succeed, passed on by Zane's mom when she said, "If you offer good service, you'll stay in business: And if you don't - you won't."
  
  Zane's Cycles, located in Branford, Connecticut, sells and services bikes, and offers a full line of cycling accessories and clothing.The Zane's website can be found at: www.zanes.com
  
  The interview of Chris Zane will be broadcast on the CEO Show with Robert Reiss on Sunday, February 10, 2008 at 9 pm E.S.T.

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  www.lawnandlandscape.com/news/news.asp?ID=6060 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 2/11/2008    Last Visited: 2/11/2008  

  The show's new format offered a series of "Master Classes," educational sessions aimed at experienced professionals, as well as the event's first-ever keynote address, presented by Chris Zane, owner of Zane's Cycles in Branford, Conn.His talk, titled "Whatever it Takes: The Secrets to Creating Lifetime Customers," focused on the importance of customer retention and the value it can add to a company's bottom line.
  
  "In my 25 years of business I've strived for trust and unparalleled customer service," Zane said.

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  www.potentialsmag.com/msg/content_display/publications/ - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 11/15/2007    Last Visited: 11/18/2007  

  Chris Zane, owner of Zane's Cycles, in Branford, Conn., which has expanded its corporate incentives offerings to include Xbox 360 products as well as the Microsoft Zune portable multimedia player, says, "We're finding it's everyone from guys who have a ton of points that are buying it for their kids to ... young executives who want the new piece of equipment that they don't want to pay out-of-pocket for."
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  "If we're going to an end user with a sales contest for guys that are all young pharmaceutical reps, they're looking for the coolest, newest games, so the Halo [3] is going to be in there, the Call of Duty is going to be in there, the Madden [NFL 08]," says Zane.
  
  The third installment of the Halo franchise Zane refers to was released to much fanfare in late September, and Microsoft's futuristic action title is expected to attract a lot of gamers to the Xbox 360 platform.
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  But Zane has found that game-focused bundles are far more popular than other alternative bundles his company has offered."The stuff that's on the fringe, as cool as it may be, it's not necessarily where the bundles have such high demand," he says.

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