Only Good Energy | No Assholes Policy

In 1990, Trek was growing like a weed. More people than ever were riding Trek bikes, and that was thanks to the incredible work of our retailers. For the most part, retailers were happy. But there was one we couldn’t please no matter what we did. 

Let’s call him “Tom”. He was one of the top ten Trek retailers in the country. With a single order, he could make quota for an entire territory. He was a huge deal, but an even bigger asshole. 

Tom made a sport out of making sales reps cry. He kept a running tally. On his best days, he was difficult and threatening. He wore his unkindness like a badge of honour, like being an asshole was something to be proud of. 

One day, the sales manager came into Trek President John Burke’s office and said, “We’ve got a situation with Tom.” We always had a situation with Tom. The sales manager said Tom was about to place a big pre-season order but was making a lot of unreasonable demands. John asked the sales manager what would happen if we cut Tom loose to take his bad energy somewhere else. He said we’d lose 2,000 bike sales a year. 

When John called Tom from O’Hare Airport later that day, he cut to the chase. “Tom,” he said, “we’re not going to meet your demands.” 

Tom said, “Then I’m not going to buy as much from you.” 

John said, “Tom, we’ve come to the conclusion that we’re not doing a good job satisfying you, and that we’re going to discontinue doing business with you.” 

Silence. 

That was that. A week later, John had the same conversation with another top ten Trek retailer. That’s when “no assholes” became an official policy for everyone at Trek – employees, vendors, retailers, everyone.

Why’d we do it? Well, we want you to be able to walk into any Trek shop around the globe and know that you won't have to deal with a cretin behind the counter. Instead, you’ll meet people who treat you with kindness and care. People who really listen and get as much joy out of getting you on a bike as you get out of riding one. 

Because when you build a culture of respect, you make room for more people to ride. And that’s what it’s all about.