What can or does your LDS need to do to EARN your business?

[surfinusa555]

Another small but stupid thing: my favorite shop always has classic rock playing. My least favorite is like a library. The music makes it a much more informal, fun, and pleasant atmosphere. There is a reason all major retailers have music playing at all times.

 

[k ellis]

Colo, thanks for starting this thread. Excellent comments from everyone. I plan to share this with my entire staff. Please keep the constructive comments coming in. This is what all LDS owners and staff need to hear so that we can meet your expectations.

since you plan on sharing with your staff Ill offer the top 2 things that push me away. These 2 are one when I walk in I like for a shops staff to be non biased and friendly. I dont want to hear how the other shop or the local dive club is full of morons. I want to hear positive things and FACTUAL things. For example if there is a legitamit reason to avoid the other guy that can save a life then thats fine but not how all he sales is junk. I get tired of those stories.

the other thing that pushes me away is flexability. in all ways. I know I covered this earlier but hey dont use the its my time and you need me more then I need you mentality. instead just be honest and if a customer wants the 250 dollar BCD dont tell him it will kill him but instead explain to him what it can and can not do and if hes happy with it then encourage the sale. Dont try to sale him the 1000 dollar BCD he cant afford.

Another thing I would like to see more LDS do is offer a used gear sales maybe even a consignment type set up to where people can actualy buy used gear in a price range they can afford.

One thing I learned is hidden cost so thats a major. I go to a shop local and buy a tank for example say for 170 dollars. when you go online youll see them for 130 dollars (Merely an example so its hypothetical) but then you pay the standard 29.95 shipping and handling plus a surcharge of say 40 dollars. then you have to get in VIPed because the local LDS filling it for you cant verify if anything fell in it or even if it wasnt some lazy salesman just slapping a sticker on it. Now your over 200.00 and counting.

 

[AndrewA]

Living in the middle of a desert I dont have an LDS. However when I go back to the UK I always visit the LDS in Norwich near where I stay. I also usually make a 250mile round trip to a large dive shop in Yorkshire. What these two stores have in common is a welcoming friendly ambiance (I always get a cup of coffee just the way I like it). The staff are all divers and are helpful but not pusshy and have made an effort to get to know/understand their customer. (One of thes stores also does mail order and has a good discount scheme). I buy quite a lot of gear from an online store in the USA (because US prices are much lower than UK and freight charges also tend to be less!!!). Interestinly that store also seams to be run by divers and they have always been very helpful both by phone and email. In the end of the day good customer relations is vital.

 

[galvanni]

I just want to be treated like I want to be treated in any other store. I want every question I ask - no matter how many times you've heard it to be treated seriously and with utmost importance and with enthusiasm. I want to see cheerful smiles and hear positive things - no matter how bad your day is going. If you don't like what you do - find another profession or get into something that you love doing so much that you're willing to be helpful and cheerful about it - always.

I want you to KNOW the gear you're selling, not just putting it on display with a price tag because it's going to sell. If you carry more than one model of something - I don't want to hear - "it's just personal preference" every time. I want to know what the tangible differences are between them.

What I do like. When a dive shop doesn't carry something or provide a service - steers me to where I can find it - even if it's another shop or goes out of their way and starts calling around to locate it. That shows me you're earning my business.

Communication. Don't wait a week to get back to me when I e-mail. If you own an online shop - YOU NEED TO ACTUALLY ANSWER THE E-MAIL in the contact us section. I wish I could have a business that was so good that I could just ignore 35% of my customers.

Just my .02

 

[Jim Lapenta]

My first post in this thread was as a diver. Now from the perspective of the independent instructor. The shop I work with - not for - has 6 instructors from 3 diffewrent agencies. We all bring in students that the shop otherwise may have never seen. My class runs 6-8 weeks. That is 6-8 times that we come down to use the pool that the owner - who is not an instructor - has an opportunity to sell gear. In exchange we get keyman deals, real discounts on our own gear, and free air. The quarry I bring my students to for checkouts has a shop onsite and does not charge me for air. If I were to move to Colorado where my nephew lives would you allow me to teach through your shop? Or will you insist I cross over to XYZ agency and only get students through you? If so I will recommend they buy wherever they can get the best price. If you accept me as a "partner" in the business and don't try to screw my people over I will recommend they give you the opportunity to sell to them. You must understand that I will not push gear based on anything other than my students best interests. That always comes first. I will not push AIR2's on $600 bcs because they are not necessary and I personally don't care for them. I will not push the deal gear you got at DEMA if it is not in the best interests of my people.

 

[diver 85]

To the OP---lower prices(competing with the internet) is about the only way I see for you.......LDSs are finally realizing, for the most part, the dollar bill is what drives people, something I found out 25 years ago in our business(you're not alone in this)---& oh, good luck, cus you(LDSs) are gunna need it.......

 

[Crush]

Don't lie - "I don't know, but I will look into it and get back to you" is a perfectly acceptable, professional answer.

If I ask for a quote on something that is not in stock and you take more than a few days getting back to me - I'll find it somewhere else. Remember, it is often faster for me to order accessories on-line from across the country and get them delivered to my door than it is for your sales rep to get back to you with a price, let alone how long I am going to wait until you consolidate enough orders from that manufacturer so as to make your shipping cost acceptable to you.

Know what you are selling. If I buy a BP/w, don't forget to recommend a crotch strap and tell me why. If I am getting a tech setup, don't try to sell me retractors (no matter how good the markup) - offer me a bolt snap solution. It really helps if you have dived the gear that you are selling so that you can explain to me why I do or do not need something.

Don't try to push me on the last of your old stock so as to clear it out if that is clearly not what my diving needs are.

Educate me on my diving needs, but don't talk down to me.

An up-to-date listing of what you have and your pricing might encourage me to shop at your place on-line. Do you think I really care if it is shipped from NY, TX, or TN? DON'T have a web link to your "on-line store," the only contents of which are links to Aqualung, US Diver, Zeagle, etc. - I can find these manufacturers just fine using google.

If maintaining a website is too tough, send out a pdf flyer with real prices on it once a while.

If you sigh, roll your eyes and shrug your shoulders if I ask you to price-match someone else (or at least come close) - you have lost me as a customer, forever. Giving you the chance to come close to an on-line price is not something that I do for my benefit - the on-line price will be better. I am trying to get you to come close so that I can support you while not getting totally ripped off. I am throwing you a bone. Don't shrug and walk away.

 

[Jim238]

Another thing I would like to see more LDS do is offer a used gear sales maybe even a consignment type set up to where people can actualy buy used gear in a price range they can afford.

QUOTE]

I brought this up as well in another thread. I don't understand why dive shops don't take advantage of this opportunity. Give me the option of buying quality used gear that has been looked over by the shop.

 

[EODiver]

WOW, I just realized that we all must go to the same three or four LDS's, because the problems are all the same no matter where we really live and spend money. At least I see that I'm not alone in my feelings about the way I would like to see things and to be treated.

I hope that you can develop a good business model for the rest of the country to emulate.

 

[Crush]

WOW, I just realized that we all must go to the same three or four LDS's, because the problems are all the same no matter where we really live and spend money. At least I see that I'm not alone in my feelings about the way I would like to see things and to be treated.

I hope that you can develop a good business model for the rest of the country to emulate.

Yeah - it has been an eye-opener for me too.

Sometimes I want to beat my head against the wall - I call for a price on a non-stock item with a common manufacturer, give them the manufacturer's part number, wait four weeks, call again (this time they promise to get back to me), then I hear back from them in two more weeks. Plus, I feel incredibly guilty when I ask them to almost-price-match with an on-line store - I tell them the on-line price, convert to local currency ($CAN), add in shipping, duty, and taxes. The reaction that I am met with has caused me to just quietly order on-line and show up at the next dive outing with my new gear and not draw attention to it.