What are you looking for in a dive shop?

[*dave*]

I want a shop that has divers as its main priority. An attitude of "How can we help divers" will yield divers who are dedicated to the shop that is looking out for their interests. Too many shops are looking at nothing but their GL and responding to it, rather than taking care of the divers.

Take care of the divers and the divers will take care of your bottom line. You can run new divers through every specialty and take advantage of their enthusiasm by selling them every thing you can clip onto them, but at some point, they'll get wise to your motives. Sure, they've spent thousands already, but you'll lose the thousands more they would have spent with you had you treated them like the asset they could be.

I want a shop where I can come in and talk about diving without feeling like I'm wasting someone's time. High pressure sales have no place in the dive shop. Agencies don't help with this. There is reference to the fact that the majority of sales are made after the consumer has rejected the purchase 3 times. If I have to say no 3x, there's a very good chance I won't be coming back.

 

[kjack_1]

Wow -- the OP is getting some really stiff standards, here.

Staff must be Chippendales!!!!! :rofl4:

I don't think so. Reading through the replies kinda sounds like we all want a reasonable, responsive, and professional shop that doesn't use or abuse the customer.

Chippendales?? No way! In my 'hood, Barney is better looking.

 

[Gilldiver]

So far most of the things are about what you want in a shop. This is about the shop itself.

This should be common sense to most marketing people but most dive shops I have seen have never thought about how they present themselves. If your shop looks like crap, why would anyone think it is other then crap? You only get to make a first impression once, if it is a bad one you will most likely never see that walk in again.

Simple Rules:

The Store Front MUST BE DRY – Keep the wet stuff out of the marketing area.

Pay Attention to DETAILS – Make it look nice. Nothing looks worse then an old concrete floor, Epoxy seal it or at least paint it. Peeling paint and dingy ceilings are just as bad.

Build it with THE RIGHT MATERIALS – Don't use used or the cheap stuff, make out of quality things. If a piece of glass on a counter is cracked, replace it – don't just tape the crack for the next 10 years. If I see real cheap stands and counters why would I think your service area is any better?

The SHOP MUST BE CLEAN – A guy might put up with dirty bathrooms and changing areas, most women will not. If your service area looks like a flea market used tool stand with tools and parts all over the place, why should I think you do any quality work?

The SHOP MUST BE BRIGHT & WARM – A dark and dingy garage will be looked at as a garage. Most dive shops I go to in the north seem to think heat is an option. Do you think a woman would want to get into a bathing suit to try on a wet suit if the temp is 50 degrees?

 

[sabbath999]

List all of your prices online on your online store. None of that 'call us for prices' guff. I hate calling for quotes as I often get different prices than what other people get.

Good one! I hate "call for prices", it is BS.

 

[scubadobadoo]

The internet age has ushered in a new batch of hobbyists who are much more self sufficient than they used to be. Competing with the internet is almost impossible as has been stated. These self sufficient hobbyists are a tough nut to crack when they purchase gear, trips, servicing, and even training online. Add to that, most divers don't dive locally but rather far away, while on vacation and that makes the concept of a LOCAL dive shop seem even more unneeded. Scuba Board is filled with self sufficient scuba divers. I am one of them so of course my opinion will be colored by that fact.

I agree with many of the suggestions already posted so I will only give out one piece of tough advice. If your friend wants to make some money in this business and not have to re-mortgage her house or worse, then tell her to sell now and get out while she can. If your friend isn't in a great market (say the only dive shop next to an awesome shore dive) then she likely won't make it these days. If your friend doesn't have money to gamble with then my advice is not to gamble because then the stakes are too high and it's just not fun and you end up hating your passion.

As for her opening an online store, don't waste your time unless your gonna do it big. LP, Scuba Toys, and others already own the market and unless your friend wants to spend even more money and time competing with internet giants then don't do it. Your friend's key to success is the word "LOCAL." Others covered this already by mentioning adding local value. But again, if your not in the right market then even this won't help IMHO.

We all wish your friend all the luck in the world and hope she make a million bucks. Honestly we do.

 

[Road Guy]

We have been loyal to the dive shop we use in Atlanta, have gone with them on two of their extended weekend trips. While I will continue to shop with them and take classes, send my kids their when they are old enough, I wont ever take one of their trips again. They have a coach / RV for the ride down, which sounds great, but little things like not making sure the generator works before heading on a 14 hour drive to the keys , making the two flat screen tv’s and dvd players worthless is kind of irritating. I would make sure that all the equipment was working before loading everyone up.

I understand that they rarely make money on these trips and the idea is to keep you diving, coming back to their shop, but I wish they could just do a little better planning on the trip and I think we would be willing to come back.

This will probably give away the dive shop, and this is solely the owners fault but this dive shop also has a shop in Macon Ga, the last time we were heading back from the keys, we got into Macon, GA around 2:00 in the AM. The owner required the dive instructor (also our RV Driver  ) to stop at the Macon Store, trade the RV out for a van they have, the instructor didn’t know how to disconnect, reconnect the trailer, and then they instructor had to fill up both the RV and the Van with gas, we lost about an hour and a half through this process. I don’t know why the owner wouldn’t have this taken care of after his “customers” were already at home, or at least had the Van filled up with gas prior to us getting there..

Okay I wrote more than I intended, but the owner / manager of this shop saw no problem in doing this, but for the 12 of us on the trip we all pretty much decided never to go on another trip with them…

 

[The Chairman]

Personally,

I like to see a ScubaBoard sticker SOMEWHERE in the shop or on the boat where ever I go. Then I know that they have been exposed to threads just like these and that they are more or less forward thinkers! Yeah, I have other reasons to want to see that sticker as well... but they really make me feel that they understand the ScubaBoard tribe, and I like that!

 

[Jax]

... but they really make me feel that they understand the ScubaBoard tribe, and I like that!

If the Scuba tribe is having a dialog, does that make it a diatribe?

IJS . . ..

 

[Road Guy]

Conch Republic Divers in Key Largo has a huge banner in their shop, that owner runs a great outfit and we'll be using him when we go back to the keys this summer (except for the one day we will hopefully dive the vandenburg)

 

[Brian Sharpe]

Value, service & integrity!

I deal with my LDS because he offers me all of the above. I know I pay a little more for some items but in the long run I know I'm getting products at competitive prices, good advice and I don't go in there feeling like I have to count my fingers on the way out the door.

As a self employed person myself I prefer to deal with local business whenever I can and I appreciate dealing with someone who has a handle on effectively marketing his or her business.

One of the things he did was make the investment in a membrane compressor - 32% premix is the same price as air. When you buy tanks you get free fills equivalent to the value of the tank and he has a loyalty program. For a nominal annual fee you join the "XXXXX Dive Team" which gets you a t-shirt (advertising for his shop), discounts on future training (the 10% off on the Rescue Diver course will pay for my membership) and a fill card for 10 free fills, on top of that they track your spending and if you reach the threshold get $50 off on your next purchase. During dive season they organize mid-week local dives and charters on the weekends.

Despite the fact that his location isn't great (the street was literally torn up for construction for months last year) and parking is a pain sometimes he has built a loyal and growing clientele. (We're lucky to have 4 dive shops in the Ottawa area)