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

[tbone1004]

like what's been mentioned. My "Local" dive shop is almost a thousand miles away. Well the two of them. One in Florida, one in Pennsylvania. Most of the people the LDS's seem to cater too are non returning customers. They're the ones that go in and take a class, then buy all the gear and are done. They can push classes and their latest and greatest gear.
These two shops tailer to the technical divers because they realize we have to spend the most money on equipment and need random stuff and random times. They understand that we're not likely to send our regulators in for annual repair because we do it ourselves, but instead when we need help on some random thing or don't have time to do it on our own, won't question why we haven't brought it in for regular service and say we need to and try to push new products down our throats.

I already own a set of ATX50's, you're working on them now. I don't need XTX200 status' because they're the most expensive regulator you have in stock. No I really don't care about this new jacket BC, and yes I'm aware my second stage is scratched to high hell because it gets used in a cave, my bad...

The other two shops teach open water divers, they don't mind helping new divers either. Will they push them for equipment that they have to buy once. I know the dealers may or may not agree with your approach, and neither of these shops are Aqualung dealers to my knowledge. Mainly DiveRite and OMS, Oxycheq, DSS etc.

Stuff like that, most of the non LDS oriented people are tech divers. Rec divers are usually different.
Oh and VIP charges. Good lord. I know it only takes about 15 mins max to VIP a tank unless it needs tumbling, don't charge me $30 for it when I'm bringing 6 bottles in. I get my bottles hydro'd for $25 a bottle, and that includes a vip. OH!! and when you vip, don't bloody charge me for an air fill afterwards!!

Sorry, I have no idea which shop you're associated with and haven't done business with you, but those are my pet peeves with some dive shops

 

[Lenaxia]

Treat everyone as a real customer. I'm fairly young when it comes to the scuba crowd at 24 years green.

You'd think that being in Silicon Valley they'd understand younger people are more prone to have disposable income, yet when I walk into one of my dive stores, I am practically ignored and only the older folk are catered to. Their 50-100% markups aren't helping either. A package I paid $1300 from scubatoys for was priced out at $2400 for me at the LDS. I may have disposable income but I'm not stupid. Now I'm buying a drysuit and the LDS priced it out to $2600 and ScubaToys again is at $1500.

Also, make sure your staff knows how to hand off customers to each other. I have had a sales person who ONLY dives wet try to tell me about dry suits. Sorry, I actually knew more than she did just from the research I did online, and it was obvious she wasn't comfortable talking about them either. Tell your staff that it is not wrong to call someone over who has more expertise, don't try to hard sell. I'm not in a rush either, I'm willing to wait until whoever the other sales rep is helping is done.

Don't talk down on other types of gear/diving styles. My regular instructor is now my former regular instructor because he basically scoffed at my gear as I had started to move towards a tech emphasis. He also told our class straight up that if we swam behind him we'd have no visibility because of the silt that would be kicked up. I mentioned frog kick and tech style finning later when we were eating because of that and was basically told off. Seriously.

I will not make any large purchases at my two LDS' because I am not happy with the service of either. Small things, sure, but because I've basically been dismissed from each store, they only get chump change and classes (maybe not even classes anymore).

 

[Hoomi]

Here's how our LDS earned our loyalty.

The first time I walked in, as a non-diver interested in lessons, I was treated like I'd been a valued customer for a long time, rather than just a wallet to be emptied.

They showed us options, rather than just pushing us towards the highest profit items in the store. They didn't mind when we took time to do some online and magazine research on our gear before buying. When I picked up a used BC, because at the time it was what I could afford, they didn't get snarky or give me any problems about checking it out (one LDS we visited, when they heard I'd bought a used BC, made a snide comment that equated doing so with being suicidal).

They've never tried to sell us things we didn't need. They have events for their customers, and make their dive trips easy to enjoy. It's fine to drop in and hang out, and the owners are just as likely to chat and joke with us as the employees are. When we've had a problem with a purchase, they've made it good without a fuss.

Some folks are more interested in saving a few bucks than in supporting businesses like that, but to us, it's worth paying a little more if it helps keep that kind of business healthy in our town.

 

[Paladin]

There are two dive shops within 15 miles of my home, but the shop I go to exclusively is 40 miles away. Why? Economics, service and attitude. The closer shops sell ScubaPro and/or Aqua Lung gear at manufacturer-mandated prices. Their dive classes also bring premium prices. One shop will not rent equipment nor will they provide equipment for classes. The price tag for classes includes the cost of a complete set of new gear.

In contrast, I drive 40 miles to a shop where the owner calls me by my first name, respects my choice to dive vintage gear and even helps me get parts for my stuff and will service my old gear for a very reasonable price if I ask. He used to be an authorized dealer for Aqua Lung and ScubaPro, but stopped dealing with them because they wanted to tell him how to sell his merchandise and for what price. He now sells equipment from other manufacturers that allow him to set his own prices to match the needs of his customers. He is very cognizant of his customers' economic needs.

For example, tank inspections are $13, including fill. The shop he sends his customers to for hydros charges $16 per cylinder.

Customers can freely come into his shop just to shoot the breeze and kill some time "hangar flying." He loves diving and loves to talk about diving. He carries a wealth of diving knowledge in his head and readily shares it with anyone who cares to listen.

His prices are, for the most part, competitive with online retailers. Generally, his prices are within a few bucks of what you'd pay online with shipping. His shop is cluttered and disorganized compared to the other shops in my area but, for me, that just adds to the homeyness and relaxed atmosphere. Not once when someone goes into the shop will he try to sell them anything. He just says "Hi, how ya doing?" and lets the customer set the tone of the visit. If you need something, he'll do his best to meet that need. If not, he'll like as not draw you into a conversation about diving and share his experiences with you or listen as you share yours with him.

Going to Charlie's little shop is like visiting a favorite uncle. That's the sort of thing that keeps me going back.

 

[WeldonDowd]

And then there are some people who just like the comfort of shopping online. No matter how stocked your store is it will never have all the equipment I can look at, read about, and read reviews for then I can study by visiting three of four online stores. It is nothing personal, I promise. I have two local shops in my town that I equally like to visit; however, I learn about products online from SB, Scubatoys, LP, Divesports, Pirannha, and a few others. I can shop, read reviews, and write this post right here on the cell phone. It's simply how I like to shop buy it doesn't mean I have anything against your store.

 

[Amphiprion]

Do things the online stores cannot do:

Teach lots of different classes, mine teaches intro to scuba all the way to expedition trimix CCR.

Foster a community of divers, make sure that you introduce divers to one another who have the same level of certification and interest. It always helps to find new buddies.

Offer good travel packages.

Don't disparage the gear that people have already.

Don't mark up an item more than 20% of what we can get online. You know that your customers can use the internet. We don't like being screwed.

Beer - seriously.

 

[scubamarketing]

Before you ignore me because I work for one of the online retailers, keep in mind that I worked for an insanely successful LDS in a fairly small town in Oregon (not really a diving Mecca), have visited literally hundreds of LDS's and have worked with quite a few before starting at LP to help expand their business.

It may sound cheesy, but I think PADI's 4 E's can make or break an LDS. Education, Experience and Environment will all drive Equipment.

Divers can't take their entire SCUBA course online, so they have to come to you at some point. Have fun, safe, knowledgeable instructors, AI's and DM's and your students will want to take more classes. Soft sell the equipment that matches your class, even offer a discount (15% off lights if you're enrolled in a Night Diver specialty for example) and you will sell equipment.

Make diving a real experience through local dive trips, exotic trips and a fun dive club and people will want to be part of that community. Let them try demo gear or make a guide available for a local site orientation. If you're already on location, send a DM with the customer free of charge.

Environmental activities seem so often overlooked yet can be great PR. Call or write the local media if you're doing a beach cleanup, do ocean conservation events at local schools or work with an aquarium or zoo to educate patrons. This can even further entrench you as a member of the local community outside of SCUBA.

These things combined can drive traffic (back) into your LDS, which is where the last E comes into play. Like others have said, have modern equipment. Have it in stock or only carry brands you can get within a couple of days. Some of the most successful shops I've seen do not have their staff on commission. Having worked in retail sales in another industry, I've seen that it leads to greed which leads to poor service and misinformation. PADI's Positive Approach Selling is actually a great resource. Look into something like American General financing so your customers can buy today, but pay over time without you having to privately finance.

Yes, LP (and the others like us) are here to compete with LDS's. I've seen some LDS's go out of business and blame it on online retailers when the reality was actually poor service. The metro area I live in has ~2.2 million people in it and 2 decent dive shops. That's 1.1 million people each, if you can get the attention of half a percent of those people, that's 5,500 customers per year of 15 per day (if you're open every single day).

I love this discussion because ultimately I want to see the industry and community grow and I realize we all have our place in it.

 

[natew]

Make sure you keep the small things in stock! It may be beans for you and unimportant to sell some poor sap $10 worth of weights or a couple of O rings but when you have a dive planned for the next day and you can't find exactly what you need it will kind of piss you off. A few weeks ago I went to three dive shops in town to find 4lbs worth of weights and NONE of them had any in stock. I was kinda disappointed at all of them as I had to drive 30+ miles to get 4lbs, if one of the local shops had what I wanted in stock that would have been a definite + for them. Other small things to keep in stock would be compasses, SPGs, different flash lights, a variety of dive knives and even a tank or two. Basically your LDS should be an extension of your save a dive kit because nothing is worse than calling a dive because something minor failed and you couldn't just drive on over to your LDS and pick it up! Having a dive tomorrow and being told "sorry we have to order that and it will be a week+" is a real pisser. The good thing about a lot of those types of items is that even the online retailers don't really discount them a whole lot but if I walk into my LDS and am told they will have to order it I'm pretty likely to walk out and buy it online. Atleast I know if I buy it online it will be shipped the next day, unfortunately many LDSs hold orders until they get 2 or 3 of them which can sometimes mean waiting weeks for what you want.

BTW, price is less of a concern on many of these smaller items so long as I can walk into the shop and walk out with it I'd be willing to pay $5-10 more on say a $100 item but if you still have to order it what's the point?

Price is a concern, however, on the more expensive items such as computers, BCDs and regulators. You can be more expensive but the service has to be there and not just helping me try it on. Give me an air fill or two, let me spend some time in your pool with the new gear, give me a discount on a dive trip or on a class or something. The plus there is that one purchase can keep a guy coming back to your shop 3,4,5 or more times. You're not only competing with online stores but with the other LDSs in town.

 

[skankpile]

I'm a newbie here, but here is my experience...

I walked into a local shop and just talked to them for say 15 minutes about diving, my interests etc and came away with a good feeling. Two days later I walk into the same shop with an old al80 I wanted to change it to din and it needed hydro/inspection.. guy says no problem, and since you are getting it hydroed here you get free air for a year.

Then I told him I was interested in regulators and I mentioned a few brands.. he then showed me what he had and mentioned the brands I liked are all great ( no bashing, negativity), but mentioned some hard test data that persuaded me to a purchase.. and the fact he could service them there, free parts, and he let me finger them all including the titanium stuff.. No pressure and and I ended up with Apeks. He had all the miflex hoses in stock, put them on and I was a happy customer

He then said while my tank was being hydroed feel free to take a tank if I needed for the weekend...

Just today, I dropped into another shop on my lunch break for new booties and it was night/day.. the guys were putting priority on phone calls while customers were in store, seemed not as professional, maybe x-surfers... not exactly what works for me, but for some I guess it clicks. I also noticed they had 'plans' for air... I'm thinking I'll be going back to the other place.

Even though the first place may be more expensive, I'd rather have a relationship with them, but I'm probably that rare person.

 

[atrawick]

Like everyone else has said. Be respectful and up to date on products. MY LDS is a good shop with some drawbacks. Make sure my equipment is ready on the day you say. Or call and let me know.

I went into a LDS in PCB this weekend and was very impressed by attention I was given. I walked out with a new wetsuit with 15% off! I will be back!