List some of the features or services that a dive center should offer in an ideal yet realistic situation. What would you have in YOUR dive center if you were well-funded?
What do you look for in a dive center?
- Thread starter Aquatic Eagle
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Jason, Wayne, George and Syd Fisch from "The Scuba Connection" in Hillsborough NJ
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don Francisco
Contributor
The most important thing I look for at dive shops is knowledgable, respectful, well trained sales staff.
I don't like know-it-alls who ask me when I'm going to replace my 9-year old regulators or BC, with the hot item de jour. Conversely minimum wage clerks who don't know squat about what they sell are equally useless to me.
Good staffers are able to make recommendations, but don't get preachy, and are willing to work with each customer, based on skill level, the type of diving they plan on, and budget. I used to train bicycle sales staff and always tried to teach them that it was more important to listen than to speak.
To support good staff a well run store must have a reasonable selection of products at a spectrum or price levels. Not every diver needs the newest, "greatest" most expensive item in any category, nor are all customers interested in becoming tech or cold water divers. Having many brands and models is less important than a selection to suit various needs with depth and full size range in those stocked.
A good repair/service department is next on the list. No one can be expected to service everything, but staff need to know their limits and be willing to say "sorry, I don't know if we can help you, I'll look into it and if we can't do it I'll find out who can.
The easiest ways to lose my service business are shoddy work, (don't use a mis-fitting wrench on my reg hoses) and failure to deliver the job on time as promised. If parts or another problem are going to cause a delay, I expect a call before I drive down to pick up my job.
A good shop should be a complete dive resource, involved in the local diving scene (if any), offering dive training, offering dive trips or otherwise helping with dive travel. You know when there's a good shop in town when folks say without hesitation "go see...... they'll help you with that".
These days I visit too many beuatiful, well lit, well merchandised showplace bike shops who just don't get it. They have everything, except good customer attitude. Bikes, scuba, or anything else, it isn't about product, staff, merchandising, or image. It isn't about the store, it's about the customer. He has the dough, and will part with it only if you make him want to.
I don't like know-it-alls who ask me when I'm going to replace my 9-year old regulators or BC, with the hot item de jour. Conversely minimum wage clerks who don't know squat about what they sell are equally useless to me.
Good staffers are able to make recommendations, but don't get preachy, and are willing to work with each customer, based on skill level, the type of diving they plan on, and budget. I used to train bicycle sales staff and always tried to teach them that it was more important to listen than to speak.
To support good staff a well run store must have a reasonable selection of products at a spectrum or price levels. Not every diver needs the newest, "greatest" most expensive item in any category, nor are all customers interested in becoming tech or cold water divers. Having many brands and models is less important than a selection to suit various needs with depth and full size range in those stocked.
A good repair/service department is next on the list. No one can be expected to service everything, but staff need to know their limits and be willing to say "sorry, I don't know if we can help you, I'll look into it and if we can't do it I'll find out who can.
The easiest ways to lose my service business are shoddy work, (don't use a mis-fitting wrench on my reg hoses) and failure to deliver the job on time as promised. If parts or another problem are going to cause a delay, I expect a call before I drive down to pick up my job.
A good shop should be a complete dive resource, involved in the local diving scene (if any), offering dive training, offering dive trips or otherwise helping with dive travel. You know when there's a good shop in town when folks say without hesitation "go see...... they'll help you with that".
These days I visit too many beuatiful, well lit, well merchandised showplace bike shops who just don't get it. They have everything, except good customer attitude. Bikes, scuba, or anything else, it isn't about product, staff, merchandising, or image. It isn't about the store, it's about the customer. He has the dough, and will part with it only if you make him want to.
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staff who loves to dive themself. So they do what they love.
And from my time on the bicycle, I love that: "No there is no payment, I just needed 10 min to fix it...It is for free". With such small help I start to order everything from that shop, even it is a bit more expensive.
And from my time on the bicycle, I love that: "No there is no payment, I just needed 10 min to fix it...It is for free". With such small help I start to order everything from that shop, even it is a bit more expensive.
ronbeau
Contributor
The answer from RJP is spot on. Good staff treat customers like they should treat them which makes them happy and they tell other people which just reinforces the positive cycle.
OP
Thanks guys, those are great points. I guess what I'm looking for though, are physical things. What would the pool be like, what would the layout of the store include, etc.
I disagree.
There can't be a successful, long-term relationship unless the store owner, the store employees and the customers are all having their needs met. Making it work requires that each of the parties understands that they have a role to play and that their happiness is dependent upon the happiness of the other two.
There are too many owners only focused on "here and now" and how they can scratch a few more dollars out of the customer and how to avoid investing in their staff. Mostly these people are hobbiests, unfortunate enough to have invested in their dream without understanding that it has to be run as a business and disillusioned when they discover just how hard it really is to be successful. We might all have been better off if they had remained consumers and stayed out of the business end of the industry.
There are too many incompetent employees with no ability or plan to improve themselves. Many of these people simply don't have the capacity to master the multi-faceted nature of being a dive shop monkey and are better suited to work the fry station at Burger Heaven. Unable (and, usually, unwilling) to learn how to do their job on their own, they find themselves juxtaposed between the disappointed avarice of the owners and the conniving greed of the customers whereupon they are eventually numbed into the mindless agony of the wage slave.
There are too many customers unwilling to pay for the level of service they demand. Happy to spend an hour in the their LDS trying on BCD after BCD, yet fully intent upon making the purchase from the less expensive online vendor. Unwilling to spend the time actually studying the student materials they bought but happy to join the chorus complaining about the quality of their training. More interested in cyber-diving than actually getting wet and having fun while improving their skills. Demanding their LDS sell them the hot new titanium waffle fin they just read about in DiveDope magazine, only to be back two months later complaining when they discover that the joke is on them.
It's kind of like being married - you only get out of the relationship what you're willing to put into it. What applies to the store owner also applies to the employees and customers: as soon as you're more interested in taking than giving you have doomed yourself.
You should expect your local dive shop to provide you with modern training, sound advice, reliable equipment sales, competent equipment service and repair, and sponsored activities. If you aren't willing to pay (in dollars and time) for what you consume then you aren't going to get what you want - only what you deserve.
As consumers, it's hard to influence anything beyond the purchasing decision. Fortunately, the purchasing decision is an incredibly powerful tool. Wield that tool with skill and finesse and you'll find that you earn the respect you desire. Control the things you can and don't sweat the stuff you can't - if you're good at your role as a consumer, everybody else usually gets good at theirs.
I would not care, as long I feel they are honest. I somehow always have the feeling that if a shop is too perfect, that they make too much profit. That is most probably wrong, but I have that feeling.
OP
I see your point. Most people wouldn't want to do their pool training in a 6 ft. deep pool though. When I was first certified, there was a regular pool for the swimming requirements but there was an above-ground 15ft cylinder tank that was used for the pool work. It was nice to be able to go to the bottom and actually feel like I was underwater instead of feeling like I'm just barely under the surface.
If you were building a dive center, what would you like it to have?
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