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SDI’s Solo Diver Course – How to Market It

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Solo-DiverAt one point or another, a diver has found himself alone during a dive, whether it was intentional or not. Solo diving is the practice of scuba diving alone, without a “dive buddy.”

Solo diving, once considered technical diving and discouraged by most certification agencies, is now seen by many experienced divers and some certification agencies as an acceptable practice for those divers suitably trained and experienced. Rather than relying on the traditional buddy diving safety system, solo divers should be skilled in self-sufficiency and willing to take responsibility for their own safety while diving. The first training agency to offer a Solo Diving certification was Scuba Diving International (SDI) in 1999.

Marketing the SDI Solo Diver Course is not as difficult as one may think. Divers who travel alone, divers highly involved in with photo or video as a hobby, divers who dive with their younger children or with a dive buddy who has considerably less experience than they do, underwater hunters, dive professionals with students, divers who dive in low visibility or are in areas with high currents that may cause the group to separate from their DM or dive buddy…these are all divers who would benefit tremendously from this course. Divers may not always plan to dive alone, but they may find themselves in circumstances where it happens and the added training and additional equipment can be the only elements that get them through a potentially sticky situation.

It is also not unusual for a diver to want to reach the highest levels of training possible, without leaving his or her comfort zone. This means they do not want to invest time and money in tech diving and are not interested in become a dive professional. The Solo Diver program is the one in which they are interested.. As an SDI Dive Center, you can now offer this demographic the ultimate goal in self reliance and confidence as a Solo Diver.

Some divers, such as instructors, are effectively acting as self-sufficient solo divers because they dive with students who may not yet be capable of rescuing them. Others, such as underwater photographers and videographers, dive alone as this allows them a greater opportunity to focus on capturing selected images and not having to rely on buddies to remain close at hand. Even those photographers or videographers who do dive with buddies are often effectively “same ocean” buddies, implying they may be far enough apart physically, or sufficiently focused on their camera-related tasks, to be ineffective as a designated dive buddy—just as if they were diving in the same ocean, but not together. This practice has led to many highly-experienced underwater photographers diving solo, since they don’t commit to providing timely support to a buddy nor do they expect such support from a buddy. Underwater hunters also often elect to dive solo in order to focus on their prey. Many solo divers will happily dive in a buddy pair if diving with a known and trusted buddy, but otherwise dive solo in preference to being paired up with a potentially unreliable or incompetent partner.

Solo diving is not only a great way to add a value to an exercise through training; it is also great for gear sales. They should have a completely redundant set of all life support equipment (e.g. a complete, self-contained backup breathing gas supply). This redundant air supply typically takes the form of a pony bottle for most recreational solo divers, or the use of a twin tank set equipped with the capability of independent operation of each tank, for more demanding or technical diving. Additional pieces of redundant equipment carried include a second dive computer, a dive light and backup dive mask. As with all scuba equipment, the diver must be intimately familiar with this configuration and have the ability to access any of the equipment easily if it should be needed.

Qualifications for formal solo dive training as provided by SDI emphasize the need for experience and maturity in diving. In particular, the student pre-requisites for the solo diving certification course are:

  • A minimum age of 21 years
  • A minimum certification of SDI Advanced Diver (or equivalent)
  • Proof of a minimum of 100 logged open water dives
  • Depending on the country – a certificate of medical fitness

If you do not have your Solo Diving Instructor rating yet…what are you waiting for? Find a local Instructor Trainer in your region and get certified at the professional level. Target your customers who are the travelers, the photographers, the thrill seekers, the hunters, or simply, the customers who wish to increase their own training and confidence levels and offer them the SDI Solo Diver course out of your dive center.

Contact TDI SDI and ERDI

If you would like more information, please contact:

International Training
Tel: 888.778.9073 | 207.729.4201
Email: Worldhq@tdisdi.com
Web: https://www.tdisdi.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SDITDI

It Takes Little Money to Market A LOT!

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It is always a good time to think of ways to grow your business…

Marketing Your Dive BusinessWe have all heard of Guerilla Marketing at one time or another, and you may have even employed some techniques. Hold that thought; now we want you to reach just a little further to grow your business.

Let’s take a brief moment to discuss FREE and low cost marketing ideas to drive more traffic and profits to your store.

A key factor is to maintain visibility; lay out a plan to keep your store in the forefront of consumer consciousness within your client base and, more importantly, the community.

Each day, think how you can enhance your marketing strategies. Be prepared to take even the smallest steps that add up to increased traffic, sales and profits.

Work at establishing deeper relationships with your existing customers.

Think of your store, your staff and services as a brand; are all segments of your business putting out the same message? Build your brand through:

  • Perception – ask your customers “How do you see us?” Is their perception the one you wish to expand on?
  • Product brochure – Do you have a professional looking “take away” that a new perspective customer can take with them? Will it match your look on your web site? Is the message consistent?
  • Packaging – You may think “the manufacturers take care of that”… we’re not talking about that packaging! The “packaging experience” starts when a phone is answered, a customer walks through your door, the way you and your staff is dressed and easily identifiable, down to the name tag on your chest!
  • Brand identity – Now ask yourself what your brand is synonymous to; when people think training, travel, repairs, and equipment purchases, do they think of you? Do all of the identities add or do any of them detract from your mission?

Have a market plan in place (in writing, not just in your head) that identifies:

  • Purpose
  • YOUR Competitive Advantage
  • YOUR Target Audience
  • What YOU stand for
  • The dollars that you plan to spend for marketing, stated as a % of sales. Many suggest you spend 10% of gross sales for marketing expenses in a specialty business, but as you know “there are no magic numbers.”
  • Track everything you do, how much you spend and what return you get. Drop what does not work; continue what does, and look for new ideas to add to the mix.

Spread the word and do not forget some of the more conventional older methods such as:

  • Chamber of Commerce
  • Creative business cards with a call to action & a reward! Think: referrals, etc.
  • Thank you notes to customers that spend a large amount of cash. Set a dollar minimum to trigger cards and stick with it!
  • Gather testimonies, surveys and endorsements

Also utilize new tools available, particularly social media!

Facebook, Twitter and a plethora of tools and techniques exist; set yourself a schedule, adopt one and become proficient with it before you employ the next one.

The most important thing is to TAKE ACTION. A retailer’s greatest competitor is time; don’t waste any of it, and stay focused.

Want to learn more… schedule a visit from one of our Regional Managers; they are always ready and able to help. Behind them they have many resources so please e-mail Cris.Merz@tdisdi.com to arrange a store visit. Visit https://www.tdisdi.com and see many of the opportunities that await you!

Maximize Your Trade Show Inve$tment

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It’s time to plan to make sure you and your company get the most from show season.

When it comes to shows, you are either in the aisle or in the booth (attendee or exhibitor), and no matter what side you are on there is one thing you share: expenses! There is only one thing you can do with an expense that will take a negative and turn it into a positive: make it an investment. How you turn an expense to an investment is through proper prior planning.

Let’s take this view through the eyes of a Dive Retailer Trade Show attendee.

As a Dive Retailer it is no secret that your plate is very full. In our Industry, we find that the most successful retailers are those that compartmentalize their business and in the process create the best possible service experience at every turn for their customers. Dive Retailers are expected to be experts in many areas – equipment, instruction, travel, repair, rentals – and that is just on the front end of the business. On the back side, there’s inventory control, accounting, human resources, marketing and the ever-changing landscape (think social media).

As you set out to plan for attending any show, first take “inventory” of your current situation. The following questions are meant only to get your thought process started, and we realize there will be many measures that you will apply to the process that may be unique to you.

  1. Equipment– Review your offerings, such as the brands and the segments that each brand occupies. Evaluate your sales performance – try to check emotions at the door by utilizing true measures such as gross sales, sales per square foot, inventory turn, gross profit and the ever important “competitive landscape”. Once you complete the outlined process ask yourself: “Do I need to alter the mix, add new brands, or change the shelf space allotment?” Make your meetings now with your vendors to address your findings and improve performance.
  2. Instructions– Compare your educational certification trend with previous years. Also, compare the classes you offered then and now. What are your market trends? Where does customer demand lead you? Are you fulfilling the market need? Are you creating the direction? Does your Instructional Team posses all the necessary tools to help your facility meet its goals? Plan now to attend the appropriate Instructional updates, upgrade your ratings and pursue the new ones needed to meet your goals. What classes and levels create the best sales? Are you tracking them?
  3. Travel– Arrange your calendar and “fill the tool box”. Align your plans to make sure you can service those seeking from individual to group travel, from land based to live aboard. Develop a “one stop” service solution for your clients that will keep them happy and coming back. Check out Scuba Travel International, and find out how it can help you meet your goals.
  4. Repair– Are you and your Team qualified to service all of the brands you come in contact with? Do you have new personnel that need training? How long ago did you and your staff update? Are your repair technician documents current? Trade shows make for ideal venues to get training up to date.
  5. Rentals– This is a good time to evaluate your rental locker. Does it meet your overall strategic plan, rental vs. sales? How does it align with your Instructors equipment?

Here are some quick points to consider.

  • Attending dive shows is a business expense and should be treated as such. Budget time and budget dollar investment for every show you attend.
  • Turn the expense to an investment with the proper prior planning.
  • If you have staff at show, coach them in what you expect from them and give them firm objectives to accomplish.
  • Present the right visual image (branded shirts, casual business attire etc.)
  • Have a plan and work with it.
    • Identify a goal or series of goals for the show – It could be to sign up for a new brand of an existing product line, identify a totally new product category to sell in your store, to cement an existing relationship with a supplier or wholesaler, etc.
  • Make appointments to meet people / companies that can help you to meet goals. Use time effectively and be realistic planning the number of meetings per day.
  • Use a day-timer (paper or iPad and anything in between) to track your appointments and carry it with you everywhere.
  • Invest some time to attend product knowledge and business related seminars and workshops.
  • The workday is 16 hours long – Tie social events into business goals.
    • Attend company “parties” but take your notebook and business cards.
    • Set a goal to make at least two new contacts per event attended.
  • Catch up on entering expenses and contact information every evening if at all possible.
  • Write follow-up emails on the plane ride home and make follow-up phone calls within five days of show ending.

Until our next visit, you have quite a bit to do if the show is to give you the greatest return on your investment. Don’t just “wing it”…get started now!

How Big is your Funnel?

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When it comes to Business Development & Recruitment the Size of your Funnel is so important!

Right about now you are saying what the heck is this about? Welcome, pull up a chair, open your mind, and let’s get started.

I am talking about your sales funnel in case you were left guessing. And the “Funnel” in this case can take many different forms:

  • That mega regional mall that no matter what time of day or night has a packed parking lot
  • The bigger-than-the-town-it-is-in new car dealership bedecked with a giant flag and selling every auto brand you can imagine
  • That BIG BOX store where when you walk in you get that Lost in Space feeling as you say to yourself:  “if they ain’t got it, I must not need it”!

You see each of these examples has a different type of “Funnel” and they each of them is doing its job. Look at it this way, if you are trying to fill a test tube in a rain storm a funnel really helps to direct more drops into your test tube?

Your test tube is the dive business you have been operating now for some time; and the rain drops are those most valuable of all assets; divers. Ask a group of dive operators who is their most important customer and they will usually reply new divers!

So how do you increase your open-water diver or entry level classes? The answer is simply to fall back on the long list of tried-and-true techniques that you have used before and tweak every so often.

Here are a couple of tweaks to consider. They are common practice but deserve repetition here.

·         Push for referrals; but you must have a hook. Ask yourself why is someone going to refer you new business? Maybe because they need a dive buddy! Think as well: Divers buy boats! Divers book travel! Divers put aquariums in their house! Find a common denominator with local businesses and go for it. But the best referral business comes from your own students. How about a “try some new gear” party, a pool party, a tail gate BBQ, any event you can think of will probably work but you have to ask for the referral! One retailer put together a package with a pool builder that offered a FREE scuba Intro in their new pool! Good idea? Maybe you can work a similar deal with a pool maintenance company.

·         The mash potato and rubber chicken circuit. Get out and make presentations. Talk to anyone that will listen. And at the close of play, do not forget to ask for the business.

·         Create alliances with other local industry members. This means reaching out and creating alliances with some you may have seen as “fierce competitors” in years gone by. Reach out to HS scuba instructor, your local community college program, adult education facility. Yes, even independent instructors. In this economic climate none of us can afford to be “too independent”.

Remember your objective is to grow the circumference of the mouth of your funnel and catch every drop you can!

Let us hear from you and tell us what is working for you? What recruitment techniques are you employing successfully in your business? Now is the time to lean on your data base and to work it, with e-mails, reminders and invitations to nay activity you can imagine. After all FUN Activities are a great way to increase the size of your funnel.

How do you contact the area instructors and recruit them to work with you? No different than asking for a referral, simply ask them to work with you! After all the more Divers a community creates the more people that are out there talking about it the healthier everyone’s business will be.

Need more info on data base mining, see the accompanying article titled Developing and Retaining Long-Distance Loyalty: Do you do ALL you can?

 

 

The power of the internet…

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Satellite radio is a boon for long car journeys and this weekend, making a five-hour plus drive back from diving, I was listening to a radio magazine program on the BBC (the UK’s public network). Throughout this month, BBC Radio’s special focus is the internet and the influences it has had on business and popular culture around the world. The show I listened to featured an interview with a farmer in rural Africa. Now the guy in this interview really was off the beaten track. To even use the internet, he had to ride his bicycle 10 kilometres (six miles) to the “local” internet café.
So it was interesting to hear that he had used the web to research a solution to a bug problem that threatened his potato crop. The fix he found through Google worked better than the chemical pesticide his government’s farm agent had recommended and his potato harvest was one of the best ever. He used the internet again, to sell his crop to a cooperative.
The show went on and it turned out that this guy, living miles from anything you and I would considered comfortable and wired, was quite the power-user. He had a facebook page, communicated with other farmers about market prices, and was pretty tuned in to ways to use the web for profit.
Of course, I got thinking about our industry and specifically about some industry pros who remain suspicious of anything remotely connected to the web. You may find it difficult to believe – perhaps not – but even we have members who do not have active email addresses and whose stores have no cyber presence.  And of course, that’s perfectly fine, but it does present some challenges for us.
SDI, TDI and ERDI place a great deal of faith in the power and impact of electronic communications. We lead the pack presenting onLine academics and blended learning, we have electronic versions of most traditionally published teaching and learning materials, distribute eNewsletters to many thousands of divers around the world every month, and of course, use member’s area of our website and communications such as this to keep professionals like yourself “in the loop.”
But we do need your help from time to time. One area and in my opinion a somewhat contentious one following a little PR nightmare for one of our competitors recently, is the issue of customer email addresses and opting out issues.
Allow me to explain. When you register a student with us for a Certification Card, whether you have an in-store printer, use online registration, or mail in paper in the traditional way, we ask for an email address for that person. There are a couple of reasons why we do this. First and foremost is that the training department at SDI, TDI and ERDI uses email as the preferred method to run its QA program. Email queries are routinely sent out to students to sense-check courses. Currently, these “questionnaires” are not sent to every student, but at some time in the near future, the number of people we ask for feedback, will grow.
Secondly, we send out email invitations to divers to sign up for the eNewsletter we send out, and to download their free copies of Underwater Journal, a Diving Adventure Magazine. Both these publications include articles and features designed to drive YOUR customers back into YOUR store.
Our organization never uses email addresses supplied by our member to sell direct. We do not sell equipment, travel, service, air-fills or anything else directly to YOUR customers. And that’s a promise that we can backup with a 100 percent track record.

 

Responding to Market Shifts Keeps Us ALL Relevant

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new enewsletterDiving Adventure Magazine goes on line June 2009, and that means greater exposure and opportunity for each and every one of our members… but your help is needed!

By Nestor Palmero

“The only constant is change” is a quote that some attribute back as far as Heraclitus a Greek Philosopher (c.535 BC- 475 BC) and it is a wisdom that we should all embrace, since it is more relevant now in business than ever.

The Publishing Business is in constant change, reinventing itself and evolving, Diving Adventure Magazine finds itself in the throes of that very evolution.

Carbon footprint, diminishing rain forests, run off effects on reefs worldwide…wait a minute!     This planet’s health is crucial to our business…what are we doing?

Well we are waking up and forging ahead and asking you to join us…come with us!

How does SDI, TDI and ERDI taking Diving Adventure Magazine on-line benefit you?

  • The Associate Members Newsletter (read your Divers) subscriptions will transfer to receive Diving Adventure Magazine on line.
  • You can extend an invitation with your compliments for a one year FREE subscription to Diving Adventure Magazine on-line  to every NEW Diver you certify, from NOW ON!
  • It gives you DIVING  NEWS to share with your Divers, while the publication strengthens the brands you represent SDI™, TDI™ and ERDI™
  • Diving Adventure Magazine online will reinforce the programs you teach  to your Divers urging their participation
  • The Travel you sell, at home and abroad, is reinforced and endorsed, urging your divers to stay active and GO DIVING!
  • The Pro Members Newsletter that only you receive (read NOT YOUR DIVERS) gives you a behind-the-scenes look at how you can capitalize on the ideas presented to your Divers in Diving Adventure Magazine online; all of which can directly and positively affect your business!
  • Our subscriber lists ARE NEVER SOLD, and yes many have asked!
  • How can you help?
  • Enroll your NEW Divers and everyone you can to receive the Diving Adventure Magazine online. Your divers always have the ability to unsubscribe at their leisure, if they so desire.
  • Tell your vendors to take a look at advertising in this publication if they want to sell their products and services to your customers via your store. Readership currently stands at  50,000 and thanks to you is constantly growing.
  • Submit your own articles and photography to our editors for consideration. Have an idea for a story? Pass it along. Have a challenge you need solved? Let us know.

 

Embrace the constant change and make it your own. The tree that bends under the weight of the snow upon its branches is the one that survives to grow old. Capture and cut and paste this story and make it part of your own Newsletter inviting your Divers to come aboard!

(LINK TO NEWSLETTER ARTICLE)

Maybe an easier concept for all of us to embrace in our business was Bob Dylan’s…”You best start swimming or you’ll sink like a stone… cause times they are a changin’ ”

Having fun at the old watering hole, AND build your brand

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I’d like to propose something totally radical to you today: take down the calendar on your shop wall and circle four days next month when you will invite customers to go diving with you. No courses, no pressure, just for fun.

Now I can think of a thousand excuses NOT to do it. And I’m sure you can come up with a few dozen of your own. Most of mine flutter around the triumvirate of procrastination: no time, no interest, no point.

But there are three excellent reasons to get on with it and make these events happen.

Let’s start with the simplest one: It promotes local diving. Now we all know that local diving off Key Largo is a little more generally appealing than diving a local quarry in the mid-west, but both have something to offer your customers: entries in their logbooks and more experience under their belt. Both of those things are good for business.

In a recent survey sent out to more than 20,000 divers we asked about diving in 2009 and more than two thirds of the folks who responded told us that the focus this year would be on local diving… something within one to three hours drive time. That means your customers could be onside with any local dive initiatives you offer them.

The second good reason is this. The best thing that divers can say about you and your staff is that you dive. Promoting diving just for the sheer fun of it sends out the right message to your customers and that message will get around. Like it or not, you and your staff, SDI, TDI or ERDI dive leaders, have some level of celebrity in the local dive community.  Going out and diving with local divers at local dive spots and making it a fun, enjoyable time will generate tons of good will and get you unbeatable word of mouth publicity.

The third good reason is that promoting diving will help to build YOUR brand. Forget about SDI, TDI or any of the other agencies… the success of your business depends on YOUR brand. Give your customers the benefit of your enthusiasm, experience and professionalism and they’ll be more likely to call you up or visit your store for their next purchase of equipment, training, travel or gear repairs.

Remember, your customers have no objective measure of quality between agency A and agencies B and C ,or between your dive store and dive stores X, Y and Z. Diving with you and your staff is the experience that informs them about “who’s the best” and they make subjective evaluations based on that experience. Going the extra mile to make local diving fun underpins YOUR brand and builds your store’s reputation.

If local diving features accessible wrecks and wonderful underwater flora and fauna, recruiting customers to join your “Local Diving Promo Days” is going to be easier than if your local watering hole is a flooded aggregate quarry with a few tadpoles and sunfish. But underwater games and “skills challenges” can make diving the most basic pond fun.

Organize buoyancy courses: things like a shot line with a few clothes pins at regular intervals that have to be collected and then replaced in the correct order… all of course without holding the line.

Run underwater orienteering races: a complex multi-leg course where teams start with the bearing for the first leg and collect bearings for the others as they go.

Put together treasure hunts, underwater pumpkin carving, run underwater map-making “classes.” Have underwater photography “contests.” If you dive in a quarry where subjects for pictures are limited, bend the contest rules to include categories for that work with what’s available.

Put in a little work making local diving fun, and the dividends will be more active divers calling your shop “home base.” Your brand will grow and so will your business.