Another LDS Experience Gone Sour

[Hoosier]

Yeah, you knew that it is an endless debate based on the personal experiences.

behold the beauty of a discussion board at work

ten months from now, someone will re-discover this thread and we'll be back at it

and this thread is probably the 90th time this issue has been covered

this year

 

[Diesel298]

If its the only shop in town, and the nearest air fill or parts is 2 1/2 hours away are you going to stick with that theory though?

That one could come back, and bite you.

you have a good point, but that dont mean that its good buisness to treat people like that.
and in his case and mine there are other shops in the area

 

[Iruka]

I think I'm fortunate in having a dive shop here in Guam....the main reason being, so far, well over 90% of our income is from either diving or TEACHING diving. With so many tourists here, pushing gear sales isn't such a priority. Personally, I don't care where you got your gear...if there's ANYTHING I can offer you, now or in the future, that's important to me.

Here's an example which kind of supports why I feel that way....had a military guy happen to walk by the shop shortly after we opened. He was looking to buy a mask, but we didn't have much...as I said, we mostly dive, not sell gear. Instead of sending him away, I drove him about 6 miles to a big dive shop, and he bought a mask there. So, I've lost an hour of time, a little bit of gas money. No big deal...I was doing it as a favor, maybe I come out ahead, maybe I don't. So, I'm dropping the guy off at his hotel and the guy mentioned that 4 of his friends were on island for a week or so, and were thinking about doing an OW course. So, in basically "gambling" with a little bit of time, and a couple dollars in gas, I got 4 OW students. So I came out way ahead.
Being nice to people doesn't ALWAYS pay, but treating them badly almost never does.

As far as gear sales, we're very small, so we have a VERY limited selection....but, rather than having to "push" this stuff, I can take customers to some larger shops which have a much better selection. Since I'm a dive shop as well, I'm allowed to buy gear from the larger shop. So that works out well...my divers have access to a large selection, the big shop is happy to sell to me at a lower cost, and I can sell THAT gear to my customers, and give them some sort of a discount. There's dealer cost & list price....of course, it would be nice to make the most profit on an item, but a smaller profit is better than nothing. I s'pose when I feel the need to trade in my 1986 Suburban for an amphbious Lamborghini I'll feel different about that, ha ha.

Anyhow, I'm in this because I like to dive....usually around 600 dives per year "working"...and even when I don't have customers, I'm likely to head out & dive for fun.

 

[divereh]

Well this has been said a billion times before. I went down to my LDS in search of a first tank. I have yet to buy regs or a tank, as well as countless little odds and ends. The day I went down to buy my tank, my dad had come with me. That day, he dropped a solid $140 on fins/booties and earlier this year he purchased a mask and snorkel through the same LDS. I was certified through this diveshop, bought my fins booties mask and snorkel throug this diveshop. I planned on getting my AOW and rescue through this shop. This is where I wouldve gotten all of my airfills. NOT ANYMORE!

Several months ago, I had gone to them ready to buy a bcd. They set me up with some pool time(about an hour) and I tested the one I liked. On the advice from the shop, I tested a bp/w. I loved the bp/w and vowed to buy one from them at a rough cost of $650(transplate w/ stuff). Most recently I was provided with the option of buying a plain bp/w with a hogarth harness. no frills, weight pockets or pads, for ~$340. I leave for college at the end of august, just graduated HS, and I have a part-time job. If given the opportunity to spend HALF THE MONEY on a piece of gear, I have no choice if I want to dive. If the price was like $60 difference, I wouldve bought from my LDS...but $300 is just too much for a chunk of steel and an air bubble.

So Im looking at tanks, and the salesperson comes back and we talk for a second or two, and said person asks, "do you have your regulators and bcd yet?" Well honesty is the best policy, so I remarked, Im saving for a set of regs that I saw here but I bought a bp/w from someone on ebay.

WELL...

The person exploded. "alright, I have a huge problem with you trying it in our pool and getting your fitting right, my employees spending hours of precious time with you, and then you going somewhere else. " bla bla bla yada yada yada. So I sat and took it for a good 5 minutes. Person was relentless. Dad ended up buying fins and booties, and Im just going to order my tank off the internet.

Well I do admit that it was a stupid move to try out a bp in their pool and then buy it off the internet, I can sincerly state that at the time that I tested it, I had every intention of buying from them. They were always nice and they had what I wanted. But damnit, noone is going to tell me where I can spend my money, and no one is going to yell at me for buying from another place to save (!!)$300(!!) off one purchase!

Said person was stupid. Plain and simple. Eventually, my dad would have needed a wetsuit, as well as all of his other gear because he was planning on getting certified. By talking down to me as said person did, person turned away easily, $1200 in business. And no, it was NOT hours of pool time. It was maybe 1 hr. And if person isn't hear to serve, then why have a brick and mortar store? If it was me and I had such a huge issue with people trying and buying somewhere else,then I would charge a fee, like $25 to test in my pool. If you buy that piece of gear or a like product from us, you'd get your money back. Simple and safe and youre offering yet another service to the customer.

Such a shame. Out of the 8 dive shops near me, this was the farthest one for me to drive. I only went there because I enjoyed the people and service, as it was by far NOT the cheapest.

Businesses have to learn that consumers are becoming more and more bargain-savvey. The internet is hear to stay, So if you can't beat em, join em. This shop does not have a website, nor are their prices competetive. And noone likes to be yelled at when they're spending money there.


Sorry for the long rant, this kind of thing happens all too frequently.


-Matt

ya ya ya and when it craps out make sure you ship back for warrenty to your internet vendor he might acknowledge you.

 

[DrSteve]

ya ya ya and when it craps out make sure you ship back for warrenty to your internet vendor he might acknowledge you.

LMFAO I've had less problems dealing with internet vendors than LDS! As with anything, you buy from a vendor you trust. I trust LPro and they've given me good service. I trust*ed* a LDS and that didn't do me any good at all. I don't spend enough money there to get a service it seems.

 

[Sean C]

The focus of this thread is on LDS's, perhaps the focus should be based on the salespersons skillset. One, if not the foremost skill or ability, of anyone involved in sales is, KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER/CLIENT. The salesperson should have anticipated that a young person (ie: likely limited budget or parental supervision) who did not buy a product on the spot would likely continue shopping for alternatives. The rep should have maintained contact and ensured that they were involved in that process. A simple promise to price match or help evaluate any potential alternative or assist with finding a lower priced option that fit any budget, would have kept them in the loop and in a position to protect the sale and earn a client. Crappy salespeople are in every business sector not just diving. Personally, I thick the worst salespeople are in the service sector, draw your own conclusion to that statement.

Sean

 

[RiverRat]

The focus of this thread is on LDS's, perhaps the focus should be based on the salespersons skillset. One, if not the foremost skill or ability, of anyone involved in sales is, KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER/CLIENT. The salesperson should have anticipated that a young person (ie: likely limited budget or parental supervision) who did not buy a product on the spot would likely continue shopping for alternatives. The rep should have maintained contact and ensured that they were involved in that process. A simple promise to price match or help evaluate any potential alternative or assist with finding a lower priced option that fit any budget, would have kept them in the loop and in a position to protect the sale and earn a client. Crappy salespeople are in every business sector not just diving. Personally, I thick the worst salespeople are in the service sector, draw your own conclusion to that statement.

Sean

I tend to agree. I always have a better time dealing with my LDS' owner than anyone else in the store. They all just want to sell stuff. Don't really care what I want. They just don't get it. But the owner has much better sales and marketing skills. I think he understands that 10% of something is better than 0% of nothing. And he gets repeat business from me over time. He knows I don't buy everything from him. He may not like it, but he accepts it. A couple of the shop employees had me walking out the door cussing a few times because of their BS lies and scare tactics trying to get me to buy what they thought I needed. I think if the LDS' spend a few $ up front training people in sales and marketing they would do much better in the long run.

 

[DrSteve]

The focus of this thread is on LDS's, perhaps the focus should be based on the salespersons skillset. One, if not the foremost skill or ability, of anyone involved in sales is, KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER/CLIENT.

Excellent points Sean. When I think how many follow up calls I got from car dealers (which annoyed the hell out of me) trying to get my business. But not only that, I do know the profit on a new car sale is not that much. Probably on par with the profit the average LDS makes on a higher end reg sale.

 

[DrSteve]

I tend to agree. I think if the LDS' spend a few $ up front training people in sales and marketing they would do much better in the long run.

It seems to me that LDS' think they are doing you a favor by allowing you to buy from them. Very strange attitude for a service industry that makes money on sales.

 

[Henryville]

If I spent a couple of hours at a BMW dealership talking with a salesman who was giving me technical information, advice, and stories, and took the time to go out on a test drive with me, then I went down the road to the next dealership where the salesmen don't know anything and bought my new 530xi because the price on the window was lower, I would be disgusted with myself and I would certainly expect the salesman to give me the cold shoulder if I went back later for something else.

You took advantage of the services they offer for free up front and went behind their backs and bought the item online at a discount without even giving them a shot at the sale. The extra money they charge for the item is to pay for the knowledgeable staff, pool, and storefront. You basically told them their time, their store, their knowledge, and their pool are worth nothing whatsoever to you.

But if he was showing you an M5, and only an M5, while you had the budget and/or maybe the need for something less loaded like a 525i that you then found down the road, I'd say it was a salesman working on his agenda (sell you the most loaded car possible) rather than your needs as a customer. This is the essential difference between the old style of selling versus consultative selling.

The only fault I see is that given the effort put forth by the shop, maybe the buyer should have made the effort to go back to the LDS and say "hey, with my budget and maybe preferences, I need something more basic and less expensive, what are the options?" But that would be doing a lot of the shop's work for them.

I fault the LDS for not exploring his needs and offering alternatives that fit with them. The sole package offered sounds like a "sell them all the bells and whistles" strategy that ultimately was not respectful of the customer's needs. If they had offered the basic plate, webbing strap and wing and he still went to the internet to save $50 or so, then I would agree the shop had a right to be peeved. Even so, in the end who loses here? The LDS.

Offer the values that customers will find valuable, and your business model will work. Otherwise, you are in a failing business with no one to blame but yourself.