Aqualung rep

[fireflock]

Wolf_eel -

What do you say to people who:

(a) don't live near an Aqualung dealer but want to buy their products
(b) live by a AL dealer but that dealer happens to be no good
or
(c) bought Aqualung products when they lived near a good dealer but moved and are now (a) or (b)?

We both know that some dealers just are not competent or competitive, and the dealer network just can't be big enough to serve every Aqualung product owner. In cases like this, the customer is stuck.

Dealers prefer the Aqualung model because it means that they don't have to compete with other dealers in terms of service, value, or price. Just what incentive do those Aqualung dealers have to provide top quality service and support to an actual customer?

As long as there are divers, there will be a dive industry. Companies that focus on making dealers happy will be left standing on the sidelines. Companies that focus on making sure that their dealers make customers happy will win the day.

Rich

 

[mike_s]

It is true Mike that the world is changing around us, and I'm sure all dive manufacturers know that. What they also know is that even amidst these changes the dive shop is the heart centre of the dive industy and that is where their products are not only sold but serviced as well. Manufacturers like Aqua Lung understand that it is their dealership network of dive shops that keeps this dive industry afloat and all that the internet based distributors are doing is putting the survival of the entire dive industry at risk. I've worked at all levels of the industry from dive shop owner to manufacturers rep and believe me without the dive centres to sell, service, teach, promote travel and activities you won't find much use in an internet based distiributor, they can't service what they sell, they can't teach people to dive, and they can't fill tanks.

I think you have a very narrow minded view of Internet dive sales.

First, like Hoosier reported, most successfull online dealers are also brick-n-motar shops. Why? because their dealer agreements require it. Even Leisure Pro operates a shop. So air fills will be available.

My local shop is also an internet dealer. I still get my airfills from him. they still teach classes and also do travel/trips. Lots of other dealers just like him.

This is why companies like Aqua Lung support their dealers.

I don't agree with this either. They feed their dealers that "Aqualung Kool-Aid" and this is what they want to believe. If Aqualung really supported their dealers, they wouldn't be selling into the back door of Leisure Pro. Instead they tell their dealers they are trying to stop grey market sales, when their number one 'vendor' is a grey market dealer.

What color "Kool Aid" have they got you drinking?


Dealers prefer the Aqualung model because they can charge full price instead of having to be competitive.



now... will Internet dealers put the survival of the dive industry at risk? no.. exactly the opposite. From other posts, it's indicated by Leisure Trends marketing tracking that the dive industry as a whole will not have any growth in 2008, however that online dealers sales will grow approximately 30%. So what does this mean? It means that the online dive sales will grow and that growth will be taken away from non-online dealers. It means that your non competitive local dealers sales will decrease. Now these LDS's might be narrow minded and blame the internet like you are, but in reality it's their business model that is failing them and their lack to adapt to a changing business model.

It's very similar to the VHS tape industry. It was big in the 1980's, then DVD's came out, then TIVO and digital drive recorders came out. If the VHS manufacturers didn't change, do you blame the internet for their demise also?

In the 1970's, Polaroid was the KING of "instant photography". They had 21,000 employees at one time. But the digital camera technology and portability (email, web, etc) surpassed the "instant development" of Polaroid. Polaroid filed for bankruptcy in 2001. Another example of how technology and the bussiness model change.


it's reported that Jack Welch, past CEO of GE, one said “You can't do today's job with yesterday's methods and still be in business tomorrow.” (one of my favorite quotes, because it's true).

 

[Teamcasa]

Businesses, both large and small, brick and mortar or on-line live and die by their customer service and staying current with quality products along with the ability to reach an audience of sufficient in size to generate enough sales to sustain growth.

Aqualung/Apeks and Scubapro currently have a sufficient customer base to sustain them. Not until they begin to suffer a reduction will they feel compelled to change their business model. But change is inevitable and their competition is beginning to get traction in the recreation scuba market.

 

[Boiler_81]

I also got one of the last regulators from Phil.

I will not buy another Aqualung product until they change their policy. In the mean time I will support Phil with my SCUBA purchases.

I'm proud to say that I bought one of the final Aqua Lung regulators Phil ever sold. Oh the memories .... sniffle sniffle ....

 

[PhilEllis]

It is true Mike that the world is changing around us, and I'm sure all dive manufacturers know that. What they also know is that even amidst these changes the dive shop is the heart centre of the dive industy and that is where their products are not only sold but serviced as well. Manufacturers like Aqua Lung understand that it is their dealership network of dive shops that keeps this dive industry afloat and all that the internet based distributors are doing is putting the survival of the entire dive industry at risk. I've worked at all levels of the industry from dive shop owner to manufacturers rep and believe me without the dive centres to sell, service, teach, promote travel and activities you won't find much use in an internet based distiributor, they can't service what they sell, they can't teach people to dive, and they can't fill tanks. This is why companies like Aqua Lung support their dealers.

Hi Wolf-eel. Thanks for your comments. Your post certainly lays out the position of the manufacturers in question without missing a beat. It is long on the "local dealer must be supported at all cost" manta, but is completely missing one of the most common known facts about consumerism.....the CONSUMER decides how they will buy products, NOT THE MANUFACTURER. Manufacturers that fail to miss this pretty important point usually never know what hit them. Your post also makes an aggressively WRONG assumption about internet distributors....that they can't service what they sell, they can't teach people to dive, and they can't fill tanks. Well, I would dispute this, but I think I will just let the posts that follow mine make that point well.

You apparently have quite similar views as the scuba manufacturers who think that price control and customer management (don't confuse this with customer service...the two are quite different) is the right way to do business. Many, including almost any person educated in free markets, would disagree. If not directly affiliated with one of these scuba companies, now or in the past, you have certainly learned well from their view of the world. Time will tell if their view works out for them.

Companies like Aqua Lung (remember, YOU brought them up in your last sentence) do what they do because they think it is in their own personal interest; there is no other reason. There is no other motivation. When they stop liking a certain dealer, they will drop this "support the dealer" pledge in a flash. It is as simple as that. Please don't come here, of all places, and try to put these scuba companies on the same level as the American Heart Association. I am positive I know what the American Heart Association is all about, I have little clue about the other. Thanks.

Oh, and if the internet is such a bad thing, why doesn't one of the largest scuba companies in the United States shut down the LARGEST scuba retailer of their brands in the United States, especially since this retailer isn't even an authorized dealer for their products? Are we still to believe that the source of supply is "other stores going out of business"? Personally, I have seen scuba stores go out of business....there isn't enough inventory left by that point to fuel three hours of sales at the largest internet retailer in the country. Do these scuba companies have so little control over their product distribution that they can't figure out how a large percentage of the stuff that THEY make gets there?

Phil Ellis
Discount Scuba Gear at DiveSports.com - Buy Scuba Diving Equipment & Snorkeling Equipment

 

[missitnoonan]

I don't see how you can say that the rise of internet purchase won't hurt the LDS scene. Part of the reason that internet sales work is that one site can service many more customers in many more locations than a brick and mortar shop. Hence fewer shops in general. Even if the internet retailers have a brick and mortar shop there will be fewer of them.

This isn't to say that I don't support buying scuba equipment online, quite the opposite. But I still prefer to make some of my more important purchases (regs, dive comp) at the LDS and use the internet for things like wetsuits, lights, and other accessories. I like having an LDS that I trust for service and fills and feel that sending some of my business to them is part of the relationship.

 

[mike_s]

I don't see how you can say that the rise of internet purchase won't hurt the LDS scene. Part of the reason that internet sales work is that one site can service many more customers in many more locations than a brick and mortar shop. Hence fewer shops in general. Even if the internet retailers have a brick and mortar shop there will be fewer of them.

This isn't to say that I don't support buying scuba equipment online, quite the opposite. But I still prefer to make some of my more important purchases (regs, dive comp) at the LDS and use the internet for things like wetsuits, lights, and other accessories. I like having an LDS that I trust for service and fills and feel that sending some of my business to them is part of the relationship.

I think in your first paragraph you are right that there will be fewer birck and motar shops, however it's not the internet that is hurting the "LDS Scene". It's failure of the LDS to change its business model to keep up with a changing retail economy and/or to provide customer service, competitive pricing, etc.

Teamcasa nailed it with is comment:

Businesses, both large and small, brick and mortar or on-line live and die by their customer service and staying current with quality products along with the ability to reach an audience of sufficient in size to generate enough sales to sustain growth.​

 

[cowjazz]

Back to the original poster's question...

I doubt they would want to subject themselves to the warm greetings they would receive from here.

If you need to contact Aqualung, send them an email. I did that with a question about my regulator, and within 30 minutes I has a representative from Aqualung calling my cell phone.

 

[Couv]

..... I've worked at all levels of the industry from dive shop owner to manufacturers rep ......

I doubt that.

c

 

[Coalcracker]

It does seem that Aqua-Lung and ScubaPro dealers still do very well. Maybe making more money and dissing the internet is part of this. I know my local stores practice that. I still buy online for many things.