Interesting stuff here.
We (nearly literally) fought our way into DEMA in Vegas in order to make vendor contacts (read: buy inventory) for our new scuba shop. That's right, we opened a new scuba shop this year, in this economy, despite the difficulty we had in convincing DEMA we were serious and needed to attend their show. Their sales prevention model nearly won out. But that was just the beginning.
Several of the manufacturers mentioned in this thread told us, essentially, to pound sand rather than spend time with us as potential customers. Some others just ignored us. A few of them took the oddly opposite tack and welcomed us into their booths, got to know us and, as a result, placed more merchandise with us in opening inventory than...well, let's just say than they expected. Sales 101, baby.
It's a funny industry and one that's exceptionally difficult to enter, even with capital and a pretty positive track record of success. I'm not sure why that attitude seems so prevalent, but we plan to buck the trend.
As a guy who cut his teeth in the business world as a salesperson, I have to say that I'm nothing short of amazed at the haughty attitudes of a goodly number of manufacturers and the absolutely incredible lack of response from many sales departments. I have to tell you that, if I hear from or of a potential customer (especially in times like these), my response is immediate and my attitude is one of respect and service. Call me crazy.
There are a few companies in the scuba industry who are stellar standouts in their customer service and support and, if you pay our shop a visit, you'll quickly see who they are.
All I'm saying, as one "new" to this industry--at least on the retail side--is that we're looking forward to the next few years of growth and we're excited to be something of a breath of fresh air to our customers. That's what they're telling us and that's what we want to hear. It's all about the customer...at least 92.77% of the time, statistically.
To the topic, my initial impression of DEMA was not good. I've been to (and exhibited at) many, many trade shows over the years and this one did not rise to the top. Based on what we're observing at this point, we're not planning to attend this year which, as a new shop, one might not think was a good idea. However, again based on observations from our vantage point, at last year's show and on the number of vendors dropping out, we think we'll be better served to stay home and concentrate on our customers. We'll need to rely on our vendors' sales staffs to keep us up to speed on new products and opportunities.
Just my .02(US).
- Yeah, just made me think of a few years back when Technisub used to exhibit seperately to Aqualung, AL would have this huge impressive stand and Techisub would have a little steel table somewhere in a corner with everything piled on it, no banners, no real signage, nothing, just a table and someone behind it, if you walked past too quick you missed him.
