Marketing: Are we ok, or do we need help?

[Edward3c]

Just to clarify my thinking.

1. The biggest diver training agency has an objective to maximise the number of people taking courses.
2. Dive operators want to maximise the number of people buying equipment and then going diving.

Are the two objectives complementary?

For the first income is generated from publications sold (Manuals etc).
The second is from equipment sales and dive trips.

IMHO only elementry courses satisfy both groups.

 

[widget]

I live and work in a resort area, and was discussing this thread with the owner of the oldest dive shop in Key West, which was an NASDS "family store" many many years ago. Their opinion? 3 day courses are destroying the diving industry. The diver can go online and sign up for the course. They can pick their facility, in this case, maybe in Key West. They show up in Key West with their book work done, spend 1 day in the pool, 2 days in open water, and they are certified. They have earned their reward, and there is nothing else to see or do, so they go drinking for the rest of the week. The other option is that they go drinking for the entire week anyway. Only 20% of online students actually show up for pool and OW sessions.

Only 20% of online students actually show up for their pool and OW sessions.

Only 20% of online students actually show up for their pool and OW sessions.

I think that's important. It allows the training agencies to claim that participation is at an all time high. Only 20% of these actually start a class. Some smaller % of them actually finish.

The key point (if I haven't made enough of them already) is that none of these folks spend a single dollar in their dive shop in Memphis, or Burlington, or Omaha. They never even walked in the door, and they may not know their LDS even exists. Of course, if your primary business is as a publishing company, publishing books and selling memberships to your club, you don't really give a rat's ass if diver retention is at an all time low, you're selling books and memberships, which is at an all time high. The certification agencies are destroying scuba, and they are laughing all the way to the bank.

Only 20% of online students actually show up for their pool and OW sessions.

Think about that. I teach for 2 separate agencies. I am a facility for one of them. I cannot refuse a student if they sign up for class at my facility. That means, if they sign up for open water, and I am an open water instructor, I must take the student, even if I have no classes scheduled. Even if my primary responsibility is running a boat. Even if I teach that particular class through the other agency.

Yup, that entire scenario is, for me anyway, quite frightening but sadly the way things have gone.

Just by way of comparison, I have worked as a volunteer at our local Aquarium for years, here they have what is termed a volunteer programme whereby you can sign on and work on a volunteer basis in the Aquarium.

Now, just to be able to work at the sea plant touch tank (the very first entry point) you have to undergo a 7 week course, consisting of 7 x 5 hour class sessions and 4 x 5 hour practical sessions and write an exam. If you pass you must work at the sea plant touch tank for a minimum of 4 hours a month for three months, then you can sign on to go on another course to work at the Skates and Ray tanks, and so on and so on.

The point I make is, this is an intensive course, yes a lot is general knowledge but when you step out to the touch tank to interact with the public you are prepared, you know your subject, you are empowered to answer questions and teach kids (and adults) about a wonderful new environment. Every course is oversubscribed, because people want a challenge, they want to learn new skills, they want to broaden their knowledge and interact with like minded people.

It should not be different in diver training, students need to walk out confident of their skills for the environment in which they will be diving, they need to feel comfortable and excited enough to want to learn more - I think its sad we have seen fit to drop our scuba course standards to such a level that, as you say, 80% of prospective students dont even bother to finish.

 

[Wookie]

Just to clarify my thinking.

1. The biggest diver training agency has an objective to maximise the number of people taking courses.
2. Dive operators want to maximise the number of people buying equipment and then going diving.

Are the two objectives complementary?

For the first income is generated from publications sold (Manuals etc).
The second is from equipment sales and dive trips.

IMHO only elementry courses satisfy both groups.

Do not think I am harping on PADI. In fact, my ire lies with another training agency, but are any of them different? The big three offer online learning, and are in the business of selling manuals, not creating any lasting divers in the system. Their BUSINESS is selling scuba manuals. 2 of the three are run by conglomerates, and make up a very small part of the corporation, and scuba makes up a very small part of their business. Corporations are in the business of business, where we dive instructors do this because we love it. We then project our love for the sport onto the training agency and cry "why is the training agency destroying scuba?" when they are in a completely different business. Since Dinky winky dive boat or dive shop doesn't have the wherewithal to control the market, we have to go along with those who do, and they are in a completely different business than we are. When enough instructors, shops, boats, and the rest of diving figure out that training agencies are not in the scuba business except peripherally, great strides can be made to change the status quo.

 

[tech_diver]

I don't know guys, I hear what you are all saying about longer more challenging courses but we may be dealing with different raw materials nowadays.

It's always been a hallmark of the success gurus to price their seminars very expensive so a student will be committed to the cause of changing their life. High price (high commitment level) does give value to a product or service. But maybe people are different today, some kids will spend hours playing the video game 'Guitar Hero' but refuses to practice on a real guitar. The scuba sequence in 'Call to Duty' might interest a kid in scuba but will he get off the couch to do it. Would longer courses work for this kid?

Not arguing either way, just keeping the discussion going...

 

[The Chairman]

Don't be a sour puss. When life gives you lemons, make lemon aid!

There was a lot of wasted time in those longer classes. People accepted that back then, but they don't anymore. You either respect their time constraints, learn to teach the class at an accelerated rate, or find something else to do.

 

[RJP]

It is pretty extreme, if you push your boundaries.

That conditional "if..." statement makes it kind of true of any physical pursuit, no?

"Extreme" anything is "extreme" by definition.

 

[widget]

I don't know guys, I hear what you are all saying about longer more challenging courses but we may be dealing with different raw materials nowadays.

It's always been a hallmark of the success gurus to price their seminars very expensive so a student will be committed to the cause of changing their life. High price (high commitment level) does give value to a product or service. But maybe people are different today, some kids will spend hours playing the video game 'Guitar Hero' but refuses to practice on a real guitar. The scuba sequence in 'Call to Duty' might interest a kid in scuba but will he get off the couch to do it. Would longer courses work for this kid?

Not arguing either way, just keeping the discussion going...

Hmm, interesting line of thought,.... could very well be the case, I cant say for sure, but its certainly something to think about.

 

[mjrob]

This used to be a marketing thread, didn't it?

Sorry to have been AWOL. I was in Belize with a group of 28, ranging from low 20's to late 60's in age. Next month we're in Bonaire with, I think, 32 or so--same age range. Then, in April, we're taking 62 to Coz, including a bunch of junior open waters. Most of them are good divers (kids are often the best) and the others are learning and improving...in safe ways. Anyone who says there is a lack of people who want to learn to dive--at any age--is simply wrong. Sorry again.

We may not be marketing geniuses, but you don't have to be with a demographic as large as the one(s) available to us. But you do have to step away from the screen, go out and sell something--just like in any business. You really don't need a lot of market research and data points to determine which households are your best targets. What you need to do is let people know about you and treat them well when they show up.

We now have well over 1000 students a week in swim, we continue to add open water and specialty classes and they all tend to fill, we do more than a dive trip a month and we're discussing hiring outside sales reps. so we can improve those numbers.

I don't mind discussing the ever-shorter length of training time, which we're about to extend in our classes, but this is a marketing thread. Get out there and sell something.

 

[jonnierowe]

As for the shorter courses I think that it is almost necessary with people's attention spans these days. People just dont have (or think they dont have) the time to take 5 days of their 7 day vacation to spend getting certified. People now adays tend to jam pack vacations with so many things that they don't really get to enjoy any of them. People use their phones to keep them connected every where they go. If they are bored for more than 2 minutes the phone is out and they are texting someone, checking facebook or emails, watching news, etc. People don't like waiting. How many people wait for the weather to come on during the news anymore? They check online. Heck, people have apps that tell them what is happening outside instead of actually going outside to check.

When I was working in Costa Rica as a divemaster it amazed me the schedules people were on. They would send you the days they were available and if it didn't work it was a huge to do... Because on a 7 day trip to Costa Rica you have to go see 3 Volcanoes, 5 Waterfalls, 6 beaches, surf for 1 hour at tamarindo, go on a riverboat tour, do a jungle walk, and of course go downtown every night of the week. People would have where they were going to eat each meal planned out before they got to the country. It just blew my mind the amount of planning that would go into these "vacations". And of course if one thing goes wrong or gets delayed, everything is screwed up, and they dont have a good time on their vacation because it was so stressful... Its not stressful... you're bloody stressful...

End rant.

 

[Julieofthesea]

As for the shorter courses I think that it is almost necessary with people's attention spans these days. People just dont have (or think they dont have) the time to take 5 days of their 7 day vacation to spend getting certified. People now adays tend to jam pack vacations with so many things that they don't really get to enjoy any of them. People use their phones to keep them connected every where they go. If they are bored for more than 2 minutes the phone is out and they are texting someone, checking facebook or emails, watching news, etc. People don't like waiting. How many people wait for the weather to come on during the news anymore? They check online. Heck, people have apps that tell them what is happening outside instead of actually going outside to check.

When I was working in Costa Rica as a divemaster it amazed me the schedules people were on. They would send you the days they were available and if it didn't work it was a huge to do... Because on a 7 day trip to Costa Rica you have to go see 3 Volcanoes, 5 Waterfalls, 6 beaches, surf for 1 hour at tamarindo, go on a riverboat tour, do a jungle walk, and of course go downtown every night of the week. People would have where they were going to eat each meal planned out before they got to the country. It just blew my mind the amount of planning that would go into these "vacations". And of course if one thing goes wrong or gets delayed, everything is screwed up, and they dont have a good time on their vacation because it was so stressful... Its not stressful... you're bloody stressful...

End rant.

Jonnierowe’s customer description offers a very valuable insight. They hyper-connected customer is a reality and isn’t going away. If the scuba industry doesn’t evolve to accommodate, digital-darwanism will lead us to extinction. We’re already behind the curve with our resistance to embrace the internet.

So if the training agencies are in the business to sell books and training, then the LDS should be in the business of being a dive store. A liveaboard should be in the business of being a liveaboard. I really think it’s about running your business like a business. Just because the business that you do business with (manufactures and training agencies) don’t feel customer focused, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be.

The best businesses engage with their customers and focus on their needs. We must adapt to their behavior or they will pass us by. If the hyper-connected vacationer going to Costa Rica is constantly on their cell phone, what does that tell us?

That says we need to be mobile friendly. Instead of feeling ignored when they are looking at their cell phone, think of how you can participate in their conversation. What if they are tweeting to their 500 followers about their great divemaster? Maybe they are posting a photo of their divemaster on Facebook of him giving the stink-eye. Which scenario is better for your business?

What kind of online strategy does your business have to stay relevant? What can the scuba industry do to not become extinct online?


P.S.
This thread continues to be helpful for my new business. I am getting tons of ideas for blog posts. I just touched on the subject of creating content for your audience's audience.