Don’t Forget Add-On Sales

The difference between good salespeople and great ones is their ability to make add-on sales. You store may only require that students purchase mask, snorkel, fins, boots and, possibly, gloves and a few other items, but there is a lot more that students should be buying to get the most from being a diver. These include:

De-Fog Sure, your instructors give this away like candy, but should they? Who will be giving out free de-fog when your students arrive at their destination, or make their first local dive without instructor supervision? Every diver needs to own and carry his or her own de-fog.

Improved Mask Strap Very few dive professionals rely solely on the strap that comes with their masks — with good reason. A neoprene foam mask strap or strap cover greatly improves the comfort and fit of any mask. Odds are, students will appreciate this fact even more than we do.

By the way, it may interest you to know that, while “Slap Strap” is a popular brand name, “The” Dive Shop owner John Wall has his staff refer to them as “comfort straps.” As John puts it, “Who wants to think about getting slapped by a strap?”

Equipment Bag Few things are more heartbreaking than seeing a student to whom you have just sold $300 or more worth of mask, snorkel and fins carrying those items to and from the pool in a cheap plastic bag, a flimsy duffle or — worse — loose in his or her arms. You know that it’s only a matter of time before equipment so ill treated will be lost or damaged.

If students spend as much as you want them to for mask, snorkel and fins, that investment is worth protecting. Whether it’s a heavy-duty mesh bag, a self-contained snorkeling bag or some other container, it’s good to get students in the habit of properly storing, transporting and caring for their equipment.

A mesh bag, in particular, is money well spent. The same bag students use during class to transport masks and fins can be used on future dive vacations to transport equipment from their hotel room to the dive boat and back.

Mask Box Most masks these days come in some sort of protective case. However, if they do not — or if the case they come with doesn’t look as though it will last that long — a padded mask case or heavier duty box is cheap insurance.

Wetsuit Yes, I know: You already provide wetsuits or shorties for the pool. But if your students are headed for warm water following certification (or for their certification dives), the suits they are likely to find there won’t be adequate. There isn’t a body of water in the world so warm that divers won’t benefit from wearing at least a full-length, 3mm jumpsuit. Even when warmth is not the issue, protection from sun, stings and abrasion is.

A personal, warm-water dive suit will make your students more comfortable in the pool, less self-conscious about their appearance and helps reinforce the importance of wearing adequate exposure protection under all conditions.

The Ultimate Add-On This is, of course, a complete equipment package (BC, regulator, computer, etc.). Understandably, some of us are reluctant to sell this to a person whom we’re not quite certain will have no difficulty becoming a diver. Nevertheless, you should make students aware that this is a step that some beginning divers do take — and that, as a consequence:

• They learn to dive using the very same equipment with which they will go diving.
• They never spend a dime on rental fees.
• They never miss a dive because of the expense or inconvenience of renting equipment.
• They never have a bad dive experience because quality dive equipment was not available.

Three more techniques to add to your bottom line »

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