What Is The Cost Of A Missed Sale?
 by Gene Muchanski, Editor
The Dive Industry Professional

Too much emphasis is given to the price of things in business.  We think about the price of a magazine advertisement or the price of a booth at an industry trade show, but do we spend equal time thinking about what we are getting for that price?  Better yet, do we even give some thought as to why we are buying that item in the first place?  Well, after three years of sitting at home, trapped by restrictions imposed on us because of the COVID pandemic, I think we are all ready to leave the confines of our digital offices and spend some money in the real world of face-to-face marketing and dive travel.    

First of all, there is no question that the pandemic hurt our industry economically and socially.  I think it even negatively impacted the way we conduct business in our Global Dive Business Network.  But the good news is that I think we’ve learned a lot about running our businesses for fun and profit while we pay more attention to the important things in a new economically and environmentally sustainable way.  A new business model for the post pandemic economic recovery perhaps.

I don’t believe that our new business models will be the same as they were in the last millennium.  That’s a given.  The only constant thing in life is change.  With that said, I believe that the change will be incremental while retaining concepts that have worked in the past and continue to bear fruit.  Many things will change, like in the way we do things, and many things will stick to a foundational approach like why things are done and when.   I am already seeing that our industry is changing in many ways, but it won’t be in with the new and out with the old.  I believe that the baby will not be thrown out with the bathwater.  You know who the baby is.  It’s your customer.

The focus in the future is the customer.  Sorry sellers.  It’s all about the buyers.  It’s not about you or even about your products. It’s not about the new ways you are trying to market your products or the marketing tools and apps you think will help you make record sales.  It’s about what your customers think of you, your company, and your products.  It’s about reaching your customers in the ways they want to be reached.  What do they read?  Where do they buy? What information do they need to make a purchasing decision?  Where will they be when they take that last call-to-action suggestion that completes the purchase of your product?  If you don’t know how to reach customers with your information, message, and call to action, you just lost a sale.  Astute sellers will not only have to use demographics and geographics in their marketing planning, they will have to become masters at psychographics and genographics.  Incorporating psychographics in your sales strategy will help you target in on why people buy.  Genographics (Generational Graphics) is the study of population trends sorted by generation groups (Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y, Millennials, Next Generation).  The modern-day challenge in business is making sure that buyers and sellers are on the same wavelength when communicating.  How do you think the business community at the time succeeded in selling to a generation of Boomers, who’s motto was “Don’t trust anyone over 30” ?  They learned how to communicate with them.  At their level.  Well, at least the ones who succeeded did.  The businesses who never learned, went out of business.

I was in the market for a new roof for my house.  A salesperson came to my door and told me all about his roofing company.  He didn’t have a business card or a brochure.  He wrote his name, phone number, and web address on a scrap piece of paper.  I thew it in the trash.  The price of a brochure and a business card is about $1.02.  The cost of the lost sale was $25,000.

Trade Shows and Events suffered during the pandemic.  Many of our dive shows were cancelled and the few digital shows that tried to break into the market failed.  Partly because the sellers didn’t understand the new technology, or the new technology wasn’t ready for the times, and partly because the buyers were not ready for a digital trade show.   I personally thought they were expensive and boring.  I didn’t feel they had significant value for the price, and I was not confident we would get a good return on our investment.  It seems that the digital conferences were not popular with exhibitors or attendees.  The Shows & Events Industry wrote a lot about the possibility of Hybrid Trade Events, but the reluctance to incorporate free internet availability at face-to-face shows was a major mistake.  I realize that selling internet access at trade shows is an income stream, but in my opinion, show producers would sell a lot more booths if exhibitors could incorporate internet programs and presentations at their booth. 

Even with internet access at reasonable rates, trade shows are still a good value for exhibitors, attendees, and sponsors.  Scuba Show sold over 300 booths and had 245 exhibitors at their June 2-3, 2023 event.   We think the attendee numbers will show us how well the show was attended.  I can’t speak for Scuba Show, but I honestly feel that the goal of the event was not just to sell booth space.  The way the show was advertised and conducted was to provide a successful show experience for the exhibitors, attendees, seminar speakers, and sponsors.  There were tons of value for the price at that show.  If you didn’t exhibit, you will never know how many sales or new contacts you missed.

There was one error that I saw a few exhibitors making at the show.  The topic came up a few times during the show and even with a young marketing company I met at the Houston Airport after the show.  I think this ties in well with our lost sales argument and the mis-marketing to different generational  customers.  At the Scuba Show I estimate that 99% of the exhibitors had business cards.  To me, having a business card with your complete contact information is a critical and inexpensive marketing tool to invest in.  They are inexpensive to purchase, easy to carry, easy to hand out, and can be left at your booth for customers who didn’t get a chance to meet you personally.  They can be left with other vendors at their booths with little personal contact and can be included with other marketing materials and direct mail correspondence.  That is why I call them the silent salesperson.  They are easily scanned, stored and posted.  Business cards even make great luggage tags.  They have a small environmental impact, are recyclable, and can have QR codes put on them for cell phone retrieval and storage.  All for about 1 penny a piece.  I have even used business cards of our members as fill-in ads in our professional trade magazine.   A FREE $200 ad for $.01?  Not bad.  Why would any company choose not to use paper business cards is beyond me.  All I can think about is how many tens of thousands of dollars in lost sales have they gotten because of a lack of a penny business card?

The business card issue is only a symptom to a underlining problem.  Creating and using business cards or any other marketing materials takes some thought and graphics expertise.  They are tools we learned about in Marketing 101.  The creation of your marketing materials is elevated by your understanding of your product, the market, and more importantly, your customer.  First time Marketeers usually think from their own limited knowledge and experience.  Limited as it may sound, you cannot be very successful if you think that the whole world, outside of your little bubble, thinks like you.  They don’t. Experienced Marketeers have come to realize that the more they know, the less they think they know.  Take it from Dale Carnegie, see the world through the eyes of your customer.  If you want to reach them, communicate with them, and sell to them, ask them how and how often they prefer to be communicated with.  You cannot afford to miss too many sales.

This is an exciting time to become part of the Global Diving Business Network.  For more information, contact Gene Muchanski, Executive Director of the Dive Industry Association, 2294 Botanica Circle, West Melbourne, FL 32904.  Phone: 321-914-3778.  Email: gene@diveindustry.net  Web: www.diveindustry.net 

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