Dive Industry Association, Inc.

November is Time For Follow-up
by Gene Muchanski
Editor, The Dive Industry Professional

Here it is, the end of November and everyone is getting out their November Newsletters.  Does that mean we should call them “Oldletters”?  Well, not really.  November is DEMA Show month and whether it falls on the first week of November or the third week of November, it’s still DEMA Show month.  This year DEMA started on November 1st.  Any newsletter put out on that day would have fallen to deaf ears and missed out-of-office eyes.  Our pre-show marketing period includes the days before the show.  That would have been in October.  The at-show period is the 4 days of DEMA and our post-show follow-up is the rest of November plus December after the show is over.  The closer we get to Thanksgiving, the less effective our follow-up will be.  But here’s a new way of looking at it.  If we treat post-show follow-up campaigns as part of our continual marketing program, following-up with contacts you saw at the show just adds another topic to your ongoing business relationship with clients.  So our post-show marketing topics should be about What’s NEW, What’s NOW, and What’s NEXT.  It means we have something new to talk about with a client who we just updated our relationship with at the show.

What is your topic of conversation this time of year?  I hope you aren’t thinking along the lines of “Well, DEMA is over and now everyone is taking off for the Holidays.”  That would be like getting ready to jump off a bridge.  What you might want to talk about with your clients, is that it was great seeing them again at the show.  You hope you showed them everything that is new for next season.  If you didn’t get an order at the show, now would be a good time to close that sale so your clients have your new products in stock for the biggest buying time of the year.  Impress upon them the importance of being ready before the Holidays are upon us. Then you could segway into wishing them a Happy Holiday with your promise to stay in touch all next year.

Successful companies have taken the “follow-up” concept and expanded it to the “stay-in-touch” concept.  The old way of thinking is to fish for leads at a trade show and then follow-up with the “hot leads” to make the sale.  In my opinion, that method is just wrong short term thinking.  I believe that sales take place because you have a product your clients need, want and can afford and they buy from you because they know you, like you and trust you.  So, to me, sales take place because of your relationship with your clients.  Relationships need to be started and nurtured over time.  To act as a trusted product representative, you need to keep in touch with your clients and respond to them when needed.  You need to be the person they like to buy from and represent the company they respect and enjoy doing business with.

In the diving industry, our success is dependent upon serving our clients better than our competition.  I can name a few companies that are/were successful at creating their own network of professionals, inviting key clients to be a part of that network, and establishing a customer-centric way of doing business that put their clients first and made their needs the company’s number one priority.  The message is clear:  Become a part of our Network and we’ll take care of you.  That’s the way to build brand loyalty.

October is Time For Review
by Gene Muchanski
Editor, The Dive Industry Professional

You might be tempted to think that October is time to get ready for the DEMA Show.  Although there is a lot of DEMA prep going on this month, October is more than just that.  This month should be dedicated to finalizing your plans to meet face to face with your current customers, former customers and future customers at the largest trade event this industry has.  It is also time to review the programs, products and services your company sells in the market place.  What you sell and who you sell it to is the primary focus of your business.  How you sell is a part of your marketing strategy.

Going to DEMA Show as an attendee or exhibitor is a decision you make based on your sales and marketing strategy.  Exhibitors decided last November that they were going to exhibit at this year’s show and signed their contact at last year’s show to get the best possible booth location.  During the past year, hotels were reserved, airfare was purchase and plans were made to be away from the business for a week or more this fall.  The booth display was chosen, upgraded or purchased and staff was picked to work the booth. The main focus of exhibiting at a show is to sell something, prospect for new clients, gather leads or educate prospective clients.  The best way to do that is to make appointments with your clients during the pre-show phase of your campaign.

Attendees going to the DEMA Show have many reasons to plan early.  It makes sense to make airline and hotel reservations early to get the best prices and availability.  It gives you plenty of time to ask your equipment vendors if they are exhibiting at DEMA, if they plan on having a DEMA Special, and are conducting any seminars or workshops.  It’s a good idea to know if your Sales Rep is going to go to the show and when you can make an appointment with them.

DEMA is the time to touch bases with your Travel Wholesaler to see if they have any new Resort Clients.  Are they offering any FAM trips you might qualify for?  Are they running any travel seminars at the show?

Certification Agencies make great use of the DEMA Show venue.  For such a small number of exhibitors, they account for a large number of booths and a larger number of seminar man-hours.  Store Owners need to plan their time at the show very carefully to ensure they have scheduled their exhibit hall time and their professional development commitments proportionately.

So what should exhibitors be doing in the month of October?  Go through your exhibiting checklist.  Do you have everything you need to show off your new or key products?  Is your booth ready to go?  When is it shipping?  Does your staff have everything they need in terms of airfare, hotel, and food allowance?  Are they trained to focus on the goals set by your sales & marketing department?  Have you set appointments with your current customers?  Have you emailed all of your clients and given them your booth location and Dema Show Special.  How many appointments do you have?  How many of your clients are attending Dema Show?  Can the ones who are not attending get the Dema Show Special now? Have you read Rhonda Abrams book, Trade Show In A Day?

Have you made an appointment with the Dive Industry Foundation (Booth 1502) and pledged a Tax Deductible Donation for this year? Please stop by our booth and give us your Business Card.  We’d like to show you a few ways to have a good year in 2018.   If you have a few extra business cards, we’ll make you two luggage tags at the show.  See you in Orlando.

Success Equals Good Planning & Good Execution
by Gene Muchanski
Editor, The Dive Industry Professional

If this editorial was written at the beginning of the month it would have covered exciting things that were happening in September, like the introduction of a new dive season, Surf Expo, the Saint Lucia Photo Fest, the Roatan Photo Fest, and Cathy Church’s guided dive trips to the Solomon Islands.  Unfortunately, Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Jose changed all that.

Now we have shifted gears to cover good planning and shift execution.  Keep your life simple.  Focus on and protect what’s important to you.  Live like today is your last day but plan as if you were going to live forever.  Making the most of your life is living at the top of your game.  What’s important to you?  If there are many things that are important to you, then a balanced life should be your highest priority.  Ask yourself, how can you get the most out of life doing the things that mean the most to you?  That goes for your career also.  Important decisions like where do you train to learn what you need to know to do your job?  Where do you work and with whom do you work to grow in your chosen profession?  What is the end goal and how long will it take for you to get there?  How will you know that you’ve arrived?  If you haven’t asked yourself these questions before, NOW is the time to do that.

The Industry is getting ready for DEMA Show right now.  You have about a month and a half to finish up your pre-show marketing and plan your at-show strategy and your post-show follow-up.  Do you know why you are exhibiting or attending?  Is your plan an end goal or a means to a larger goal?  Have you read Rhonda Abrams’ Trade Show In A Day? 

How about after DEMA?  Have you looked into exhibiting or attending Regional Dive Shows in 2018?  Lone Star State Dive Show, Our World Underwater, Beneath the Sea, Scuba & H2O Adventure Show and Scuba Show?  Now is the time to get the best prices on booth space, airfare and hotels.  Draw up a strategy for each show and included a pre-show, at-show and post-show segment.  Join the Dive Industry Association and have them help you with your plans.

Would you like to help the industry grow next year?  Make it a plan to donate to the Dive Industry Foundation, our industry non-profit, tax exempt, charitable organization, dedicated to promoting economic growth in the diving industry.  $10, $20, $100 or 10% of your company profits are all acceptable donations.

Whatever you decide to do with your marketing budget next year, doing it with purpose and do it with a plan.  Here’s wishing you a successful year in 2018.