It’s DOG Days again this weekend at Dutch Springs, and our friends from DUI are in town with a boatload of their drysuits and gear for divers to test dive.  Team IVS is on site working both on land and in the water with the divers, making sure that everyone is properly fitted, briefed and taken for tour in whatever model or models of DUI drysuits they want to experience.  It’s a really great two-day event that is held annually at different locations around the country, and we are proud to be participate each year as a DUI dealer.

The weekend actually started Friday with a day-long Public Safety Diving program of seminars, equipment & gear displays, and the chance to try some of the DUI PSD offerings.  Plus our friends from DAN were on site to add to the festival, offering diver and instructor level training to the participants.

And the event also marks a special savings offering for all who try DUI - huge savings on new suits, undergarments and accessories, from Indian Valley Scuba and ScubaGearPlus.  Don’t miss the oportunity to take advantage of the savings and the chance to extend your dive season to year round!

We ended up with a total of 252 divers trying out new DUI suits - the biggest turnout yet at Dutch Springs!  Way to go team!

This weekend was our first Scuba Dawg Demo days at Dutch Springs, and all we can say is - “WHAT A GREAT IDEA!”  Wow was the enthusiasm fantastic and the eight scooters we took to demo did not get a rest all day either day!  In the water, out of the water, change batteries, back in the water - all day long!!  It is thrilling to see such diver enthusiasm and to be part of divers trying something brand new, and even better, offering them this chance at no cost.

And quite a few divers took advantage of our training special - with a $50 donation to the International Association for Handicapped Divers, they could complete their PADI Diver Propulsion Vehicle specialty for FREE!  There is always a deal to be found at IVS!

It was pretty interesting to note how many other divers came over secretively and asked if we would be there later or on Sunday, because they couldn’t let their current shop see them enjoying our demo.  What an amazingly unbusiness-like attitude so many of the other dive shops have, so possessive of their customers and so unsure of themselves that they are afraid that if the customer talks to another shop - poof! they are gone.  Does the term “if you love something set it free, it it loves you it will come back” mean anything to these dive shops?  Customer loyalty is something you build, not something you create by baffling and BS’ing your customer.  If you are straight up with your customer, truly believe in their best interests, and provide good value with your shop’s product selection and pricing, why would they leave?   That’s what so many other shops miss - they believe they can just keep the customers blinded by denying that other brands or other methods or other shops are out there.  Hey the Soviet Union tried this method with communism, and look what happened when the internet let the people see what the outside world was really like! It’s inevitable that the same thing will occur to a customer the moment they find out they have been treated right or properly informed - they are gone! 

OK, off my soapbox now.