Unfortunately, this is heard many times. When a friend asks, the new Scuba Instructor, what you do and they reply, “I am a Scuba Instructor”, “I teach people to dive, I can teach you if you want?”. Without knowing the new Instructor has become a salesperson.
Instructors are the adventure of Scuba diving salespersons. The instructor’s situation is unlike any other in that they teach people life skills and encourage people to learn new skills. The attitude some instructors have that they are not salespersons is contra to what they are doing, they have incorrectly boxed salespersons into some sort of perception that they deem they are not part off.
It is a fact that if the Scuba Instructor does not sell the adventures of diving, they themselves will not be able to dive. The dive industry survives as does any other industry of sales.
“Sales are the ultimate source of revenue generation for a company to survive in the market.”
Sales are the main revenue source for a company. Without that, a company will suffer a steep loss which includes the loss of jobs. It is a universally acknowledged truth.
All employees are responsible for selling the company they work for either, directly or indirectly. Their employment and benefits are directly related to the success of the business, and sales is the direct source of income.
From the receptionist and deck hand to the instructor and service technician are all responsible for sales.
A customer will acknowledge the company, brand, products, and services only if you have a suitable number of sales going on. The company and all staff all contribute to the success of sales.
The Scuba Instructor will not have work if there are no sales. Everyone is in fact a salesperson in one form or another directly or indirectly.
The most successful salespeople in the world, do not come across as salespeople. Instead, they convey themselves as experts in their industry (like dive instructors) who can solve key challenges. The expert must lose Persuasion, Enthusiasm, and Pitching (PEP); they never need a sale and, after investigating the customers’ needs, must walk away; if there is no conclusion, the deal is not good for the customer.
Without specific prompting, the instructor does not have to be a hard salesperson to suggest to a person enjoying their open water course that they should consider booking the advanced course, and dive deeper, when the new dive is having fun and wants more. Or to buy their custom-made wetsuit if the hire suits are not fitting comfortable.
The service technician does not have to be a hard salesperson to advise a customer that the regulator hose should be replaced or to get a new mouthpiece because the existing ones are worn.
The receptionist does not have to be a hard salesperson to inform customers recently certified about a dive safari tour soon or any specials in the store.
All these contribute to sales and revenue for the business and the payment of salaries.
The dive instructors who want to be employed or start their own scuba business must be “Expert sellers” because the dive instructor has mostly long-term customer/student relationships – over days, weeks, and for the great instructors – years.
