PADI Pro, Martha Katz, shares how PADI helped her grow her business, Scuba Network Carle Place of New York, USA by supporting the creation of new divers year-round. Due to the weather, they only certify locally during the summer months. So, they produce more than 200 referrals a year – typically in Southeast Asian destinations. The struggle to find dive resorts that would accept their student referrals became too big of a problem to ignore in today’s economic environment. PADI solved it.

Learn how Martha Gained Success with PADI and You Can Too!

 Q: What business challenge did you face?

Difficult Referral Business

A: As a dive center of more than 30 years using other training agencies, we found it harder to send our (non-PADI) student diver referrals to dive resorts to complete their Open Water Diver certifications – especially in Thailand, Bali, Fiji, Tahiti, Micronesia, etc. Referral business is a crucial part of our business strategy.

But we faced another dilemma. After 30 years of operating with two other agencies, our customers were used to the old system and very resistant to change. We knew we needed to switch to PADI, but we had to find a way to convince current clients that switching to PADI was good for them too.

Q: What was your concern in switching to PADI?

Losing Existing Clients

A: There was no way to measure how switching (to PADI) might negatively impact current customer loyalty and repeat business. We were concerned we’d lose some of our existing clientele.

Q: How did PADI help you solve it?

Strategic Positioning and Staff Sales Training

A: When it came time to inform current clients about why we decided to switch, honestly – their initial reaction wasn’t that great. But it wasn’t difficult to turn it into a positive. We had a very easy transition. Partnering with PADI prepared us for exactly how to position the benefits to our customers. Our PADI Regional Manager invested a few days on site to implement a coaching program for all our staff. The training, mentoring and proven processes were invaluable. He made sure all were confident, articulate and proud of how we could better help our customers – new and existing.

“Initially, to mitigate our perceived risk we decided to bring PADI along with our other two agencies. But it went so well, we quickly went 100% and became a PADI Five Star.”

~ Martha Katz

Q: How is it working now?

Life is Easier & We are Happy

A: Our life is much easier now that we made the switch. We know we can send our PADI student referrals anywhere in the world. We are happy. We’ve had minimal issues. We have a great support team at PADI who still help us with anything we need. 

 Q: What’s your advice to others facing a similar challenge? 

PADI’s Advertising Will Help You Get New Clients

A: If you have clients who want to travel, you’ll never have an issue if you’re able to send them as a PADI student referral. Plus, we found PADI’s advertising helped new customers find us. Our name is always there on the PADI website. If someone in the area is looking for a certification, our name will appear. Most people when they call us ask, “Can I get PADI certified?” They don’t just say “certified”. We tell them they can start the eLearning right now on padi.com, and they’re like, “Oh great!”. It’s very easy when they buy directly from PADI, and we get our full share. We don’t lose anything. We just gain new customers. You’ll never be at a disadvantage when you offer PADI.

Are you ready to learn more about all of the benefits of PADI membership? Contact your PADI Regional Office and get started on a custom solution to drive growth in your business.

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More Case Studies:

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My PADI Helps Me…DO MORE BUSINESS

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