DEMA SHOW
Steps to Take to Prepare for After the DEMA Show by David Prichard & Lily Mak , Enchanted Sea Images, Inc., Dallas, TX
Y OU HAVE JUST FINISHED a very busy four days of DEMA Show action and are now back at your dive center ready to cash in on all those contacts you made and information you collected. So, now what? Many dive center owners and managers probably come back to a pile of work on their desk that needs instant attention like inquiries, scheduling or service issues, new in- ventory deliveries that need processing, and maybe even covering a class or two due to a sick staff member. After a few days of putting out those store fires, you now get a chance to go through those bags of brochures and business cards you collected from the show. But you start asking things like “Why did I pick this up?” or “Who is this person?” A week after the show these “hot topic” items have probably been moved to your “back burner” list of things to do. To avoid this scenario, Rich Thomas, owner of two Inter-
national Scuba locations in the Dallas area of Texas (and DEMA board member), suggests making time at the end of each evening of the show to go through all of the material and business cards (both paper and digital) you collected that day while it’s still fresh on your mind and make notes for fol- low-up actions that need to take place within the week following the end of the show. That evening is also a good time to discard any material you decide is not really that im- portant to your business so that you don’t go back with a lot of “clutter.” Thomas said it was important to reach out to the people who are on your “follow-up notes” list, and a good way to do that is either texting or pinging them on social media (and sometimes email) while you are in the hotel or at the airport on your way home. This starts a line of communication with the person that you can then follow up on when you get back to your home or dive center. “Hey, it was great meeting you
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