Criticism and Professionalism – When the Line Gets Crossed

“At this point, ******* and ***** are barely aware of your existence. I doubt that either of them would ever sanction a full-blown campaign to put you out of business. You need to ask yourself if you could withstand an effort like that and if you think that publicly dissing them is worth it.” This is a message someone sent me a while ago trying to give me business advice. I think this person is missing a vital point in business, that is the customer is always right. Even as a dive professional, we are also consumers and have consumer rights.

Rights of a Diving Professional

As an independent dive professional, we have to walk a fine line between professionalism and getting good customer service for ourselves (without sounding like trash talking fools). When I purchase a product or service from someone, and I did not get a good product or service, then I have a right to be critical of who I just gave my money too. I should not have to keep my opinion to myself just because I’m a dive pro. This is something that is missed by many dive stores who do business with independent instructors or dive pros.

Unprofessionalism

Let’s look at an example. There is an independent scuba instructor in the Seattle area named Bob Bailey (NWGratefulDiver). I’ve talked with Bob only a few times via email, but have never taken a class from him. Let’s say I start to trash Bob’s classes. It would be very unprofessional to do this because I have never seen Bob teach or taken any of his classes. Hypothetically, if I had taken a class from him and paid for his services, and didn’t get the quality I was expecting, I would have a right to be critical. For the record, I think very highly of Bob, his teaching style, and would recommend anyone in the Seattle area to take a class from him.

Looking in the Mirror

You’re probably saying to yourself, “this is all well and good, but are you saying you’re perfect?” Absolutely not. I do a post-mortem after every one of my classes to make sure I’ve meet my student’s needs. If there is a deficiency or something that can be improved, I do it. I’m constantly changing my teaching style and course content to be a great instructor.

Want an example about me specifically? A couple years ago I taught a wreck diver course. I certainly didn’t bring my “A game” on day 2 of that course. I forgot to bring my reel and had to borrow one from the boat captain. Which I found out, underwater, didn’t work. I failed to bring a second light for my student to use inside the wreck. The dives ended up being more swim-throughs than real wreck dives. Basically I failed as an instructor to give this one student a high quality class that I know I can give. Since this class, I have not heard from this student again. I learned from this experience. Modified the gear I take with me for every class and created a checklist of what goes in the car while packing up.

It is unprofessional to trash a person who you’ve never done business with. Bad mouthing someone just to make yourself look good or to try and “compete” is bad business. If you look at my previous posts, I’ve never mentioned anyone by name that I’ve been critical of. However, those I’ve been critical of, I’ve done business with and it is within my right to express any discontent with that business transaction. So if you’re a dive pro (independent or not), you’ll need to walk that fine line. If you really want to compete, do it with skill, knowledge and course content.

Dive Safe,
Duane
Precision Diving