PADI eLearning Welcome Email Idea

15 Minute Marketing Idea
PADI eLearning welcome email

It's common knowledge in the dive industry that word-of-mouth is our most powerful marketing tool. Start building a relationship with your eLearners from day one by drafting a welcome email.

The next time you receive an email from webmaster@padi.com alerting you to a new eLearner, send your new customer a welcome email. Everyone appreciates a friendly greeting saying "thanks for doing business with us."

Here's a sample PADI eLearning welcome email to get you started.

You could also create a "congratulations" email that will be automatically sent by our eLearning system. Some key points to mention:

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  • Invite student to visit the store / we look forward to seeing you soon.

  • Request a testimonial for use on your website
  • Offer an incentive for the student to refer a friend to diving
  • Add a link or promotion for Advanced Open Water and Enriched Air (now offered online).
    
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  Once you've composed your email, log on to elearning.padi.com
  
  
  
• Click on: User maintenance
• Click on: Student course completion email
• Then choose which course (Open Water, AOW or Enriched Air)

Your message will automatically be sent out whenever a student completes eLearning.

Project AWARE Special Offer for Member Renewals

Free Project AWARE Mask Strap - Celebrate your commitment to aquatic conservation with two special offers available to you with your 2010 PADI Member Renewal.

Project AWARE Special Offers with your PADI Member Renewal

Project AWARE are calling for all PADI Professionals to show their support for aquatic conservation in 2010 with these exciting offers.

1. Free Project AWARE Divers Turtle Mask Strap

Receive a free Project AWARE Turtle Mask Strap with a donation of £25 or more when renewing your PADI Membership*. Donors of £25 or more become Patrons and receive a year’s subscription to the Foundation’s email bulletin and action alerts.  Patrons will receive the unique Project AWARE turtle mask strap as a token of appreciation for their support. Visit the PADI Pros’ Site today to renew online or contact the PADI Member Services Department memberservices@padi.co.uk

2. New – 2010 Turtle AWARE Certification Card.

Replace your member level card with the new 2010 Project AWARE Turtle card.  Order this limited edition certification card by completing the replacement card section on your renewal application, or by calling PADI Member Services Department +44 117 300 7280. 

THANK YOU FOR YOUR VALUABLE SUPPORT!

* Whilst stocks last.  Renew your PADI Membership today to avoid disappointment.

Diver Acquisition Tip #1 - Discover Scuba Diving

Discover Scuba Diving - Bring a Friend Program

What is the Bring a Friend Program? The program encourages current PADI Open Water Diver course student divers to bring friends for a Discover Scuba Diving experience (for free or use a Voucher) during their last confined water session.

How can you market Bring a Friend?

Build this "requirement" into your store's/resorts Open Water Diver course information sheets.

• Have your divemasters or instructors conducting the next open water class available to conduct these Discover Scuba Diving experiences.
• Distribute customisable Bring a Friend (Divers Bring Divers ) cards during open water diver courses and remind students to invite friends or family to join their last confined water session and discover scuba diving.
• Throw in some digital underwater cameras and let friends have some fun with them. Make sure to send divers the photos after the class or invite them back into the store to collect them, giving you an additional face to face contact with them to close additional sales.
• Sign up the Discover Scuba Diving participants for the next class as soon as they get out of the pool! 
• Use this banner on all emails to customers.

Why is the Bring a Friend Program beneficial?

• Friends can become dive buddies
• Motivates friends to sign up for the PADI Open Water Diver course
• It's a fun and exciting activity for the whole family.
• Promotes the PADI Adventures in Diving Program and related courses such as the Digital Underwater Photographer Specialty course.
• Increases equipment sales.

 

Tips to convert Discover Scuba Diving participants into PADI Open Water Divers

• Encourage PADI Open Water Diver course student divers to "Bring a Friend" for a Discover Scuba Diving experience (for free or use a Voucher) during their last confined water session.

• Instructors distribute customised "Bring a Friend" (Divers Bring Divers ) cards during open water diver courses.
• Friends can become dive buddies
• Throw in some digital underwater cameras and let friends have some fun with them. 
• Review the Changes to DSD guidlines to give the best DSD experience

   

Have a staff member at the Discover Scuba Diving session whose sole purpose is to close the deal and convert participants.

• The closer approaches participants and encourages them to enrol in an open water diver course.
• The closer's goal should be to sign up new divers immediately – right after they're finished and are excited about diving.
• Consider an incentive for staff members signing up a certain number of Discover Scuba Diving participants for their open water diver courses.
• Invite previous customers to a Scuba Tune-Up session and encourage them to bring a friend for a Discover Scuba Diving experience.
• Have instructors personally call Discover Scuba Diving participants after their experience and pers. onally invite them to join the next open water diver course.
• Host a social event after a Discover Scuba Diving experience or make the event a social day with a braai (barbeque).
• Have a fun video playing in the background during the Discover Scuba Diving session and have photos and testimonials from previous participants available or on display.
• Distribute PADI Scuba Connect™ cards to Discover Scuba Diving participants encouraging them to sign-up for eLearning right away

What’s in the NEW PADI IDC crewpak

New Materials for the 2010 IDC Evolution

The 2010 Course Director update just wrapped up at DEMA, and our new IDC crewpacks with be available from PIL in January 2010. Translations to the new PADI's Guide to Teaching will be considered for translation in the following languages, Arabic, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Greek and Turkish in late 2010 for production in 2011. I have made a chart of what’s in the new IDC crewpak versus the old one (please see below).

The big changes are:

• PADI’s Guide to Teaching replaces the IDC Candidate workbook. The new product also include teaching techniques and recommendations previously found in the instructor manual.
• Three books are now on a CD (Best of the UJ, Children & Scuba and the Business of Diving).
• We now include the entire digital 2009 PADI Specialty Instructor Manual instead of just the Project AWARE and PPB outlines.

If you have some of the old IDC crewpaks in stock (60033 or 60034): they’re valid for use up until June 30th 2010. Course Directors have until 1st July to complete their CD update.

After that date, or if the Course Director is teaching the new “IDC Evolution,” the student will need to purchase PADI’s Guide to Teaching ala carte. The student may need to purchase a 2010 Instructor manual if they didn’t receive it as part of their 2010 Divemaster renewal.

What’s in the PADI IDC crewpak?
(click image below to view a larger version)

In order to teach the new IDC and utilise the new materials, Course Directors must attend an update. Read about the Course Director and IDC Staff Updates scheduled throughout PIL’s territory 2010. The key products of the new program are included as part of the update program cost.

New PADI Instructor Manual, Revised Divemaster Crewpak

  Streamlined and Simplified 2010 PADI Instructor Manual

-          Available from PIL January 2010 –

PADI’s Instructor Manual in 1972 was under 100 pages. Over the next thirty-seven years, the manual swelled to nearly 1,000 pages.

Our 2010 Instructor Manual has been simplified, alphabetised and binder-ised to make key standard easier to find. For a more extensive explanation of each course, instructors can refer to the 2009 manual* and/or the new Guide to Teaching.

*and subsequent Training Bulletins.

All renewed instructors and divemasters will receive an email with a link to download the new manual in the first quarter 2010.

The produce (number 70120 comes with the binder and instructor manual pages only.  It does not come with the other items shown in the photo above.

The fourth quarter training bulletin has some information on familiarising yourself with the new manual (pages 2-3).  If additional hints and tips become available, I’ll publish them to this blog.

Translations of the new 2010 PADI Instructor Manual will be available in Arabic, Czech, Greek, Hungarian, Polish & Turkish in January 2010. 

PADI’s Guide to Teaching replaces the IDC Candidate Workbook and can be used as a companion reference to the 2010 Instructor Manual.  It includes the teaching techniques and recommendations that were previously found in the Instructor Manual.

Translations to the new PADI’s Guide to Teaching  will be available in Arabic, Greek and Polish during the third quarter of 2010. Translations into Czech, Hungarian and Turkish are under consideration in 2010  but not confirmed.

 Changes to the PADI Divemaster Crewpak

Product number 60020

The new manual is part of the revised PADI Divemaster crewpak – which will be available from PIL late December / early January 2010.  The product number stays the same (60020).  Please see chart below with a list of what’s in the revised PADI Divemaster crewpak (available in English only, for now).

If you have Divemaster kits in stock – don’t worry.  The previous version of our Divemaster crewpak is still valid for use through 31 May 2010 (ref. Pages 4 and 6 in the 4th Quarter Training Bulletin).  After that date, Divemasters must purchase the new instructor manual if they’re buying a “2009” Divemaster kit.

What’s in the PADI Divemaster crewpak?

Important Information for PADI Snorkel Guides

2010 Renewal Time

We would like to remind you that your PADI  Snorkel Guide Membership expires on the 31st December 2009. As you are aware, it's important that your PADI Membership continues without interruption in order to meet the requirement of the CDWS.
 
Click on the link below to download the 2010 renewal form and membership agreement.  Please ensure that you've have read and understood the agreement before you complete and sign the statement.  The annual fee is £31.00.

2010 Arabic Renewal Form & Membership Agreement
2010 English Renewal Form  & Membership Agreement

Please also ensure that you use the Go Snorkel brochures (free from your regional manager for a limited time) and make the snorkellers experience unique by promoting the Go Snorkel website so that your participents get the most from their experience and find out more about diving.

New for 2010

• We’re making the 2010 digital PADI Instructor manual available to all members for download – we’ll send you a notification when your copy is ready for download.

• Digital Undersea Journal – reduce your carbon footprint by opting out of the printed version.  If you would like to do your bit for the environment, please send us an email and we’ll ensure that future editions are delivered digitally.

• Win back your renewal fee and other great prizes – don’t miss the 2010 Renewal Competition.  You can also receive a free Lanyard with online orders over £10 - Renewal Competition Prizes  Offer ends 28/02/2010.

• This year Project AWARE offers you a limited edition Turtle Mask Strap in appreciation for your support - Click here for more information.

• A special message to all PADI Professionals – Click here to view video message

• PADI Professionals have unlimited access to exclusive membership benefits and services