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AVweb mention

Posted: Thu May 11, 2017 1:31 am
by Chris
Looks like the DA50 got a little mention on AVweb this week in an article entitled Diamond vs. Cirrus.

This hit pretty close to home:
Paul Bertorelli wrote:But they will need to invest in sales and marketing because Cirrus is a lot better at it than Diamond, in my opinion. About three times a year, I get an expensive direct-mail piece from Cirrus imploring me to come for an SR22 demo. If Diamond does that, I’m not on the list. The product is important, but sales is just as critical. Clearly, Cirrus is finding several hundred wealthy GA buyers a year and anyone who hopes to succeed will have to do the same.

Re: AVweb mention

Posted: Thu May 11, 2017 7:51 pm
by CFIDave
To be fair, Diamond Canada has been sending out multiple email blasts to announce DA62 demo tours, most recently during Sun N Fun in Florida. I guess Paul B. of AVweb didn't get one. ;)

But one of the biggest differences between Diamond vs. Cirrus is their business models for selling aircraft: Cirrus sells exclusively via a direct salesforce with their own company employees who provide all aircraft delivery, support, and transition training.

In contrast, Diamond uses mostly a set of distributors to provide sales -- and in our case at LifeStyle Aviation, the customer delivery (e.g., ferry flights to the customer's home airport), support, and transition training that Diamond doesn't provide. Diamond also relies heavily on distributors for marketing, which is why we've been known to send out email blasts with major Diamond-related news and developments, and we're the ones often participating in airshows and fly-ins instead of Diamond. Diamond did have a terrific exhibit at AirVenture in Oshkosh last year, participating for the first time in many years.

Which business model is better for customers? For new aircraft it's hard to argue with Cirrus' success. But if the customer is trying to decide, for example between new vs. a good used Diamond, distributors are in a better position to provide unbiased objective advice to help the customer since we sell both new and used, with multiple purchase options including single ownership, partnerships, and DiamondShare (and may even sell non-Diamond aircraft). Cirrus salespeople can only sell new Cirrus aircraft, and dump trade-ins on 3rd party resellers to unload, which is one reason why Cirrus aircraft don't hold their value as well as Diamonds.

Re: AVweb mention

Posted: Sun May 14, 2017 12:45 pm
by Tommy
The most important aspect of owning an aircraft is service. Once you have established how well you and your airplane can expect to be serviced then it's time to look for the plane. Without stellar service, a brand new million dollar airplane is worth about as much as a box of rocks. Although I am definitely not a fan of Cirrus, it's hard to beat the Cirrus service support and network.