For Dealers and Consumers

[Mendocino101]

A question to both Dealers and Consumers,

This time of year seems to be the start of many months of home shows....leading into fairs and other outside venues as a place to promote 'Spa Sales" My question for dealers who participate in these shows... Is we all know the cost of displaying and participating at these shows is quite high and that whatever "deal"  We may  offer at the show, it can certainly be matched or perhaps even bettered at your home store.....Has anyone  tried to take some of the money it costs to attend the shows and put it into advertising promoting that you can actually match if not save a buyer more money when buying directly from your store....sorta of alternative choice to the home show....As for the consumers would this type of ad appeal to you or do you think that in some way you will actually get a better "deal' at one of the shows....I am unsure of how those really think you can... as the reality is, your cost per sale is much higher at the home show than it is at your own store....I appreciate your thoughts.....If I am missing something please show me..I do understand that you will never match the traffic of the shows...

[Greenraisin]

As a consumer who just experienced a couple shows, one legitimate and one totally bogus, our hopes included:

1. Ability to see many spas relatively close enough to each other that we could readily compare them,
2. Hopes that there would be some significant bidding at the show,
3. An understanding that corporate or regional sales organiztions would assist financially to provide an incentive to the dealers to pass on the customer.

What we saw at the bogus one was an opportunity to hear a $5 sales pitch for Master Spas! Lured by a Big Spa Show with 18 vendors vying for your business, we thought we would get a lot of information about a lot of spas. In a way, we did. We heard the virtues of Master Spas and Down East and the many benefits they have over other brands. Good Pitches, relatively sound engineering-eeze made it attractive, and significant battering of other products. We were lucky enough to link up with one of the corporate reps whom we told we came to learn about spas, not to buy one. He proceded to teach us the major parts and functions of a spa, highlighting his, of course. He sensed we were telling the truth about wanting to learn and asked if there was a Watsons around, and if so, we should go therr to look at Hot Springs and Caldera. We did and looked at both brands.They bashed Master Spa until I told them that the guy had said they had good products and that we should go see them! Bottom line, the Master Spa show really really discounted some tubs way beyond what the locel MS dealer could sell for, and we just weren't ready to buy. Watson's said that they had some 2004s to clear out, but that they would deal with us and to come back before we bought anything. Meanwhile the big Cincinnati home show was here and we went there and tried out two more vendors who both said they had great deals for the show only, and that was because of the corporate sponsors putting up space rent, bringing in truckloads of spas for volume selling, etc..
With all that said, for the last three weeks solid we received all kinds of offers with every reason somehow leading back to a show. So...maybe so? maybe not! But we feel we received a very good deal on ours. Was it the show or was it just a short month? Where those prices available away from the show? Don't know. I suspect that when a buyer realizes he/she is ready to buy, they will either bargain and get some discount, or be perfectly happy paying full price with some freebees thrown in.

[Mendocino101]

Thanks for the reply ....I hope you enjoy whatever spa you wound up buying...Drifter are reading this...the SHOWS REALLY HAPPEN.....

[Vinny]

I think that home shows and fairs are great for looking and not for buying. I've been to fairs where the local store has a spa on it's side "showing" it. In the cases that I know - yes they were local stores but with all the pedestrian traffic and the possibility of them not being local - how can you make a fair judgment.

If I went to a show that had a lot of spa vendors I certainly would use it as a way to see what I like and go to the store afterward.

[hottubber]

I don't think a dealer alone can produce the amount of excitement that a Home Show can. It cannot bring in the volume of people like the show. The Home Show companies do only that, they produce effective, traffic building home shows. Remember, the home show offers many different items to view and buy, if you wish. The hot tub catagory is just one of many at the show.
We are going into a home show today, rather large, discounts are real. We usually come out of this 3 day show with legit 30 spa sales. The show team that I use is professional in every way. They operate the same as my showroom sales force, they just create the need to buy at the show with REAL savings.
As far as cost goes, WOW... these shows are sooo expensive, but, like you've always heard, " It takes money to make money". Put your best foot forward if indeed you intend on getting involved. You cannot go in with a lackluster display.  I do about 7 home/garden shows a year. They all aren't as effective, all the time.

[wmccall]

I remember in our search, we looked at home shows, but my 11th commandment is "If the offer is only good for today, walk" and I found the shows and their hired guns to be good for learning, and then we started going to dealers.  I did remember a few things from show pitches that did help while I was really shopping.

[HotTubMan]

I agree Mendo, the shows are expensive and redirecting the marketing dollars and giving greater savings is a good strategy.

That said there are many that do not understand or beleive this and assume the best deals are at shows. By not attending, we as dealers are missing many potential customers.

I also have come to a conclusion about doing these unscientific surveys here. I am not saying that we have nothing to learn from consumers here, but I think we get a certain "type" of shopper here. Shoppers here are not impulse buyers, show buyers are. Shoppers here are doing the due diligence and researching. Shoppers here tend to be more computer savvy. My point is the shopper here is less indicative of the hot shopper "average" profile.

Just a theory, what do y'all think?

[wmccall]

Just a theory, what do y'all think?

You know the saying, "For every rule, there is an exception?  I'd say your 90% correct., at least as far as the number of people who woke up that morning with no intention of buying a spa, but did, I'll bet their more likely to have come from a show.

[hottubber]

mendo,

I agree with you regarding the spa owners on this site.

You are, as I have seen so far, a notch above what

typically is out there shopping for spas. Home shows

are not for all consumers, some feel more comfortable

dealing in a showroom environment. I was the same

way.

There is a market for the home show customer; the

customer who has to have it TODAY, we're just trying to

grab as much of the pie as possible...

It is our off-site showroom for 3 days. I feel if we're not

there, we're missing something.

And again, the show scene is not for everyone, I agree...

hottubber

[Greenraisin]

To clarify my earlier post, we went to the shows specifically to learn and compare spa products because we thought it was easier than driving all over the area to visit each dealer. Some dealers we would have never considered because we didn't even know they existed! Without this forum and its references to all the different brands, we wouldn't have known about the brand, let alone to look for dealers for them! So, yes, I think that exposure to the casual AND serious looker doing due diligence has to be good. I had never ever just stopped and “strolled” through a spa shop, and, if I had, given what the dealers I have encountered have said, I wouldn’t have come away with a good feel about any other brand!!!  Those sales pitches should stick strictly to the virtues of the subject product, not the bashing of others. That SOOOOO turns me off. A good engineering comparison would allow ME to make the decision as to what’s better than the other. Not all shoppers are engineers or have the capability to make those differentiations, but…a simple comparative analysis for the customer showing the differences, regardless of the supporting data, (hp, gpm, amperage, etc.), will let the customer decide what provides them the best bang for their buck.

Those dealers who were not at the shows did not get my considerations unless I had already searched them out on my own!

NOTE: I'm not talking about the dealers on this site, but the ones in the stores! Even though you all may be biased, you typically don't bash!

[poolboy34]

I think in the market where we are located in it is imperative that we attend the home show and state fair.  With only two events it makes it worth our while.  Plus the fair runs 10 days and over one million people attend it on a yearly basis.  HTM hit the nail on the head.  I would say 10% or less of ALL spa shoppers use the internet, and do real in-depth research on the purchase.  the majority of customers know someone who owns or has owned a spa, or have recently gone on a vacation where they used a spa.  With only two shows a year, shoppers have a pre-conceived notion that they will get a better deal at the events then in the showroom.  the reality of it is that they will get the same if not a better deal in the showroom.  they will also be able to take delivery of their spa a heck of a lot sooner if they purchase in the showroom.  just my 2 cents worth.