How to prevent a "down year" in 2007

[Wisoki]

I hope that wink means what I think it means. You go ahead and wait for a week before giving a call back. I've already called them that afternoon and the next day. You'll be left wondering what happened to your be back.

Not everyone needs/want  a home consultation,  but those that do, 85% of them will buy from the dealer that provides it. And you're not going to be invited unless you offer to go.    Plus offering it, and they say yea maybe, gives you a wonderful topic for a call back in a week or so.    
 

[knowsabit]

LOL.  You never lose a sale because someone feels uncomfortable with your "shock and awe" techniques?

After making numerous phone calls to their house starting ten minutes after they've left the store if they don't surrender and buy I will usually kidnap and hold for ransom one of their family members.  Usually a child or someone elderly.

[anne]

Your clarifications make a ton of sense, Steve. And I agree with the "mirroring" idea. It is tough to know how different people want to be treated, so being sensitive to body language, and having good judgement probably goes a long way. I appreciate it when some one asks me right away if I have any questions, or need any help- if i do; great. If not, I just get irritable wieh they wont go away. Or at a big store, if then some one new comes up and asks the same thing!!!!

Great thread.

[Steve]

Every single customer that walks into my store "shopping" for a hot tub is EXPECTED to leave with a contract. They are here to buy, I am there to sell. Steve is quite generous with his "sales training" info. I on the other hand am not so generous. 15+ succesfull years in this industry and my knowledge and info is reserved for people that will affect my bottom line...The difference between a peck on the cheek and boot knockin' fun! If a dealer doesn't have enough foresitght to get out of his own head and show room, what makes you think they have enough ambition to on the internet and happen to read suggestions that my help their business grow. Thankfully most don't and the sooner this tough competitive market weeds out the bull $h!T the better. I'm relentless yet tired of talking about this brand and that brand as compared to my brand, knowing they don't even come close to being in the same quality catagory.

The reason I'm doing this Frank is 2 fold. Being that I'm not in the spa biz anymore, I can share this information without feeling that I'm giving away advice normally privy to my dealers only and not their competition. I've always believed that they deserved my attention first as they were the ones feeding my family.

Secondly, I love the spa biz and even though this may seem like a grain of sand in the big scheme of things, anything I can do to help make this a stronger year for some is worth it. If someone reading this takes a portion of it or all of it and executes these ideas that they haven't been doing to date, they are going to sell more spas and everyone wins. We need to share our successes and our mistakes and THAT is what this forum is all about IMO.

This topic could be endless and it would be interesting to see what dealers feel are their weaknesses and collectively coming up with solutions. I think would powerful for the industry as a whole and at least help our very small group of visitors to this forum. Kinda like free love but different!

Steve

[Steve]

Your clarifications make a ton of sense, Steve. And I agree with the "mirroring" idea. It is tough to know how different people want to be treated, so being sensitive to body language, and having good judgement probably goes a long way. I appreciate it when some one asks me right away if I have any questions, or need any help- if i do; great. If not, I just get irritable wieh they wont go away. Or at a big store, if then some one new comes up and asks the same thing!!!!

Great thread.

Perfect.... I'm glad that explaination helped. I feel the same and my wife HATES shopping with me for my toys. I have a very high level of expectations for salespeople selling big ticket items and if I don't buy due to their selling style, I tell them why very clearly. In most instances, they didn't adjust their selling style to fit my buying style and instead, they got lazy and tried to close me before doing the work required.

Sales can be difficult but it can be very rewarding too! Personally, I'd love to teach it for a living but there's just soooooo many doing that.

[thearm]

Every single customer that walks into my store "shopping" for a hot tub is EXPECTED to leave with a contract. They are here to buy, I am there to sell. Steve is quite generous with his "sales training" info. I on the other hand am not so generous. 15+ succesfull years in this industry and my knowledge and info is reserved for people that will affect my bottom line...The difference between a peck on the cheek and boot knockin' fun! If a dealer doesn't have enough foresitght to get out of his own head and show room, what makes you think they have enough ambition to on the internet and happen to read suggestions that my help their business grow. Thankfully most don't and the sooner this tough competitive market weeds out the bull $h!T the better. I'm relentless yet tired of talking about this brand and that brand as compared to my brand, knowing they don't even come close to being in the same quality catagory.

Wisoki,
I find it amusing you believe you have a corner on what or how it takes to sell. Much of what Steve has offered is very good selling techniques for any sales people. I have found that after just shy of 30 yrs in the selling game about the time I think I have it figured out, I learn something else. By sharing idea's with other salespeople I am in a state of constant growth by trying new things. I am not afraid of my competition stealing my sales tactics. I believe my product is superior and I am as good or better than the competitor. Someone said it earlier best, treat everyone the same and you are doomed to being a so-so salesperson IMO.
 

[Wisoki]

"What are you going to do today Wisoki?"

"The same thing I do every day arm.....try to TAKE OVER THE WORLD!"

Wisoki,
I find it amusing you believe you have a corner on what or how it takes to sell.
 

[hotubinn]

 Kinda like free love but different!

Steve

A nice kinda of free love, FREE of that annoying burning sensation!

[drewstar]

 can share this information without feeling that I'm giving away advice normally privy to my dealers only and not their competition. I've always believed that they deserved my attention first as they were the ones feeding my family.

Yea!   What's the typical Markup on hot tubs?  What's the biggest cash cow? N2 is all profit, that's why is pushed .  isn't it? (Come on, you can tell me, I won't tell anyone....).   That water testing thingy you guys have in the backroom, that's all just a bunch of lights and stuff and all the machine really does is see what  you have in your chemical inventory that isn't moving and print's it out suggesting the customer buy it.   I'm right, aren't I?


I knew it.  

[hottbpete]

2. "Limited time" offers just make me think of slimy sales tactics. This may work for some people, but I immediately lose respect for someone who pushes that. I realize that there are different degrees to which this technique can be taken, but I still dont like it.

3. If you guide me to sit down at a table for any kind of offer, or write up or whatever, I'm going to feel pressured and trapped. I agree this is a good idea for once a sale is established, but NOT early on. It reminds me of a car dealership.

 

 
[/quote]

Being a sales guy for a few decades....and in marketing for the same, I always find it funny to hear from "non" sales.  There is always a tone of disgust.

Promotional pricing works, period.  Most people need to have a reason to make the decision, especially with non essential items.  In fact the same people that "do not like the sales tactics" I have found are the same ones who like a "deal"

Since I am an owner and bought one last year....this is what I liked:

An educated sales person.  Surprisingly, I found that at most dealers.  Unlike many "retail" places that their clerks have no idea what they are selling, I found the 6 dealers I visited knowledgeable about there products and their unique capabilities versus the competition.

A Good deal....everybody wants one .....period.

Flexibility for wet testing.  The dealer needs to remember that after the house and a car...a hot tub can be the next largest expenditure a family makes.

Good Selling.....

And remember....nothing happens until someone sells something!

[Steve]

 :)Being a sales guy for a few decades....and in marketing for the same, I always find it funny to hear from "non" sales.  There is always a tone of disgust.

Promotional pricing works, period.  Most people need to have a reason to make the decision, especially with non essential items.  In fact the same people that "do not like the sales tactics" I have found are the same ones who like a "deal"

I think what most are talking about here when it comes to the sleazy sale is the "today only" pricing that some weaker dealers use. It's lazy and most often designed to be a high pressure close because they have no other resources to draw from.

Here's what I do when it comes to the end of sale pricing... For those coming in on the last day of the sale, I would offer them the ability to hold the promotional pricing with a minimum $500 deposit. We would hold that for 30 days and it is totally refundable if they choose not to take advanatge of it. It's no pressure and allows them to complete their research and still come back at their leisure.

The fact remains that all sales have an end date. As I mentioned before, it's all about the pricing strategy and making these event sales work in a win/win scenario. The question for the consumer then becomes, is it a value priced sale and do I want to take advantage of this promotional offer now?

The worse thing you can do as a retailer is have a SALE sign out front ALL THE TIME!!

Steve

[East_TX_Spa]

The worse thing you can do as a retailer is have a SALE sign out front ALL THE TIME!!

Steve

  The dealer down the road from me has had their "Spa Sale" sign up for 3 years and counting!

Terminator

[Zep]

This is just a minor detail....but as a consumer I always
feel uncomfortable when I walk into a sales type setting
and several salesmen are standing around.

Then when one starts to make contact with me all the
other guys stand around and kind of watch and listen.

Of course this automatically seems to increase the feeling
of pressure and  "all eyes are watching".

[East_TX_Spa]

This is just a minor detail....but as a consumer I always
feel uncomfortable when I walk into a sales type setting
and several salesmen are standing around.

Yep, I feel the same way Zep.  It's like they're a bunch of goatsmellin' buzzards just hoverin' around giving you the beady eye (which I abhor)!

When someone walks into my store, I put my pants on and greet them by telling them to make themselves at home (acknowledge their presence whilst giving them space).  I then fiddlefart around a bit to let them get comfortable and then I approach them by talking about things completely unrelated to spas (their car, religion, politics, their wife's sexy walk).

If they haven't turned around and left at this point, I start telling them about the shortcomings of my competitors, how the owner of one store in particular is the biggest crook in Longview, the owner of another store lives in a motor home with his secretary while his wife remains in ignorant bliss at home 90 miles away, how the other competitor got ran out of town and changed their name, etc.

If that doesn't convince them to buy, I start hammering the lack of quality of the competing products, show them my filtration diagram, show them pictures of old broken down offbrand spas we've hauled off, etc.

At this point, they're feeling kind of low, so I give them beer to perk them up.  After 3 or 4 beers, they're feeling no pain and are feeling really confident about HotSprings' 6 Consumer's Digest awards and bottom drain...that's when I tell them "the good news".  I pretend to call my boss, who happens to have a demo model available if they act fast by putting down a deposit.  The credit card comes out, I tack on a "processing fee" that I tell them the government entity that oversees the spa industry requires, and write them up.

They are excited, I'm excited, I tell them to not let ANYONE know about the special deal they got as we can't do it for anyone else but them.  They leave happy, I light up a cigar, take my pants off, and wait for the next folks to walk through the door.

Works about 65% of the time.  At the prices we charge, that's good enough!

Terminator

[wmccall]

HAve any of you ever gone out of your way to be nice and attentive to a person you know wouldn't be buying  in hope that it could turn into a sale a year or two in the future, or is that too far to think ahead?  I remember we considered a hot tub several time at least 3 years before we finally made the purchase.  The interest had been there at least 5-7 years prior to that.