XL1100 Gulf Coast

[dswslp]

Boy you guys were alittle testy about my comments about gulf coast  vs artesian, hot springs, d1, artic, and royal.   In defence of my position i was not running those brands down.  i wet tested them and would have been content with any of them.  Hands down the piper glen in my experience was the cream of the crop.  In my opinion if the dealer had treated me fairly i would probably own it right now.   Let's ask the artesian dealer from new jersey would you have sold me an 05 piper glen for 10500 or 10000 during the period of nov 05 to feb 06 no sound system??  the dealer i visited had cut the price from 12800 to 11800 no sound.  Through monitoring this site since last fall several people have posted 10000 to 10500 for the piper glen.  I call that getting raked over the coals.  The hot springs guy was sickning. I called it talking points but he was merely trying to get me to agree with obvious positive statements about the product and then the big push to put the money down.  yawn.  As for the XL1100 it is an awesome tub for the price.  If you want to use the car analogy I would say honda vs acura or toyota vs lexis is appropriate.  Have any of you XL bashers actually seen one opened up.  No I didn't get the acura but I got alot of tub for the money.  Hey isn't someone on this board going on a rccl cruise soon?  If you're going on mariner on the 16th maybe I'll see you in tub.

[drewstar]

Well, you did say:

"... for the money Gulf Coast is the Best Deal.  

.... The Artesian dealer was trying to rake me for 11800 for the piper without the sound.


 The  Hot Springs sales person was so fake He could'nt get off the company's talking points. I can't believe their training sales people like that.  

...However if your win the lottery and don't care about getting raked go with the piper glen.

I'm sure you can see how that might have  come across as slightly running them down? And   implying folks who bought those tubs didn't do their homework and had gotten taken could be a bit insulting to them?



I agree with your statement "It's an awesome tub for the price".  (I don't know you're tub specifiacally, but I understand the intent). I too feel I have an awesome tub for the money.  I'm under no illusions about it.  It's far , far from the top of the line.  But for my money, and expectations for the tub, it's meet them all.  

And hence, will we ever answer the question....

What's the Best Hot Tub?

(Yes, mine.   )

[salesdvl]

dswslp,  
It sounds to me that your issues were with the dealer rather than the brand.  Not to defend either, but just to look at the other side of the coin...

Artesian is made way out west so freight will be a little more to get the the east coast.  Also, prices in general tend to be much higher on the coasts than in the midwest.  Could be "gouging" but it may also simply be the price he feels he needsw to get to stay in business.

Secondly:  Yes, Good Hot Spring salespeople are very polished.  Historically, they have needed to be.  Many years ago Hot Spring was a very plain looking plastic tub with maybe 5 or 6 jets.  Since they wanted a premium price for them, they needed to develop a good selling system.  And they did.  How else could they get consumers to pay $1000 for a walkman?  But its not a slam.  They are outstanding at what they do.  Most manufacturers simply say, "Here's our product, now go sell it."  Hot Spring has several levels of sales training from the very basic to the very involved.  In fact, they have a person who's title is National Sales Trainer, and his sole job is to train dealers sales people.  They say "Here's our product and here's how we suggest you present it."

Question for the group...  How many manufacturers have good sales training programs to help you?  I proposed creating one to the National Sales Mgr of Artesian and he pretty much blew off the idea.

[Spatech_tuo]

 If you want to use the car analogy I would say honda vs acura or toyota vs lexis is appropriate.  

I'm not sure I agree with that but for your sake let's hope you did get a Honda. Just make sure you register your spa so they can't use the old hidden ball trick on you and void your warranty.

[East_TX_Spa]

How else could they get consumers to pay $1000 for a walkman?

That is inaccurate.  The cheapest I've ever seen a SpAudio go for is $1200.  There is much more to the system than just a "walkman".

Watkins' sales training is extraordinary.  One facet that makes it so exceptional is that NO OTHER BRAND of spa is EVER mentioned and certainly not in a negative fashion.

I was surprised when I've talked to some of the HS dealers that also carry other brands of spas.  They say when they go to the other brands' "sales seminars", it is a constant stream of ways to sell against HotSpring.  I thought that was very interesting and just simply reaffirms why we sell what we do and have ZERO regrets.

Always take the high road and you'll come out ahead in the long run.  That's the key to success that some folks just don't seem to get.

Terminator

[NE-Phil]

Always take the high road and you'll come out ahead in the long run.  That's the key to success that some folks just don't seem to get.

Terminator

As a consumer, I agree. Take the high road. That's the best way to go.

When I was looking at tubs last year, the red flag would go up any time I heard a dealer put down the competition's products. That kind of a dealer became "fair game". I would take my time being the obnoxious customer, arguing with him, making sure I was good and loud so other customers would hear me when I would catch that dealer in a half truth or outright lie. It drives my wife crazy but I had fun.

You see, by then I didn't have to worry about getting a good deal since I had already made my mind up that I wasn't going to buy from a dealership which thought tearing down someone else's product was the best way to make sure their product looked good. If they had no integrity when actually sellilng a spa, why would I think they would have any integrity after the sales? It's time to leave. Or else, stick around and play the rude customer.

I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here with the regular contributors who are dealers but it can't be emphasized. Take the high road!

Phil

[salesdvl]

I realize there is more than just a walkman.  My point is, thats all the customer can see.  Which makes my point that without having an excellent system they would not be where they are today.  It's not high road vs low road.  It's just a great business decision made many years ago.  Instead of having dealers saying "Here is a Hot Spring, it is plain white plastic spa and has 5 jets..."  they taught their dealers to say "High -impact resistant resin shell that doesnt have alot of unnecessary holes drilled in it ...."   My hat is off to them.

[anne]

One of the HS dealers that I worked with (not you, Dan) spent almost all of his time talking to me criticising 2 other local dealers. I could not get him to stop talking and just let me wet test fast enough. Every company is going to have it's good reps and less good, and I bet dealers/salespeople have their good and bad days.

[East_TX_Spa]

"Here is a Hot Spring, it is plain white plastic spa and has 5 jets..."  they taught their dealers to say "High -impact resistant resin shell that doesnt have alot of unnecessary holes drilled in it ...."

Yep, or a salesman for another brand could say "Strongest shell in the industry, multiple suction safety features, airlock thermal pane insulation" instead of "Cheap hand-rolled fiberglass, bypass valves that don't filter, cheap, thin foam panels".  I understand.

Terminator

[anne]

Yep, or a salesman for another brand could say "Strongest shell in the industry, multiple suction safety features, airlock thermal pane insulation" instead of "Cheap hand-rolled fiberglass, bypass valves that don't filter, cheap, thin foam panels".  I understand.

Terminator

That is odd.....if the analogy holds, you are admitting that HS dealers sweeten the perceived product through word choice just like everybody else?

[East_TX_Spa]

That is odd.....if the analogy holds, you are admitting that HS dealers sweeten the perceived product through word choice just like everybody else?

I'm doing no such thing.  It's all in perception.

I have no disagreement with salesdvl at all about what he said.  HotSpring did sell plain white plastic spas with 5 jets, I bet salesdvl sold tons of them since he sold them for 20 years.  BUT, that plain white plastic spa that HE STILL OWNS was unlike any other product out there.  It's still ticking as are thousands of others like it.

We wouldn't have sold nearly as many if we didn't use terminology conducive to inciting feelings of ownership.

I don't imagine the veterinary clinic where you work would be very successful if you advertised "We'll stick a thermometer up your dog's butt and suck some blood out of him.  If we can't fix the little female dog, we'll be more than happy to charge you to put her down."

Terminator

[Spatech_tuo]

That is odd.....if the analogy holds, you are admitting that HS dealers sweeten the perceived product through word choice just like everybody else?

EVERYONE sells perception in the spa industry, some just do a better job of it than others. Some sell on thier own merits (a blend of percieved or real) while others sell using negativity toward others as a way to boost themselves. I'll bet those same thing could be said about the car industry, appliance industry, beer industry, etc.

[anne]

Term and TUO,

I dont disagree with you at all. This was exactly my point:

" We wouldn't have sold nearly as many if we didn't use terminology conducive to inciting feelings of ownership. "

There is nothing wrong with that. And everybody does it- I agree there, too.  I saw irony in Term's post, and maybe just did not express myself clearly.  I just dont think it is fair to put a negative twist to this very common form of marketing when referring to certain brands, and to just call it "perception" when referring to your own.

And for what it is worth, It is a huge pet peeve (no pun intended) of mine when people think I "sell" veterinary medicine. I understand the point you were making, but just understand that I'm not a salesman.  

[Vinny]

Here's another twist on this - comparing a top of the line spa - ANY SPA - to a secondary or third level spa is not too bright.

I bought an Artesian Cayman and paid a lot less than the Piper - it's Artesian's 3rd level spa and if you take how much I paid for a name brand manufacturer, I got a great spa "for my money".

I don't know what Gulf Coast has to offer, I did call an add in the paper once and this person was selling Gulf Coast out of a garage ... hmmm!

Compare my tub to yours. 8'x8', 3 pumps, 56 jets, SS rings, ozone, plastic cabinet, circ pump, air controls for almost every seat, LED Light and most importantly a dealer network with actual dealer store fronts - not a garage. I paid $6700 - you paid $5300. I personally think I got the better deal - $1400 more and I know Artesian will take care of me when and if I need it!