Consumer Turn Offs

[Guzz]

As a spa sales manager, I would like some feed back on what you, as consumers, identified good and bad points in your dealings with sales people during your buying experience. Example, product knowledge given, your needs and concerns delt with, how you were treated, your comfort level ect. What where your first impressions on entering the store, and what were your last?

[Jack L]

As a spa sales manager, I would like some feed back on what you, as consumers, identified good and bad points in your dealings with sales people during your buying experience. Example, product knowledge given, your needs and concerns delt with, how you were treated, your comfort level ect. What where your first impressions on entering the store, and what were your last?

Store cleanliness, organization of displays and well dressed employees. For first impression this all matters to me.

Sales person should be professional, knowledgable or willing to admit at least when they don't know something and not slam other brands to make their own look good. Just pointing out the plus side of the spa's they offer is all that is necessary.

My 2cents.

[BigD]

My list of consumer turnoffs:

- cleanliness/layout. I am definitely turned off from a dealer which does not keep their business clean and maintain a thoughtful layout of their products. I've been to a couple of dealers where the spas were dirty and scattered about. I turned right around and walked out the door.

- sales tactics. If I am serious about buying a spa, I appreciate a straightforward reply when asking about the bottom-line price. I despise getting a call later on from the dealer stating they can reduce the price by a few hundred dollars or throw in an extra item to 'sweeten the deal'. I'd rather they do that up front than wait and see what I do.

- sales tactics. I'm turned off when a salesperson really pushes some product feature over everything else, whether it be full-foamed, ozonator, stereo, etc. The features are nice, but are supporting arguments in buying the spa rather than leading arguments. The spa is about comfort, relaxation and luxury. The salesperson should focus on selling that feature first, then talk about the amenities which come with it.

- sales tactics. Be straightforward about the product warranty. If I ask about the warranty, the best possible response I can get is a simple three or four synopsis of the warranty (including identifying things not covered) following by the salesperson handing me a copy of the actual warranty. I visited about 5 different stores when I shopped, and only 1 person did this for me. I actually complimented him on it and told him how I appreciated how straightforward he was.

Two big turn ons for me:

1) Privacy areas for wet-testing spas. I really appreciate a dealer who has segregated rooms for wet-testing. Even a privacy curtain or the like is greatly appreciated.

2) Free water chemistry troubleshooting/support and free service for the first year of ownership. A big plus for me is free service for the first year. This makes me feel that, once I have paid my money for the item, I know that it will be hassle-free for the first year.

[Rolexor]

I'm in sales as well, now I own my own company (mattress and furniture) and I think the answer is the same for any industry. People want you to treat them the way that you expect to be treated. That is not to say that there aren't individual preferences though.

I notice that some of the most successful salespeople I know exert more pressure in closing than I prefer. It is hard to get that balance between turning someone off and saying those few words that will actually elicit a sale.

As noted previously, things that may go unnoticed by store staff in cleanliness and how a display looks can make a huge difference to the consumer. I was in the Marines and one of the things I took from there is a combination of a daily cleaning and a weekly "field day", if you have a few people on staff it only takes them a little while to really clean everything to look as though the store just had it's grand opening. I am not talking about spring cleaning in either case, you can just spend a few minutes on the daily clean up, and then I would say less than an hour on the weekly, of course you can hire someone as well, but who needs the added expense, especially when most businesses have some down time.

Also with this last thought I think it gives a good impression for a consumer to walk in and see the staff taking an interest in the store and cleaning, lastly on that I think seeing staff standing around is a turn off. It is reminiscent of walking onto a car lot and seeing the salespeople standing there waiting on the next "Up". Not that I am talking negatively about car sales as I did that for several years, and that is a hard a business, it just doesn't give a good impression. I find that a good way to avoid the "Just Looking" response or if you've asked "may I help you", and have gotten the standard "No", is to look busy near them, whether it be cleaning or maintenance of something. I find it easy to overhear what they are saying and also they will be more likely to ask a minor question, then you have been invited in and it is an environment more open to the salesperson.

Music, I feel is a must! You need to get people in a good mood, and if you have music on that is just feel good music that most everyone will tap their feet to you're creating that experience, that they are paying for. I don't know how good the quality of speakers are on the spas but if they are distorted at a volume to make the store pleasant than I would say you need to get a small system and invest in inceiling speakers to level out the volume so it doesn't need to be overly loud in any one place.

I could go on for days on this subject, it is actually something I know a little something about.

[poollady]

I'm in sales as well, now I own my own company (mattress and furniture) and I think the answer is the same for any industry. People want you to treat them the way that you expect to be treated. That is not to say that there aren't individual preferences though.

I notice that some of the most successful salespeople I know exert more pressure in closing than I prefer. It is hard to get that balance between turning someone off and saying those few words that will actually elicit a sale.

As noted previously, things that may go unnoticed by store staff in cleanliness and how a display looks can make a huge difference to the consumer. I was in the Marines and one of the things I took from there is a combination of a daily cleaning and a weekly "field day", if you have a few people on staff it only takes them a little while to really clean everything to look as though the store just had it's grand opening. I am not talking about spring cleaning in either case, you can just spend a few minutes on the daily clean up, and then I would say less than an hour on the weekly, of course you can hire someone as well, but who needs the added expense, especially when most businesses have some down time.

Also with this last thought I think it gives a good impression for a consumer to walk in and see the staff taking an interest in the store and cleaning, lastly on that I think seeing staff standing around is a turn off. It is reminiscent of walking onto a car lot and seeing the salespeople standing there waiting on the next "Up". Not that I am talking negatively about car sales as I did that for several years, and that is a hard a business, it just doesn't give a good impression. I find that a good way to avoid the "Just Looking" response or if you've asked "may I help you", and have gotten the standard "No", is to look busy near them, whether it be cleaning or maintenance of something. I find it easy to overhear what they are saying and also they will be more likely to ask a minor question, then you have been invited in and it is an environment more open to the salesperson.

Music, I feel is a must! You need to get people in a good mood, and if you have music on that is just feel good music that most everyone will tap their feet to you're creating that experience, that they are paying for. I don't know how good the quality of speakers are on the spas but if they are distorted at a volume to make the store pleasant than I would say you need to get a small system and invest in inceiling speakers to level out the volume so it doesn't need to be overly loud in any one place.

I could go on for days on this subject, it is actually something I know a little something about.

This is great! I hope a lot more of you buyers chime in to tell us what "turned you on" or "turned you off" when buying your spa.

I sold a spa to a guy recently who told me the reason he bought from us was that I was the only person he talked to who was genuinely interested in his physical problems that neccitated his need for the tub. He said the other 5 or 6 dealerships he went to were more interested in the "features" of their tubs, not HIM.

[mattNY]

I agree with all the comments thus far.

-Store cleaniness and professional appearance is a must. Nothing crazy, a polo and shorts is fine, but not a T-shirt and 3-day stubble.

-Clearly advertised prices. I need to know if I'm even in the realm of possibility.

-Atmosphere is important too, music is one part of that, privacy areas are another. The place I liked the best when looking immediately offered to let me come in after store hours for a wet test, and recommended that I take at least an hour to do so. This especially struck me since I did not give a hard push as a serious buyer, I was just asking general questions.

-Be knowledgable about your product, especially on warranties, and what the pros/cons are compared to other brands. If you're $2k more than the other tub I just looked at, explain it to me.

-Approach me once, then let me look around. I hate being disturbed 10 times when browsing. Keep an eye on me, in case I start to linger by a tub for a good long while. If I feel like I'm getting jumped on every time I turn the jets on though, it'll just encourage me to leave sooner.

-This is the biggest one: Be sensitive to cost. Almost *everyone* I know comes into a spa store expecting them to cost 4-5k. Explain why the big ones cost what they do, talk up quality and how long it will last (longer than a car in most cases), etc. Then, show them the options you have at a lower bracket, and what they're gaining by moving up. I didn't have a single salesman show me the lower end quality tubs (Hot Spot, D1 @ Home, etc.), nor was the option of a used tub ever offered to me. Had I been shown either one, I likely would have bought on the spot, instead they lost a sale since, in my situation, I truly couldn't afford to buy the high end tub that was their cheapest model.

Two things that struck me *after* I became a member of several forums and got a lot of good information:

1.) A cheap tub will cost you in the long run. I live in a cold climate, if a crate tub costs me $80-100/month to run in the winter, and your tub will only cost $25, that justifies a lot of cost to me since it's not going to take long to equalize, PLUS that crate tub looks bad and I'm sacrificing features to "save".

2.) There is a "cost to overcome" of the shell, motors, etc., etc. that means the cheapest new spa you sell has a certain minimum price. The huge, full featured spas may only be a couple of thousand more, since the main cost is already covered. Explain this to the client. They may well opt for the large one. (The same applies in construction - I'm paying my concrete guys for their time, getting the truck out there, etc., once that cost is overcome adding another couple of feet to the slab is peanuts but will probably make a big difference to me in usability and happiness.)

[HydroMan]

I’m not so concerned with appearance. I might actually trust a normally dressed person more then a suit and tie person. But that’s just me.

One thing that I really like is upfront pricing. Give me all the facts and figures so that I can make a good comparison.

My biggest turn off is a smug salesperson begging for a deposit. Followed closely be ridiculous sales, like "50 percent off MSRP summer blowout sale".

[windsurfdog]

To emphasize Jack L's reply:

Do not belittle the competition. Talk about your own product and why you feel it's features are the best value. Two of the dealers I visited when looking belittled their competition which immediately turned me off.

Another dealer plus is encouragement to wet test. One of the dealers I visited when looking (who happened to be one of the two mentioned above) did not allow wet tests in his showroom! Red flags immediately popped up.

When I wet tested, I brought my own towel, swim trunks, etc. I've seen where some dealers offer towels and trunks to wet testers. This would have made a VERY favorable impression on me.

[Guzz]

To emphasize Jack L's reply:

Do not belittle the competition. Talk about your own product and why you feel it's features are the best value. Two of the dealers I visited when looking belittled their competition which immediately turned me off.

Another dealer plus is encouragement to wet test. One of the dealers I visited when looking (who happened to be one of the two mentioned above) did not allow wet tests in his showroom! Red flags immediately popped up.

When I wet tested, I brought my own towel, swim trunks, etc. I've seen where some dealers offer towels and trunks to wet testers. This would have made a VERY favorable impression on me.

Thanks for everyones input, you guys are awesome, some great replies from you all, I will be using your ideas at my next sales meeting. You are all hired!

[poollady]

Thanks for everyones input, you guys are awesome, some great replies from you all, I will be using your ideas at my next sales meeting. You are all hired!

Thanks to all you buyer for great info (an you Guzz for posting this topic in the first palce). I have a question for you purchasers. Did financing plans play a part in your purchase? In other words, would you have bought more readily from a dealer who offers you 6 months same as cash over one who did not offer financing? Would you have bought a more expensive spa for instance if you could finance it rather than paying cash?

[mattNY]

Absolutely. (It probably shouldn't but it does, and I am fairly conservative with my credit.)

[poollady]

Absolutely. (It probably shouldn't but it does, and I am fairly conservative with my credit.)

Thank you.

[Guzz]

Absolutely. (It probably shouldn't but it does, and I am fairly conservative with my credit.)

Which would you prefer, a low interest rate for say 3 years, or a 12 month same as cash deal.

[mattNY]

Which would you prefer, a low interest rate for say 3 years, or a 12 month same as cash deal.

Interesting question. In my situation, 6 or even 12 months is not long enough to pay off the tub completely, so I'd still have to get a loan and pay it off, which is a pain. If you could offer me a low interest rate (say under 5%) loan directly over a 3 year period, and I could make a down payment of say half the cost of the tub at purchase, that is a very, very powerful persuasion to buy. The convenience factor on that is huge. In fact, where do you live? Kidding, I should be fine with my used tub for a couple of years at least...

[Wmartin]

Turn ons

-I really look for an education. I bought my first spa and I didnt really know what I was doing. The sales people I narrowed it down to were the ones that offered me the best education.

- Good atmospere (clean store, proper appearence of employees)

Turn offs

- Denegrating the competition

- Poor listening.

Service-

Everyone says they have better service then the competition. Its one of the most overused lines in retail. name 1 retailer who doesnt say it. Cite examples, service guarentees (48 hour service calls), ways the company has stuck up for there customers with the wholesale vendors, etc).

Knowing the competition-

If a consumer is leaving your store to go to a competitive store its okay to stick up for your product. If I left a Sundance dealer, and headed to a Master dealer, its okay to say "Its a very good spa as well, but here is some differences 1) they count every orfice in there master blaster foot massage as a jet, so they may say the have a lot more jets, but I think we are very competitive. 2) Make sure you can fit under the shoulder jets and the people who will be using the tub can fit as well, 3) Filtration.... 4) Ability to move around the spa, Master is in compartments, Sundance is more open.

The Master guy can say 1) We have more jets and the foot massage should count 2) We believe in our therapy advantage and have compartments 3) We think foam filled is not an advantage... etc

Its not okay to say

1) That is a bad company, did you hear about the rebate scheme, 2) Customers always complain that shop keeper is a real jerk, 3) That company had much better products in the past, but they are now living on their past reputation with poorer quality

Financing didnt matter to me, but Id be a 12month same as cash guy before anything else

[Brulan1]

Turn ons

-I really look for an education. I bought my first spa and I didnt really know what I was doing. The sales people I narrowed it down to were the ones that offered me the best education.

- Good atmospere (clean store, proper appearence of employees)

Turn offs

- Denegrating the competition

- Poor listening.

Service-

Everyone says they have better service then the competition. Its one of the most overused lines in retail. name 1 retailer who doesnt say it. Cite examples, service guarentees (48 hour service calls), ways the company has stuck up for there customers with the wholesale vendors, etc).

Knowing the competition-

If a consumer is leaving your store to go to a competitive store its okay to stick up for your product. If I left a Sundance dealer, and headed to a Master dealer, its okay to say "Its a very good spa as well, but here is some differences 1) they count every orfice in there master blaster foot massage as a jet, so they may say the have a lot more jets, but I think we are very competitive. 2) Make sure you can fit under the shoulder jets and the people who will be using the tub can fit as well, 3) Filtration.... 4) Ability to move around the spa, Master is in compartments, Sundance is more open.

The Master guy can say 1) We have more jets and the foot massage should count 2) We believe in our therapy advantage and have compartments 3) We think foam filled is not an advantage... etc

Its not okay to say

1) That is a bad company, did you hear about the rebate scheme, 2) Customers always complain that shop keeper is a real jerk, 3) That company had much better products in the past, but they are now living on their past reputation with poorer quality

Financing didnt matter to me, but Id be a 12month same as cash guy before anything else

www.salestrainingcamp.com for sales techniques.

[susan]

www.salestrainingcamp.com for sales techniques.

I have an interesting little bit to share. I've decided after losing five family members in as many years plus a couple good friends in that same time span, I've had the fight beaten out of me. I decided I want to use some of the money I got from my sister, who died at the age of 50 and had saved about 500k prior to her death for her retirement, for a hot tub/patio. I'm not in the mood anymore to barter, wheedle, whine, etc with anyone. I'm tired and I need some relaxation. Add to that the history of rheumatoid arthritis, cancer and Alzheimer's in my family and I realized I can't AFFORD the stress. A spa is a lot cheaper for me than a shrink or a funeral! haha

Anyway, we went to one dealer. This guy was really nice, he's been in the biz in the same place for 27 years which to me was already a plus. We saw a couple customers come in and wait for him while he spent time with us to educate us on his spas. This took some time and the customers still waited just to talk with the guy, which was an even bigger plus to me. Now we're almost convinced that the D1 is the spa for us, and a lot of the decision is b/c of the guy and his obvious good rep with his customers. I couldn't care less what he looks like, in fact, if he's in his shorts, a t-shirt and some flip flops, I figure he can probably relate to what my desires are because he LOOKS like he came from the calm, relaxed, Beach Boy place I want to be in.

So we came home and called on a couple ads in the paper for used spas. Went to look at a used D1 spa 3-4 years old last night and while it looks like a possibility, I think Id rather get a new one.

Now I've just called the dealer, who, of course, is the same guy that sold that spa to the private seller and he really played down that spa. Dang it, now I'm turned off by that guy AND the private guy, b/c he said he paid 9k for it and didn't, it was a display model and he got it cheaper, and the dealer said "He said it's 3-4 yrs old which means it's probably 7-9 years old." then had to come back and apologize after looking up the records and seeing that it was in Jan '03. Now I don't want to deal with either one of them.

[Brulan1]

I have an interesting little bit to share. I've decided after losing five family members in as many years plus a couple good friends in that same time span, I've had the fight beaten out of me. I decided I want to use some of the money I got from my sister, who died at the age of 50 and had saved about 500k prior to her death for her retirement, for a hot tub/patio. I'm not in the mood anymore to barter, wheedle, whine, etc with anyone. I'm tired and I need some relaxation. Add to that the history of rheumatoid arthritis, cancer and Alzheimer's in my family and I realized I can't AFFORD the stress. A spa is a lot cheaper for me than a shrink or a funeral! haha

Anyway, we went to one dealer. This guy was really nice, he's been in the biz in the same place for 27 years which to me was already a plus. We saw a couple customers come in and wait for him while he spent time with us to educate us on his spas. This took some time and the customers still waited just to talk with the guy, which was an even bigger plus to me. Now we're almost convinced that the D1 is the spa for us, and a lot of the decision is b/c of the guy and his obvious good rep with his customers. I couldn't care less what he looks like, in fact, if he's in his shorts, a t-shirt and some flip flops, I figure he can probably relate to what my desires are because he LOOKS like he came from the calm, relaxed, Beach Boy place I want to be in.

So we came home and called on a couple ads in the paper for used spas. Went to look at a used D1 spa 3-4 years old last night and while it looks like a possibility, I think Id rather get a new one.

Now I've just called the dealer, who, of course, is the same guy that sold that spa to the private seller and he really played down that spa. Dang it, now I'm turned off by that guy AND the private guy, b/c he said he paid 9k for it and didn't, it was a display model and he got it cheaper, and the dealer said "He said it's 3-4 yrs old which means it's probably 7-9 years old." then had to come back and apologize after looking up the records and seeing that it was in Jan '03. Now I don't want to deal with either one of them.

See what happens when you look into things just a little more. It doesn't necc. mean he is a bad guy but honesty is key.

[susan]

See what happens when you look into things just a little more. It doesn't necc. mean he is a bad guy but honesty is key.

I agree 100%. But that bonehead, now he's lost a potential customer and p.o.'ed a current one. That wheel may have been goin' around, but the hamster was dead! haha

So tonight after work, I went to the HS dealer. The guy in the store was really nice, very well spoken, knew his stuff and is going to have a wet test for us at the end of the week. (The other guy didn't offer it. In fact, I asked him if he had any with water in them when we were there and he said "No.". That was that.) Anyway, I told him about a forum I've been hanging out on, reading people's opinions, etc., and learning all about hot tubs. He said he thinks that's a great idea to check out what the other mfrs have to say etc. No bad-mouthing, no negative body language, he asked questions and I answered as best I could. And then, he actually told me I might not need as big a spa as I thought I did! I couldn't believe my ears. He also showed me some used tubs he has for resale and said they're excellent tubs (they sure looked great) but have no warranty. That's a pretty wealthy area so I'm confident the kids come in, see the new bells and whistles and want it, and they get it. They also have a map of the area with hot tub owners' areas flag-pinned. I thought that was a great selling point, or just interesting, I guess.

Now, I'm almost sold on HS. I asked about Marquis, but he said the closest competitor is D1. So much for that idea, I won't buy one!

Thanks Brulan and everyone for the input, I really do appreciate it. I need to go to that wet test just to unwind.

susan

See what happens when you look into things just a little more. It doesn't necc. mean he is a bad guy but honesty is key.

one other ? for you - is there a place where someone can go to find info that's from an objective third party?