Mike Madore and his wife loved their new Beachcomber Hot Tub. So when the store where they purchased it changed ownership and brands, Madore decided he could fill the Beachcomber void in his area and opened his own store. Describing himself as "picky," Madore took great care deciding the design of his store, traveling to all Beachcomber locations within 200 kilometers, giving Beachcomber free reign ...

If you recently serviced your car or purchased a new product, chances are you were asked to give some form of customer feedback. Whether it was conducted in person, over the phone, by mail or was web-based depends on the retailer, but every survey is intended to capture similar information. Retailers want to know about their store’s service, how employees are performing, what customers think ...

Let’s face it, this economy isn’t a cakewalk for any retail store, but it’s especially tough on specialty retailers like us. Because of that, we need to create other streams of revenue to stay afloat until the tide turns. Most of us have that potential lurking right in our existing operation. Recently, I took my puppy in to get spayed; the vet worked with the pound and the cost ...

Whenever you can increase customer satisfaction and service, enhance your company’s market presence and make life easier for your employees, you have a winning combination. Even better, you’ve gained an edge over your competition and added incremental income to your bottom line. Jeff Zissulis, owner of Hot Tub Hauler USA in Merrimack, N.H., recalls, "The first delivery I did, the customer ...

It’s safe to say that all business owners try to hire people who are easy to work with, smart, friendly and contribute positively to the overall environment of the company. But sometimes, despite the best intentions, a person who comes across as all of these things during the interview turns into a difficult and negative employee once he or she is on the job. From showing up late to being lazy ...

"Everything has changed now. It used to be people would come in the door and the salesmen could be paid commission and you didn’t have to worry about salary. Now that nobody is coming in the store, it’s tough to figure out how somebody should get paid. It’s tough because a guy can’t live on commission-only waiting on somebody to come in the door." - Bob Ely Owner, All American ...

Running a company comes with a number of challenges, some which involve the services of legal counsel. When you consider worker’s compensation, sexual harassment,contracts, labor laws, marketing and advertising, licensing, termination disputes and so on, you can easily see that securing a reputable law firm could be to your advantage. However, legal situations arise all the time within businesses. Because ...

"If you market to everyone, your customer will be no one." This old saying is as true today as it was when it was first spoken. Spa business owners waste an immense amount of their marketing dollars on mass advertising to blast their message to the entire marketplace. This is commonly referred to as "spraying and praying" in the marketing world. The Solution: Niche Marketing Niche marketing, on ...

Just as consumers use instruments like pH strips to monitor the health of their hot tub, business owners have their own set of tools to test the vitality of their business. They’re called financial statements, and don’t think you can simply rely on your accountant to monitor these important documents, says New York-based financial associate Paul Rhynard. "A CPA is going to make sure that things ...

DOES YOUR WEB SITE BEAT THE COMPETITION? How do you compare to other Web sites in your industry? Google Analytics provides loads of great information on how your Web site is performing. It lets you know whether your traffic is going up or down, how people are finding you, what search terms they’re using, what your conversion rate is, and so on. But it didn’t offer the answer to a question ...

what started off as a heating and air conditioning business with no retail presence in 1994, Shawn Maynard and his partner Chris Bowen, have turned into a full-fledged destination for luxury home items. "Coming into the beginning of 2000, we began to shift our focus from the contractor to the homeowner - offering higher quality heating, A/C equipment and fireplaces," Maynard says. "This lead to the ...

Gone are the days of record sales, easy financing and showrooms filled with an abundance of tubs. But with consumer demand stalled and financing options drying up, the spa industry is transforming itself into a leaner, more efficient business. So, also gone is the anxiety of guessing at inventory orders, accepting shipments you weren’t sure you could sell, and tying up large amounts of cash in ...

Ever get an e-mail from a friend or colleague asking you to join LinkedIn , but didn’t know what it was or why they were asking you to join? Did you know that Facebook and MySpace are more than just websites that high school and college kids spend their time on? Have you ever heard of Twitter and Squidoo ? If these words or websites are not in your current marketing vocabulary, then you ...

What would happen if you put a large group of industry leaders, from all segments of the hot tub industry into a room and asked them these questions: where are we headed, how did we get here, what comes next and how can we help each other? If the market was great and sales were phenomenal you would hear responses that resembled advertisements. Chests would puff out and a round of who can one-up the ...

If you’re a small- to mid-sized hot tub retail business, you may want to consider new advertising options that could help boost your clientele while not breaking the bank. One of these options is creating a radio advertisement. By putting your message on the airwaves, you will be reaching one of the most widespread, diverse and retained audiences. According to Arbitron, a research company specializing ...

To maintain a successful spa business you need to know your customers as well as, if not better than, you know yourself. That means you need more than just their names and phone numbers - you need to know about their local communities, their internet usage, their family size, their income and their reasons for purchasing a hot tub. But that’s only half the battle. You also need to be able to access ...

Just as consumers use instruments like pH strips to monitor the health of their hot tub, business owners have their own set of tools to test the vitality of their business. They’re called financial statements, and don’t think you can simply rely on your accountant to monitor these important documents, says New York-based financial associate Paul Rhynard. “A CPA is going to make ...