
“People often forget to plan for the hot tub cover,” says Burson. “If it is a burden to put on and take off, the cover can actually prevent the customer from enjoying their hot tub.”
For this reason, Burson’s company offers a cover with an integrated hydraulic lift that provides secure, easy-to-use, two-position opening and closing functionality.
“Ease of cover removal is often overlooked when it comes to hot tub landscape design,” says Donoghue. “Our retail store has been successfully providing design consultation services for our hot tub sales and a big part of our customer satisfaction comes from ensuring our clients have a means to open and close their hot tub with ease. Therefore, we have always offered a high-end cover and removal system with the hot tubs we sell.”
Up selling a hot tub cover instantly adds profit to a retailer’s bottom line. Adding a high-end hot tub cover can add as much as $1000 (or more) to any sale and can be easily included into a financing package. Now the same retailer that sells 50 hot tubs a year can add $50,000 in revenue by simply up selling the cover.
Hot tub ‘necessities’ enhance the backyard and boost the bottom line
Now is the time for retailers to sit down with staff and learn about all of the different hot tub ‘necessities’ that can be added to every hot tub sale. These products should be placed within a retailer’s showroom so sales staff never forgets to up sell at least one of these items on every hot tub purchase. Do not leave money on the table, by setting some ‘necessities’ sales goals, retailers can watch their revenues increase this season.
Mike Genova is the owner, president, and CEO of Leisure Concepts, a manufacturer of spa accessories in Spokane, Wash. He has more than 35 years of experience in the hot tub industry and currently owns 11 patents on hot tub accessory products. Genova has pool construction and retail hot tub sales experience, including working as an independent rep for two major hot tub manufacturers. He can be reached via e-mail at mike@leisureconcepts.com.