I know your probably feeling a little “beat up” these days but, no matter what products you sell, how high the retail price, what part of the country you live in or how your local economy is being affected, people are still buying – houses, cars, boats, and yes hot tubs, swim spas, pools and saunas etc.
Are they buying as many as last year? Probably not. Are they buying less expensive models than they used to? Could be. Are there fewer buyers on the market right now? Probably. So, what!
Despite what you’ve heard or read, people ARE still buying. Your job is to stop justifying why your sales are flat or down and find a way to get those people to buy from you. Now is NOT the time to give into what I call “the down dilemma” – (everyone is down in sales, so I don’t feel so bad that my sales are down too).
In times like these, your competitors will likely slow down or even eliminate some or all their marketing efforts. This creates an opportunity for you to capture their customers if you already have a clear strategy and systems and in place to do so.
Your job is to take advantage of this opportunity and find those prospects that ARE ready, willing and able to buy and make sure that they buy from you, not your competition. It’s pivot or perish time!
Many people are using this “stay at home” quarantine time as an excuse to do nothing. They will stop exercising, eat a lot of junk food and just sit around watching Netflix waiting for the storm clouds to clear. If you do this, you and your business will definitely end up in worse shape than you were before.
Listen, you presumably have more “free” time than you’ve probably had in years – use this time wisely. Read, study, learn, implement. Don’t just sit around watching the news. Make things happen. Remember, the best way to predict your future is to create it!
Here are some strategies you should be implementing right now and links to resources to get you started.
Educate yourself and your customers
I’ve seen dozens of dealers providing links on their website from the CDC website. This is a direct quote from the CDC:
“There is no evidence that COVID-19 can be spread to humans through the use of pools and hot tubs. Proper operation, maintenance, and disinfection (e.g., with chlorine and bromine) of pools and hot tubs should remove or inactivate the virus that causes COVID-19.”
Here is the link to the CDC where I got this quote:
Communicate
Many of your customers may be scared, but still need to hear from you. Hot tubs, swim spas, saunas and pools are still being used and therefore still need to be maintained, fixed and sanitized. That means your customers need to know if you are still available to provide the necessary water care products to keep their water clean and safe.
Even though things may change, you want your customers to know what days and hours you’re open so update this information wherever it appears on your website.
Most dealers want and expect customers and prospects to always pick up the phone and call them with credit card in hand ready to buy. But that’s not reality. You want to communicate with customers the way they want to, not just the way you want. The more options you give them, the more likely it is that they will reach out to your business. Here are a few ways to shoppers like to communicate out and they way you should be reaching out. Are you utilizing all of them?
• Phone
• Email
• Text
• Chatbots
• Social Media
• Snail mail
• Website updates
Showroom Strategy
First off, you need to follow the proper federal, state and local laws and guidelines in terms of what you can sell and even if you are able to stay open. If you are able to stay open, here are a few messages I’ve seen dealers use to accommodate customers with what they need in a safe and convenient manner.
You will also want to step up in-store cleaning and disinfecting practices more frequently and according to guidelines set forth from the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Let your customers know how you are doing this.
Big ticket products – hot tubs, saunas, swim spas, etc.
I saw something similar to this posted on the front page of a pool and spa dealer website
“We can only allow one retail customer at a time in store. We highly recommend that if you want to see a specific product in person, that you schedule an appointment ahead of time to reduce your wait time.”
Water care, chemical and Accessories
Many dealers are telling their customers to call their orders in ahead of time and then offering
curbside pickup or home delivery where they leave their order at the front door.
Another way to minimize contact but maximize customer service and sales for water care products is to showcase them right at the front windows of your store. That way when customers are physically there, they can point to what they need, or you can talk to them through the window via phone and select what they need while they watch. Then just run their credit card and drop the completed order right outside your front door.
Service and repair
Again, you’ll need to comply with the proper federal, state and local laws and guidelines. But when appropriate, for hot tubs, pools and swim spas that need repair or service, I’ve seen many dealers telling their customers…
No indoor services will be provided until further notice.
Please stay inside your home while the service techs are on site and repairs are being or service is being performed. The service techs will call you when they arrive and before they leave your property.
Offer Customers Multiple Ways to Shop:
Big ticket items like hot tubs, swim spas, saunas:
• In showroom shopping – see comments above
• Free backyard sales consultation – be sure to follow proper social/physical distancing guidelines as outlined by federal, state and local laws and guidelines
• Free virtual showroom tours using tools like Skype, Facebook, Zoom or Facetime.
Chemicals and Accessories Sales
Even if new product sales slowdown for hot tubs and swim spas, people that currently own these products will still need to maintain them. Your water care and chemical sales and profits could be the difference between you staying in business or not, so you need to get this right and right now!
In showroom shopping – see comments above
Online – this is a huge opportunity. Gone are the days where your water care page just shows the brand logos you sell or group photos of chemicals. You absolutely need to have an online 
store!
And when I say online store, I don’t just mean showing a picture and a description with a button that says, “Get Pricing”. It should say “Add to Cart” – you need to have a fully functional online e-commerce store and you need it now! Contact your webmaster, contact us, but spend the money and get it done!
Sales and Promotions
Parking lot and tent sales, home and garden shows and other live events might not be appropriate right now, but virtual sales events are easier to set up, faster to deploy and probably more profitable for you.
You can do this via a Facebook Live event, Google Hangout, GoToMeeting, Zoom, Skype or any other technology that can use a video camera. And since most of these technologies let you create video recording of the event, you can then post the event on your website or your social media channels for added exposure.
Changes you need to make to your website right now!
• Add an online store for water care, chemicals and accessories – see comments above
• Add an automated chatbot to answer questions 24/7. The chatbots we offer our clients can be immediately turned into live chats whenever you want – click here to read more.
• Add calls to action (CTAs) that will turn website visitors into qualified leads 24/7. To improve website conversions, make sure to choose the right CTA system so you can measure your marketing effectiveness. Call us if you want a free CTA audit
• Review your on-site SEO. Are your meta tags, titles and description optimized?
• Make sure you showcase your customer reviews on your website – we recommend an automated system of generating reviews – Click here to read more about it:
Write Timely Blogs
We’ve been writing a lot of blogs about stay at home vacations – “staycation”. Now that “shelter in place” rules are being implemented, families will need to keep their children engaged and occupied. What better way to do this than in a hot tub, swim spa or pool?
Showing families how your products can help families have fun, relax, de-stress and actually improve their health and well being is something you absolutely need to start doing right now! I like to use video blogs versus plain written blogs because they are more engaging and entertaining. Contact us to learn how we can do this for you.
Internet Marketing to Consider
None of the strategies above will work unless you have a strategy to drive traffic to your business. There are two ways to drive traffic – paid and organic.
Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC)
Pros.
• Results can be almost immediate
• Turn it on and off at will
• Can quickly outrank competitors
• Great place to test things fast
Cons.
• Can waste a lot of money quickly if not done right
• No residual value
• Once you stop paying Google, your online marketing disappears
• Can detract from organic results – they click on your ad vs your organic results on the same page
Organic SEO
Pros.
• Results can last for years
• Since 75+/-% of clicks come from organic, initial investment eventually turns into “free” clicks
• Dozens of strategies to choose from
• Improves your website ranking
• Good content marketing can improve your “authority & brand”
• Some people just don’t click on ads
Cons.
• Results take longer to appear
• Requires a more organized and coordinated effort
How does AdWords stack up against posting on Facebook? Organic marketing like Facebook can fill the top of your sales funnel for the future, while pay-per-click strategies, like AdWords do a good job at attracting “low hanging fruit” where competitors spend most of their time and money. Engaging prospects early in the buying cycle is key! In my opinion, this is better achieved through organic marketing.
With AdWords marketing, people are intentionally searching for specific keywords, and you bid for those keywords. This is different from organic Facebook marketing, where people are connecting with friends, and not looking for products and services. In this case, you bid not on specific keywords, but for potential buyers based on your demographic and psychographic target market.
Organic strategies you should do right now!
Google My Business (GMB) – make your listing is up to date with the right hours and days open. Upload photos, promotions, videos and anything else to make your Knowledge Panel listing stand out.
Website Blogging – I already mentioned writing about “staycations” and the overall benefits of hydrotherapy, but now you have to be sure that each blog post is SEO’d properly to help them stand out in the search engines – this is critical.
Yelp and Other Online Directories – make your listing is up to date with the right hours and days open. Upload photos, promotions, videos and anything else to make your Knowledge Panel listing stand out.
There are dozens more strategies you could and should consider, but these are at least some to get you started.
Have questions, need help? Give me a call anytime. 858-442-3131
This old saying holds true now more than ever – There are three types of people in this world: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder what happened. Make things happen!
Stay positive, stay strong, stay safe, stay healthy – we’ll get through this 👍
About David Carleton
David Carleton is a Pool and Spa Internet Marketing Consultant who specializes in showing spa dealers and pool builders how to spend less and get more from their marketing and advertising using low cost strategies in local business marketing, lead generation and conversion, Internet marketing and social media.
Dave was Vice President of Dimension One Spas for 6 years where he developed sales; marketing and training programs that helped hundreds of dealers in 30 countries around the world generate leads, increase sales and enhance their overall marketing effectiveness.
