Podcasts Sparetailer.com

How he went from being a wild kid, to a star Yellow Pages salesman, to hot tub industry entrepreneur. For every business partnership that’s soured, Greer has the opposite tale. We talk to him about his life in the hot tub industry and what happened to Core Covers during the shutdown and order influx. This episode is sponsored by Strong Spas. Experience true spa convenience at the touch of a button! Strong Spas’ fully-automated Dura-Shield™ HardCover is another example of […]

Neither Jeff nor Megan were able to enjoy the libations during this conversation between two industry legends. Haviland graciously recorded a podcast episode for us, and John “Legend” Bokor, who we had on back Episode #39 chats lakeside with longtime Haviland president Art Harre. Harre is retiring at the end of 2020 and reflects on his time in the industry. Sit back and enjoy fun tales of the industry past, and some ideas on how to tackles challenges of the […]

Aqua-Tech Pools, Hot Tubs and Bathrooms has pivoted to not only survive the pandemic, but to thrive. Showroom manager, Kathi Belcourt, shares what they’ve done to keep sales flowing. This episode is sponsored by Strong Spas. Experience true spa convenience at the touch of a button! Strong Spas’ fully-automated Dura-Shield™ HardCover is another example of Strong’s innovative engineering in a long line of industry firsts! Strong has taken the durability and strength of its HardCover and made the ease of […]

Ben Poggemiller is a digital marketer turned hot tub business owner in Manitoba, Canada. He’s used his marketing background to put together a successful system to collect leads and sell spas without ever seeing a customer face-to-face. We interviewed Poggemiller before the COVID crisis, and he was kind enough to record the episode again, updating the information to reflect our new social distancing reality. Check out Poggemiller’s hot tub business at Urban Life. Learn more about Poggemiller’s marketing system. Join […]

Listen to a rebroadcast of a free webinar conducted by Clear Comfort and SpaRetailer. Megan is joined by Steve Berens to discuss how to conduct business while also social distancing. A few of the things covered include: Technologies for engagement and revenue Virtual selling  Training Staff Build comfort and trust  Protect, retain and train staff  Sell experience over features Maximize each opportunity You can also watch the video of the webinar, which includes slides and other information here. Let’s do […]

Don Riling, owner of Olympic Hot Tub, joins Megan on the podcast to talk about COVID-19 and how it is impacting his Seattle business. Riling had to close all of his stores after the state issued a stay-home mandate, which meant laying off 16 people. Riling shares the techniques he’s using to continue to get hot tub sales despite his physical locations being closed and how he’s personally coping with the hardship. Let’s do our best to support each other […]

If you haven’t met Greg Welsh you’ve probably heard his name before. Welsh is a longtime sales trainer in the hot tub industry, having started his career selling hot tubs in Portland before working for Watkins Manufacturing. Welsh is now an independent sales trainer who works across many industries. He joins Megan and Jeff to talk about the importance of training programs, what type of training he sees that works and how to get employees to engage in the process. […]

Jeff and Megan talk to Steve Berens, the founder and CEO of Clear Comfort. Steve talks to us about his AOP system and what it does, but also what the next generation of hot tub buyers is going to demand from their hot tubs and buying experience. Let us know what you think about this episode and others by emailing podcast@sparetailer.com. You can also leave us a voicemail at 405-992-0160 and we’ll listen to your question on the air. This […]

Jamie Novak, NC Brands brand manager at BioLab, joins us on the podcast. Novak is about to complete her MBA from the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, and talks about new marketing techniques to help you stand out in all the advertising noise. A couple new tools Novak suggests are: UserTesting.com, which gives you feedback on your website from real consumers. SpyFU.com, which helps you research keywords that are working in your market. Highlights from NC Brands trade show appearances, […]

Goodbye 2019! Megan and Jeff review the year for The SpaRetailer Podcast, the hot tub industry and their lives. We’ll be back with new episodes in February.

Megan and Jeff talk to John Bokor, aka Legend, and the face of the YouTube channel Legendary Pools & Spas. A regional sales rep with Haviland chemicals, John and “the other John” put together fun, informational and educational videos about the pool and hot tub industry. Megan was at the filming of their Nordic Spas video (her hair even makes an appearance at the 2:30 minute mark). John talks about his background owning a pool and spa retail store, his […]

David Isaacs, owner of Isaacs Pools and Spas in Johnson City, Tennessee, talks about taking over the family business. The company went from a “small time” pool builder in Elizabethton to now having two retail locations in Johnson City, one that houses its Hot Spring line and the its Bullfrog line. Isaacs explains why he wanted to move the brands into separate showrooms and how each offers a different experience for his customers. Expansion Stars: Bullfrog Spas of Tri-Cities Widening […]

Most stores that sell swim spas started as hot tub stores and added swim spas down the line. When Joe Stone opened Swim Fitness in 2010, however, his focus from the start was selling swim spas. In fact, Stone thinks of his business as a swim spa store that happens to sell a few hot tubs instead of the reverse. If you don’t recognize Stone’s name from our magazine (he’s been one of our Retail Stars as well as a […]

Scott Clark has added four locations since he and his wife Shelley opened The Spa and Sauna Co. in Reno, for a total of five stores. But the last two stores he opened are more than 200 miles and a state away from his headquarters. Clark purchased an existing business in California, which added stores in Santa Cruz and San Jose. He talks about what it’s been like to integrate these stores into his company, the importance of making incremental […]

The second half of our conversation with Justin Miller, the founder of pHin. We talk about how pHin specifically works in hot tubs, and how Jeff is planning on using them in his company. We also touch on the inline hot tub version of pHin that’s currently being tested. Not familiar with pHin? Check it out here. A couple summers ago we tested pHin out for ourselves and had a good experience. You can read that review here. Let us […]

Justin Miller has a background unlike any other we’ve had on the podcast before — NASA, Apple, eBay and Comcast just to name a few. His focus on customer experience at those companies helped lead him and a partner to develop pHin, a water monitoring device for pools and hot tubs. In part 1, we delve into Justin’s background, the early development days of pHin and the company’s acquisition by Hayward. Not familiar with pHin? Check it out here. A couple […]

Megan and Jeff are back with a new season of The SpaRetailer Podcast. We chat about our sudden departure last season, what we’ve been up to this summer (Megan reveals a big surprise) and what we’ve got coming up on episodes this fall. We also introduce the SpaRetailer 10 — 10 questions we ask each guest at the end of the podcast about their life and business. Megan and Jeff take a stab at answering them as well. Check out a […]

Sean Doyle, longtime marketer and author of Shift, joins us on the podcast to discuss the marketing challenges facing small business owners. Sean works with businesses to help evaluate their marketing and develop a better strategy. You can learn more about his business, or get a copy of Shift, at seanmdoyle.com. You can also read the SpaRetailer article featuring Sean here.

Dan Friedman from The Hot Tub Store joins us on the podcast to talk about reviews. He was recently interviewed for a story on Yelp, and we talk about that as well as Google reviews. Jeff and Dan’s stores both use Broadly to help them manage reviews, but there are a number of resources, just a few of which we list here. Womply PowerReviews ReviewTec Podium DealerAutomatedReviewsSystem Also, if your interest was piqued like Megan’s, or maybe just your hunger, […]

In the February/March issue of SpaRetailer, we outlined how the trucker shortage was impacting hot tub retailers. This week on The SpaRetailer Podcast we talk to a transportation expert about some of the issues facing that industry. Doug Punzel, president of Celtic Intermodal, has worked for more than three decades in transportation. Celtic also happens to be the intermodal company that co-host Jeff uses to ship his hot tubs from southern California to his stores in Philadelphia. Let us know […]