The main man: Jim Van Fleet took customer service to a new level and saw his hot tub store's profits soar - People

Pool & Spa News, June 20, 2003 by Amyjo Brown

Sure, Jim Van Fleet loves his job. But he really loves his customers. Besides being good for the heart and soul, that affection also has had a positive effect on his bottom line.

Van Fleet has been in the hot tub business nine years, a youngster compared with many industry retailers. Yet, with sales in the $3.9 million range last year--up from $200,000 when he bought the business in 1994--he is one of the most successful.

What's his secret?

The key is unlimited accessibility. The owner of Mainely Tubs in Portland, Maine, includes his home phone number in the outgoing message on his store's answering machine.

That may sound extreme, but when it comes to his customers, Van Fleet said he is "almost religious" in the way he treats them.

In addition to being available 24 hours a day, Van Fleet offers the following:

* Prices are guaranteed. If a customer finds a lower one anywhere else, he'll match it and then buy the person dinner.

* Referrals are rewarded. Customers who give referrals get $100 in water-care supplies and accessories.

* Ongoing service is provided. If a regular customer wants to relocate their hot tub, no problem. Mainely Tubs will move it--for free.

"My own buying habits made me attuned to the idea that I don't just buy at price points," Van Fleet said. "I'm buying with a variety of criteria, including how well somebody will stand behind the product."

He got into the hot tub business somewhat by accident. Having obtained his bachelor's degree in economics and a master's in business from University of New Hampshire, the idea that he could do something entirely on his own intrigued him.

He confided in a friend, who happened to be a real estate agent, that he might be interested in buying a business. "My buddy invited me to play tennis one day and afterward, we got in his hot tub," Van Fleet noted. "I said, 'Dave, this is a great hot tub. Where can I buy one?' And Dave said, 'Jim, you don't need to buy the hot tub; you need to buy the company.'"

Three months later Van Fleet did, and many of the 250,000 people in Portland became the happier for it. Just last year, more than 600 purchased hot tubs from his company, and he said nearly 55 percent of his sales can be credited to word-of-mouth referals. He even has five customers who are now his employees.

"I get a chill down my spine when I walk down the street and meet a customer who says they were impressed [with the store] because they were treated so incredibly," he said.

Perhaps the word that Van Fleet treats his customers like royalty is one reason former president George Bush chose Mainely Tubs as the place to buy his spa.

Van Fleet said that last year, Bush went shopping for a hot tub and connected with him after-hours, using the home phone number that Van Fleet had put on the store's answering machine. It took a moment for Van Fleet to realize that the caller was for real and not just a golfing pal playing a trick.

"He said he really wanted to do business with me," Van Fleet recalled. Of course, the Bushes got the same star treatment he provides to all his customers.