Waterfront: March 2010

Want To Increase Hot Tub Sales?

New book can help you distance yourself from the competition

"Each of us has been on the good and the bad side of the wheel," writes Marco Longley, author of The Ultimate Hot Tub and Pool Sales Book. "Even the best sales pros have bad days or weeks, maybe even months. Don't get discouraged, because it will happen to you as it happened to me and every other sales professional out there selling every product in every market.

"The best sales professionals in the world are chameleons. Be a chameleon and adjust your presentation to the prospect in front of you. What worked in sales 20 years ago may not work today. Today's prospect is far more educated on your company, your products and your competition than ever before."

Longley's book addresses a number of sales situations, including closing a sale, establishing credibility, showroom etiquette and design, creating a sense of urgency, the follow-up and much more. He provides a variety of real-life scenarios throughout the book, giving readers easy-to-understand solutions that could benefit business. The book also features "Top 10" lists on many sales subjects, providing readers with concise, straight-to-the-point information.

If you're up for some extra reading and looking for ways to improve business, The Ultimate Hot Tub and Pool Sales Book will give you an affordable way to do so.

Freezing In Florida?

Not these manatees

The Sunshine State was anything but this past December and January, with frigid temperatures for its residents and even projections of snow. But what about this peninsula's sea life? While humans can go inside and hunker down in a heated home, where do the marine mammals go?

An offline power plant has provided a warm refuge for a number of Florida manatees, which congregate in a nook off the Florida Intercoastal Waterway. Apparently the manatees have been hanging around in this outlet for years, so when the Florida Power and Light Company took the gas- and oil-fired plant offline last year for modernization, it installed a special heating system to keep the water temps warm for that special group of visitors.

"The water that discharges into the area where the manatees gather comes out at 92 degrees," FPL spokesperson Sharon Bennett told Reuters. "It gives them a nice combination by the time it mixes with the natural water. It's very comfortable for them and they enjoy it."

Aquamarine

Dubai Aquarium larger than life

Imagine walking through a 270-degree tunnel, surrounded by thousands of marine life creatures swimming above and to the side of you with the only barrier between being an acrylic tube. That's just an average day at the Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo, which houses 2.6 million gallons of water and more than 400 sharks and rays. Located inside the Dubai mall, the aquarium is dubbed the largest in the world and has a single viewing panel 109 feet wide by 27 feet high. In time, operators estimate the aquarium will have more than 33,000 living animals representing more than 85 species. Everyone there is sure to enjoy the view.

A Theater On The High Seas

Crystal Fountains rocks the boat

The world's biggest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas, features the first outdoor theater of its kind complete with water, light and aerial acrobatic shows, compliments of Crystal Fountains.

The 700-seat AquaTheater is also home to the largest and deepest pool at sea, where guests enjoy live music, themed events, stunning fountain shows and cabarets, not to mention two elaborate diving shows featuring flying acrobats, synchronized swimmers and water gymnastics.

Creating water effects of this magnitude and complexity was a first for Crystal Fountains.

"Cruise ships are built in blocks, a bit like Legos," says Ritesh Khetia, project manager. "The block for the water effects control panel had to be installed into the ship early in 2008, a long time before any of the other work on the AquaTheater. We had to make a lot of assumptions and allow for the design to be as flexible as possible."

This behemoth display includes nearly 200 water jets combined with underwater LED lights choreographed to music with 12 different 45-minute light shows. Crystal Fountains also created a "rain curtain" so images can be projected on to it like a movie screen. The curtain is almost 150 feet wide and requires nearly 1,500 nozzles.

The water supply to the features comes from the pool itself, which acts as a 137,000-gallon reservoir. In order to have the equipment both saltwater marine and chlorine compatible, Crystal Fountains customized its standard product line and created entirely new products.