1. Need- address your need for the product
Why people love Skyspan umbrellas: durable & long lasting, 75 mph wind rated, great warranties, waterproof, customizable, variety of sizes for numerous applications, add-ons such as heaters and misters, and finally the look and feel of the product. Even residential customers love having the durability of a commercial umbrella in their home.
Winds:
Many of our customers in windy areas have had to leave their old umbrellas collapsed most of the time. Any customer using a cheap umbrella will easily be able to relate to this. One of my dealers who sells in Hawaii says that the trade winds make his job so much easier. “People in Hawaii are used to strong winds, most of the umbrellas are always closed. The resorts want an umbrella that can be opened whenever their customers want to be outside, not simply when the wind has died down.”
Inclement weather:
When in rainy areas, address the waterproof canopy and options for drop curtains. We like to discuss in depth with our customers, the ability to create seamlessly waterproofed area. Many restaurants depend on their outdoor seating areas to bring in revenue for their business, and these al fresco areas are virtually abandoned during inclement weather.
Heat/ Cold:
When selling to an area where temperatures got extremely hot during the summer months, we like to discuss how shade not only will cool the area about 20̊ but will also provide protection from the sun with the 100% UV protection our canopy offers. Options for add-ons such as misting, can cool the area underneath even more. For customers in cold areas heat panels can extend the season and allow for additional comfort. One of our most recognizable locations of install is the Water Bar, next to the Bay Bridge in San Francisco. This location has approximately 10 umbrellas with heat panels that keep patrons warm even when cool winds are blowing in from the bay. Also, the customer has had lights that glow through the canopy at night and create a beautiful outdoor dining experience.
How we demonstrate the umbrella:Once we began selling the product we quickly realized the need for demonstration. When you show someone a photo of a Skyspan umbrella, people think it looks good, but can’t fully appreciate its value. A huge majority of our successful sales come directly from on site demonstrations.
Consider the situation below:
Picture this beautiful residential home, where your customer is considering installing a Skyspan Umbrella. In this scene we have mounted a Sunset 18’ hexagon umbrella to a base plate with wheels for demonstration purposes. Rather than show the customer a picture from our brochure, you schedule an on-site visit. In this scenario the customer doesn’t have to visualize anything. All they must do is tell you where to put the umbrella and they can see for themselves EXACTLY how the umbrella will look on their property.
Demonstrations are hugely successful in gaining sales with the Skyspan umbrellas. As you gain more sales in your region the need for a demo umbrella becomes less important because you can direct new customers to areas of previous installation. Install sites and customer testimonies to the product will be another tool in your belt to help you sell more umbrella structures. Also as more locations pick up the umbrellas, it sets a benchmark of standard for other resorts, restaurants, cafes, pools, etc. to raise their standards to having quality commercial umbrellas.
If you’d like to have a Skyspan Structures dealer visit you soon please let us know at sales@skyspanstructures.com
2. Warranties
Emphasis on the warranties can make the difference between winning and losing a job. When I’m selling to an area with water nearby: water parks, docks, marinas, resorts, pools, Oceanside, lake side, river front, etc… I always emphasize the all aluminum frame, and stainless steel hardware. There is virtually nothing on this product to rust, and our 10 year anti-rust warranty is unmatched in the commercial umbrella market. We can mount our umbrellas right into the shallow end of a pool if the customer wants it, no problem. When resorts are sick of rust and corrosion that comes with being next to the ocean I tell them to switch to our product and never worry about it again.
3. Installing: how to maximize shade & minimize work
One of the most recurring obstacles we’ve seen so far in the umbrella sales to resort is the problem of resorts not wanting to drill into their existing decks. This is often because they don’t want to damage the tiles, don’t like holes in their concrete, don’t want to cut their existing deck, or several other reasons. Due to the obstacles of selling to resorts I wanted to put together a sales technique for quoting, specing, and installing at resort locations.
The picture to the below represents a great example of utilizing the Vista cantilever to avoid any work on existing deck areas. In this application the customer didn’t want any interference with his tiles. A huge majority of pool deck and other resort decks have gardens on the perimeter of the deck areas. Here the garden was dug up in one area to allow room for a footer to be poured. Two shrubs were removed and a 4’ square by 2’ deep hole was dug to pour the footer.
When doing a sales presentation I like to emphasize the potential to use these “garden areas” to avoid cutting concrete and to save installation costs. The above photo’s vista has a pivot base option as well. Should the client wish he can rotate the umbrella 180˚ to cover the deck area opposite the chairs. Or, they can swivel it 90˚ counter clockwise to collapse the umbrella without the closed canopy blocking any deck areas.
In this picture the customer didn’t want the base plate mounted into the deck. We overcame this obstacle by making a custom weighted base plate using (3) 30” sq x 1” thick steel plate, then surrounding it with a planter. This allows us to maintain the 75mph wind rating without piercing the deck. This is an ideal application for: roof tops, public walkways, temporary setups, waterproof membrane areas, and any setting where they don’t want to commit to mounting down to a slab or decking.
