Hooking Upscale Clientele

Service Partners Can Be a Win-Win Agreement For All
Small retail shops may find more success filling customer demands for tank cleaning services if they partner with an outside aquarium cleaning business.

"It's an interesting proposition," for small retailers who aren't ready to dive in with their own services, says Jay Kushner, the co-owner of House of Fins, in Greenwich, Conn. "It's a fairly competitive business."

John Cade, the fish room manager at Cindi's Pet & Aquarium Center in Vero Beach, Fla., can sympathize with the dissatisfaction that small shop owners often experience. The previous management of Cindi's Pet & Aquarium Center had its own service department, but it wasn't as profitable as it was frustrating, Cade says.

They now service only about 10 accounts, mostly clients who have been regular clients for years, and refer any new accounts to independent companies in town. "We get more business because out of it because there are a huge number of aquariums in town and they refer customers back to us to get supplies," Cade says.

Cade says it's now a win-win situation. "They recommend us as the place to go," he says. "We get business from them and we recommend their services to our customers."

People like to look at the tanks and enjoy them, but don't want to get their hands wet. Because of this, more customers are seeking out full-service maintenance packages, Cade says.

Steve Oberg agrees that he's seeing more and more customers leaning towards service contracts.

Eight to 10 percent of all of Preuss Animal House's service clients are on full-service scheduled maintenance plans, says Oberg, the aquatics manager for the retail shop based in Haslett, Mich.

"Full-service is growing by leaps and bounds," Oberg says.
-S.S & A.S.

(Published July 2005)
Hooking Upscale Clientele
Demand for fish tank services is flooding the market
By Scott and Ann Springer

Patrick Donston knows that customers want help setting up and maintaining their tanks, especially customers who invest a lot of money in them. Donston also understands that high-tech equipment installation easily overwhelms certain customers and sometimes convinces novice fish keepers to give up their new hobby.

But Donston, the owner of Absolutely Fish in West Clifton, N.J., has found offering tank services is sometimes a giant headache for he and his staff. He wants to offer customers the same level of support and service in their homes as he offers in his store, but keeping up with the demand for in-home services is a frustrating challenge.

"I feel like I have to offer these services," says Donston, who says his service department only accounts for 2 percent of total revenue. "If I don't offer it, customers will say, ‘Why should I buy my tank here if you can't set it up for me?'"

As the need for fish tank maintenance service increases, retailers across the country have found they need to offer services to customers to keep their business, but how can they do offer these services successfully and still make a buck?

Service Success
Jay Kushner, the co-owner of House of Fins in Greenwich, Conn., believes he has found a formula for success. House of Fins has been open since 1957 and has offered in-home services for 15 years.

"Our service business has been rapidly building," Kushner says. "Over the last two and a half years, our service revenue has doubled, and it's by far the fastest segment of our business."

House of Fins has three managers who divide the work load of 350 active accounts. "Our focus is on customer service," Kushner says.

One manager oversees scheduling to keep service technicians' accounts in close proximity to order to minimize wasted wages on drive time. "Scheduling is key," Kushner says. "You want to have an efficient route because gas and labor costs are so high."

Another manager is dedicated to quality control supervision almost exclusively. "They go out to visit sites and make sure that we spot issues before they become serious issues, because you could lose an entire system if you don't."

A third manager supervises quality control and product service. "We methodically went around to our accounts and developed a database to know what equipment they have," Kushner says. "We can know immediately what it is that needs to be replaced."

All of their service employees are well-educated with degrees in marine-related fields, with technical expertise, and a love for the hobby, Kushner says. They also go through three months of training before they are able to service customer accounts.

"We are sending employees out into people's houses and businesses with expensive floors and equipment," Kushner says. "Integrity is important and it all comes down to the quality of people you have working for you. It's the number one key to success."

And Kushner is willing to pay his service employees above the industry-standard wage to give his customers consistent service. "It's almost like they are a nanny," to the fish, he says. "They don't want that person to change on a weekly basis – they like familiarity and regularity."

Another element to success is having enough accounts to ensure a good return of costs.

"When you get a service person traveling a lot in between accounts it's hard to make money," says Kushner, who charges $85 an hour for maintenance. "But when you get four or five accounts within 5 minutes of each other you are able to achieve efficiency and make more money."

Money to Be Made
Preuss Animal House has also seen great success from its installation and maintenance services, says Steve Oberg, the aquatics manager for the retail shop located in Haslett, Mich.

Oberg agrees the trend towards offering servicing contracts is due to the increased interest in saltwater aquariums. "Eighty-percent of the tanks we install and take care of are saltwater," he says. "The investment is higher and the people want that piece of mind that it's being done right."

Preuss Animal House offers its clients full- or assisted-cleaning, installation, home evaluations, and in-home instruction. "We try to customize our services," Oberg says. "It may be that all they want is their filter cleaned, but in six months they may want us to do more."

In addition to their standard fee of $60 an hour, Oberg recommends retailers charge a trip fee for clients who are more than 30 minutes away.

Oberg recommends retailers place their store logo on tanks that are in local businesses. "People see the tanks when they are out and then they are more likely to call you to have you set one up for them," he says.

Signage in the store helps alert customers to these extra services, Oberg says. "We have meetings every two to four weeks with our employees and remind them to promote the services," he says.

Scott and Ann Springer are freelance writers living in Southern California.