Hot Tub & Swim Spa Scene SPA STARS
SPA STAR: Carl Priest
Service Manager for Spafi x Services Ltd (South Division) Carl Priest is the Service Manager for Spafi x Services Ltd. Following impressive growth over
the past decade the company split into Spafi x South and Spafi x Midlands and North and Carl now heads the Southern team. After joining the company six years ago as a complete novice to the industry, Carl has developed into an extremely loyal and hard-working service manager. His focus is the real reason why Spafi x is still a success today...
Tell me a bit about your Spafi x role? I’m in charge of the day to day running of the entire south division. I currently have four in the offi ce (including myself), four engineers, two maintenance contract engineers and an installation crew. It’s my responsibility to ensure the business runs smoothly. We have monthly targets that as a team need to be hit and we work very hard to achieve this. Our main goal, as a company, is to offer unrivalled expertise with fantastic customer service satisfaction.
What areas do you specialise in? We specialise in domestic hot tub servicing, repairs, maintenance, installation, relocation, spare parts, system upgrades and technical advice. We also sell refurbished and new hot tubs. The hot tub sales part of the business is new to us. We are working together as a group to work on marketing and establish ourselves as prominent hot tub dealer. We have everything in place to make a real push on sales and our aftersales is what sets us apart from everyone else.
What do you enjoy most about your job? Whenever I tell people I manage a hot tub company they always seem inquisitive about my job. If I had a pound for every person that said: “I would love a hot tub or we were thinking of getting one,” I would be a rich man!
I love the interest from the public and I have seen their popularity increase over the years and I am in a good position to help. The best part about my job is speaking to customers who have used us for years and hold us in high esteem and appreciate everything we do.
What are the biggest challenges you face? Keeping everyone happy! The repair and service side of the industry can be challenging at times. The team work long hours in peak season and It can be hard to juggle work and family life. We have a dedicated team and we all have a job to do but I will always listen to my staff and try to help them where possible. When we are on site we complete a thorough diagnostics and sometimes things don’t go to plan or the issues the customer is experiencing could be related to a few different components.
28 Hot Tub & Swim Spa Scene SPA STARS
Tell us bit about your career background? I did not attend college or university. I have had great mentors and worked hard to understand the industries I have worked in. I have always strived to excel and companies I have worked for have shared this ambition.
I have developed a good sales background and was used to selling high-value goods, aftersales and being customer service focused has always been a big part of my training.
What’s been your most interesting experience in the spa industry? I heard a great story from an engineer about two years ago when they were completing a service and a goat managed to escape its pen. As the customer was out, he took it upon himself to secure the goat and get it back its pen. As you can imagine they are used to repairing hot tubs not goat herding and from all accounts it was like a Norman Wisdom sketch.
What’s the best piece of advice you have been given? My fi rst mentor Stephan Ritchie, saw something in me that others didn’t. He was always offering pearls of wisdom and life experiences. He had a way of making everyone around him feel good about themselves. He pushed me to work hard and enhance my skills set.
What are your goals for the year ahead? I want us to push on with hot tub sales, keep adding new customers to our database and continue to offer the level of service our customers are accustomed too. The next 12 months are going to be big for everyone associated with Spafi x.
What are your hobbies outside of work? I hit the gym four times a week to try and work off the beer and food consumed at the weekend. At this moment in time I am not winning! But life is about enjoying your time while we are here – and I do.
Anything else to add? I am grateful to Darren Waters, Director of Spa Parts Vortex, for the trust and loyalty he has shown me. I feel a sense of pride and I genuinely love my job.
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