We have recently added the Johnson Wellness massage chair line to our website. I also have ordered and assembled a Johnson J6800 chair for our showroom. Why did I decide to carry this line as opposed to others that have approached me about carrying their chairs?
As you may or may not know, I am not one to rush into carrying a massage or massage chair line simply because it is out there. My goal is not to carry every available massage chair. I only carry a chair that I am comfortable can fit the bill regarding a few basic things:
1. A Good Warranty and Customer ย Supportย – This is #1 because after the sale it is imperative that you have good customer support should some issue with your new chair. If you have a problem with the chair and either have trouble getting a hold of the company who brought it to the states or you have to ship the chair back yourself at your expense for warranty work or you don’t have any in-home support, I will most likely not carry the chair or line of chairs.
The way a company handles it’s customers is not just a reflection on the massage chair company but on me as well. I want to stand for companies that will take good care of my customers. And, nowadays, that should, in my humble opinion, include at least 1 year of in-home warranty service for a full-fledged robotic massage chair recliner.
I understand that sometimes there is confusion or a mis-communication between my customer and the massage chair company if something with the chair needs to be remedied, but in pretty much all cases it is never malicious. In those cases, my customers can get a hold of me and I can intervene, which almost always gets an immediate response from the company. But, at it’s root, the company should have a good warranty and have good customer support.
What good is a warranty if the company that offers it doesn’t execute the warranty on behalf of a customer with a troublesome chair? They are good for nothing! So, the bottom line is if the company has a good warranty and actually takes care of the customer after the sale, I will certainly consider carrying the chair or line of chairs.
2.Lots of Good Reviews/Not a Lot of Negative Reviewsย – If I go online and find a lot of negative reviews about a chair or a company, I will also not carry the line. If everyone is talking trash about a chair or a company, it is usually a good indicator that the chair or the company is not “showing up” for the customers. This goes hand-in-hand with #1 above, but if the majority of people are talking negatively about a chair or the company…that’s a big red flag for me.
3. Same Old, Same Old – ย A lot of the chairs we see out there in the market seem to be look-a-likes. Two different companies may have their chairs made by the same manufacturing plant in China, which in and of itself is not a big deal (3 main manufacturing plants make most of the Chinese-made chairs that are here in the USA), but if they are the exact same models, why on earth would I want to carry the same chairs from two different companies?
So, if that is the case, I will go with the line of chairs that come from the company with the better customer support (see #1 and #2 above).
4. Something Different – I love finding out about a chair or a line of chairs that has something unique and different to offer the marketplace. For example, with the Johnson Wellness chairs, we see a line made in Taiwan that has a 3 years parts and labor, in-home warranty. This is pretty unique. The only other chair we carry that is Taiwanese-made is the Infinity IT-9800, which is a good, well-made chair.
And, the only other chairs we carry that have a 3 year parts and labor, in-home warranty are the Inada and Panasonic lines, both considered excellent chair companies.
Inner Balance, the company that imports the Johnson Wellness chairs, also has a line of Chinese-made chairs but I have chosen not to carry them because they look like other chairs I already carry….probably made in the same Chinese manufacturing plant as another line of chairs on our site. So, you see, I will carry the Johnson chairs because they are unique, well-supported, have a great warranty, and offer something different to the marketplace, but not their Chinese-made line.
So, when considering the above 4 points, I decided that the Johnson Wellness line would be a nice addition to our business and a safe bet for my customers. I love the J6800 that we have had in our showroom for just under a week (and will write a review soon enough) and think that this company has all the makings of a successful line in the massage chair industry.
Conversely, if I have decided against carrying a new chair or line of chairs, it is almost always because of at least one of the above 4 criteria.
Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com