This year’s Waterstone International Sales Meeting, truly went global. Waterstone invited all it’s national and Canadian sales representatives to attend the meeting aboard the Carnival Cruise Ship Imagination. Part business, part pleasure, the cruise was a way of rewarding the hard work of their reps and spouses. With another record year for sales at Waterstone, our crew definitely earned it. Held January 25th – 27th, the cruise allowed some of New Englanders and Canadians to escape record snow storms and enjoy the warm California sunshine.
After leaving the port of Long Beach, Imagination headed off to Catalina Island off the coast of Los Angeles. Many of the team felt adventurous and went zip lining or took the safari Bus in search of buffalo. Others took it easy strolling the streets of Avalon shopping and enjoying the ocean views.
The next day, we got down to business. Waterstone began the day with VP of Marketing and Sales, Bob Santella introducing the reps and announcing another year of record sales. That’s 4 years in a row for Waterstone! Next up was President Chris Kuran with the state of the business. Chris talked about the vast improvements in customer service and manufacturing. Last year, Waterstone invested heavily in machinery and the reps got a glance at all the factory’s new toys. More upgrades and improvements in plating and finishing were presented. The expansion of the factory floor and adding a significant amount of new employees to help improve lead times.
Next came the good stuff – New products for 2015. First up, the Wheel Pulldown Faucet. A true re-invention of the Wheel, this new pulldown faucet is a one of a kind. Modeled after the wheel of a ship, our Wheel Faucet proves that Waterstone is the most innovative kitchen faucet designer in the industry. Next was the Two Handle Kitchen faucets. Three new additions to the Annapolis, Hampton and Towson Suites. The Two Handle faucets biggest feature is the new braking system designed to prevent handle sag. Other than some seasickness by a few, the meeting was smooth sailing. Sorry, really bad pun.
Next stop was the coastal city of Ensenada, Mexico. It was a great day of shopping, amazing local food and, of course, the margaritas. Walking down the main street, we were bombarded with vendors, merchants hawking deals and shouts of “Almost free!”
Big thanks to all that attended. Our team is the reason behind Waterstone success. It’s people, product, process that sets us apart. Congrats to another successful year! Can’t wait for next year.
