Good Sports

by Budd Glassberg

Reprinted with permission from the Zionsville Times Sentinel on March 28, 2007

The Wondrous Wunderli

When meeting him for the first time, the first thing you notice is his accent. A native of Switzerland, his German pronunciation of certain words and his distinct demeanor expose his European roots. He is not a man of great stature, yet when he enters a room his presence is recognized immediately by his gregarious deportment. Urs Wunderli successfully toiled in the business world for many years before bowing out and following his passion. Urs enjoyed sculling as a recreational activity and a way to keep fit and healthy. An inventor himself, he recognized that someone had built a better mousetrap in the rowing boat arena. So ten years ago he opened RUM International on Longboat Key in Florida. RUM International began importing recreational rowing boats from the Virus (pronounced Vee-rus) boat builders in France. RUM International received the exclusive rights to import these boats to North America. Five years ago, I had the good fortune to cross paths with Urs and my life has been enriched because of this man.

While working the past 23 years as a CPA, I have had the opportunity to observe hundreds of businessmen and their businesses. In that time, no one has impressed me more with his service and dedication to his customers than Urs Wunderli. The selling of sculling boats is not like that of selling office equipment. Each sale requires personal attention. With other big ticket items such as auto sales, the customer often has a rudimentary understanding and familiarity of the product. This is not so with the boats Urs sells. Most experienced rowers who contact RUM International are used to long thin fiberglass sculling boats with sliding seats. They have not seen sculling boats which perform well in four foot waves, can maneuver in tight places, can survive bouncing off boulders in raging waters, can be dragged up on a dock and most have never even heard of a sliding rigger. Thus experienced rowers need an entire education and change in paradigm before purchasing a Virus boat. Considering a great many of those contacting Urs are novices to the sport, they need even more help.

Watching Urs at work, it is easy to forget that he is working at all. A lot of his work is done over the phone with people all over the world. He knows each of his clients well and speaks with them like he was talking with an old friend. The genius of that is that he is in fact speaking with an old friend. Urs has made friends with every purchaser of every boat he has sold. His interest in the buyer’s rowing is real and personal. The larger boat companies will sell a customer a boat, and hope not to hear from them again unless they wish to buy another boat.

I had been rowing for a little more than a year when I decided to purchase a boat. After extensive research on the Internet, there were three boats that I found interesting in my price range. My call to RUM International about the Virus Turbo II Wing lasted for almost an hour, while the other two calls to the larger boat manufacturers were less than five minutes after hold times. Urs sincerity came through over the phone. He didn’t want me to purchase a boat from him without trying it out. Because I was nine hundred miles from his business, he was able to give me the names of two different Virus buyers close to my home. I went to both locations and rowed the owner’s boats. It was interesting that these people were not his salesmen. They were his customers and more than willing to let a total stranger come to them and spend time with me to help Urs make a sale. Their hospitality surprised me. The product was as Urs advertised. I bought the boat from RUM International and consider it one the best purchases of my life. Like his minions of customers, one call from Urs and I will gladly entertain a stranger to help him sell a boat.

Since buying RowsBudd I have visited Urs on Longboat Key four times, each time rowing with him, once around the entire island. This week we rowed five miles together. It was a great time with an old friend. Our long distance friendship is not unique among his customers. When Urs travels the country, he has friends wherever he goes.

I know his business is nowhere near as lucrative as the job he held prior to following his passion. He has instead traded a job for a lifestyle that would be the envy of any ethical salesman. Along with a boat, the purchaser gets a friend who truly cares about them. Reading comments about him on his website www.rowvirusboats.com and reviews of his boats on www.epinions.com, makes you wish all of your business dealings could be with people like Urs Wunderli.

Budd Glassberg is a resident of Zionsville who is active in the local running community. Visit www.runz.com for reprints of all his columns. You can reach him by email at budd@runz.com.