The Pool Deck by Skimmer

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Pooldude2023Rookie Member

I have been involved as an owner in many service companies over the years but I have never seen an industry race so fast to be the cheapest service. This race to the bottom is a deadly approach to doing business and will only invite pool customer service while damaging the reputation of the industry. Instead we should all be thinking about how we can stand out, being honest with customers, educating them so that they can make the best decisions on there own behalf. I have a very good friend that said this industry is very different from most and I challenged him and his thought process on how false that statement was. While there are differing issues that arise, the fact remains the same, We are all in the service business! There are many things that can set a company apart from the rest that do not involve money. Small things that customers really will appreciate. Small things like honesty, integrity, dependability and good communication. You can start there and discover what is dif

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1 day ago

KerrySSkimmer Verified Partner

Ideas & inspiration for business owners

Dive into Profits: Make 2025 Your Splashiest Year Yet!

Can you remember where you were on New Year’s Eve? It feels like just yesterday when the countdown filled the room, and at the stroke of midnight, cheers and hugs erupted in my small family gathering. I even indulged in TWO mini dairy-free Dipped Mocha Frozen Dessert Bars before deciding to go on a diet! Yet here we are, with less than 90 days left in 2024.As the year speeds by, it’s the perfect moment to pause and assess your financial strategies. To set yourself up for a successful and profitable 2025, I want to share three essential financial moves tailored specifically for pool service professionals. These steps will help you optimize your pricing, enhance cash flow management, and maximize your tax deductions, ensuring you finish the year strong.Optimize Your PricingI start here because proper pricing can lead to increased sales volume and improved cash flow. This enables you to invest in opportunities and manage operational expenses more effectively. Setting the right price ensur

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1 day ago

sharonburchSkimmer Verified Partner

Ideas & inspiration for business owners

If I'm using Skimmer, why do I need QuickBooks?

Greetings!I specialize in setting up QuickBooks for pool service business owners and bookkeepers to track financial transactions and provide the reports needed to make informed business decisions. In The Pool Deck, I’ll share information to help you learn new tips and tricks for running your business more efficiently with your software.I am going to start my first post with one of the most frequently asked questions I get from clients - “If I’m using Skimmer, do I even need QuickBooks?” The answer is YES! This question is typically asked due to frustration with using QuickBooks. They gave up trying to use it or ended up spending more money than expected to have someone else clean it up. If this sounds familiar, here are a few reasons why it’s worth taking another look. So, why do you need QuickBooks? The answer is simple. It’s the easiest way to know the true financial health of your business. Yes, you can still send invoices from Skimmer (and should) and see the cost of your chemical

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2 days ago

AtlasPoolsGeneral Member

Ideas & inspiration for business owners

Building your own direct mail list

Kudos to Skimmer for doing so much for the industry, not just in the product, but the webinars and other resources available. One marketing option that doesn’t seem to get much detail on is direct mail. My highest return has been in quality postcards sent to a very highly targeted, self generated list. Using software like Propstream (built for real estate investors), you can target exactly where and who you want to be talking to and create a list specific to your business. In my case, I’m looking for homes worth $850k+, with pools, in specific zip codes. You can be more precise and even draw out your target area if desired. I download that info, do some spreadsheet magic to dumb it down for Vistaprint then design a postcard and send out about 2500 pieces per mailing using Vistaprint’s inhouse mailing system. Not the cheapest way to go, but it is easy and relatively fast. Typical cost is $100 per month for Propstream (if you want to generate new lists often, otherwise buy a month then c

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2 days ago

JustineThe Pool Deck Community Team

News, trends & training

A Milestone Moment We Want to Celebrate With You

Skimmer has officially surpassed 30,000 users! We're incredibly proud to be the #1 pool service software platform, but this milestone belongs to you—our amazing customers and partners. Your dedication to growing and transforming the pool service industry fuels us daily, and we’re honored to be part of your journey. Thank you for trusting Skimmer to get organized, save time, and grow revenue. Here’s to many more milestones together!

7 days ago

nikiacostaTeam Skimmer

Ideas & inspiration for business owners

Between Two Stops Episode 2: Building a Great Business with Eric Fotenberry of JobTread

In this new Between Two Stops episode, we chat with JobTread CEO Eric Fotenberry. Eric shares how JobTread was started and offers tips on building a great business through efficient processes, driving productivity, fostering transparency and communication, and knowing when and how to make necessary changes. About JobTread: JobTread empowers pool builders and rennovation pros with simple yet powerful project management and construction estimating software to help tackle projects more efficiently. Get organized, complete your projects on time, and increase your profits. Learn more at www.jobtread.com.Between Stops is available in video format on Youtube and via audio-only on all major podcast platforms. To subscribe, visit http://www.betweentwostops.com. Have an idea or want to be a guest? Drop a comment below!

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7 days ago

JustineThe Pool Deck Community Team

Ideas & inspiration for business owners

On-Demand Access: Seven Operational Habits of Highly Successful Pool Service Companies

Want to find out what the fastest-growing pool service companies are doing to fuel their success? In this webinar, Skimmer’s @nikiacosta @FlaviaSwims share seven operational practices that the most successful pool service companies apply to boost efficiency, improve profitability, and scale their operations. Here’s an overview of topics covered during their discussion:Streamlining processes to increase efficiency and drive consistency The KPIs (key performance indicators) you need to track to stay on top Managing cash effectively to drive growth and reduce costs Upselling and diversifying services to improve growth Leveraging the power of AI to enhance your operations And much more! Click play to learn from the best about how to take your pool service business to the next level 🍿 Access the valuable FREE resources, templates, and sample AI prompts discussed in the webinar here. Feel free to drop your questions for Niki and Flavia in the thread below 👇

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8 days ago

JustineThe Pool Deck Community Team

Life on the road

Say hello & share how you got into the pool service business

Hello and a warm welcome to The Pool Deck 🤗 My name is Justine, and I am your go-to for all things community 🙌 I am super pumped to get to know more members and see the co-creation, sharing of knowledge, and learning from one another take root across all our forums, groups, and events!This Life on the road forum is about getting to know each other better and sharing stories from our day. Plus, we’ll have some contests and other posts to make you smile 😀I started building communities working in the beer business and knew I had found my calling. I love bringing together people and watching the magic unfold—whether it’s new ideas, learning, or even just a bit of fun and laughter to brighten each others’ day! I have worked in software for a while now, and when @Travis told me about Skimmer’s mission, and I learned more about the pool service industry, it was an easy YES to join this team!Meeting with Skimmer customers over the past few months has only reinforced my decision -- we have

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9 days ago

Chlorine KingSkimmer Verified Partner

Life on the road

What do you lose out of your truck the most when in transit?

For me, it’s the dang Taylor test kits. I’ve launched mine like 100 times. I keep mine in the back of my riptide. I’ll be just driving along not paying attention to this camouflaged speed bumps… hit one and launch my kit all over the road. My buddy in this video was driving me to drop off one of my trucks to be wrapped and we got to launch his too ;) I’m curious to what you guys lose out of your trucks. Is it random stuff or something that seems to be consistent?

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11 days ago

JustineThe Pool Deck Community Team

News, trends & training

A Day of Learning and Networking at Skimmer’s First-Ever Pro Summit

Earlier this week, we hosted our first-ever Skimmer Pro Summit—Austin edition. Star Hill Ranch was the perfect venue to bring together our Central Texas community of company leaders and their Skimmer admins for a full day of professional development, networking, and fun. We were so energized by the opportunity to spend that much face time with our customers and connect them with other pool entrepreneurs to share best practices and inspire them with new ideas for growing their business, finding efficiencies, and maximizing Skimmer's value.Heritage Pool Supply Group was our exclusive event sponsor, plus we had a number of contributing partners who generously donated product samples to help us create an awesome Pro Summit package in addition to some cool Skimmer swag for all of our attendees: Sensafe’s Swim Check Fix phosphate tablets PoolRx’s bacteria and algae prevention units BluerayXL’s Mineral Purifier & Catalyst units Jack’s Magic Stain Identification Kits Portable power banks

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12 days ago

Industry news, training & life on the road

Get started in the community! Check out the latest industry news & training, plus share your stories from the road.

Getting started in the community

11 topics
0 Replies

News, trends & training

48 topics
60 Replies

Life on the road

25 topics
92 Replies

Growing your business

Tap into the community network to buy and sell routes and share information & best practices to help you grow as a business owner and leader.

Ideas & inspiration for business owners

48 topics
154 Replies

AtlasPoolsGeneral Member

Ideas & inspiration for business owners

Building your own direct mail list

311

2 days ago

Chlorine KingSkimmer Verified Partner

Life on the road

What do you lose out of your truck the most when in transit?

766

11 days ago

JoeNew Member

Ideas & inspiration for business owners

Marketing by Pool Monopoly

Considering using Pool Monopoly. Does anyone here use them? What’s been your experience?

26011

21 days ago

code3pools_opsConversation Starter

News, trends & training

Flooded Pools

This is our first time dealing with plodded pools after a storm. What are your best tips and recommended steps to effectively clean up flooded pools and ensure they are safe for swimming?

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1 month ago

nikiacostaTeam Skimmer

News, trends & training

Salt shortages?

I’ve seen several posts in fb groups posting about salt shortages, and it looks like some folks are making a run on salt. Is this happening in your market?

875

1 month ago

bradengeis6New Member

Ideas & inspiration for business owners

Vaccum

What does everyone use for their vac? Riptide or Hammerhead?

13710

1 month ago

Happy PoolsGeneral Member

Life on the road

Stubborn Yellow Algae

Hey everyone, I am dealing with a pool that has what we think is Yellow Algae. The Chlorine level was 4.5 when we got there today and all of the rest of the chemicals were within range. We have been using yellow algaecide weekly and can’t seem to get it under control. The pump has been running 10 hrs/ day and we clean the filter regularly. This pool is on the beach so I am thinking that could be part of it. Does anyone have any magic they can recommend? Thinking I might give PoolRx a try on this one…

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1 month ago

wakefieldpoolandspaRookie Member

Ideas & inspiration for business owners

Best Fleet Fuel Card Recommendations

Howdy everyone! I’m shopping around for fleet fuel cards and just wanted to see if anyone had any solid recommendations in their experience.

1025

3 months ago

Pool Man MikeSpecialist

News, trends & training

Algae and warm weather

Hi all. Curious as to what some other pool pros are doing to combat this issue especially you pool pros in warmer Climents? Right now, we are aiming for about 5ppm in all of our accounts as well as keeping chlorinators with the appropriate number of tablets however, we are still getting calls from homeowners that they are experiencing signs of algae. I’ll further add that the chemistry is all with in tolerance levels including CYA. Do you guys just use an algaecide treatment when this happens that helps cure it and keeps it at bay during the summer months? For those of you that use Pool RX how are you selling this to your customers? Do you just ask them to buy it or do you provide it? It's hard for us to mark up the cost of Pool RX when it can be purchased for less on Amazon then I can buy it from Pool Corp. I would like to implement it into our service but just want to know the best way how that is working for the consensus.

2068

3 months ago

nikiacostaTeam Skimmer

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