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Hey everyone,I’m curious to hear how other pool professionals approach billing for plaster startups. Do you typically charge a flat fee, base it on square footage, gallons, or go time and materials?Personally, I charge by the square foot of water surface area, with the rate varying depending on the type of interior finish. I stay on the pool for at least three weeks, and I usually try to wrap up the startup during the last week of the month so it transitions smoothly into normal maintenance billing. I’ll often discount the startup if the customer hires me for ongoing service — and in some cases, like a pebble pool with no salt system, I’ll even include the startup at no additional charge, since my costs are minimal.That said, I’m not always sure if I’m giving away too much on the startup when they sign on for maintenance, so I’d love to hear how others handle that balance.How do you all handle it? What’s your philosophy on pricing, timeline, and transitioning into regular maintenance?

Hi, I’m shopping around for general liability insurance and am looking for recommendations. 

Hello, For those using Skimmer, how do you train your techs on it?Do you have a process or checklist you go over with them?Also curious what tips or tricks you’ve found helpful to make sure everyone’s using it the same way!

Watch the video or scroll down for step-by-step instructions.Tiers: AllNote: Debit card and ACH payments cannot have a surcharge applied, only credit cardsSkimmer does not currently support surcharging in Minnesota, California, New York, Maine, Massachusetts, and Connecticut Step-by-step instructions 1. Settings → Payments → Activate Credit Card Surcharging 2. When you select Activate Credit Card Surcharging, you will need to Activate the feature. Card networks have specific rules that apply to surcharging, so activating means you are agreeing to additional terms of service.A 30-day waiting period is required by credit card companies before surcharges can start to be applied. Once you click Activate, that waiting period will begin.   3. Once active, you can toggle credit card surcharging ON or OFF.  With surcharging on, the Pricing box updates to show an additional credit card fee for processing a payment that has a surcharge applied.  4. Once on, the system will add the surcharge for

This is Part 4 in a series of posts looking at how to stop managing and start managing as a leader. In this series we are exploring are the critical aspects of effective leadership.THEY ALLOW THE FUTURE TO SHAPE THEIR ACTIONSPowerful leaders take action for the future instead of allowing the past to hold them back. Most of us take action based on our limited beliefs and perspectives in our business. For example, if you had a poor first quarter, it’s easy to feel discouraged. However, a powerful leader keeps recommitting to his or her vision, and they begin to succeed one step at a time.The only thing we can say that is the truth about the future is that it is unknown. And therefore it existsas pure possibility. Instead of working from their past, extraordinary leaders work backwards from their vision to create the future they desire. LEADERSHIP QUESTIONS FOR YOU TO CONSIDER: Identify one result/breakthrough that you wanted to achieve at the beginning of 2025? How are you doing with ach

Scroll down for a detailed guide on how to use this report.Tiers: Scaling Up, Skimmer for EnterpriseNote: The Profit Report displays and breaks down profits per customer serviced during a select date range. Access the report by going to Reports > Profit.Step-by-step instructions 1. Filter by Date Range:Between: Select two dates, creating a date range On, Before, or After a specific date Last: set a time frame going into the past–last day/week/six months/two years, etc. even last hours or minutes, fully customizable Current: lets you center on now and view by current hour/day/month/quarter, and more Next: does not currently have information associated with it, so you won’t need to select it. Note that, if you’re charging any customers on a Per Month rate, in order to get an accurate profit calculation, you will need to select a date range that includes full months. In this case, selecting partial months will result in inaccurate profit figures.  2. Filter by Customer:By customer na

Scroll down for a detailed guide on how to use this report. Tiers: Scaling Up, Skimmer for EnterpriseNote: The Chemical Dosages Report displays chemical dosage volume, cost, price, and profit by customer and tech during a select date range.  Step-by-step instructions 1. Filter by Date Range:Between: Select two dates, creating a date range On, Before, or After a specific date Last: set a time frame going into the past–last day/week/six months/two years, etc. even last hours or minutes, fully customizable Current: lets you center on now and view by current hour/day/month/quarter, and more Next: does not currently have information associated with it, so you won’t need to select it. 2. Filter by Technician:Display dosages and related service information by one tech, or a select set of techs. When you filter by tech, the only names that show up in the dropdown are the ones who have performed service within the selected time frame.3. Filter by Customer:By customer name By multiple customers

Scroll down for step-by-step instructions and a detailed guide on how to use this report.Tiers: AllNote: The Text Messages report shows what texts you’re sending through Skimmer, so you can see message volume and cost over time. Step-by-step instructions1. Reports > Text Messages.This report allows you to see what kind of messages were sent, who received them, and the delivery status of each message. Depending on your subscription tier, you may be paying for each text, or they may be included in your overall pricing. What we’re showing you here works on the charge-per-text premise. If your tier includes texting, you’ll see all the message information but the cost will be zero.2. Filter by Date Range:Between: Select two dates, creating a date range On, Before, or After a specific date Last: set a time frame going into the past–last day/week/six months/two years, etc. even last hours or minutes, fully customizable Current: lets you center on now and view by current hour/day/month/quar

Scroll down for a detailed guide on how to use this report.Tiers: Scaling Up, Skimmer for EnterpriseView the products, parts, bulk chemicals, or other items which have been marked as installed by techs during service. Step-by-step instructions 1. Filter by Date Range:Between: Select two dates, creating a date range On, Before, or After a specific date Last: set a time frame going into the past–last day/week/six months/two years, etc. even last hours or minutes, fully customizable Current: lets you center on now and view by current hour/day/month/quarter, and more Next: does not currently have information associated with it, so you won’t need to select it. 2. Filter by Customer:By customer name By multiple customers based on check boxes Make your choices and the list filters down, showing the same information as full list for the selected customers When you filter by customer, the only customer names that show up in the dropdown are the ones who have received service within the selec

Scroll down for a detailed guide on how to use this report.Tiers: Scaling Up, Skimmer for EnterpriseNote: This report gives owners and admins a snapshot of jobs completed by your techs, and what you’re paying to have the work done.Step-by-step instructions 1. Filter by Date Range:Between: Select two dates, creating a date range On, Before, or After a specific date Last: set a time frame going into the past–last day/week/six months/two years, etc. even last hours or minutes, fully customizable Current: lets you center on now and view by current hour/day/month/quarter, and more Next: does not currently have information associated with it, so you won’t need to select it. Note that, if you’re charging any customers on a Per Month rate, in order to get an accurate profit calculation, you will need to select a date range that includes full months. In this case, selecting partial months will result in inaccurate profit figures.  2. Filter by Technician:Display work completed by a specific

Is the app having issues? I can’t sync, and I can’t even send a diagnostics report. But I have service. 🤔

Hi Everyone!My husband and I own Pure Blue Pools. For more than a decade, I have been in the software and web design industry before I was introduced to the world of pools. During my time as a web designer and co-pool business owner, I have learned a few SEO tricks that allow customers to find your website faster without spending any money on ads. For those who don’t know, SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It’s a long, technical sounding phrase that simply means you should add certain keywords to your website, so the right people find you. As you know in the pool industry, when you know certain tips and tricks -- that non-pool industry people don’t know -- it can make your life a whole lot easier. The same goes for websites. All you have to do is make a few small changes to make a huge impact. Here’s what I’ve learned:1.) Before you upload or add images, make sure you rename them with your company name plus any other significant words. Be sure to add keyword-rich ALT tags to e

Hey everyone,I’m curious to hear from other pool service companies, when did you decide it was time to bring in a CRM tool to manage your business?A few specific things I’d love to know:Roughly how many pools/accounts were you managing when you made the switch How many employees or techs you had at that point What CRM features ended up making the biggest difference for your operations And of course, which company or platform you went withI’ve heard some people using Go High Level as a good budget CRM option, and it sounds like Skimmer might be planning an integration with them, which sounds interesting.Would love to hear your experiences, what worked, what didn’t, and what you’d do differently if you were starting over.

Hello, looking for suggestions for commercial auto insurance.  Who do you use and are you happy with their rates, support and claims?

Hey Everyone. I didn’t expect to make this video but since the opportunity presented itself, I did, and figured I would share it with all of you. I have used this trick hundreds of times throughout the years and it really works well. Enjoy!  

Hi Everyone - is there a pool app out there that can give you the gallon capacity of a current pool when looking to take on a new customer (maybe just an address to punch in to get the figure) - I understand how to calculate from the CPO course I just completed, but thought there may be a quicker way to get the figure - I’m sure alot of these pool owners don’t even know their gallon capacity or they think they do and the figure is incorrect - Just trying to save time and be accurate….. Thank you all in advance - hope you’re having a good work summer - brutally warm down here in SW Florida right now - take care and invest in some “poweraid” when it’s on sale…. Cheers from the rookie “Big Steve - BBG Pool Services”