Ideas & inspiration for business owners

We're surveying pool pros across the country to find out how the industry really feels about and is using AI - and we want your take. It takes less than 10 minutes, your responses are anonymous, and three participants will be randomly selected to win a $100 Amazon gift card.Take the survey👉 here

What is the best way you have found to market your company and services?We have always done our own marketing with social media posts or going door to door with brochures. We recently stepped away from going door to door within the last three years and are now working with a marketing company, but I am not necessarily seeing any change in leads or calls yet. It sounds like this company is just posting Google and Facebook ads, which I can do myself. What do y'all do? Has it worked for you? If you work with a marketing company like Pool Monopoly and Pool Profits, what’s your experience with them? I am just trying to gather all my options and see what's out there, and see if I’m missing something that I could be doing.

 I had a great time doing this podcast from the “Everything Under the Sun Expo” in Orlando, FL with a good buddy of mine, covering a great topic that we all deal with and can improve on! Are you unknowingly losing pool service clients because calls go to voicemail? In the pool service industry, missing a call can mean missing a new customer. Many homeowners searching for a pool company will simply call the next company on Google if they reach voicemail.In this video, we break down how much money voicemail could actually be costing your pool service company and why answering the phone is one of the most important parts of running a successful pool business.We’ll cover:✔ Why homeowners rarely leave voicemails✔ How missed calls turn into lost revenue✔ The psychology of customers searching for pool service✔ Simple ways pool companies can capture more leads✔ How answe

I’m developing some free resources and posts for pool and spa business owners andwould really value your input.Question:Out of the following areas, how would you rank them in order of priority for youright now? Please list the letters in order of priority (most important → least important).Example: C, A, D, B (in this example, C is the most important and B is the leastimportant).Options:A: Leading and influencing your teamB: Creating a culture where people take ownership and care about the businessC: Having time for the things that matter outside the businessD: Having space to focus on the big picture and a team that brings ideas to thetableAlso, please share...In your

This is Part 7 in a series of posts looking at how to stop managing and start managing as a leader. We are exploring are the critical aspects of effective leaders. TIP 7: EMPOWER OTHERS Leaders are willing to have direct, straight conversations with others. If something isn’t working with a team member, they address it head on. Instead of being negative, blaming or complaining, they are supportive and offer empowering feedback with the intention of making a difference.They are committed to each and every team member’s growth. If they keep their mouth shut and don’t offer feedback, not only does their team member not learn and grow, but it also sabotages the business and their ability to generate revenue.Simple Reflection...What have feedback have you been putting off, and why? How might your feedback empower y

We have 3 commercial accounts but will be doing some marketing to acquire more of them. I  am currently building a Commercial Pool Service Agreement that we can utilize with these new accounts. Any advice welcomed…. 

Greetings:My name is Brian Woodworth and I consider myself to be an independent “expert” on the programming and operational optimization of Skimmer.   I am a business consultant that specializes in helping small companies achieve operational control using available technologies like Skimmer.In the two years that I have been using Skimmer, I have helped new users configure and optimize new implementations, and I have also helped existing users modify/supplement/enhance their existing installations.   I have installed CRM’s to work in concert with Skimmer, and I have also optimized their financial connectivity using the QBO integration.  I have helped companies with 0 to 6 years of experience with Skimmer, and ALL have benefited immensely.  I am well-versed in the fields of finance, employee engagement, quality control, human health & safety, engineering, inventory control & management, training, and customer service.  With respect to Skimmer, I am profici

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 h

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.

I think we should be looking at HVAC, electrical, plumbers who are all a decade ahead of us. Im in a best practices group and they are running trades much more profitable. Here is what I would like to see in Skimmer for pricing a jobSet a Job Install Pump. That is the job. In the job you set time. Two hours. In the system you set your $250/hr for labor. So it knows it needs to charge $500 for labor. Then when you select the job there is  an add product feature and you select the product from your catalog. So say you select a pump and the cost is $1500. you set in the settings all products between $1000-2000 get a 75% margin on them. So if the pump is 1500, and then later when we have heritage linked if the price becomes 1600 you don’t need to do anything, it will stall take the margin you want on the pump and the labor. And maybe you add a second item which is a new electrical whip. Price is $20 and your margins on that may be 150% because you set your margins at 150 for anyt

This is Part 6 in a series of posts looking at how to stop managing and start managing as a leader. We are exploring are the critical aspects of effective leaders.Tip 6: They Keep A Good PerspectivePowerful leaders don’t allow their desire to be liked to outweigh their commitment to be of service. There is a fantastic scene in the Nelson Mandela documentary A Long Walk to Freedom where he makes a public appearance shortly after being released from 27 years of prison. “You have trusted me to be your leader and as your leader, it is my responsibility to tell you that you are wrong,” Mandela says in one of his speeches. “We must forgive the British. We must put an end to this fighting.”Mandela knew many would be resistant to and angered by his message. But he was willing to say what needed to be said. He held a bigger commitment to b

Hello all,I am relatively new to the business. I own a company with ~120 pools. When hiring new employees, I would really like to know who exactly I am sending onto my client properties. I am wondering how many owners out there do background checks on potential new employees?  Also, what sites or companies are you using to do the background checks? Besides driving record and obvious violent crimes, what red flags should I look for?Tom

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

I have a unique business with 4 retail stores and routes.  We currently utilize Skimmer for routes and work orders (essentially every job our techs do). That being said, we are currently utilizing another platform for invoicing and inventory due to our retail showrooms. I am wondering if anyone has found a way to use Skimmer only for this type of thing, or have integrations to make it work that way.