In the pool and spa industry, promotion has consistently centred on delivering fun and family togetherness. Over the years, this marketing approach has prompted many consumers to purchase swimming pools and hot tubs for their homes, looking for those very payoffs. However, today’s economic and social climate suggests buying behaviours are shifting. While consumers still place a strong focus on … Read More
Value-Based Selling
A customer enters a pool store with an electrolytic chlorine generator (ECG) cell that is scaled beyond repair. If the customer wants to continue enjoying his/her saltwater pool, the cell would need to be replaced and a better quality pool salt with scale preventatives should be recommended. However, due to fear the customer might balk at the cell’s replacement cost, … Read More
How to Get the Appointment
When a homeowner makes their first call to a pool/spa builder or service company, they are looking for the expert help only a trained professional can provide. Unfortunately, many of these potential customers, who are often eager to spend money on whatever they need to make their backyard getaways perfect, are met with silence. Calls are not answered. Voicemails are … Read More
The Ins and Outs of Job Costing
For many in the pool and spa business, money is looked upon as a taboo topic not to be openly discussed. It is true that in any form of business, competitors are restricted by laws from getting specific when discussing pricing, overhead and profit margins with one another. However, understanding these factors in broad, general terms (which are legally discussable) … Read More
How to Control Calcium Hardness
Maintaining appropriate levels of calcium hardness is a key balance factor in basic recreational water care. Typically, water in a vinyl-lined or fibreglass swimming pool should contain a calcium hardness level of 175 to 225 parts per million (ppm), while the recommended range for plaster-surfaced pools is a little higher at 200 to 275 ppm. In addition, the overall balance … Read More
Battling Biofilm in Pools and Spas
Improving water quality demands a true understanding of what is hidden in the pool and spa environment, of what is lurking beneath the surface—in piping, filters and on exteriors. For decades, pool professionals have faced a particularly tricky phenomenon, one that has created havoc since the first swimming pools and spas. It is that slimy, sticky, gooey stuff that appears … Read More
Addressing Cloudy Water Issues in Swimming Pools
Pool owners respond more intently to cloudy water than any other water-related issue due to its direct esthetic effect on the pool’s appearance. It can easily be identified by visual observation; any pool owner can recognize cloudy water and know it is an indication something requires attention. Where the difficulty lies for pool professionals, however, is diagnosing the specific problem … Read More
Dealing with Nitrates in Pools and Spas
When a customer brings in a water sample complaining about an algae problem, pool and spa professionals must ask themselves which chemical parameters to include in the subsequent test. If their answer does not include testing for nitrate nitrogen, they could be ignoring a key factor. In fact, nitrate nitrogen testing should be considered in every situation with a potential … Read More
The Evolution of Pool Cleaners
The swimming pool cleaner has been around for over one hundred years. These devices owe their evolution to imaginative tinkerers, engineers and designers from all over the world. Like swimming pools, there is almost certainly no single inventor or single swimming pool cleaner that has been recorded in history as the first such machine. However, by tracing key patent records, … Read More
Tips for Keeping Pool Cleaners Going Strong
Automatic pool cleaners can simplify pool maintenance, but only when they are functioning properly. Thankfully, most pool cleaners work well most of the time. Occasionally, however, a pool may not be as clean as the owner would like, so it is important to know a few things about ensuring the long-term successful use of these relatively simple machines. Before moving … Read More