Though the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted countless industries across the board, there were a few sectors that actually experienced growth during these times. One of these industries was the pool service business. With restrictions on where and how to kick back and relax, homeowners looked to upgrade their outdoor areas, including adding or updating outdoor pools.
In conjunction with the general upcoming pool season, pool service business owners and operators should expect quite the surge in service requests. To best prepare for the busy pool season ahead, check out these four steps to ensure your business is ready for increased demand.
1. Build a Qualified Team
With pool service season approaching, your business may need a couple of extra hands to meet customer demand. To effortlessly streamline day to day operations while guaranteeing complete customer satisfaction, you’ll have to search for the top qualified pool service technicians. Online job boards such as Indeed and ZipRecruiter are excellent platforms to post job listings with your exact hiring requirements, expected hours and anticipated pay.
Outside of the field work necessities of your pool service company, you may want to bring on a customer service representative that can handle administrative tasks as well. Taking customer calls, scheduling technicians, and managing your company’s online presence can all be something completed by an in-office employee. After bringing these employees on board, be sure to establish simple protocol and expectations to further ensure smooth daily operations.
2. Stock Up on Supplies and Tools
What’s a pool service business without the right supplies and tools? With customers’ needs and service requests varying from job to job, you’ll want to stock up on all the necessary supplies and tools technicians require to get their work done. First, check the status of current supply stock, including chemical expiration dates and the condition of your tools. Note which supplies need replenishing and contact your supplier as soon as possible.
For pool cleaning purposes, be sure to stock up on high-quality tools that will last through the season. Skimmers, algae brushes, manual vacuums and filter cleaners should remain well-stocked in each company vehicle to ensure debris-free and visibly clean pools. For pool maintenance purposes, be sure to always have technicians equipped with water test kits as well. This allows for a more focused pool treatment service, using sanitizers (such as chlorine, bromine or salt), shock, pH control and algaecide, all of which should remain well-stocked.
3. Prepare Your Fleet
To avoid missed service calls and frustrated customers, it’s essential to make sure your vehicle fleet is ready to hit the road. Use this early season to implement a preventive maintenance schedule for your company vehicles. Simple actions such as oil changes, fluid top offs, and brake, tire or battery inspections are all quick tasks that can support the longevity of company vehicles.
As the busy pool season carries on, consider adopting tactics to boost vehicle efficiency and ongoing vehicle health as well. Ask technicians who operate company vehicles to inspect and report on vehicle concerns weekly. This helps mitigate possible vehicle concerns early on, and may potentially help you save on vehicle costs in the long run. For efficiency purposes, consider swapping to eco-friendly vehicle options complete with GPS technology to track driver performance.
4. Adopt a Management System
With a wave of service requests on the horizon and no management system in sight, scheduling hiccups and lost customer contacts can deter your pool service business this season. Fortunately, field service management software solutions offer numerous tools to better streamline your daily pool service business operations. For instance, scheduling features allows owners or operators to quickly dispatch jobs to technicians, and communicate effectively with customers on anticipated arrival times. Managers can then monitor job completion to ensure the next service call is reached as quickly and efficiently as possible.
For the financial management corner of your business, field service management software is also the way to go. Easily accessible platforms allow technicians to collect customer payment while out in the field or have an invoice forwarded directly to the customer’s email address. These financial details are quickly recorded and synced with accounting software platforms, such as QuickBooks, where managers can easily record all income and expenses.
A Management System That Does it All
It’s anticipated that pool service business owners and operators will have a busy season ahead. Why waste time manually tracking job orders, dispatching technicians or tracking down materials? Instead, adopt a field service management system designed with pool service businesses in mind. With FieldPulse’s pool service management software, you can guarantee your business will be prepared with all the bells and whistles, but without all the hassle.
Through FieldPulse pool service management software, you can organize employee information and schedule job updates to build a robust team capable of any work order. Easily create sub-tasks in the system to track supply orders and incoming product shipments. So, what are you waiting for? Schedule a free demo today to learn how FieldPulse can streamline your busy pool season.
