Jennifer Clements Pla-Mor Pools Mechanicsville, Virginia What do you love, or hate, about industry trade shows? I have always enjoyed attending industry trade shows. It’s exciting walking the showroom floor looking for the latest, greatest innovation to make our work easier, or our customer’s pool more fun. It is also a valuable opportunity to have…
What’s keeping you from hiring the best? The lack of labor comes up a lot in the pool industry. We hadn’t done a story on it, and I figured it was time — and would be a good read for our show issue. I didn’t expect the article to partly become a debate over whether there…
In general, automatic pool covers are quite reliable. However, as with any piece of equipment, the system requires maintenance at some point. Some of these maintenance issues are foreseeable — small wear and tear or general upkeep issues, for example. Other issues, however, are unexpected. This unanticipated service can fall under two categories, electrical or…
For pool builders who deliver presentations to customers, virtual reality is, in a word, awesome. The technology fully immerses users in a digital environment that’s so lifelike they feel that they’re actually wandering through a backyard that doesn’t yet exist. The technology, however, is clunky and complicated, and it requires goggles, headgear and other expensive…
How much are you spending to mail invoices each month? Between the cost of paper, printing and postage, and the human resources expenses, it could be adding up. Billy Colquitt, owner of All About Pools in Sumter, South Carolina, was spending $400 a month just on postage — but after adding online bill pay, the…
Time to hold a mirror up to your business On page 35, we take a look at proper shotcrete procedures — it’s quite possibly an article you’ll glance at and then move on without reading. You already know everything you need to know about shotcrete. Not like your competitor down the road. He’s the one…
Chemical sanitizers will continue to generate sales for the foreseeable future, however, an ever increasing number of pool owners are concerned about chlorine exposure—over 80 percent according to Darren Hickman, CEO of Card on Guard, a floating, solar-based method of oxidizing pool bacteria. And that’s exactly the motivation behind Card on Guard’s development. Released in…
The genius of the DPD Pro dip-and-read test strip for public pools and spas from Hach, is in its simplicity. Hach has made the complexity of water testing so easy, it’s no wonder the interest level from end users, health professionals and public pool maintenance professionals has skyrocketed since DPD Pro was released earlier this…
Regardless of how you many reviews you’re getting now, I’m sure you have more satisfied customers who have only thought about giving you a review. The secret is to find the best way to ask, and to make it easy for them to leave a positive review. Asking for a review is one thing. Having…
Your accountant just called. “Bill, you lost $12,000 over the past few months. You better make some changes, or this is going to be a really bad year.” You hang up the phone, feeling low and upset, thinking, “I’m paying this guy $200 an hour to tell me I’m losing money? I can look at…
Pentair’s ScreenLogic interface allows automation through all kinds of devices — the newest being the Amazon Echo — a tower-looking device named Alexa that answers verbal questions and takes commands, among many other tricks — and Apple Watch. David MacCallum, product manager for lights, automation and Acu-Trol at Pentair, is explaining to me how he…
In Virginia, pools didn’t open on schedule this Memorial Day and waterparks are bracing for a shorter season.[1] Pools in Maine were still reeling from lifeguard shortages in the middle of June.[2] In Minnesota, labor shortages are stifling businesses.[3] These examples represent the anxieties facing businesses and organizations across the country, all of which have…