The U.S. government continues to report a bag of mixed blessings on new-home starts. While starts have shown modest upticks across different communities and regions month-over-month, it is mostly a sluggish industry compared with year-to-year. According to the New Residential Construction Report from April, new housing starts trail 2014 numbers. David Crowe, chief economist for…
When Zodiac designs a product, Steve Gutai, director of technical sales and marketing at Zodiac Pool Systems, says it does so with three markets in mind: consumer, pool builder and service technician. The company’s new closed-combustion chamber heater, the Jandy JXi, which the company released this spring, benefits all three groups equally, Gutai says. “The…
Membrane Concepts in Massachusetts is one of a handful of companies in the nation that installs custom 60 mil PVC in-ground pool liners. Owner and general manager Ron Melbourne has three employees who travel all over the nation together installing pool liners. All of them say they couldn’t be happier in their jobs and having…
Photos by: Robert Lipscomb Winky Vaughan grew up in the pool business: Her parents owned a swimming pool company in northern Virginia. When she graduated from Virginia Tech, she decided that she wanted to own her own pool company. In 1977, she and her husband Jim started National Pools of Roanoke. Soon, her parents —…
If the majority of your workday is spent planning pool service routes, it may be time for a new strategy. Depending on your needs and budget, there are a variety of ways to effectively retool your service routes. What the Process Looks LikeDan Lenz started working for All Seasons Pools, near Chicago, in 1987. He…
Every company has some version of MSP — marketing, sales and production — and it is an extremely valuable tool. However, few use it in the manner I am about to describe, and I think we are often doing it all wrong. Most companies spend money advertising, then they or their salesperson runs to the…
With today’s technology, no one should struggle to maintain proper pH levels in salt-water pools. After traveling and listening to pool professionals complain about high pH levels, I’m surprised more people don’t know major manufacturers have pH control systems that test the water as the pool is running and dispense acid as needed for proper…
If you are a contractor, your world turned upside down in 2008 and 2009. The housing bubble burst; new construction dried up; unemployment went to 10 percent; and consumers stopped spending money. Unless you sold your business for millions before this happened, your company was affected. Most everyone has heard the definition of insanity: doing…
The most successful email marketing campaigns are done through software or a service that not only allows customization of a top-notch digital presentation, but also captures data to follow your ROI and aid in making leads into customers. Here are a few of the programs available to assist your efforts. benchmarkemail.com Base Price: The free…
I got involved with the process of developing the Model Aquatic Health Code in 2005. United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sponsored a workshop at the request of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists. Since the ’90s they had seen an increase in pool-related illnesses. It was difficult to address because health…