| My apologies to the “warm weather” pool companies who don’t have to open and close swimming pools in the Spring and Fall every year, as this might not apply to you.
However, if you offer any OTHER seasonal or recurring services (like quarterly filter cleans, annual pool inspections, Christmas lights installation, etc.), you might be interested in this.
For my cold-weather clients, opening and closing pools is typically a welcome source of fresh cash twice a year. In many cases, it’s just the thing to get them through the winter, and hit the next season feeling flush.
The downside is it can be tedious to manage, reaching out to all your clients, and trying to work everyone into the schedule. The owner loves the cash influx, but the service manager is often pulling their hair out.
So I was quite pleased when we figured out how to automate all this with their CRM system. (In most cases, we use Keap, but the concept can work with ANY good CRM system.)
Here are the key steps we went through to allow the service manager to retain their sanity:
- We maintained a database of all people who requested Openings or Closings in the past.
- And we added every possible NEW prospect to the database, based on all past service, repair, retail and/or new build clients.
- Then we would set up a series of friendly reminder emails, encouraging them to schedule their service in advance.
- Every e-mail would have a link for them to schedule their service, and also pay in advance if desired.
- Some of our clients like to offer an incentive for homeowners who pay in advance, and/or schedule their service before a certain deadline.
- If the howmowner clicks the link to schedule, the reminders would stop. If they DIDN’T click, the reminders would continue for as long as you want those reminders to continue.
- Once the service was scheduled, the homeowner would automatically get an email confirming the schedule, and then another email the day before the actual service, reminding them your team is coming out.
- To further simplify things, each e-mail would include a “reschedule” link (if desired), in case someone had a schedule complication.
I noticed that different companies like to handle the scheduling differently. For example:
- Some would allow the homeowner to choose which week they prefer. (Then the service team could decide the exact day of that week.)
- Some would offer a “first choice” and “second choice” option for the day or week.
- My favorite approach is to set up a simple Google Calendar for the service department (or specifically the open/close team), which only shows times and dates when the service team is available. (Any time slot that is booked is automatically blocked out.) This requires ZERO phone calls.
Some of my clients would use a slightly more advanced technique. By segregating their prospects into different “zones,” it allowed the service team to do a couple things:
- First, they could limit certain zones to certain days or weeks. That way, they could (for example) serve all the northwest clients during week 1, and the northeast clients during week 2, etcetera.
- And some of my clients charged different prices for different zones. Because they were segregated, they could easily quote and charge Price A to Zone A, and Price B to Zone B, etcetera. No confusion, and no complaints about paying different prices.
BOTTOM LINE: If you have recurring services that you would like to grow, while also simplifying the promotion and management process, this CRM approach might be just the thing for you.
Note that our Keap CRM (like any good CRM) is capable of a lot more than just managing pool opens and closes. But if you only want to use it for these services, that’s fine too. We charge a small set-up fee for that. (Much less than the setup of our full-blown CRM system. But of course, our full-blown system offers so much advanced automation that I’m telling you, if you decide to go that route, it will change your life.)
If you’d like a live demonstration of the Open/Close scheduling process, and/or the full-blown CRM capabilities, you can schedule that here.
To your success… |
