It never fails this time of year to receive the large amounts of service calls concerning structural failure of a pool. The customer wants to share their frustrations, hopelessness and "I wish I had spent a little more", or "I should have bought from you" and in detail recites all the wrongs of themselves and the pool builder. When I suggest they call the person who built the pool for help the answer is always the same, "I won't let him on my property again" or "They won't answer the phone." I even had one person who bought the pool installation over the internet without meeting anyone before they started building! Shame on them.Recently I have lost a few sales to another business close by and at the same time I have no less than 4 calls a day regarding work that needs to be done due to this companies poor work and bad business practice. His Better Business Bureau rating is an "F". That is so hard to accomplish in less than 2 years and for a company that does less than 1 million a year! The company has also been turned in to the contractors board for installations over 30K without a license but then the consumer finds that they had signed for and applied for the building permit under their own name not realizing what they were signing. This person has moved from town to town for many years and a check with the Secretary of Stare would show a trail of business failed. Simple to do now with the web.During all this in hard times the good builders out there are losing sales because the customers have not been better educated about choosing a pool professional and many times choose the slick salesman or the low price not knowing what terrible consequences can lay ahead and turn their dream into a nightmare.We all as professionals need to educate the consumers any way we can. We need to go to our local newspapers, television stations, and magazines and provide a news release that outlines how to find a professional. I am sure with all the television troubleshooter segments that feature pools they would be receptive to this. The APSP has a brochure that is very informative called "Choosing a Professional Pool Builder". This is an excellent resource to distribute at a very small cost (25 for $55). At a past Advanced Builders program Lew Akins shared with all of us his checklist of a reputable builder as well. Most pool companies also offer something similar. We need to use them. We need to share them. We need them published.Let's all make an effort to put professionalism first and show the consumers that they need to make wise, educated choices. They need to give us their money FIRST instead of paying us later.
Well said Wendy!. I have had this same thing happen to me. I call it "Obama speak." These pool companies tell the customer what they want to hear with well thought out words, and shortly into the project they understand they had made a mistake and they are left with the expense to repair the project. Education is helpful, but you still will have a handful of people that feel like they can get something for nothing. They will go with the pool company that has the F with the BBB, but somehow they feel like they will be the one that gets a good deal from this company and overlook the obvious work history.
Agreed. We face similar problems. In addition we have the issue where our state does not require contractors to be licensed. Barbers are licensed but not contractors, pool or otherwise. This isn't a slight at barbers, but, it makes no sense that I can contract to you a $200k pool (or $25m school building for that matter) without a license proving my qualifications, but I can't give you a $20 haircut because I don't have a barber's license. Using that same logic, maybe we can fix the health care system by not requiring doctors to be licensed? That would lead to less expensive health care when a person hangs their shingle without having to pay for 12 years of med school. Instead of regulating the drain fittings we put in a pool, how about regulating WHO puts them there?
We as an industry face an uphill battle on the perceptions people have of our industry. I have had a general contractor tell me to my face, "It's just a pool, how hard can it be?". The public's perception of a pool professional is that of a tan guy with a body like Da Vinci's "David", wearing a Speedo while vacuuming the pool. Studies have shown over and over that the pool industry has a public perception only slightly higher than used car sales.
How do we address this? Join and participate in the various associations, educate your local building & health departments, educate other builders in your area, volunteer to speak at homeowner association & city council meetings, use the pamphlets like Wendy mentioned. Become the expert. That will stand you out from other builders in your area.
Comments
We as an industry face an uphill battle on the perceptions people have of our industry. I have had a general contractor tell me to my face, "It's just a pool, how hard can it be?". The public's perception of a pool professional is that of a tan guy with a body like Da Vinci's "David", wearing a Speedo while vacuuming the pool. Studies have shown over and over that the pool industry has a public perception only slightly higher than used car sales.
How do we address this? Join and participate in the various associations, educate your local building & health departments, educate other builders in your area, volunteer to speak at homeowner association & city council meetings, use the pamphlets like Wendy mentioned. Become the expert. That will stand you out from other builders in your area.