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Customer who gets his own work done at retail stores

Posted by Bud Brinkley on March 30, 2011 at 5:50pm in Pool Service Topics
I have a service customer who always seems to get his equipment repairs done at various pool supply stores (leslies etc.) instead of using my services. For example today I pointed out to him that his pump was leaking and the bearings were also bad. I already new that it had a bad impeller and was vibrating abnormally, and corrosion was rampant everywhere. It was an old Pentair 3 hp whisperflow. This pump had multiple problems and it was more cost efficient to him to replace the whole pump, and I quoted him a competitive price. He said he would call me tonight. No word, so I called him and he told me he took it in himself and the store replaced the motor for about $300 cheaper than I quoted for a new pump. I questioned him and they just replaced the motor only and did not address any of the other issues such as a new impeller, seals etc. I feel kinda cheated as I still have to deal with a half-done job and frankly I look bad to my customer also. He did the same thing when I suggested that he get a new robotic cleaner and quoted a good price on one. He went straight to the store that day and they sold him a crappy old stock unit that does a lousy job. He saved $300 dollars but the pool cleaner is too small and does a lousy job. Again I looked bad in the eyes of my customer, because he got it cheaper. This guy is one of my best service customers, and I want to keep him, but I'm getting tired of doing the background footwork on model numbers, checking stock, pricing etc. only to be short changed by the retail store. How would you handle this customer.?I want him to use me for equipment repairs, as that is where I make the most profit. He has it in his head that I am overpriced, but in reality, I can do a far better job than what he is getting from these guys. Anyone ever deal with a situation like this?

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Replies

  • Brian Diglio April 7, 2011 at 5:22pm
    Bud   Its time to re think the qualitys of your so called best customer. If you were to sit down and write out the qualitys of your ideal customer and then rate your customers A B C would this guy get an A? If not spend more time on the A customers and looking for new opportunities.
  • Rick Hamilton April 4, 2011 at 4:48pm
    Get smart, charge, or be history!
  • Bud Brinkley April 4, 2011 at 4:53am
    I highly doubt the diagnose fee would fly around here. It would be nice though for sure. I am just going to have a sit down with the guy and explain my situation. If he continues to get his own work done after that, so be it, but I'll have blinders on when I clean his pool. No me problemo....... LOL
  • Matt Cellura April 4, 2011 at 3:45am

    Bud,

    My suggestion to you is to charge a diagnosis fee, similar to what you would be charged at an auto repair place.  This fee gets the customer the diagnosis, the cost for repair, and all of the information that you are giving away free now.  Should they decide to go with you for the repair, you then credit them the diagnosis fee.  Should they choose to have leslie's do it, then you still get paid for at least a little of your time. 

  • David Rockwell April 4, 2011 at 12:13am

    It boils down to eonomics.There are some pool guys who only clean pools. They rush from pool to pool and rarlely notice problems like you described. What they lack in quality they make up in volume. You obviously take the time & look out for your customer's best interests. You get paid for that time when the customer trusts you & pays you to repair the problem you took the time to diagnose. You either need to have your customers give you  the repair work or get more new customers to just let you just clean their pools. If you have a customer that doesn't trust you, you can't trust him to reward you for caring about his pool.

    Your customer had no qualms about acting in what he thought was his own best interest by getting the cheapest job possible. It is also fair on your part to act in your own best interest, even if it means you dismiss him & find other customers who respect your time expertise, and the right to make a decent living from that.  

  • Wes Burdine March 31, 2011 at 11:01am
    Excellent point Scott. There is a huge difference between cheaper and less expensive. I forgot to mention that.
  • Scott Heusser March 31, 2011 at 7:33am
    When you are having that conversation with your customer you might want to expalin the difference between "cheaper" and "less expensive".  In this case the cleaner is cheaper.  It is an inappropriate equipment selection, therefore perfroming poorly, for less money than the proper cleaner would have been.  You may also want to ask who is more familiar with the pool, you, or Leslie's?  Of course TACT is imperative.
  • Wes Burdine March 31, 2011 at 7:13am

    Bud,

    I have run across customers like this and for me, the best way to handle it is to bluntly ask him if he/she is satisfied with the cleaner.Very rarely will a customer admit they made a mistake by not listening to your advice. But that is not the point. You want them to realize you were looking out for them by recommending, based on your experience, the best product for their application.

    "I realize the cleaner you bought was less expensive, but are you really satisfied with job it is doing? The one I quoted is designed for your pool, not some "off the shelf" cleaner. Had I realized saving the money was more important than the correct cleaner, I would have quoted a lesser model." Of course tact is imperative here. Convey to them you only had their best interest at heart.

    Regarding the pump: Again, I'd ask if he would still like you to complete the repairs on the pump, since all he did was address one part of the pump (the motor). You & I know, with a bad impeller and seals, the pump will soon fail.

     

    If that doesn't work, see Scott's suggestion at the end below. LOL

  • Scott Tarr March 30, 2011 at 7:16pm
    I used to manage two different Leslie's stores and they will offer free labor on motor replacements and changing out parts as long as they sell the replacement motor or cleaner part. Obviously they will sell what they stock and it often times will be an inferior product than what you are quoting. I'm not sure on the best way to overcome this but realize that they are somewhat limited in what they can offer. Besides repairs on motors or cleaners, they can't do a lot of the backyard work that you can offer. I would definitely not give away too much info to your customer as it seems he takes what you say and runs with it. Also, Leslie's sells Hayward products and some robotics like Dolphin. Maybe you can recommend Pentair equipment and at least he can't buy that from them...of course there is always the internet. If all else fails, slashing his tires might be effective...obviously kidding on that last part!! Good luck!!
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