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Be an ACE contacting your prospects

How to be an ACE with swimming pool customers from Swimming Pool Quotes.

Research shows that speed, diligence and consistency are the key things to remember when you are reaching out to prospects. The sooner you start the follow up process the better and It will take 6 plus contact attempts to maximize your contact rate,

(1) Call the pool customer immediately, leave a voice mail and send an email if you do not reach them.

The voice mails and the emails should be short and to the point as well as helpful and non-committal. Make sure that the pool customer has your best contact information. If you do not reach the prospect on the first call, call again between 30 minutes and 1 hour later. On the second call do not leave another voice mail. Call again between 2 hours and 4 hours, do not leave another vmail. If it is a mobile line, send a text asking if there is a good time to get them their free pool design and information.

Hello XX – This is XX calling you from Swimming Pool Quotes. I am here to provide you with basic information about swimming pools, answer any questions you might have and provide you with a custom estimate and design now or in the future. You can call or text me at this number which is XXX-XXX-XXXX.”

(2) On the next day, call the pool customer in the morning and leave another voice mail, it should be about the same as the first voice mail.

It is important to stay concise and keep the same message. Think of it like a commercial, you need to hear or see a commercial 10-15 times until you start to remember it. On the 2nd day (like the first day) you can call again in the afternoon but do not leave another message.

Continue to try to contact the pool customer on day three through five.

On the third day once and do not leave a message. On the fourth day call once do not leave a message but send another email. On the fifth day call once and leave a voice mail and you can also send a second text message if you have mobile number.

After the fifth day, take a break.

After the fifth day, you should wait between a week and 10 days to call them, leave a message and send an email. You call them back once more the next day, then wait another week and call once.

After that call the customer should go into your drip marketing campaign.

Your drip marketing last continuously. Over 50% of your lead contacts will happen after the prospect joins your drip marketing program.

Since 2004 we have worked with over 3000 swimming pool professionals. Our program is absolutely free for Swimming Pool Quotes pool builders. For more information contact me directly or complete our pool builder information request form.

The fall is the best time to dive into your swimming pool estimate project

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Five reasons why fall is the best time to dive into your swimming pool estimate project.

August through November are the best time of the year to start your research and get a free swimming pool estimate, or a free pool renovation estimate.

fall is the best time to dive into your swimming pool project.

5. Pool builders and manufacturers are clearing out their swimming pool inventories of pools, equipment, materials and features.

Like the car business you can get end of season deals for pools, equipment, parts and features. This is the time of year pool builders are clearing out their warehouses, trying to use all of their materials, pool shells and parts so that they do not have to store them over the winter.

4. Pool builders are looking for a ‘pool project’ or two to fill up their fall schedule.

In the spring and summer there is always a backlog for pool construction. New inquires start to slow down in the middle of August and by the fall there is typically room for a couple more projects before the end of the season. Fall is the best time of the year to get pool quotes when ‘supply’ is greater than ‘demand.’

3. The best swimming pool installation crews are available now.

A good swimming pool installation team is exactly that, a team. This time of year the new people that are not going to cut it are out and the best installers are still out there doing great work. In the fall the talented crews are still working and even the ‘new’ installers have one season of experience.

2. Pool contractors have more time and resources to dedicate to your requests and swimming pool project.

During the busy spring and summer months, the best pool professionals are working practically around the clock. In the fall you can get a lot more attention from them and customized service. You will be able to get more estimates and options to compare and have more responsive swimming pool pros.

1. Your pool will be ready soon.

If you start now, your pool will be ready before you know it. You will get the estimates you need to compare, the feedback from your pool professional in a timely fashion and the best crews to install your pool. If you get a heater, hot tub or live in the south or west, you could still be swimming this year!

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Be an ACE with your swimming pool customers

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What is the ACE program for Swimming Pool Contractors

We have connected over 500,000 pool customers with thousands of local pool contractors for free swimming pool estimates and information. About 150,000 of these customers have built a pool. About 200,000 of these customers are still considering a pool. One of the top 3 reasons they tell us that they have not purchased a pool yet is because “they have not gotten an estimate” or “did not get ‘follow up’ from the pool contractor.”

Pool Customers want to talk to you

The first thing to realize is that even if the customer does not reach out to you, they want you to reach them. When we ask customers, almost all of them ‘appreciate all of pool contractor efforts’ to reach them and some even acknowledge that they have been difficult to reach. The single most important thing you need to do is make actual contact with the pool customer.

Once you talk to a customer on the phone, or share text/emails with the pool customer, you build your business network and increase your chances to build more pools. We designed our ACE follow up process to help you connect with as many pool customer as possible.

Crafting your messaging to pool customers is key to reach them

The ACE program is about crafting and timing your communication with the customer. By carefully crafting your messaging you may increase your prospect to customer contact rate by over 100%. Similar programs used by Fortune 500 companies have also reported this level of success. So we know that you can use this program to get more sales.

Connecting with pool customers is a two way street

In addition to refining your follow up process, With the ACE system, we make sure that our pool customers actively know about you. We message the pool customer right away via email and social media to let them know about your company and how to contact you. Also, our phone and email confirmation team will pitch your company directly to our pool customers on the phone.

The ACE program is absolutely free for Swimming Pool Quotes pool builders. For more information contact me directly or complete our pool builder information request form.

Jeremy Gold
VP, Business Development
Jeremy@swimmingpoolquotes.com
(510) 332-8116 – mobile

The ACE program for Swimming Pool Pros is all about being in the right place at the right time to reach your customers.

Muratic Acid ratio to clean your swimming pool

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What ratio of water to muriatic acid should you use to clean your pool cartridge filters?

According to Watson’s stated the ratio should be 1/2 gallon of muriatic acid for a 35 gallon garbage can full of water. My pool store in Timonium, Maryland says that the grids should be soaked for 12 hours in a liquid of 3 parts water to 1 part muriatic acid. This is very different from the two previously submitted ratios of 1 to 20 and 1 to 70. I don’t think either of those ratios are sufficient to clean the grids adequately.

Best way::
Purchase one to two quarts filter cartridge cleaner. Maybe about $10 – $12 qt. and maybe you can reuse it a couple of times. Use a 32 Gal (approx.) trash can partially fill the trash can — enough to just go over the top of the end support of the grid. Add one qt. of the cleaner. Hose the accumulated debris off the cart. to get as clean as possible using the strongest possible water pressure ( most homes do not have over 90# of water press.) Once the bulk of the dirt is removed put the grid into the trash can of solution and let soak overnight. Next day, spray with jet stream until clean or dirt stops coming off the grid assy. NEVER PUT THE DIRTY GRID IN ANY ACID SOLUTION BEFORE THE ABOVE CLEANING PROCESS. If you do you might as well throw the grid out. You have impregnated the grid fabric with any body oil, cosmetics etc and it will never come out. If after the solution above the grids are still stained you may then briefly use a very mild solution of acid and water mix to remove iron stains and such. These are only cosmetic and don’t seem to affect the performance of the grid. I have done it this way for many years and my grids come out looking as nearly new. And I get a long run out of them. You only need to dip the grids in the acid solution a couple of times briefly.

Answer

THIS IS IMPORTANT: I think I can explain the disparity in the above answers with respect to the varying dilution ratios.

If you are using straight muriatic acid — the same type that you would use to etch concrete, brick, or glass — the MORE DILUTE ratio is probably correct. “Real” muriatic acid is about 30% hydrochloric acid, and rather dangerous stuff. (So strong that my pool guy — even though he sells the stuff — refused to give me verbal advice on its use. “Just read the label” he said… to limit is liability! Alas, there are no “pool filter cleaning” instructions on the side.)

He also suggested a “safer” product — labeled “filter cleaner”. This was mildly acidic, and mostly detergents. Its label suggested a 1-to-3 ratio of product to water. So I propose that accounts for the disparity reported above.

Then, back to “how to use muriatic acid”: I suggest that either dilution will work, and that the less dilution you use (say 1-to-20) then the soaking time will be less…. and the more diluted solution (say 1-to-70) might be more appropriate for 12 or 24 hours. But… the exact “recipe” is something I’m still in search of…

Original post is here

Compliments from Swimming Pool Quotes customers

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Swimming Pool Quotes is as awesome as this shot

At Swimming Pool Quotes, we only do one thing – Get you the best swimming pool estimates, designs and information for free. Swimming Pool Quotes works with swimming pool pros and swimming pool consumers across the country. Here are some recent compliments we received on our free swimming pool estimate service from happy customers across the country…

Wow! Your service is great. I have 5 appts set up between now and Monday with different builder/suppliers. They [are all] legit sources…so…thanks again for performing what has been a vital service for me.

Best regards,

Steve (California)

We have already had the work done and are very happy with the job.

Curtis (Midwest)

We did receive three out four responses—and the three we’re all very helpful and responsive. Thank you for good service. I will recommend your site to others.

Toni (West)

Thank you Janet for the follow up I do not need further assistance. I received that quotes I requested promptly your service was great.

Jeana (East)

I was contacted within 24 hours by two contractors and have already received a quote back. Will definitely recommend your service to my friends.

Ken (Florida)

Great pool renovation in Highland Park

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Pool renovation by Platinum Pools in Illnois

This renovation was completed by our friend James Atlas of

Platinum Pools
300 East Industrial Lane
Wheeling, IL 60090

Phone: 847-537-2525 Fax: 847-537-3857

Business Hours:
8:00am to 5:00pm Monday-Friday from April 1-September 30
8:00am to 4:00pm Monday-Friday from October 1-March 31

We pride ourselves on being available for our clients around the clock. During business hours, we are available via phone, live chat, or e-mail. Should you have a non-emergency inquiry after business hours, please feel free to send us an e-mail, and we will respond immediately on the next business day. If you are a current client, and require immediate assistance, please use our 24-hour emergency service line to speak to a live operator. (847) 537-2525. Emergency service calls requiring dispatch of a technician carry an Emergency Service Fee.

Pool contractors using the web to reach pool customers

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good phone call to a pool customer

Since 2004 Swimming Pool Quotes has connected over 500,000 pool customers with local pool pros for free swimming pool estimates, quotes and information. In that same time we have worked with thousands of pool contractors. We have learned a few very important lessons on connecting pool customers with pool contractors.

Most pool customers and pool contractors are hard to reach. The way to connect with pool customers in changing fast thanks for the internet and social media. It is important for both the pool contractor and pool customer to reach out quickly and often with as many tools as you have in your arsenal. You need to have lots of places where customers can leave you messages.

(1) Make sure that your website is a great experience for customers to leave you messages and make sure that it looks good on mobile. Almost 50% of web traffic is now mobile, if your website is not optimized for mobile it is not working.

(2) Send emails and make a call as soon as you can. Then make sure that you have a process set up for follow up emails and calls over the next 1-3 weeks, then every month or so. The Swimming Pool Quotes team will help you design a winning follow up campaign.

(2) Make sure that you have at least some presence on the social web. These are the most important in order.

A Facebook profile. This is important because, well just about everyone is one Facebook and Facebook profiles are starting to show up in more and more search results.
A facebook page, this is similar to a Facebook profile but is optimized for causal visitors to ‘like’ and share your page. Down the road have a good Facebook page will make it easier for you to reach out to past prospects.
Youtube – People love video and people love you tube. If you have any video you should set up a you tube channel and set it out there. It is not doing anyone any good sitting on your phone.
Pinterest is about pictures and getting a pool is about pictures. You should post as many of your pictures on pinterest as possible.
Tumblr is a blog (like this thing you are reading now). Like pinterest, tumblr is a lot about pictures.
Twitter is like emailing but to a lot of people at once and only with 140 characters. Eventually, Twitter might be number 1 on this list, For now there are just not that many pool customers actively on the service.
Google plus is like Facebook only run by the most important company online, Google. While not a lot of people use Google plus directly, Google is working on that and doing lots of things that will continue to make Google plus more important.

What is the cost to build pool

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what is the cost to build pool with a feature like this?

cost to build pool

The cost to build a pool depends on where you are building the pool. Swimming pool pricing vary a lot depending on where you live. This has to do with your local and State rules, local economy and soil condition. This is one of the reasons that only you local pool pro or pool contractor is best and most reliable source for information and estimates.

If you live in rocky area you might require more work for clear the lot and install the swimming pool in your yard. If you live in extremely sandy areas or on a slope you might additional support for your pool. The other big factors in determining the cost to build pool is the quality, size and features. The nationwide average for in ground pool construction cost is about $45 per square foot. This price can range up or down depending on your location, the quality of your pool and features. Quality is the NUMBER one driver or cost. Vinyl, fiberglass and concrete (gunite pool) pools will be about the same price for the same quality.

Some basic cost to build pool estimates.

* Basic installed pool package including pool, equipment and pool deck: $15,000 – $25,000

* Finished pool with maybe one feature like rock wall, slide, diving board: $18,000 to $28,000

Basic Grecian shaped pools tend to cost less.

The cost of an inground pool can depends size and shape. A simple shape tends to bring down the cost of inground pools.

* Nicely finished, custom style pool with features: $25,000 – $45,000

the average cost for a pool like this can be in the $25k to $45k range

* Fully custom, high quality in ground pool and outdoor living space: $35,000+

the cost to build a pool and outdoor living space can be in the $45k to $1M range.

4 favorite home swimming pools gifs

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Here are a few of our favorite videos and pictures of folks having fun in their home swimming pools

The first one is our favorite pool jump ever. This guy makes a great backwards jump into his home swimming pool and lands right on the floating chair. A perfect ten swimming pool entry.

perfect home swimming pool entry. A perfect 10 – at least his friend says so.

Every night the pool owners would come home to find a wet pool deck. They thought that the neighborhood kids were jumping the pool fence during the day to use this beautiful home swimming pool with a great water slide, rock wall and spillover hot tub. They were wrong. This was the culprit.

dog having fun in home swimming pool

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This is swimming pool team work at its best. This is a great group of kids playing in the backyard around the swimming pool and trampoline.

great basketball shot in home swimming pool

Can you figure this one out. This is a crazy swimming pool. Can you figure out how they did this?

how did they do this? The swimmers are at the bottom of the pool and they are not getting wet?

We LOVE New York – Happy Patriot’s Day

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Drawing New York

a deep cut heals with a scar. A scar is a strong bond, and eternal mark of remembrance. Below are some happy moments in the BIG Apple. God Bless NYC, USA and us all!