POOLCORPPOOL360 PoolService can handle service companies big and small
In the never-ending search for an all-in-one service software solution, POOLCORP, the industry’s leading distributor of pool equipment and supplies with more than 435 worldwide sales centers, has released an option, PoolService, that encompasses many of the most requested software features. It provides integrations unavailable on other platforms — like POOL360, POOLCORP’s online ordering tool, allowing real-time pricing, inventory and ordering at the click of a button as quotes and service orders are built.
“As a distribution company, it’s important to help enable our customers’ success,” says Jim Eisch Jr., senior director, business solutions at POOLCORP. “That’s what drove us to create and provide tools that make their lives easier and help them run their business.”
Eisch notes that since business and rate structures across the industry are so varied, there wasn’t an existing software solution that met all those needs. Building one wasn’t easy either, but POOLCORP created software that could work for any service business, whether it does cleaning, repairs, remodeling, retail or any combination of those.
“The most significant amount of research and time [put into the software’s development] was in the algorithm for recurring scheduling, billing and routing,” Eisch says. “We can support pretty much any recurring pattern that a single pool pro or large service company can dream up. I don’t want to lock our customers into running their business a specific way because they’re using our software. PoolService was built by pool pros, for pool pros.”
PoolService is a tool for in-office managers and in-the-field technicians. It can run an entire service business, with scheduling, routing, billing, marketing and financial reporting and manage a technician’s entire day with mobile water testing, analysis and suggestions, real-time updates to service orders and schedules and it can capture images to document stops. Users can also access a live support team seven days a week. All of that comes with just a $1 per pool serviced per month fee.
Route building is made easy by taking traffic patterns and real-time updates into account, not just looking at the shortest distance between points A and B — plus, technicians can get turn-by-turn directions.
As managers review the daily rubric of who is in or out or held up with an unexpected challenge, they can quickly adjust routes using drag-and-drop features or visualizing it all on a map. The auto-optimize feature can also automatically schedule and route entire teams.
PoolService can handle the headache of billing because customer credit cards are stored, and billing can be processed with the click of a button.
As many in the industry consider moving to a plus-chemicals rate model, PoolService can help take the administrative challenges out of tracking what’s been used at each customer’s pool and what to bill them for. Not only that but technicians can use the readings from the POOL360 WaterTest that integrates with a Lamotte device via Bluetooth or can be manually entered from test strip readings, generating a recommendation for balancing the water. Back at the office is a record of the readings, recommendations and what chemicals are added.
“There’s an automatically checked flag that says billable,” Eisch says. “It’s then added to that customer’s tab.”
Beyond saving time, PoolService helps users make informed decisions with its in-depth reporting. Ensure the business is making money at every stop, see if accounts receivables are in line and know exactly what invoices have been sent and when. All these financial metrics are at your fingertips. It also gives access to the new Service Edge program, which offers integrated marketing services from POOLCORP.
“We can provide these digital tools to local businesses at a fraction of the cost of contracting a local ad agency,” Eisch says. “If you’re on our software program, not only do I want to help you run your business better, but I want to help you generate more traffic to your business.”
For Eisch, the standout feature is the POOL360 integration.
“The ability to not miss out on margins, to check your local branches inventory when making quotes, to automatically bill in the fashion that I want to — I hope those things will entice people to give tech a shot with POOL360 PoolService.”
