The Swimming Pool Sales Process-Secrets Pool Builders Don't Want You To Know

If you thought the research and homework part of pools was fun (ha!), just wait until you start the sales process. Once you request a brochure or sign into a site for information, your name is entered and becomes a sales lead. A lead is a potential customer to the pool companies. Some pay money to sites that furnish them with leads and others use a free brochure to get your information. If you fill in your name, address and phone number, you can guarantee that a sales person is going to call you. A site that promotes information to you about pools, one that is not a specific builder, will typically give your name to multiple builders. If you are ready to move forward with talking to a pool company, this is okay. You are going to have to deal with a salesperson at some point anyway. If you aren't ready to talk with someone, make that clear when they call (and they will-unless they aren't interested in making money).

For the remainder of this section, I am going to refer salespeople as salesmen. Just to make it easier, not that 90% of all salespeople for swimming pools are male (and they are).

Who is calling? Depends on the size of the company. It could be a salesman, the owner of the company, a manager or someone who processes the leads. Typically, they are calling to set up an appointment. Normally, this is a no obligation, free assessment of your project/yard. Although it is free, you should beware that no is not in a salesman's vocabulary. Don't get me wrong, I am not here to bash salespeople or stereotype them. Rather, I think it would be beneficial to you to know what you are in for.

There are many types of salesmen and they go by many different titles. I would be surprised if anyone in this business still goes by the title of salesman. You will see titles like consultant, designer, design consultant, pool specialist, etc. Whatever the title, don't kid yourself. They are what they are. In the pool industry, just about everyone is a salesman. The sooner you realize that, the sooner you get the upper hand. There are, however, true consultants and true designers. These typically do not build pools, rather guide and design one for someone else to build for you.

What to expect once the salesman comes to your house...

He shows up, with a big bag of stuff. Tape measures, computer, presentation books, pictures, brochures, etc. Usually, they should want to go out into the yard right away. Think about it, don't they want to see if you can even fit a pool back there. From there, he will give a presentation showing you how beneficial a pool would be and how beautiful it will be. During this time, he will be feeling you out. He wants to see how serious you are, if you have talked to his competitors and how much money you may or may not want to spend. By the way, hiding that new sports car in the garage doesn't fool him into thinking you are on a tight budget. And yes, he is looking at everything closely trying to assess how much money he can get out of you. That Rolex, that Italian leather sofa, that BMW and that Plasma TV are all dead give aways that you have money or like to spend money on nice things. What does that mean to you? He may inflate the price, in hopes of getting a nice commission or so that he has room to haggle with you. This is also why he wants to try to find out if you are seeing other competitors. If he has been doing his job for any amount of time, he is probably aware of his different competition and their prices. And, there is a broad spectrum with regards to prices.

You should see as many different builders as you can stand. This can be a tedious, boring process. They know that and they bank on that. If you cave into signing a contract because you have had enough of sitting through sales presentations, good luck. The average buyer sees three builders before signing a contract. Those pitches can be an hour or they can be hours. I have known salesmen that have spent 8 hours on a call. The strategy is to stay there until they get the sale. If you aren't willing to put that time in, make it clear and usher them out the door. After all, there is really no reason whatsoever that they need to be there for hours and hours. Expect though, a couple of hours on a first call.

While he is feeling you out, it is time for you to return the favor.

You want to find out how long he has been selling pools. Salesmen in this business come from all walks of life. He could have been selling cars 2 weeks ago, cell phones a week ago and mattresses yesterday. In sales, it is often believed that if you can sell one thing you can sell another. You need to be careful, because this is not a car or a phone, it is a transformation of your property. Experience goes a long way in discovering what works best back there. On the flip side, selling pools for awhile may not necessarily mean that he knows what he is doing in your yard. Usually, a good combination of different jobs, experiences, and time in the business is best. Unfortunately, you are usually at the mercy of the company and how they assign sales leads as to what salesman shows up at your door. You are stuck with whatever he sells you, so make sure that it looks like it is going to work.

Good salesmen will try to downplay or hide their inexperience. Do your part to find out who this guy is and how much he knows about what he is selling you. This can be part of why the construction office hates the sales guy. Like, he sells you something that construction has to clean up.

How do you tell when a salesman is lying? His lips are moving. Sometimes, his lips not moving can speak volumes. It is you versus him. No matter how hard he tries to act like he is on your team and wants to be your best friend, he is there to get paid. Keep this in your mind. Pulling a dog biscuit out of his bag is not him being cute or thoughtful. It is him pulling tricks out of his bag. Everything in that bag, is a trick to get you to become a sale. The sooner you realize that, the better off you will be.

During the presentation, he will talk up the company. Here is where he will try to throw all the great things about how his company builds pools at you. What does any of that mean? Depends. Design awards are just that. Because you won an award for a design doesn't mean that you built the pool fantastically or even that buyer was satisfied. Pool and Spa News ranks the nations top builders. That list is a culmination of numbers. It is based on how many pools they sell and how much money they bring in. Being on that list has nothing to do with how many lawsuits they have, how good customer satisfaction is or anything like that. Doing your homework before the salesman comes to your house plays a big role in knowing what he is really telling you.

There are a lot of good guys out there and there are some real sharks. How he presents himself, speaks volumes. It is his job to sell you a pool and he does not get paid anything if you do not buy. In the process of selling you a pool, his objective is to sell you on the value, the company building it, himself and how you cannot live without his pool. Is he acting like a good guy or is really just a good guy. You have to figure that out. You will be trusting your property, your money and your satisfaction to whatever he is or isn't telling you. If you do not feel comfortable with him, do not deal with him. However, if you like the company, you can always call them and request someone else.

The salesman should have the information from the permit office about requirements in your area. If not, red flag. If he did not take the time to find out what can and cannot be built in your yard, why is he there? Is he familiar with your municipality, has he dealt with them or is this the first time he has ever tried to build a pool there?

You should see if the salesman has any pools in your area that you can go see. If not, why not? Do they just have a display pool at their office or do they have pools in the area that they would be happy to show you. If he has been in the business for awhile, he should have some pools to take you to. If not, this should be a red flag.

I have come across builder's sites where they recommend you get referrals from the potential builder. This is a good idea. Problem here is, do you think that the builder is going to give you a list of referrals that he hasn't made sure are actually going to refer him? Probably not. Are there 3 people on that list or 30? I know of a company that actually pays the people on their referral list when they talk up the company and they get the sale. The complaints sites are good places to balance out the referrals dilemma. Regardless, call the referrals and ask questions that may pry information out of them that they aren't used to giving. How do you like your pool points them in a standard answer the company would want them to give. Did you have any problems during construction or is there anything you would do differently inclines them to give a more truthful answer.



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