How to sell pool automation to your customers
Automated pool specialists Klereo set out some guidelines to help suppliers selling connected pool products and maintenance services.
Connected pools have a host of advantages for owners and sector professionals. Many suppliers now want to include pool automation to what they sell! But how should they go about selling it? Omar Saaïd, Director of automated pool specialists Klereo, set out some guidelines during the digital event Piscine Connect 2020.
Find out the latest innovations for connected pools
Be fully familiar with all the details about smart pool automation
If you cannot marshal the right arguments, you are unlikely to close the sale. Particularly when discussing a new technology like pool automation which most people suppose very complex.
The key points to know start from the problems to which they provide solutions, all of which are likely to convince potential pool owners. These points are the fundamentals of your sales pitch:
- pool automation guarantees better water quality by optimizing the interworking of all the different pool equipment (filtration, pH management, maintenance products, lighting, etc.).
- pool automation saves money as the filtration cycles, maintenance products and heating are managed strictly in accordance with real pool conditions usage.
- pool automation facilitates pool management, because with a simple click on a smartphone, owners control heating, shutter deployment, etc.
- pool automation makes pools even safer, in particular by intelligent shutter management but also through the possibility of pool monitoring and diagnoses by off-site pool professionals.
The best way to sell any customer on connected pools is storytelling. Involve the client by telling a story (the more personalized the better) which logically leads into the benefits of pool automation. For example: “If you forget to lower your pool heating before going to work, you can use your cellphone to do it – and save money.”
How to boost your pool store or pool showroom sales
What maintenance service should you sell for a connected pool?
A dedicated maintenance hotline can be included in a smart pool agreement, with various degrees of follow-up. Klereo proposes three solutions.
The basic proposal: a web connection between the pool and the pool supplier
According to Omar Saaïd, 80% of current customers do not ask for a web connection. There are, however, a host of advantages to selling this option, even without a maintenance agreement. It allows you to keep a commercial link, be alerted to a pool malfunction, it can be used to request your intervention, improve your service, etc. It is also a means of building additional sales – for example of pool treatment products when you note that your customer’s stocks are running low.
Midrange proposal: critical phase monitoring
More complete than the basic proposal, the startup/hibernation agreement is very popular. Klereo includes in this kind of agreement the monitoring of water chemistry, system status and consumables (salt, chlorine, etc.) at startup. Active connected pool hibernation can include ice monitoring. It is also advisable to include a mid-season maintenance visit.
Full-service proposal
Full-service proposals make the most of pool automation and guarantee water quality through a comprehensive range of services. The pool professional proposes an annual operating schedule, reports and a maintenance agreement for parts, labor and consumables. Owners have nothing to do and the technical system alerts you immediately in the event of a problem.
Connected pools are a fast-growing trend as more and more owners realize just what this technology can do for them. The sooner the sector adopts these solutions, the better! We will also list very soon all the benefits pool automation can bring to professionals. Stay tuned!
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