Pool Industry Time-Saving Hacks - Mondays, Australia, News Zealand

On this episode of the Talking Pools Podcast, Lee Salisbury, Shane from Auckland, and Nick from Brisbane dive headfirst into one of the biggest challenges facing pool professionals everywhere: time management. 

From subscription fatigue to overloaded schedules, the crew discusses how pool service companies can streamline operations, eliminate wasted effort, and create smarter workflows without adding more stress—or more monthly software fees. 

Nick shares how he has transformed Buffer Zone into a centralized operational hub for his business, using it for everything from technician scheduling and supplier management to equipment manuals, staff notes, training resources, and client communication. The conversation explores how keeping everything inside one ecosystem reduces missed jobs, forgotten tasks, duplicated subscriptions, and operational chaos. 

The episode also explores creative “workarounds” within software systems—showing listeners how to use scheduling tools for personal appointments, admin blocks, vehicle servicing reminders, supplier pickups, and inventory management. Shane discusses his previous use of the Timely calendar system and how similar functionality can be recreated directly inside Buffer Zone to simplify operations and reduce reliance on external apps. 

Lee takes the conversation further into productivity systems, sharing how tools like Google Workspace, Google Calendar, Google Tasks, Google Forms, Google Drive, and automation integrations can dramatically improve efficiency for pool service companies. The discussion highlights real-world examples of live technician reporting, automated spreadsheets, winter repair prospecting, quote generation, inventory forecasting, and field-to-office communication systems that save hours every week. 

The team also discusses password management, shared staff access, cloud-based documentation, technician accountability, and how centralizing information can protect businesses when employees leave or systems fail. 

Most importantly, this episode focuses on the philosophy of continuous improvement—making small operational changes that create massive long-term gains. Whether you’re a solo operator or managing multiple technicians, the crew emphasizes that investing time into better systems today can save enormous amounts of time, stress, and money tomorrow. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Good afternoon, good evening, good morning, good whatever time of the day it is you are listening to, Mondays Down Under on the Talking Pools podcast. Hi, my name's Lee Salisbury, and I'm the pool shock coach. And I am joined by my co-host today, Shane from Auckland, New Zealand. Hey Shane, how are you?

SPEAKER_01 0:18

Very good, Lee. Thank you for asking and yourself.

SPEAKER_03 0:21

I am very well. It is starting to get a bit chilly. I do have my UG boots on underneath the desk. So Do you have Ugg Boots in in New Zealand, Shane? Surely you do.

SPEAKER_02 0:31

We do, and I'm sure Sammy would love a pet.

SPEAKER_03 0:34

Mother's Day was last Sunday. Where were you?

SPEAKER_02 0:37

It was. I know, and I'm naughty me.

SPEAKER_03 0:46

Right there. And of course, we're joined by Nick from Brisbane. Hey Nick, how are you?

SPEAKER_00 0:51

Yeah, good thanks, Lee. How are you?

SPEAKER_03 0:53

I am very well, thank you. And did your daughters and you remember your lovely wife on Mother's Day?

SPEAKER_00 0:59

Of course. Of course, I ran to the shop at Saturday afternoon, like every good bloke should, find something, what was left on the shelves. But no, she had a good day, or I think she had a great day and gave her the day off. So yeah, no, it was good.

SPEAKER_03 1:12

Very good. One of my sons did come back Monday afternoon after work with flowers and chocolates for Mother's Day and said, sorry, I was a bit light on yesterday. He gave me a very nice card with beautiful words in it. But he actually said that it pays to be a day late because I just got these both at half price. So I can't I can't uh criticize him for that, that's for sure. Okay, so today we are going to address the never-ending topic of how do we save time? How do we work smarter and not harder with the systems that we've got in place and without actually having to pay more? Like I don't know about you guys, but I am so over subscriptions. Like I subscribe to this and that and everything in between. And they add up. So if I can find something that actually helps reduce my subscription costs, I will gladly look at it. God knows I'm probably enrolled in far too many subscriptions that I actually don't use. I need to find all the ones I don't use and cancel them. But what about you guys? How are you going with organizing your day-to-day operations?

SPEAKER_02 2:27

Yes, I'm with you on that one, Lee. Subscription, subscription, subscription, unfortunately. Um one that we are about to terminate, so to speak, was a calendar scheduling software that we used when we started the business. And we've obviously been using Buffer Zone for maybe the last 18 months. Why would you pay extra when you can just fine-tune something that BufferZone can do, or you can link something else with Buffer Zone? So yep, I'm with you on that one. I need to start working smarter and not harder. I don't know if you remember a few weeks ago we had a conversation that I had a week, or planned to have about a week. I was just going to do a load of paperwork and tidy everything up. I started with my Google photos. I think I did deleted a million photos, and then two days later it the phone started going, which is not a bad thing, but it's just been going ever since. So sometimes it's easier to say working smarter and not harder, but I think for a lot of us, we do work harder and not smarter. And yeah, I think any no matter what podcast you listen to or anything to do with the pool industry, as long as you can take at least one tip away from anything that you hear out of out of any show, it's going to be a bonus. So um we're hoping, or I'm hoping, that we can speak to the king of Buffer Zone today, and he is going to give us some really, really good tips on how to work smart, especially me on how to work smarter and not harder, because it's Nick, you've been using Buffer Zone for a while now, and you by the signs of things, you've had a lot of time to play with everything, or pretty much everything in BufferZone. So it'd be good to hear some of the things that you really recommend and you know how to make things easier for people out there, so to speak.

SPEAKER_00 4:48

The first thing I would say is I definit I definitely don't like working hard. So uh saying I don't like to work hard, I have to work smart. And um when when we first introduced Buffer Zone, it was um a completely different operating system. But you know, what I wanted to do and tried to do and still try to do is just to streamline everything. As you said, if you've got a subscription for this and a subscription for that, and you're changing in between two different programs that don't talk to each other, well, something's gonna get missed in that translation eventually. And you know, if it's a job or a customer or a lead or a quote, um, you know, it could be plenty of money that you're losing. Yeah, I started just wanting to get everything I could in there. So what would you typically use your calendar for?

SPEAKER_02 5:44

Um, the Yeah, this particular calendar, it was great for putting that they call it busy times on the calendar. So if you can imagine you've got your week schedule with all your jobs going down vertically, your day-to-day jobs, you could just click literally on that calendar anywhere. It would open up a box and you could type in, for instance, doctor's appointment nine o'clock. So it didn't have to be work-related, you could literally put any form of notes into it and put it anywhere in the calendar. So it was very easy to move things around and you could see everything, and you've got this big grey box as a busy time. That was probably the the key thing that I kept because I would go to a job for instance, and if there was a part I would need, or if there was anything or a phone call that would happen, I would literally just open open up uh it was called timely. It was actually a hairdressing calendar. Say no more. But it worked very well. So you could literally open up at this busy time, you just put in um 40 mil union needed, for instance, and then just save, and it was very fast. When I come home in the evening, you know, I could drag it over to the following morning where I'm loading up the van, and it was it was very easy to do. And I think when we were having a little conversation about this, Nick, you were saying that there's um there's a little thing in buffer zone for no, which I just completely forgot all about. So thank you for reminding me.

SPEAKER_00 7:25

It's just a a really handy feature that I use that once again gets everything within the same app that's the same ecosystem. So, you know, I'm not having to go back through and look at my notes on my phone like and and forgetting that or forgetting to check that or putting a note somewhere else, or you know, like the bad old days, writing it on the back of my hand or my knee because the permanent marker would come off my hand going in the pool. So the knee was the next best thing. But it's just it's just there. It's nice and easy to go into it and say it could be as simple, well, I would use it as simple as like, you know, is I need zip ties, or I need to replace that bit of stock on there, or um, you know, bring the customer or that type of thing. Having it all in one place is is just yeah, so beneficial. Definitely, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 8:12

I was gonna say, I think every technician has probably suffered with that over the years. Like you go, oh, I've used the last of that, I will remember to restock it tomorrow like for tomorrow. Or and you get through the day and you've used quite a few things. Yes, you go through the normal restock of of your your standard chemicals, but those odd little bits and pieces that you don't use very often, that you've used the last of out of your vehicle, guaranteed you will not replace it or you will not, if you don't write it down, you will not restock it. And guaranteed the next job you go to, you need that damn thing and you've forgotten to do it. So it's so true, Nick. And like these are all frustrations that we can avoid so easily just by creating good habits of using things like notes. So interesting, Shane, though, that the calendar you were using was timely, but really you can do that with a lot of different calendars, whether it be Google Calendar or Microsoft Office or anything like that. They all have calendars that allow you to do something similar, maybe more appointment-oriented. Um, I know Google Calendar allows me to put in busy time and I can do notes and that sort of thing, but it's still an external one. It's still a separate calendar. And if you can do it within, as Nick said, the same ecosystem, so beneficial. I unfortunately have to run two calendars. With my pool shop coach, I run Google Calendar. Awesome. And with my IRL hat on, I have to use Microsoft because that is part of the Sparza ecosystem. But I have connected the two. So my Google won't talk to Microsoft, but my Microsoft will talk to Google. So I get all my appointments and calendar bookings from Microsoft to come over to my Google Calendar. So at least I do have it in the one ecosystem. So sometimes you've got to find workarounds. So we were talking earlier about a possible workaround with Buffer Zone. So Nick, I know you said you have a site and job types that we can use. And I want to say this to our listeners out there while we're talking about buffer zone, because all three of us are familiar with it, or one more so than the other two of us, but the other two of us are catching up fast. There's workarounds with every system, and it might not quite do exactly what you want, but you can find a way of managing it in a slightly different way. So what works for you, Nick?

SPEAKER_00 10:47

So we we have just about everything. I tried to get everything in there. So as simple as a a delivery, a pickup from a supplier, a delivery to a customer, a car service, a meeting with the sales rep, all of those things. And because it's all in the one system, what that means is you can have the address in there. So you can use the map feature to get into the you know, take you straight to the to there. You can set up different supporters with it. So let's say you've got two technicians that need to go somewhere on the one day for training. Well, it's a system that they're familiar with as well, that they know how to use to get in there. Notes, all of those things, it's just all there. Makes it hopefully foolproof.

SPEAKER_03 11:33

When we were talking earlier, so for those listeners out there that are using Buffer Zone, what we were talking about was actually creating a site called BusyTime. And then you can you don't necessarily have to have an address on it. Maybe it's you're going to use it for personal things, training things, things that don't have a location that you need a map for, but we'll just call it busy time. And then you can have job types. So just as you would have job types for your standard service work and repairs and installation, that sort of stuff, we create job types around appointment types or time block types that you need. So whether that might be admin time or training time, personal um appointment, whatever that might be. Might be a hairdresser's appointment. But um, we can create um like blocks of time. And that's really what you're trying to do, isn't it, Shane? Is just to block out time so that you know that that time's allocated to something.

SPEAKER_01 12:33

Exactly. Yeah, that's exactly what it is.

SPEAKER_03 12:36

So um a quick workaround that helps keep all your calendar in the one location. I know previously I've used Liqu, the water test program from Focus Chemicals, and we used to do something similar. So I would add a a a job called vehicles, and we would just uh as I know Nick does, allocate an appointment time to vehicles being serviced or getting new tires or whatever the case was. So yeah, we used to use it for that too. So it's finding a workaround. The good thing is though with buffer zone is they don't charge you for those jobs, like it's you pay for the user, but you don't pay for the jobs, as I understand it. So that means you can put as many of those little tasks and time blocks and busy times in your calendar as you like to help your your processes and uh your scheduling, and it won't cost you anything extra. So thanks, Pete. So Nick, do you have any other time-saving things that we can share with Shane?

SPEAKER_00 13:41

Well, I was gonna ask Shane. Do you Yes? Or Shane specifically. Um do you do anything with like the suppliers in the system? Like, you know, you have any any of their details in there or anything anything?

SPEAKER_02 13:55

So it's it's literally what is being transferred over from Xero. So obviously zero and buffer zone, they sync to each other, and whatever is zero under our suppliers, um, is literally just migrated over. So it's pretty much just the basics, the company name, some of the addresses are in there, and a contact detail. That's it.

SPEAKER_00 14:20

We use it, um we use it for a lot of record keeping, I would say that for little things like let's say price lists or old price lists, or maybe some agreements between us and the supplier, any relevant training, you know, videos, attachments, logins for portals, um, because everyone just about has a portal these days, and I cannot remember my password for any of them. So having it in there that's easily accessible. Yeah, all of those things just saves time looking for that old price book, or um, you know, looking for a photo of something, it's it's just there. Or you know, what was I paying for that last year and how astronomically has it gone up this year? You know, it's just it's just there. So taking full advantage of that is just a massive time saver for me.

SPEAKER_02 15:09

Right, I see. Yeah, I'm just looking at it now actually, and um, yeah, we can see that you can upload images and files. Can you, just out of curiosity, can you do that on clients as well, Nick, if you wanted to um upload a chlorinator manual, for instance?

SPEAKER_00 15:27

Yep. Yep. So yeah, we've got um, yeah, different chlorinator manuals. Um, yeah, just just so many anything to do with that manufacturer is is there, you know, sales rep's numbers, or you might have a you know, you might get a really good contact with their accounts department. They know what they're doing. I I'm gonna ring and ask for her, you know, or or him, you know. So those type of things are handy to have in there as well. So, you know, you might remember it, but you know, if you've got one of the employees that wants to jump in and you know make a phone call on your behalf, it it's there.

SPEAKER_03 16:02

And that's the important thing to remember is anything that's in there is accessible to everyone who has a login. So just remembering obviously not to put anything that's too sensitive in there. But hugely beneficial. And we can even go one step further because BufferZone actually now allows you to actually sell an access subscription to your clients. So if you've got commercial clients and you want to give them access to their file in your system, there's a fee per month, which you can then on-sell to the client, of course. But then that client actually has the ability to put in their own test results. So for a commercial facility, hugely beneficial. And if you've already uploaded up their user manuals for their equipment, their warranty information, all of that sort of stuff, hugely helpful as a resource for them as well. You can even create like the Pete's got flow zone as well. Flow zone's fantastic for commercial facilities that want a standalone that's only theirs. Um and look, it's got all the bells and whistles and then some fantastic program. But the buffer zone one just is I suppose is just a smaller access point for that one pool, for that one client. And allows them to access all their documentation, all their test history. They can see when you've tested it, you can see when they've tested it. It actually is really helpful. Nick, are you using that? I think you said you were.

SPEAKER_00 17:35

Yeah, yeah. So we've got a few customers that are on that. Um and yeah, what what it allows us to do is to review those tests first thing in the morning, um, and we can correlate that against the online portal for our um for their chemical dosing system. Um and we can see what they're actually getting there, all in the system, and then what notes they've done. So he'll put a note in if he's put phosphate remover or or turned the pH off or done something like that because he's added buffer. Yeah, and it just gives it gives him a lot more confidence that hey, we're there um to look after it, and we're there if he has, you know, any strange results. It gives the option, he can either we can give him the option to have access to the water test results if we think he is to be trusted with those, or he just asks us for advice.

SPEAKER_03 18:28

Fantastic resource and really adds another level to that connection with your client. They become reliant on it, they trust you, they've connected they're connected with you. If they leave you and go somewhere else, they're gonna lose all that. So really helps um cement that that bond. Really, really helpful. So yeah, Shane, I would definitely start uploading all of those documents. And I used to do it with our clients as soon as they came on board. So we'd go, oh, they've got this talent, they've got this clon chlorinator, let's upload that manual. Oh, they've got that pump, let's upload that manual. And then that way they're automatically there right from the get-go for our own technicians. So if they need to know how to program a chlorinator, if they need to know how to change the variable speeds on that three-speed pump, that's all accessible. Use technology to your advantage. Like there are so many benefits that can come with it. Yes, you have to invest a little bit of extra time at the start to get it to where you want. I know Nick spent probably hundreds of hours, if not more, hundreds of thousands of hours.

SPEAKER_00 19:39

Probably not quite that many, but I've been lucky to be put in the uh be able to be in the position to do it. And it pays, you know, dividends now. You know, I remember our earlier days when we were in a card system and you know, customers, you know, unfortunately we're getting, you know, uh the wrong chemicals or too much or not enough, or I wouldn't have recommended that type of chemical for this system. But you know, it's so locked down now that yeah, it's uh I I don't have to be there and review every test. So you know I can be confident that it's going to be done the correct way.

SPEAKER_03 20:14

Yeah. Nick has definitely put in a lot of legwork. There's a lot of background information that sort of says, well, if A is happening, is B happening or C? And depending on those, it'll take you down a different tangent and give you an answer that is tailored exactly to the parameters of that water test and the condition of the water, like so many different things that sort of looks at all the variables and then goes, here's your answer. And Nick's help make all of that possible. So it's an application.

SPEAKER_00 20:44

So I didn't create it. I didn't create it, so I can't take all the credit, but tried to hack the system as best I could.

SPEAKER_03 20:52

Find workarounds. You've you find ways to make that system work to your to an end degree and to your benefit, and uh you certainly have done that with that system. So, but I suppose especially for our listeners that are not using Buffer Zone, we need to talk about other time-saving things that they can really use in their business to help shortcut things. Do you guys have anything that you wanna suggest to our listeners before I jump in?

SPEAKER_02 21:25

Yeah, they'll tumble we go past then. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:29

All right. So let's jump into Google. Let's jump into Google Workspace. It's something that a lot of people are using and probably aren't using as well as they could. Nick, I know you use Google. Yes?

SPEAKER_00 21:42

No, we we don't really use it. No, but you did speak quite highly of it. So I am interested to hear. Um, you know, saving me some more time.

SPEAKER_03 21:52

And Shane, you're you use Google Workspace or Google?

SPEAKER_00 21:55

Yeah, we do.

SPEAKER_02 21:56

Uh we have we do have a Google account. We only uh Use a few things on Google, but when it comes to what you're about to suggest, me when it comes to tasks and things like that, then no, we don't we don't work on any of those at the moment.

SPEAKER_03 22:12

So obviously there's free versions of Google and then there's a subscription level of Google Workspace. I have to say I do use Google Workspace. I think it costs me around $200 a year. I also pay Microsoft as well. So here we go down the subscription rabbit hole. Um and I probably need to cancel Microsoft, but anyway, when you're using a Windows computer, it's hard not to use Microsoft. But anyway. But I was always a Microsoft Office person. I was always Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office for emails. So yes, it was a very tough pill for me to swallow when somebody actually said to me, you need to go Google. And now once I've gone Google, I can't go back. So there are some really great, and I know there's probably the ability to do this in Microsoft. So if you are entrenched with Microsoft Office, then do look into what you can do with that because chances are you can probably do something very similar. But Google uh workspace, I use Google uh Gmail, I use Google Calendar, and I use tasks. I also use Google Docs, Google Drive. Google Drive is awesome. And it means basically because all of my information is on the cloud, not on my computer, if my computer fails, I only lose what's on my computer. I can plug in, log into Google, and everything will repopulate as it was, my tabs on my browser, my my bookmarks, my page saves, all of those sort of things just come bouncing back. So that was a big selling feature for me. And I understand now Microsoft does something similar. But I love the fact that when I'm in Gmail, I can actually drag an email onto my tasks list and it will create a task for me. It will even embed that email into my task so that when I go into my tasks, I don't have to reopen my Google, my Gmail, I don't have to search through the list of emails. It's automatically tagged and flagged in that task. And I can click on it and it opens the email and I get exactly the same information. So really, really helpful. And Google Calendar is great because you can send invites, you can do Google Meets. So we could be doing this Zoom session via Google Meets instead of via Zoom. But then Zapia talks really well to it too. And Zapia is an AI integration that's it connects things. I'm not technically savvy. Look, I'm really not a computer geek, but it actually connects and transfers information between platforms that might not necessarily be connected. So the automations that you can set up to get automatic responses, to automatically collect information. And then don't even get me started on Google Forms. I love Google Forms. It actually you can create a form that you can send to customers, or better yet, I created one that I use with my coaching clients that actually allows them to almost do a site check of all the equipment, what needs replacing, what needs repairing, just to help identify all the things that we should be doing through winter and hopefully putting money in our pockets. And not only does it complete the form, but it then populates it to a live spreadsheet. So if your technician is out in the field and is filling that information out and it's done and dusted, he's clothed, closed that form, it is automatically on the spreadsheet you've connected to it. The girls in the office, and I say girls, sorry, girls or guys, because Nick's office is full of guys and they're all very capable, but it goes that information goes live to that spreadsheet. And your office staff can immediately see what needs to be done on that job. I just love the fact that it collates them all. So from a winter service list, let's say, if you're trying to do some prospecting on the jobs that you've got to do in winter, it actually is collating it all in the one spot. And then from that, you can assess and go, oh, look, I've got 12 people who need new filters. Let's go to that supplier and go, hey, I want to buy, I'm looking at buying 12 filters. What deal can you do me? Can you give me free media? Can you give me buy five, get one free? I don't know. Sometimes they are very generous and do those sort of things. So, but it gives you really solid information on what to do. And it also then gives the staff in the office the ability to make do quotes instantly that can send them straight out to the client. Hey, our technician has been on site today, has identified these issues that need to be rectified over winter. Here's an offer for you, or here's a quote. And yeah, just makes things so much simpler and just bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. That's what we need to do. We need to be efficient, we need to be effective, we need to use our time effectively. Sorry, I went on a bit of a rant then.

SPEAKER_00 27:34

We do, we do a similar sort of thing, but we're getting the technicians to write it down on a piece of paper, which I review. So, you know, that's taking time. If I can, you know, bypass a couple of steps and get it all self-populated, then yeah, it's a no-brainer.

SPEAKER_03 27:50

Yeah. Um, the fact that it's on a spreadsheet where you've got a full list of all the and you could have six different technicians, as I know you've got six technicians, Nick. You could have six different technicians populating this form at the same time on six different sites, or actually, let's say they're doing six a day. So let's say 36 different sites in the day, and it's all going to one spreadsheet. And to have it all in one location is just hugely beneficial. And you can really then fine-tune the service that you're delivering, the offerings that you're putting out there can really give you some um great resource of information for stock that you need to order, action that you need to take, maybe identifying something that you should be making product of the month, or things like that. So, yeah, some really good resources there. But I want to jump in on something that Nick said earlier, which is completely on a different topic, and it's not Google related at all. And that is, Nick, why haven't you signed up to Last Pass? I told you about it.

SPEAKER_00 28:58

That is uh very, very good point. I do. I'm gonna write that down now. I'll make it my mission to have that done by next week.

SPEAKER_03 29:08

Next week. I'll how I'll hold you accountable. That's what I'm great for at the pool shop coach. I hold people accountable. You've got to make progress. And look, Shane, you were saying before about making progress. And it can be very overwhelming, I find with a lot of my coaching clients. It's very overwhelming not knowing where to start. And often when we don't know where to start or things seem really big, we don't start at all. I put my hand up and say guilty as charged, I've been there. But it's all about Kaizen. And you those people with little kids out there, kids that have gone through the primary school network, Kaizen is often implemented in primary schools, and it's a little bit of improvement. Like though like the 1%. 10% one do everything 1% better, and they all add up. Uh so it's all about putting one foot in front of the other. One of my favorite sayings is you'll get run over even if you're on the right track, if you just sit there. If you don't make movement, you're gonna get run over. You need to not only be on the right track, but you need to make movement. So you need to make progress. Otherwise, if nothing changes, nothing changes. So LastPass, as I shared that with Nick, LastPass is a password saver. And so you can buy a Last Pass subscription. Yes, it's another subscription. We call Nick the Queen of Buffers, it's the King of Buffers, and I'll be the Queen of Subscriptions very shortly. But it's a subscription that is a password keeper. And what I love about this is you can have five users. So with my subscription, I've I've bought it five users. So it's me, my husband, and my mum, and two of my boys can use it. The third one doesn't use technology very much. He's he likes his analog phone and he likes um to keep a little black book with all his passwords in. So we he's quite unusual anyway. Works for him. And of course, my mum, she's in her 70s, her memory's not great. So password remembering is really hard. And guaranteed, everybody in this household always goes, Mom, what's the password for? And it's usually a TV login or a Wi-Fi password or whatever it is. So I'm the keeper of passwords in my house. Does this ring true with anybody else? And LastPass is a password keeper that you can share passwords with other people. They don't necessarily have access to see the password. You can grant that, you can grant access to even edit. But the beauty is, so if they reset a password, let's say, um, because often with banking sites and things like that, you've got to reset a password over every six months. If you have to reset your password and you're sharing it with somebody else, and this is what rang true for me before with Nick, if they've changed a password, somebody in the system somewhere has changed a password for that supplier and not updated that system, or people have got it autosaved or however it is, the whole system fails. Whereas with LastPass, it draws the password from LastPass every time you access that site. So you put in your master password. That's the only password you have to remember, is your personal master password. And then it autofills all of the passwords for you. You can even save credit card details in there, passport details, insurance details, all sorts of things. So it's a really good resource and central location of things, but you each have individual accounts, and then you elect to share logging details. And so you might actually create a file. I've got a file that I've created that's called family. So they're all the family passwords. And then I've got another one that's called business, and they're all the business ones. So you can separate them and only share them with certain people. It works really, really well. And the one subscription covers everybody. So I would suggest if you're a business out there and you are sharing passwords, you need this. Because what happens is if a staff member leaves and they've got still got access to your passwords, maybe. So with this, you can very quickly turn it off, you can um deactivate their account, you can do all of those sort of things as the admin person. So some really good benefits there. So Nick, you need to get on to last pass. So that's last L-A-S-T pass P-A-S-S.

SPEAKER_00 34:03

I've written it in my little book, my little blue book. It's not black, it's blue, sorry. But uh I've got it down there.

SPEAKER_03 34:10

For the pool industry, it should be b blue, shouldn't it?

SPEAKER_00 34:13

Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_03 34:14

So yeah, there's some great hacks out there. We're probably running a little long to go into any more. But I would really look into what you've got, what you're trying to achieve, what's your bottlenecks, what's really eating up your time, and then what can you implement to actually make it a little bit easier? What can you shortcut? We find workarounds with different programs, like we have with BufferZone today. We've talked about a couple of workarounds there. With Shane, with Timely. Now you don't need Timely anymore. We create a workaround in in BufferZone for you.

SPEAKER_01 34:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:55

So, and of course, with Google Calendar, Microsoft, whatever you're using, there's some really good time-saving things there if you use all the tools. And if you're not sure, just Google it. Like, how do I do this? There's guaranteed to be a YouTube video on it somewhere that'll tell you how to do it. Um, because chances are if you're feeling the pain somebody else has. And hey, if in doubt, ask chat. Ask chat GPT. You might be amazed at what it knows. What did you say before, Nick? I need to ask it to do an unhinged boot.

SPEAKER_00 35:30

Yeah, um, ask it um to do like a short bio, an unhinged bio about yourself. So yeah, it will go in and sort of, you know, it will obviously a recording taking notes of everything that you've asked it. So yeah, it does give it a little bit of a blurb about you specifically. And I would be interested to see what yours says. Thanks.

SPEAKER_03 35:52

Might have to try that.

SPEAKER_00 35:54

Pleasure to everybody, Nick, don't worry. Yeah. The link will be in the comments.

SPEAKER_03 35:59

Uh all right. Well, I hope we've inspired our listeners today to take some action, to find those hacks or create those hacks. Think outside the box a little and see what you can create that can help make your day easier. And if you need any help, you can always reach out to me and I can try and point you in the right direction. It's Lee at thepoolshotcoach.com. But thank you guys. I really appreciate your time today. It's always great. I enjoy our I enjoy our chats.

SPEAKER_01 36:32

Me too, Lee.

SPEAKER_03 36:33

And Nick, you can keep the title of King of Buffer Zone, because I think you really deserve it.

SPEAKER_00 36:39

So I liked the Queen of Buffer Zone. Maybe that would also suit.

SPEAKER_03 36:44

It was so funny when Shane said that for those who are not watching us on video. When Shane said the King of Buffer Zone, Nick actually looked over his shoulder like this. But yes, we were. We were meaning him. But it's just because he has taken a program and used it so thoroughly. And you can do the same in your business, listeners. So don't be afraid to have a go. Invest your time. So while the time up front to do any of these hacks might be a bit of an investment, might be time that you think you haven't got, the time saving down the track can be absolutely massive. So it's worth investing the time. Yeah. All right, guys. Thank you. Thank you, listeners. Thank you. If um you have any topic suggestions, any questions, please drop us a line at talkingpools at gmail.com and Rudy will send those out to the most applicable host. Thank you very much for listening. We hope you have a great week ahead, and we hope that you'll join us next Monday for Monday Down Under on the Talking Pools podcast. Thanks, guys.

SPEAKER_00 37:57

Thank you.