Chemistry Myths That Cost Pool Pros Money (Part 1) With Natalie Hood & Eric Wall

Chemistry Myths That Cost Pool Pros Money (Part 1)

With Natalie Hood & Eric Wall

Running a profitable pool service business isn't just about adding chlorine and hoping for the best. In Part One of this two-part conversation, Natalie Hood sits down with Eric Wall, Director of Training for The Grit Game, to tackle some of the biggest myths that continue to hold pool professionals back.

Drawing on decades of experience in sales, service, construction, retail, and technical training, Eric explains why the cheapest chemical program often becomes the most expensive, why callbacks destroy profitability, and why education—not guesswork—is the key to building a successful service company.

They also discuss the importance of standardized chemical programs, proper testing, customer communication, technician training, and why proactive maintenance beats reactive problem-solving every time.

If you're looking to reduce callbacks, improve customer retention, and build a stronger, more profitable service operation, this episode is packed with practical advice you can put to work immediately.

In This Episode

•  Eric Wall's journey into the swimming pool industry 
•  Why the cheapest chemicals often cost the most 
•  The hidden cost of callbacks 
•  Why every technician should follow the same chemical program 
•  Better testing leads to better decisions 
•  How customer communication builds long-term loyalty 
•  Why proactive pool care is more profitable than reactive repairs 
•  The myth that more chlorine fixes everything 
•  Building healthier water instead of simply adding more chemicals 
•  Why education is one of the most valuable investments a pool company can make 

Next Wednesday, Natalie and Eric return to continue busting even more common pool industry myths and share additional strategies to help pool professionals work smarter, not hard

Transcript

SPEAKER_08 0:00

Welcome back to the Talking Pools podcast, your go-to source for everything wet, wild, and wonderfully misunderstood in the pool world. I'm Natalie Hood, Director of Education and Events for The Grit Game. And today we're tackling some of the biggest misconceptions that can cost service companies time, money, and frustrated customers. From believing that more chemicals always mean better water to thinking that every green pool should be treated the same way. We're going to bust these myths that keep even the experienced professionals from working smarter, not harder. And joining me today is someone who's dedicated his career to helping pool professionals do exactly that. Eric Wall, director of training for the grid game, and he brings nearly 20 years of specialized pool industry experience and more than 30 years in sales and training. And, you know, he leads education on many of our partners' product lines, helping our team, dealers, and distributors build the knowledge and confidence that they need to solve problems more effectively and better serve their customers, you know, and his practical hands-on approach, it's really made it to where he's truly a trusted resource throughout this industry. And so, Eric, welcome to the Talking Pools Podcast. I'm excited to have you here. But, you know, before we jump into today's mist, can you tell our listeners a little bit about your journey into the pool industry and what led you to become so passionate about training others?

SPEAKER_02 1:28

So, how much time do you have?

SPEAKER_08 1:30

As much as you need, buddy.

SPEAKER_02 1:32

No, I appreciate you having me on for sure. Uh yeah, it all started out, you know, I've been in sales almost 36 years, outside sales. I started out in actual the construction industry in a wholesale distribution company and did that for 13 years and actually had done a lateral move from our main company to our sister company that sold vinyl deck fence and rail. We actually fabricated it. Little East Peoria, Illinois. So I thought, you know what? I went over there and we had the fencing, and like we grew up with a pool. We knew fences, you had to have pools around fences. So I actually found the uh superior branch down in St. Louis and took an eight-foot section down there and put on the demo of how to put it together. And uh they said, you know what, we got a show coming up in January up in uh in near Chicago, and we'd love to have you come in there and just show this fence off. So I did. And uh I was standing back when they had a huge footprint of hot tubs, and I'm walking down, you know, I'm just one guy back in the corner with a piece of fence and looking at each hot tub, walking from each model to each model, noticing the bullet points on the sell sheet, and every one I'd go up had an extra bullet point. So had a guy wander over and ask me, he's like, Hey, uh, all the other guys are busy. You know anything about hot tubs? I said, Yeah, sure, let me give it a shot. So I walked through all the models and everything, and I shook his hand and he said, Thanks for all for all that. And about 40 minutes later, two of the guys came up to me, one of the zone manager and uh the regional, and said, Hey, you just sold our one of our largest retailers in St. Louis five hot tubs. Like we're gonna go.

SPEAKER_08 3:10

Wow, that is yeah, I bet they did. You're hired.

SPEAKER_02 3:13

That's truly how I got into the pool business. So I I held them off for about a year and then finally made sense. And so I I started out in pool corp. I did I always say I did a five-year stint and got out on good behavior. So I still know a lot of great people there, and uh, it really gave me my advantage, I feel, uh, in the industry because I I wasn't a distributor, I was a wholesale distributor. So I didn't just learn one product, I had to learn many products. And because of my experience at Lumberyard Suppliers, my mentor told me, because I'm like, God, we have like 30,000 SKUs or better, you know, with siding doors, windows, roofing, and all the accessories. And I'm like, how do you do all this? He's like, listen, pick pick about a half dozen things that you really interest you that that make a difference, and learn them, be passionate about them, ins and outs, be able to do them, and everything else will fall in line. So that's kind of where I took it to to superior, and uh I learned the in-ground pools, the automatic pool covers with Cover Star, and API chemicals was a big one. So uh it was neat. So I've I've always been in automation and I've I've built pools since. I've I've serviced, had a weekly route with my daughter, and uh I'm a firm believer that you can't really stand behind a product you haven't actually been able to use. Right. And I was fortunate enough to have the uh the the different positions to be able to actually use different products and stuff. So I don't ever want to be accused of being full of sales.

SPEAKER_08 4:42

Yes, I like that. Yeah, and and then and you land, and then how did you uh land with the grid game?

SPEAKER_02 4:49

So I I after I I worked at Pool Corp, I actually worked for one of my largest dealers out of central Illinois, helped him got get a second retail location. I I gave him a season because I hadn't worked retail since I was in high school and college. And uh I was glad. Uh I kudos to all you that have a retail store. I appreciate your patience. That's for sure. So I did my my season and then actually got picked up with Coverstar Central and worked there for 10 years uh for Coverstar Automatic Uh Safety Covers and uh became their director of sales and had in charge of all their training and everything. So met Johnny Davis uh from the you know at the Grit Game and Lacey on an actual uh Latham dealer conference trip and we all just clipped. So he was a customer of mine for about five years, and then we kind of sat down and put a plan together, and I went to work for him at Royal Swimming Pools. So after after working there, we decided that we wanted to kind of take our own adventure, and um here we are today, you know, almost year four, and we're still we're still pumping it out and things are growing, and you know, uh we're excited. You know, it's yeah, it's been interesting, you know. Yeah, so yeah.

SPEAKER_08 6:01

So you met him before the pants were a thing.

SPEAKER_02 6:03

I did. I did. Back then he just didn't wear any.

SPEAKER_08 6:06

So well, we're glad he's he's wearing some. Well, I love that. And I love the the background of how you know how familiar you are with the industry. You know, you you've seen all these different parts and you've gotten your hands dirty. I think that's really important, right? And so, you know, who better to discuss some of these chemistry myths than to discuss them with you?

SPEAKER_05 6:29

You know what time it is?

SPEAKER_04 6:31

Wednesday vibes on the talking pools porch, I'm not doing that rolling fire, but I'm doing it that is on the life.

SPEAKER_00 8:36

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SPEAKER_02 10:29

And our audience knows that a three or five or five-hour course in chemistry is not enough to send someone out the back door on a route and be responsible. You know, therefore, some poor soul on the other end of the telephone gets the calls for the newbies every day. And I guarantee you, when that phone rings again, they'd rather run headfirst into a concrete wall than answer this question for the fifth time. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_08 10:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:53

And then there's it is what it is. You know.

SPEAKER_08 10:55

Yeah, it is what it is. And it it though it it takes a special person too to be able to answer those types of calls because those calls aren't easy. Yes. Those calls are not easy. I can I I've been in that spot before, and those calls are stressful on both sides of that problem.

SPEAKER_02 11:10

You know, everybody has their breaking point, and the last thing you want to do is pop off to a new tech and ruin ruin that relationship, which causes them to leave, which is not what you wanted in the first place, you know. Right easy job. We know it's not a it's not an easy, not a glorious job, but that's why it's important to find the right systems that make your life easier and create your healthier techs, healthier, happier techs.

SPEAKER_08 11:34

Well, and I think by understanding those systems too, you know, there there's a high turnover regardless, right? That there's there's been a there's a high turnover. And so by, you know, doing the research and I think by better understanding what works for you, you can better educate your techs and maybe help that turnover not be so high, right? You know, putting more education and training into your text. I'm sorry. I I personally I'm like, give me education, give me the training. I want it because I want to go out there and I want to know what I'm doing. I don't want to look silly in front of a customer. That's the br that's the last thing that I want.

SPEAKER_02 12:08

But you also could probably uh you you it's probably fair to say that chemicals, especially, classrooms are tough with chemicals. Oh, they are a very hard thing to teach, especially you have to have the right teacher to keep you uplifted and motivated. Otherwise, it's kind of we're all ADD in this industry. That's why we all so well and we get along so well.

SPEAKER_08 12:29

Yes, yep. Yep. And you don't have to just spell ad. Right. Yeah. Well, and the thing too is everyone learns so differently. Some people learn great virtually, some people learn better in person. And me personally, I'm a very hands-on person, and so taking an online course sometimes just isn't for me. Whereas depending on what the the topic is, sometimes it's I prefer it. So yeah, it just depends on the person. But well, and that kind of leads uh into our first myth. And it's the cheapest chemical program is always the most profitable. And I think a lot of companies tend to shop chemical or they they tend to go strictly by price.

SPEAKER_02 13:09

Yeah, I I agree. And and you know, it's it's it's the old thing. You get what you you know, you you get what you you buy, right? So cheap is everybody wants to have high margins, but they also want to buy as cheap as possible. But the problem is just like we all try to discourage homeowners from going to big box stores to buy their ancillary products because yeah, that jug may be only 99 or 999, but it takes one quart of our stuff and it takes four or five of their jugs, and now we're now we're cheaper. And nobody nobody weighs it that way. And I I think in our industry, as as owners and business people, we tend to overlook that ourselves. No, it's cheaper. Well, why is it cheaper? It's never the same if it's cheaper. We all know that. Whether you get into the weeds on it, has it been diluted down, is it full strength, you know? And I think especially there's so much out there in ancillary products, you know, buying bigger, buying, buying thinner. The problem is it's everything is thinned down and watered down, you know, it's not 100% pure. The the percentages are off. So cheaper is is not gonna get you where you want. Cheaper probably gets you in more trouble than anything. There's other ways to be more profitable by using the right products that you have less callbacks, especially with fuel and and people in general going out the door. Well, now I'm I had three people call in today, I'm short. Now we're all running routes. Well, we got four callbacks today. What? You know, we don't have time to keep repeating that, but could that be from cheap chemicals?

SPEAKER_08 14:47

Right.

SPEAKER_02 14:48

Could that be from underdosing because we're not accommodating for it being a lesser product?

SPEAKER_08 14:55

Well, I think people are missing the bigger picture too, right? I I don't think that they're looking at the bigger picture and like you say, they're they're going for those cheap those cheaper chemicals, but when by not looking at the bigger picture, maybe maybe that's why they're having to go out and they're having to spend more, right? I don't think they're doing proper calculations of that chemical program.

SPEAKER_02 15:14

And to me, if I'm the homeowner and I I'm in my office all day looking at the pool and I see this guy back three times this week and my pool's still not.

SPEAKER_08 15:22

What are you doing?

SPEAKER_02 15:23

Why are you back? I'm starting to doubt. And you know what? This guy may know everything in the world, but he's got he's loaded with blanks. You know, he doesn't have the right chemical he needs to fix the problem because we're not buying the right problem or right chemical to give him.

SPEAKER_03 15:39

Right.

SPEAKER_02 15:39

So I do see a lot of that, you know, a lot of the strengths and stuff people just aren't aware. And some guys just still aren't aware of how to use the chemicals in the right order either. That's a big thing I see.

SPEAKER_08 15:52

Yeah, I would agree. That is definitely a big thing. And that actually goes right into our next myth that more a lot of people tend to believe that more products automatically mean better water. I mean, we've all seen the pools with shelves full of chemicals. Just shelves just lined up, right? And they're just out there just pouring them all in there.

SPEAKER_02 16:12

Yeah, look in a service fan. It's it's it's like a pharmacy. Yeah. There's everything you ever wanted in there. The thing is, is how do you decipher? And that's where streamlining your your cer your service as a company becomes important because every company that I've vis have visited in my past, their techs are shooting from the hip, every single one of them. Well, let's say we have six technicians. Every technician is dosing pools in a different manner with different chemicals. And I'm like, Well, how do you how do you know how effective and efficient you are if it's just a a wild rodeo out there with all your with all your vans?

unknown 16:51

Right.

SPEAKER_02 16:52

And they're like, Well, I never really thought about it that way. I said, Well, that's the thing. You you have to find a system that works for you, yeah, you know, and and works for your market, that is, is economically fits in your market. You know, you can't go in up here if your market's at a mid or a low range market of of consumers. But we also have to to streamline so because the most expensive thing is a callback.

SPEAKER_08 17:16

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 17:16

You know, a callback to go, because it's never just one visit once you have a problem. And that is the thing where people don't in businesses they tend to not they feel guilty, so they won't charge. Well, now we're losing money. And nobody nobody I've ever met so far in my 20 years has has ever been doing this as a hobby.

SPEAKER_03 17:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:36

You know? So we all it and we all complain about how we could be more profitable, we just don't know how to get there. And I think you that's where it starts, is out that back door.

SPEAKER_08 17:46

Yeah. Well, and by with those callbacks, by not charging, you know, you're you're how many more times are you gonna have to go back? How much time have you lost, right? If if you have to go if you serviced Monday and you've had to go back Wednesday, how many more times are you having to go back? How I mean that that's money lost right there. Are you having to send other technicians to go back out? I mean, and I think actually by having more products, I think it makes it harder to troubleshoot. And by doing that to techs that are not properly educated, I don't think it allows them to know when enough is enough.

SPEAKER_02 18:21

We're acting like the mad chemist out there, hey, a little of this, a little that.

SPEAKER_08 18:24

And they don't realize proper numbers. They're like, oh, it's not always right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:31

And you know what's amazing to me? And and I I always call myself, I've only been here about 20 years in this industry. Because we we've got a lot of veterans out there that are 30, 40 and and and higher. Yeah. And uh it just surprises me that the amount of chlorine we use is an industry, but at the levels we use it and then dump in an algicide or a clarifier or a stain and scale when we just double or triple shocked a pool. It's like, guys, uh, do you know that you could just keep that bottle and go to the next pool because you're just puffing in the air at that point. And it's truly all uh as we educate for our products, we truly go through some, I wouldn't call it 101, but just some of the things that have stuck out in our travels over the past several years that I kind of think was just missed up front in training. You know, there is a there is a pecking order of how you need to dose things, especially after you've shocked. And I I don't think that message gets to the people in the field on every given case. So therefore they're they're uh they're not using it, it's just it's getting destroyed or it's not effective whatsoever. And now we're we're charging that homeowner or we're not. And the homeowner is getting really upset because man, you've been here two weeks now, my pool still looks like a lake.

SPEAKER_08 19:46

Yeah. So it's still green. That the toads are swimming. They now, you know, there's even more, there's tadpoles. And no, you're you're absolutely right. You know, every product it has a purpose, and with the unnecessary additions, it it's gonna increase that complexity, the cost, and the unintended chemical interactions. It's just if you don't have a simplified chemical program, you're kind of flying blind, to be honest. And if you're putting your ticks out there, they're flying blind. And my goodness, that customer's uh bill, it's either gonna raise up or your bill's just gonna raise up because you don't know what you're doing.

SPEAKER_02 20:22

I think what goes along with that, which is very important, which I see all over the board, is a good testing system when you're doing a weekly service route. You have to have to understand not everybody can budget for you know spin labs on every vehicle, but there are definitely some better testing parameters out there that you could go by than just simple strips. Sometimes you've got to have a few extra tests with you to make sure you're understanding what's going on. Uh and I think that that's a message too that we really need to keep focusing on because I think sometimes that gets left behind as well.

SPEAKER_08 20:57

I agree. And I, you know, I think too, you know, for listeners and for those that have service routes, I I think every service route or every different company, your your your chemical program or your structure, it's gonna be different than the guy next door, right? Because they're gonna be servicing different pools, different needs, different, you know, things of that nature. And so I think, you know, if you're getting out there and you're gonna do that, you need to really figure out what works best for you and also based on the customers that you're working with, right? There might be a different chemical program working with them. I think you really need to outline what that looks like, especially to when you're hiring those new techs.

SPEAKER_03 21:35

Right.

SPEAKER_08 21:35

Because that again, that turnaround, it it's high. And there are a lot of people that are like, hey, I want to make a quick buck. I'll I'll just work in the pool industry. It'll be really easy. I'll go out and I'll get certified and I'm gonna work. And then again, a lot of people go out there and they get this certificate and they're like, I know everything. I took this course. No, you didn't. You barely scratched the surface. You don't know anything. Maybe you're just really good at taking an exam. It doesn't mean that you're necessarily qualified to be out there doing this stuff. So you really have to, you know, really get in there and train.

SPEAKER_02 22:06

And you know, I I feel I had some really good chemical training. Uh Matt Rybar was was a pool corp. He was a chemical specialist and he made it fun. You know, chemicals are very hard to teach. It can be very mundane, very monotone and a lot of five-syllable words that kind of fly red eye guys. You know he was he did a really good job or he could talk to you if you were a chemist or he could bring it down to the street level, which I I've always tried to I'm learning more of the five syllable stuff as I get older and know when to use it. But I've always kind of been the street slang kind of known for that because I I have been out there and it took and I'm saying you know you never stop learning. That's the point. The day you start learning is the first day of your demise in my mind because you shut the door and it's over.

SPEAKER_03 22:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:53

And I look forward to learning new tips and tricks on different ways to do things, you know, in the construction part of it and in the chemical part of it. Because no one wants to spend the time you know I don't want to go back four times this week. You know I want to be one and done if I can but I really need to show that homeowner that we are that pristine company that we keep your water clean and clear. So at any given time you hit the back door, you're ready to swim. Yeah. That's what everybody wants. They don't they don't care what you use. They just want to know when they go out there they can swim and be ready to go.

SPEAKER_08 23:28

Yeah yeah I agree. And you know that kind of goes into our next myth and it's that a service route should be built around fixing problems. And that that's kind of a fun one.

SPEAKER_02 23:39

That's hard for me to I'm I'm more the glass half full guy. And to me it kind of translates into I don't want you to have problems so I'm more proactive versus reactive. And I know it's not a perfect it's not a perfect science in our world because look it we're back to thunderstorms rolling through this week and everything up after we've already had the wettest spring start ever so everybody's behind still open pools. Well now we just got we just got a decrease we were 97 hundred degrees all last week I'm up in the northeast by the way and now we're down in the 69 today 70 today and and it's raining all day and so that can disrupt the route obviously you know there's some there's some there's some 1% out there it's going to destroy some things that we had worked hard to get clear. So but where I'm I don't want to be reactive in my and we never work we we always talk to people like if you lived on a golf course I'm talking to you about a little bit of proactive preventative products to reduce the phosphate levels on a weekly basis because I know they're spraying all the time they want to look lush everything. Or if you're buttoned up against a field, you know, like farm field in your rural area. If they buggy you know their fertilizer that goes a mile. If they crop dust it's a two mile spread so we're all doomed right have that party coming up on Saturday and come Wednesday we have a day like this and you go out tomorrow because your chlorine dipped a little bit and it's green. Yeah. Because it'll go green overnight but you and I both know you can't get it back in what in 24 hours. I can get it to look blue but it's that doesn't mean it's going to be good to good to swim in.

SPEAKER_08 25:19

Yeah you'll be hairless but yeah it's looking good.

SPEAKER_02 25:23

Yeah don't let the dogs swim either the dogs are all yellow or green.

SPEAKER_08 25:27

Yeah right yeah yeah no I I absolutely agree and I think a lot of people tend to think that that's what techs are for is they're they're really just there to spend their days solving emergencies.

SPEAKER_02 25:38

But you're absolutely right no they they they should be proactive yeah no I I a big service company out of the Carolinas and they were we we we didn't get into an argument it was fun they they're great people but they're like you know we only use what we need and we just we literally just use some liquid chlorine and you know we balance it but that's all we use. We don't use anything else. I said what happens if the dips between your visit today and your visit next week oh we'll just shock it. I said but what if it's down for the weekend or it's cloudy or it's hazy he's like well it's just they'll have to wait till we get there I'm like no that's not that's not it you know because you can buy liquid chlorine for a couple bucks a gallon yeah no I mean you're charging a premium let's let's put a little more into it let's be the homeowner wants that service you know yeah it's it's hard enough to fight for the people we have you know and to keep that because there's markets you know like down in in Florida it's they're still charging a hundred dollars a month for a weekly chemical service but that's where we get the the splashing and dashing you know and they're in and out and that pool is on fire. You know it's it's hot. So that's I I think you miss the boat when you have to be reactive like that because it ends up costing you more time. But the the bigger thing for me is it's my reputation as a company.

SPEAKER_08 27:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:02

You know or that's this tech doesn't know what he's doing. You know, because look at look at it now.

SPEAKER_08 27:08

Well and I think you're gonna have a lot better customer retention by being proactive. Oh absolutely going to have much happier customers and I think by you explaining what to look out for or by you know kind of asking to the days ahead it makes them stop and think oh well hey that way too if you're coming they're like well hey I have this coming up in the next few days and I looked the weather or you saw the weather you can have that conversation. They're like well you know you you treat the pull and then you walk away and that customer's thinking wow I really appreciate that they really know their stuff. I like this guy or gal. That's what you want your customer to think not well you know they're here they are again having to fix the pool you know you don't want that you want your customers to be happy and I think again and I've said this numerous times I think that is a big part of this industry that missed out on was customer service. Customer service is really not taught in this industry. And so you know go that extra mile for your customer just just do it.

SPEAKER_02 28:04

I will say really quick that coming from the construction industry into the pool industry I was super excited. I love the construction industry and it's kind of the same seasonal thing you know building uh and you have your builders and your retailers right so the the thing that carried over that oh I thought was funny was the the lack of communication between the dealer and the consumer. They just want now listen I know there's those extreme Karen's and Kevins out there. You're asking just they just want to know you know like that was one thing we had a small route obviously but we talked to the people hey just it let us know if you're having a party coming up you know if you want we'll send out someone to vac it up you know on the day or two before the party you know if we're catching you early in the week we'll we'll send someone back out there if you want to do that you know and it was a service. We didn't do it for free. But they they like well you know we didn't think about that. Yeah let's do that or hey we know there's big storms coming up you have any parties the next weekend we want to stay ahead of everything make sure everything's good we were always big on let us know when your parties are so that way we can just make sure that we check in with you to see how things are it's hit and miss whether they're coming that day you know they give me an eight to four window and you know I know it's tough things happen but you know with all the with all the technology out there that we have with these these products that the software that you can buy that will alert your homeowner if your technician is is going to be late or it needs to be rescheduled versus them calling I took the day off at work today because why they want to be there I don't know but it seems like they always hire but the homeowner always wants to be there when something's getting fixed, right?

SPEAKER_08 29:48

Yeah. Definitely if you're my husband you're gonna ask all the questions. Right.

SPEAKER_02 29:52

So I took all day off and I I have burned a day and you're not even coming and now I got to reschedule that doesn't fare well with most people.

SPEAKER_08 29:59

Yeah. Well and I think too some people might be thinking oh well I don't want to bother them but they they've hired you to do a service so provide them that extra intel right they're gonna want they're gonna want that. And if they don't want that that's fine but at least offer it to them so they know that that's something that you're offering. There's nothing wrong with that. They've hired you for a service so offer it.

SPEAKER_02 30:20

And my thing is is if you don't have the manpower invest in your company and get the software that can do it for you with the tax button out in the field. Yes it can generate that email it can generate a text if you have that person or at least back at the office if you have that person watching the scheduler it can you can ding that person that person can can reach out to that homeowner. But you know that's the one thing I hear just from friends and you know I moved up to to New York this past year and I hear a lot of making new friends and stuff and they're all company you guys never call anybody back. I'm like come on that's not true.

SPEAKER_08 30:57

No let me all of my experiences I'm like okay yeah and it's it's not just the small companies it's some of the big ones that would shock you too it's like come on yeah the word on the screen is not not well you know check your temperature yeah definitely always have it always do a temperature check yeah just I mean just because you're you you think you're doing successful doesn't mean you shouldn't you shouldn't stop and do a temperature check or lose the customer always keep that customer in mind like that's where AI comes in you can scan all social media and everything and find out what's being said about your company. Yes you can you know all the all the hidden little groups that are that are out there it's I had a guy tell me that he's like I I do it I do it every couple weeks I check because he builds a lot of pools builds hundreds of pools here and a big service route he's like I just that's how I check the temperature I want to see what's being said so I can kind of get ahead of it and find out why I'm not hearing this you know because my friends are supposed to tell me when they have a negative experience on site and if we get reviews we take them seriously we try to get make it right so they can hopefully remove it you know and he's like I that's one thing that I won't play you know so I I I no you're right I I recently uh Fred Ross if you're listening to this you'll be so proud of me I recently started using an AI agent and I will I will send about once a week I'll have the agent go out and do uh certain searches for me and it's been drastically helpful and I mean it just it it saves me so much time and it provides so much information that I'm like all right good to know got it now move on so it's very great for yes yes just be careful though you can't trust everything do your fact checks well and you know that kind of goes into another one and it's that adding and this this always comes up but it's that adding more chlorine fixes everything. And you know chlorine it is incredibly important but well we'll leave it at that let's start with that that adding more chlorine fixes everything.

SPEAKER_02 33:01

So I love this right so that's that's the simple fix. That's been the tale tale answer for years. Hence why liquid chlorine is still you know it's the most toxic thing we have out there in our industry. And we have some distribution centers that look like buckies you know that have filling stations and filling stations and it's just it that was the one eye opener when I first hit the Florida scene and went by some distribution point. They they all look like they have gas stations, right? Yeah. And and chlorine, you know it's just it's it's the it's uh it's it does work. That's the thing. It will they'll turn a green pool blue in front of your eyes. You know it will start to work right in front of your eyes. The thing is now is how healthy is it for you, right? I mean people want to in my mind I want to have a healthier safer body of water yeah that I can use the appropriate amount of chemicals and and and how do I want to say this the correct amount of chlorine to do the job it was supposed to do and that's to kill two things algae and bacteria. So that's it's not a cure no the CPC states that one part per million of chlorine is adequate in any amount of gallonage to be an effective killer. So yeah yet our our commercial section of of our industry we three to five to ten parts per million that uh that commercial bodies of water is women in and the health department deems that anything over four parts per million is unhealthy. So to me I I'm looking at my business I want to make sure that I could try to stay around that one part per million of chlorine but in order to do so I had to learn everything else about oxidizers and and different things out there that are available that consume and break down all the bather waste and the non-living products in the water that we as an industry well overtask chlorine to do. Yeah it takes chlorine give it a break it takes chlorine eight times as long to break down one molecule of sunscreen than it does just to kill an algae spore. You know so that's where the total combined chlorine and the total chlorine come in that every time those creep up what do we do what's what's it it's it's it's it's it's the key phrase of the industry shock it right and uh we don't have to do that. There are things out there and there are actually some things out that have been out for 30 years in our industry that's kind of the unsung hero that we're trying to get more exposure to because it's it's it promotes healthier safer water you know and and it is and it's harmless against equipment all of your pool type surfaces and people so that's the key is I think some of the I think some of the the the newer generations of owners that are coming through are starting to see you know they're they're hopping on more of the green trend and in order to be more green you've got to bring those levels of chlorine yes yeah. Tune in next Wednesday for the conclusion to this episode with Natalie and Eric