If You’re the Local Expert, Stop Charging Like the Local Idiot

WARNING: Intentionally Abrasive Language - Every service business wants to be the company everyone recommends—the local expert called after three other contractors have replaced the wrong parts, collected their checks, and left the customer with the same damn problem.

But authority doesn’t come from putting “premier,” “elite,” or “superior” on the side of a truck. It comes from becoming exceptionally good at solving difficult problems, teaching people what you know, documenting your results, and earning a reputation that reaches the customer before you do.

In this episode, Rudy explains how pool professionals and other service-business owners can become the recognized expert in their county—and why anyone who earns that position should charge at least 10% more than the interchangeable competition.

In This Episode

• Why calling yourself an expert doesn’t make you one
• How to attach your name to a specific, difficult problem
• Why teaching customers increases your value
• The difference between generic content and useful local expertise
• How informed opinions make professionals memorable
• Turning difficult jobs into compelling case studies
• Why detailed testimonials beat meaningless five-star reviews
• Building referral relationships with inspectors, agents, managers, and tradespeople
• Becoming the person local media calls for an explanation
• Using Google reviews to demonstrate authority
• Why experienced professionals should charge more
• How to state your price without apologizing or negotiating against yourself
• Why premium pricing requires premium communication and reliability
• The importance of continuing to learn after becoming the recognized expert

The Bottom Line

Advertising tells people you exist. Expertise convinces them you understand the problem. Reputation makes them trust you to solve it.

Own a difficult problem. Teach what you know. Develop an informed point of view. Document your results. Answer the phone. Show up when promised. Fix the problem correctly.

Eventually, your name becomes shorthand for the solution—and when that happens, charge like you fucking mean it.

The cheapest contractor charges for the visit. The expert charges for the answer.

Featured Sponsors and Industry Partners

• BlueRay XL
• United Chemical
• LaMotte Company
• Revved Up Apparel
• AquaComfort Water Group
• Service Industry News
• Jack’s Magic Products
• AquaStar Pool Products

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Transcript

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SPEAKER_04 0:53

His pronouns are he him. His qualifications, though, are none non existent. My pronouns are invoice paid. Misidentify either one and we're gonna have a problem. The previous technician spoke three languages, but unfortunately, manufacturer's instructions wasn't one of them. The customer said he had an accent, so I assumed he knew what he was doing. That's not expertise. That's how every movie villain gets hired as a scientist. A British accent can make any dumb idea sound peer-reviewed. An Australian can tell you the equipment is completely destroyed and somehow make it sound like weekend plans. A New Yorker doesn't diagnose the problem, he insults it until it starts working out of spite. A Canadian technician will apologize to the equipment before informing you that Kevin murdered it. The Southern technician says, Well, bless his heart, which is the regional warranty declaration confirming the previous installer was a fucking idiot. The Midwestern technician says, There's your problem, before uncovering damage significant enough to qualify for its own zip code. The Florida technician sees scorched wiring, three code violations, an alligator beside the equipment pad, and says, honestly, I've seen worse. The California technician says the equipment is undergoing a wellness transition and recommends a replacement that costs more than your first house. The New Jersey technician fixes it correctly, but makes you feel like an asshole for having allowed it to break. The Long Island expert doesn't say I found the problem. He says, who the fuck did this? That isn't culturally insensitive. That's forensic investigation with an accent. The real local guru can work with every nationality, ethnicity, identity, and personality and does not discriminate. This is the Talking Pools Podcast, and today we're going to talk about how to get to be the guru of your county. Every service-based small business owner wants to become the guy to call. They want to be the local guru. They want to be the name everybody recommends. They want homeowners, property managers, real estate agents, and even their competitors saying, Call that motherfucker. He'll know what to do, but most of them aren't doing a goddamn thing to earn it. They buy a truck, they buy equipment, they slap a logo on everything that doesn't move. Then they create a Facebook page and post the same useless horse shit as every other interchangeable company in the county. Happy Monday! Spring has sprung. Don't forget to change your clocks. Thanks, asshole. I nearly spent the entire summer living three hours behind because my local pool company hadn't reminded me. Then they post a photograph of an employee holding a wrench and write. Our highly trained experts are ready to serve you. Highly trained. Fuckers started on Tuesday. By Friday, they had him drive in the truck alone because the other guy got arrested again. But sure. Highly trained expert. Then these businesses wonder why the phone isn't ringing. Are you fucking kidding me? They wonder why nobody treats them like an authority. Because they're not an authority. They're just another motherfucker with a logo. Calling yourself an expert doesn't make you one. Calling yourself the county's premier service provider doesn't make it true either. Every company says it.

SPEAKER_06 4:45

Premier, elite, superior, professional, quality.

SPEAKER_04 4:52

You named your business Elite Superior Premier Quality Pool Solutions, and your voicemail box is full. That's not branding. That's a cry for help. You don't become the local expert because you paid somebody $900 to print it on the side of a route truck. You become the local expert when everybody else starts calling you that.

SPEAKER_02 5:15

God bless the pool proof bless the pool proof. Pull up on my day, Delphi, Dow F. Replace, deal change, go capacity.

SPEAKER_01 6:28

The 2026 Top Ten Mentors, Jeff Hamp, Chris Kavanaugh, Tim McDowell, Lacey Davis, Jerry Wallace, John Poma, Greg Beard, Terry Tammanin, Peter Wiederman.

SPEAKER_05 6:42

The sponsors of the 2026 Talking Pools Podcast Pool Industry Mentor recognition are Blu-ray XL, United Chemical, Lamotte Company, Revved Up Apparel, and Aqua Comfort Water Group.

SPEAKER_04 6:57

I've been getting Service Industry News since I first stepped into this business, and every time it landed, I did the same thing. Flip straight to the horror file. The weird installs, the absurd finds, the stuff only pool pros ever see. Then I'd go back and read the articles. Service Industry News is a twice-monthly trade publication for pool and spa service text, 24 issues a year, emailed free to over 10,000 texts and available on their app. Every issue covers nationwide industry news and real technical content you actually will use.

SPEAKER_05 7:30

Get your free subscription at serviceindustry news.net. Again, that's serviceindustrynews.net. Do it now.

SPEAKER_04 7:39

You become the guy to call when your name becomes permanently attached to solving a particular pain in the ass problem. So stop trying to be known for everything. We do residential, commercial, installations, repairs, inspections, maintenance, pressure washing, Christmas lights, dog grooming, small engine repair, and exorcisms. No one believes that you are exceptional at all of that shit. Pick a problem, preferably an ugly one, an expensive one, a confusing one, the kind of problem that already has survived two contractors, three invoices, six replacement parts, and some dipshit on YouTube telling the homeowner to fix it with baking soda and vinegar. Become the motherfucker who solves the problem. You want people saying, If nobody else can figure it out, call Rudy. That sentence is worth more than a billboard. A billboard proves you had enough available credit to rent a billboard. A recommendation proves you did something worth remembering. Advertising makes people aware that you exist. Expertise makes them believe you understand the problem. Reputation makes them trust you with it. And when people recommend you while you aren't even in the room, congratulations, you've finally built something more valuable than your logo. So how do you get there? First, stop hoarding basic information like you've discovered the cure for cancer. Teach people. Explain what goes wrong. Explain why it goes wrong. Explain how to recognize it. Explain why the $500 shortcut frequently becomes a $5,000 repair. Small business owners love saying, I can't give away my knowledge, then people won't need me. Calm down, Professor. You're explaining why the pump leaks, you're not handing North Korea the nuclear codes. People do not hire professionals because information is impossible to find. They hire professionals because they don't have the experience, tools, time, ability, or desire to do the job themselves. The internet contains millions of videos explaining how to prime a vacuum hose. Most people still aren't going to sit by the side of the pool and do it. Teaching people does not eliminate your value. It exposes how much value you actually possess.

SPEAKER_06 10:10

Unless, of course, you don't know much more than the customer. Then I understand why you're nervous.

SPEAKER_04 10:17

But if you know your shit, teach it and stop posting generic garbage. Five reasons maintenance is important. Three signs you may have a problem. Contact us today for a free estimate. Nobody fucking cares. That shit wasn't interesting when the first company posted it in 2012. Now, it's been copied so many times that it is less personality than the user agreement for a printer. Talk about problems that happen in your county. Your weather, water, soil, construction, your codes, your neighborhoods, your local builders. Your county has its own unique collection of environmental problems, outdated equipment, questionable installations, and contractors who spent 20 years turning shortcuts into standard operating procedures. Talk about that shit. Generic information makes you look like everybody else. Specific local knowledge makes you look like the person who actually knows what the hell's going on. Then develop a point of view. You can't become memorable while being terrified of saying anything anyone might remember. The local guru isn't the person who agrees with everyone. The local guru is the person who can say, no, that's wrong. Here's why. Then provide the facts. Not insults instead of facts, not louder typing, not twelve laughing emojis in a meme, evidence. Social media already has enough loud assholes confidently explaining subjects they learned about during their morning bowel movement. We don't need another one. Have an opinion because you have done the research. If something is a bad practice, say it is a bad practice. If a cheap proposal is missing something important, explain what is missing. If a popular shortcut is costing pool owners money, show them how. Don't neuter every sentence until it says absolutely nothing. Well, every situation is different, and there are many valid perspectives. We recommend consulting a qualified professional. Thank you, corporate oatmeal. What the fuck did you actually say? Nothing. You said nothing in 32 words and somehow sounded proud of it. Experts have opinions. Real experts can explain those opinions. Fake experts get offended when somebody asks them to provide a source. Now, document your work. Don't post a blurry before and after photograph with 19 fire emojis and the words another happy customer. Nobody knows what happened. Maybe you fixed it. Maybe it rained. Maybe the second picture is somebody else's house. Tell the story. What was wrong? How long had it been wrong? What had already been tried? What did the previous companies miss? What did you inspect? What did you discover? Why hadn't the other attempts worked? What did you do differently? What did you save the customer from spending? That is a case study. The case study demonstrates that you know how to think. The photograph only demonstrates that you remembered to charge your phone. But stop celebrating meaningless testimonials. Rate of service, nice guy, five stars. Fantastic. Apparently you were pleasant and didn't steal anything. Set the bar higher. I hired three companies over six months. Rudy identified the problem in ten minutes and fixed it correctly. Now that that's testimonial. That tells future customers they are not hiring another rando body with a test kit. They are hiring the person who gets called when the rando bodies have finished fucking everything up. Every difficult job you solve is proof. Save it. Photograph it. Explain it. Turn it into evidence. Because the next customer with the same problem needs to see that you have already beaten it.

SPEAKER_00 14:38

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SPEAKER_08 15:13

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SPEAKER_07 15:42

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SPEAKER_09 16:21

That is amazing. I can actually go out and make money doing filter cleans if you were like this. If they were AquaStar filters out there, then I could be a filter cleaner girl.

SPEAKER_03 16:29

We can do that. Make it happen. Let's make it happen. Todd? There you go. Awesome. Thank you, Jules the Pool Girl. Again, Aquastar Pre-products pipeline filters. Super easy, right?

SPEAKER_09 16:42

Super easy.

SPEAKER_04 16:43

Every difficult job you solve is proof. Save it. Photograph it. Explain it. Turn it into evidence. Because the next customer with the same problem needs to see that you have already beaten it. Then build relationships with the people who are constantly asked, Do you know someone? Real estate agents, home inspectors, property managers, insurance agents, electricians, plumbers, roofers, builders, supply houses, HOA managers, other service companies. These people receive requests for recommendations every damn week. And most of them recommend whichever name their brain can retrieve before the awkward silence becomes uncomfortable. Your job is to be that name. But you're not gonna get there by handing them a refrigerator magnet and vanishing for two years. Become useful. Answer questions. Help them understand problems that fall outside their expertise. Send them business when it makes sense. Create information they can share with clients. Help them look smart for knowing you. And when they refer somebody, take care of that person. Because one referral handled correctly can create 20 more. One referral handled like shit can poison the entire network. Your reputation travels faster than your advertising, especially when you screw up. Now, go where your county already gathers. Community Facebook groups, neighborhood pages, business associations, local events, chambers of commerce, but do not enter every conversation like a starving vulture waiting for a business card. Provide something useful. Explain what the noise might mean. Explain whether it's urgent, what the homeowner should shut off or check. Do that consistently. At first, yeah, you're gonna have to introduce yourself. Eventually, other people are gonna start tagging you. That's when you know it's working. Someone posts does anybody know who handles this? And before you see it, four people have already written your name. That is local authority. Your reputation arrived before you did. Create a useful local resource while you're at it. A county specific homeowner guide, a pricing guide, a buyer's inspection checklist, a seasonal maintenance schedule. Here's one a storm prep guide, an annual report showing the most common failures you encounter. Build something useful that enough people save it. And make it genuinely useful. Don't create a 10-page sales brochure, call it the ultimate homeowner's guide and spend nine pages explaining how passionate you are about customer satisfaction. Nobody gives a shit about your passion. Customers care whether you can solve their problems. Give them information they can actually use. When you help somebody make a better decision before they pay you, you become the company they trust when they're ready to spend money. Get to know the local media too. Reporters, radio hosts, podcasters, community publications, they all occasionally need somebody who can explain what the hell is happening. Become that person. When something relevant occurs, contact them with a concise, useful explanation. Don't lead with your company history. At Johnson ⁇ Sons, we have proudly served the Tri-County area since 1987. Nobody asked. Tell them what happened. Tell them why it happened. Tell them what residents need to know. Tell them what residents should do next. Be accurate. Be clear. Be available. If you help a reporter understand the story without wasting an hour of their life, they will remember you. Then, when the next story happens, they'll call you. And when the news calls you for an explanation, the public stops viewing you as another jackass buying advertisements. They start to view you as the person who knows. You still need to handle Google. Yeah, it's boring. Do it anyway. Complete the profile, list the services you actually provide, upload real photographs, publish useful updates, build pages for the communities you serve, ask customers for detailed reviews. No fluff. Real customers, not friends, not your wife, not people you know from Facebook. Ask for specifics. Great company is nice. They found dangerous wiring two other companies overlooked. Now that's authority. Again, authority. It cost more, but they fixed it correctly the first time is fucking gold. Because and this is the part too many service business owners screw up. Once you become the guy to call or the gal to call, you need to charge like the guy or gal to call. Charge at least 10% more than everyone else. At least. Why? Because you're fucking worth it. Customer is not paying only for the 30 minutes you spend standing in front of their pool. They're paying for the decades it took you to know what the hell you're looking at. They're paying for your training, your research, your licenses, your insurance, your equipment, your experience, your judgment, your reputation, and every painful lesson you already learned years ago, so you don't have to learn it again on their property. Cheap guy sells time. You sell certainty. Certainty costs more. If three cheap companies replace the wrong parts, collect three checks, and leave the customer exactly where they started, were they actually cheaper? No. They were simply less expensive each time they fell. Don't spend years becoming the most knowledgeable and trusted person in the county and then charge the same amount as some clueless dipshit whose diagnostic process consists of replacing parts until either the problem disappears or the customer runs out of money. That is not humility. That is shitty business. And you are not running a nonprofit for pool owners who bought more pool than they can afford. You're operating a business. Your company has to pay salaries, vehicles, fuel, insurance, taxes, tools, training, software, rent, advertising, and the endless parade of miscellaneous expenses that appear every month to beat you in the groin with a tire iron. Then, after all that, the business is supposed to produce a profit. Profit's not theft. Profit is not greed. Profit is the fucking point. Without profit, you don't have a business. You have an exhausting hobby with employees and tax consequences. So charge more. 10% should be the starting point. If you answer the phone, show up on time, identify the actual problem, communicate clearly, perform the work correctly, and stand behind it. You are already providing an experience half the market seems physically incapable of delivering. Stop apologizing for the price. Don't say, I am sorry, but unfortunately the total comes to. Unfortunately, did somebody die? State the price and shut the fuck up. Do not immediately begin negotiating against yourself because the customer took a breath. That'll be $2,500. Pause. Let them process it. Do not panic after three seconds and say, but I could maybe do 22 and we could also offer a discount and I could throw in blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Jesus Christ. They had not even objected yet. You just mugged yourself. Some customers will say you're too expensive. That's fine. You are too expensive for them. That does not mean the price is wrong. It means they are not your customer. If they want the cheapest person in the county, point them toward the cheapest person in the county. They can call you later when that person has finished making the problem more interesting. And of course, charging more means you gotta deliver more. You can't charge a premium and provide bargain bin bullshit. Answer the goddamn phone. Call people back. Show up when you say you will. Send the estimate, explain the work, finish the job, clean up afterwards. Communicate when something changes. Stand behind what you did. Expertise gets you noticed. Reliability keeps your reputation alive. Nobody cares how brilliant you are if hiring you feels like trying to locate a fugitive. You cannot become the guy to call if nobody can get you to answer the fucking phone. Once people start calling you the guru, do not begin believing your own promotional bullshit. The minute you decide you have nothing left to learn is the minute your expertise begins to rot. Equipment changes, products change, regulations change, methods improve, science advances. Some of what you were taught 20 years ago was incomplete. We talked about that the other week. Some of it is outdated. Some of it was always bullshit, but the old guy teaching it said it confidently, so everybody nodded and passed it along for three generations. Keep learning, keep questioning, keep researching, keep proving your claims. Your reputation is not a trophy you win once and place on a shelf. It's alone the community continues renewing for as long as you remain worthy of it. You have to keep earning it. And occasionally, you have to say, I don't know. That will not destroy your credibility. Pretending to know, fucking up the job, and inventing an excuse afterwards, that will destroy your credibility. Real experts know the limits of their knowledge. Bullshit artists know everything right up until the invoice gets challenged. So if you want to be the fucking guy to call in your county, stop announcing that you are the guy to call. Earn it. Own a difficult problem. Know it better than anyone else. Teach people what you know. Develop an informed point of view. Call bullshit when you can prove it's bullshit. Document your results, collect detailed testimonials, build professional relationships, create useful local resources. Make yourself available to the media. Answer the fucking phone. Show up. Fix the problem correctly, and keep doing it long after your competitors lose interest and return to posting clip art pumpkins in October. Eventually your name becomes shorthand for the solution. People stop asking whether you're the cheapest. They stop gathering seven estimates from seven interchangeable jackasses. They call you because they believe you'll get it right. And because you're the person most likely to get it right, you charge at least ten percent more. Not because you're arrogant, not because you're greedy, not because you bought a nicer truck. Because you spent years becoming the person they trust when getting it wrong would cost them even more. The cheapest guy charges for the visit, the expert charges for the answer.

SPEAKER_06 29:07

Become useful, become visible, become undeniable. Then charge like you fucking mean it. My name is Rudy Stankowitz. This is the Talking Pools podcast. Until next time Be good. Be safe.