What is the best way to sell liquid covers?
Understanding what liquid covers are made of and how they work are an important part of selling this product. This is mainly because the customer is being sold a cover they cannot see.
Often, the best way to sell clients on using a liquid cover is by describing how it can help to lower their utility costs by retaining heat in the pool water—which is especially important for those pool owners who are cranking up their heaters this winter and early spring, as they plan to stay close to home and use their backyard as a getaway.
Most industry professionals agree pool owners are willing to try these products when the benefits of preventing water and heat loss are explained. Some pool professionals even include the liquid cover with the sale of a heater to ensure customer satisfaction because heating a pool—especially during the colder months—can be expensive.
Pool professionals can also consider including a liquid cover product as part of their start-up packages and explain to the customer how they can incorporate it as part of their weekly pool maintenance routine. It can even be a product to provide as a bonus for signing up early for their scheduled pool opening service.
Maintenance technicians can also include these products as a part of their service call offerings. This can be an easy sale if one knows the customer plans to use their pool over the course of the winter and into early spring.
Some pool professionals even quantify the benefits of a liquid cover product with their clients by explaining how they pay for themselves. When using these products, the cost per swim becomes much less because of its ease of use in comparison to a physical bubble cover and the pool owner’s ability to swim more frequently.
Depending on the client, Belcourt feels traditional solar cover blankets can keep some homeowners from enjoying their pool, both esthetically and from a usage perspective.
“At first, we thought liquid solar cover products would be a tough sell because it’s simply added to the water and there’s nothing to see,” says Belcourt. “But eventually, it’s the fact the client can’t see it that really makes it an easy sell. A liquid pool cover fixes the ‘problem’ of the traditional solar cover—because it detracts from the beauty of the backyard.”
In most cases, the pool is the centrepiece of the landscape and by covering it, the client cannot enjoy the beauty of the sparkling water in the sunlight, adds Belcourt. In fact, she has heard from many clients about how using a liquid solar cover has allowed them to enjoy their pool more from an esthetic point of view.
Keeping these benefits in mind, pool professionals should consider adding liquid pool covers to their product offerings in 2022. As an industry, everyone wants new pool owners to really enjoy their backyard investment to the fullest. Using a liquid pool cover product can be a great way to increase the customer’s overall satisfaction with their pool.
Alicia Stephens is the education and training manager for Biolab Inc. In her 20 years with the company, she has focused primarily on education, training, and development, as well as technical support and new product research and integration. Currently, Stephens supports all education and training initiatives for the Biolab Pro Dealer division. She can be reached via email at alicia.stephens@biolabinc.com.
