Two pool techs can have the same 70 accounts and very different incomes. The difference is the drive. A route where each day stays in one neighborhood finishes by 3 p.m. A route with pools scattered across the county finishes at 6 and burns an extra tank of gas every week. Here is how to build the first kind.
Do the math on drive time
Say you drive an average of 8 minutes between pools. With 15 pools a day, that is 2 hours of driving. Cut it to 4 minutes and you get an hour back every day, enough for 2 or 3 more pools. At $38 a visit, 3 more pools a day, 5 days a week, is about $2,500 more a month from the same truck.
Give every town a day
The simplest system works best: one day, one area.
- Monday: Pembroke Pines
- Tuesday: Miramar
- Wednesday: Weston
- Thursday: Davie
- Friday: Cooper City and overflow
When a new customer calls from Weston, they get Wednesday. No exceptions unless the price makes it worth it. Customers like a fixed day because they know when to leave the gate open.
Market where you already drive
Every new account should make your route denser, not longer:
- Door hangers on the streets around your current pools. "We service 6 pools on your street every Wednesday" works
- Ask current customers for neighbors. Offer a month free for a referral that signs up
- Town pages on your website. A page for each town you serve helps you show up when people there search
- HOA and community boards in the neighborhoods you already cover
Learn to say no (or charge more)
A great account 25 minutes off your route is a bad account. You have three options:
- Say no politely and refer them to someone you trust
- Charge a distance fee of $20 to $40 a month
- Accept it only if you plan to build that area into a new route day
Write your service area on your website so the calls you get are calls you want. List the towns by name, not a radius in miles; homeowners know their town, not how far it is from your house.
Keep a waiting list
When a day is full, put new requests on a short waiting list instead of squeezing them in. A full day you can finish well beats an overloaded one where you rush every pool.
Buying a route
Buying accounts is the fastest way to grow, and it is common in the pool trade. Routes often sell for 10 to 14 times monthly billing. Before you buy:
- Map every account. A cheap route that is spread out is not cheap
- Check the prices. Accounts at $95 a month will need a price increase, and some will leave
- Ask how long each account has been on service and what the seller guarantees if accounts leave in the first months
- Make sure the seller signs a non-compete for the area
Keep each account's day visible
The route only works if every account has a day and a town, and new accounts land on the right day automatically. In PoolRoute, scheduling keeps every account on its route day, grouped by town, with reminders the day before. You still choose the order you drive; nobody knows the shortcuts in your area better than you.
Measure your density
Track one number every month: revenue per route hour. Take the month's service billing and divide it by the hours you spent on the route, driving included. If you bill $11,000 for 140 route hours, that is about $79 an hour. When a new account raises that number, it is a good account. When it lowers it, it is not, even at a high price. Owners who watch this number say no to the right accounts without second guessing.
Plan the route for the season
In summer, a full day may be 16 pools; in winter, with less algae and fewer leaves, it can be 18. Plan your days at the summer number so you are not overloaded in July. Read the pool service seasonal calendar for what each season brings.
Frequently asked questions
How many pools should a route have?
A full route for one tech is usually 60 to 90 weekly pools, about 12 to 18 per day, depending on drive time and pool size.
How much is a pool route worth?
Routes commonly sell for 10 to 14 times their monthly billing. Density, prices and how long the accounts have been on service change the number.