Connie Sue Centrella, MBA, is Professor and Chair for the online Aquatic Engineering Degree Program at Keiser University; Director of Education for the Team Horner Group; and Certified Sustainability Officer.   She is five-time recipient of the Evelyn C. Keiser Teaching Excellence Award Instructor of Distinction. Ms. Centrella is an industry veteran, celebrating over 51 years in the pool and spa industry;  a former pool builder with extensive knowledge in pool construction and equipment installation as well as manufacturing, She has been NSPF Certified Pool/Spa Operator Instructor for 30 years and serves on the Education Committee of NSPF.

We talked about sharing educational programs and information with each other.  This is all good stuff.

Me and Christina sharing a glass of wine in the Genesis 3 booth.

I had a chance to reconnect with some of my compatriots that I haven’t seen in a while.  Some of our great industry volunteers and professionals alike were there.  There was Ted Richards, Past President of, what was then, NSPI. He was a true leader and an all around great guy.  Dennis Chapman and Arlene Stachal, two other very nice past Presidents.  I served with and under all of these folks and I rarely get to see them anymore.  It helped remind me of the great times and learning experiences I had coming up through the ranks of our industry.  Coming by the Genesis 3 booth was one of our all-time favorite staff people during our days in NSPI, Marianne Kiernan. What a sweetheart and a stabilizing influence, serving each of the presidents and Executive Directors.  Marianne is retiring this year and my Genesis 3 partners and I wanted to wish her all good things as she finally takes some time to herself.

Thanking her for all that she did for us and our industry in a heartfelt way in the Genesis 3 booth are my two partners in Genesis, L to R Skip Phillips, yours truly, Marianne and David Tisherman, as we give her very own platinum pig chest pin.
All in all, I was reminded of many things from the past and saw many things and people that will help me grow in the future.  I wouldn’t miss it and I hope you were there too!

Brian Van Bower runs Aquatic Consultants, a design firm based in Miami, Florida., he  is a contributing editor for Watershapes Magazine and is President and co-founder of the Genesis 3 Design Group; dedicated to top-of-the-line performance in aquatic design and construction, this organization conducts schools for like-minded pool designers and builders.  He can be reached at bvanbower@aol.com

Connie Sue Centrella, MBA, is Professor and Chair for the online Aquatic Engineering Degree Program at Keiser University campus; Director of Education for the Team Horner Group; and Certified Sustainability Officer.   She is five-time recipient of the Evelyn C. Keiser Teaching Excellence Award Instructor of Distinction. Ms. Centrella is an industry veteran, celebrating over 51 years in the pool and spa industry; a former pool builder with extensive knowledge in pool construction and equipment installation as well as manufacturing, she has been NSPF Certified Pool/Spa Operator Instructor for 29 years and serves on the Education Committee of NSPF.

One statement pertaining to this that I have heard repeated many times is, “we have to be more competitive”. “There are fewer jobs out there and we each need to be more competitive.” What does “competitive” mean to you?  Lots of pool and spa industry members believe competitive means being cheaper.  A lot of consumers believe that they can get a better financial deal now, assuming they can afford or get financing to fund it. They think that because the market is way down that we hungry sharks will drop their drawers to get the deal.

Let’s think about this for a minute or two.  The definition of “competitive” that resonates strongly with me contains thoughts such as; attempting to win; wanting to beat others; better than the competition; striving for the same target. Price cutting isn’t in my scope. What if we take a different approach to being competitive and take the challenge to be better at what we do? How about re-thinking your business strategy and think about how you can make your offering of services more competitive by being more inclusive.

This runs contrary to those that think they need to pare down their scope, focus on the primary business and keep things simple. I’m thinking that if customers are few and far between, maybe I should provide all I can to the ones I do get. Expand more scope to those whose confidence and trust have been placed in me and give them all I am able to within reason.

Take this thought with you as you attend the upcoming International Pool | Spa | Patio Expo in Las Vegas. See what other items or services you can add to your repertoire that will add value to dealing with you and make you more competitive! Looking forward to hearing from you and I’ll see you in Las Vegas!  Brian

Brian Van Bower runs Aquatic Consultants, a design firm based in Miami, Florida  and is President and co-founder of the Genesis 3 Design Group; dedicated to top-of-the-line performance in aquatic design and construction, this organization conducts schools for like-minded pool designers and builders.  He can be reached at bvanbower@aol.com.

I immediately got involved in the whole “BBS” thing, (if you have to ask it doesn’t really matter), and was learning everything I could mostly from hackers, geeks, and other highly curious types like me.  I knew the internet was here to stay and that it had incredible potential.

Fast forward…, I continued learning, experimenting, and using technology in both my personal and business life. (yes…, somewhere along the way I “got a life”)

Understanding that the future of “web search” was turning “social”, I launched the first Pool Industry specific social network, the “Pool Genius Network”.  Since that launch I have continued to study the “social phenomenon”, build high ranking web sites, and recently created a new “creation”…, the “Accumulator Mega Blog”.  The site that uses this philosophy is http://www.poolinfosite.com, and the idea here…, in a nut shell, is to use “focused accumulated content” (I call it an “accumulator strategy), as the means to drive and maintain rankings… and it works great!  It has the ability to house over 20,000 industry specific blogs in it’s current state, and can be upgraded easily to handle over 1 million…, but I digress!

So all this gets us back to the beginning… what the heck is this “Caffeine” thing anyway and what can I do to make the most of these changes.

The whole “Caffeine” thing has everyone in the SEO world scratching their heads and creating new strategies to gain the most traction in this environment.  Indeed it’s a fast moving world in the web optimization circles.  Consider this, web technology doubles in information about every 12 months, self updates about every 3 months, and self obsoletes about every 3 years.  That basically means that most of what you learned 3 years ago is totally obsolete, and that everything in the past year is now old.  WOW!

Now most of the “Caffeine” experts are talking about the “three legged stool” of Caffeine, which are, “content, links, and activity”.  Content and links have been huge for a while now, but activity was not measurable under the old search methods.  Now “activity” has become very important if not even most important, and the criterion for “content” has tightened considerably and is now well defined.

But the “experts”, in the rush to expound on the new technology, have left a major leg off of the stool.  This is an important leg and must be a part of the strategy if you want to have a lasting effect.  The missing element is “stickiness”.

Stickiness is the length of time someone stays on your site and has significant impact on the rank.

In my next post I will discuss an “8 Point Strategy” you can use to capture the attention of “Caffeine” for your business.  This specific strategy is a critical element of the design used in the www.poolinfosite.com project, which I designed to accelerate and maintain web traffic and rankings specifically for participating pool industry members and to do it in the most cost effective way ever developed.

The web is an exciting, rapidly changing, and challenging frontier. It’s impact on your business may be the single most powerful element you will ever have to manage.  It is important to find and, join a team, hire a team, or build a team of experts who can stay on top of this powerful new business asset.  See you again soon!

And we just love seeing the bad guys get caught, don’t we?

Funny thing is — that’s exactly what Google has been doing for years.  Working diligently and methodically to catch and punish those clever and heinous “search engine optimization” companies, who try to trick the innocent public into going to websites that might not actually be “the most relevant.”

After all, that’s what search engine optimization companies do, right?  They don’t worry about how good you are compared to your competitors.  They just want to get you on page 1 for the selected search terms, regardless of whether you’re any good.

Historically, Google has looked primarily at two things to determine “relevance” and a website’s corresponding ranking: Content and Links.   “Content” refers to the text, the photos, the title tags, the meta tags, the keywords, etc. “Links” refers to the number of other sites that point or “link” over to your site.  The emphasis of one versus the other has shifted over the years, but it has always been some combination of those two. And fortunately for the search engine optimizers, it was pretty easy to “fake” this stuff, at least to some degree.

But in June of this year, everything changed.  Google released their latest strategy (code-named “caffeine”) and added a third variable to the mix:  Activity.  Now, suddenly, the frequency of edits and updates and comments on your site make a huge difference.  (Facebook is a perfect example — loaded with content and links, but also updated 1000+ times per second. It should come as no surprise that Facebook is the number two highest ranked website in the world — second only to Google herself.)

The strategy is brilliant, because unlike “links” and “content,” you need humans to have a high level of activity.  That’s very difficult to fake.  Fortunately, not all search engine optimization specialists are evil.  Some are well aware of what’s happening, and they are playing the game the way Google wants it to be played.

But as for those who still think that “trickery” is the answer, well they will be seeing some sad faces in the mirror soon.
Yes, it’s a war out there. And Google’s 20,000 strategists are winning.  So if hiring a SEO specialist is in your future be sure to ask them first about “caffeine,” and make sure that they’ve chosen to play by Google’s rules.

Brett is president of MYM Austin Inc., a marketing agency that works exclusively with business owners in the swimming pool industry. Brett is also the cofounder of The Pool Genius Academy, a low cost, high value educational organization devoted to maximizing the success of business owners throughout the aquatics industry. www.MYMAustin.com and www.PoolGeniusAcademy.com.

More information at

We use the presumptive close. We just say “and your e-mail address is” if they ask why, we tell them that we send out special discounts to those on our e-mail list.  We can show them examples.  The best way we get this accomplished is to measure how many e-mails we get and who is collecting them.  We post those numbers every week and do training with people who are not collecting. We don’t make it a negative but explain to the employees why it is so important to get e-mail addresses.

2.  How do you attract talented staff? (we’ve tried newspapers, Internet and in-store ads)

We have started to use the internet more; there are many sites you can post openings for.  It differs from city to city.  We use “Craig list” and have found a lot of success. We have also made contacts with local schools and colleges by getting in contact with particular instructors who can send their best students to us.

3.  How can pool retailers in the same market work together to grow awareness among consumers?

It starts with just talking.  Getting to understand that you are not really competitors and that if you don’t fight things are better in the end.  It does not always work but you have to try.  When there is an issue, you should call and talk about it.  There will be competitive situations when you will be against each other.  That is just going to happen.  But working together to make sure that all of the customers understand the importance of a brick and mortar store is for the benefit of both.  And what ever you do, do not bad mouth each other.  If an employee does, talk to the employee and make sure that you let the other dealer know that it will not happen again.

4.  Where are the best places to advertise online?

The most prevalent sight is Google.  You need to be there.  They make it very easy to buy key words and to manage what you are doing.  Next is probably Yahoo followed by MSN.  We spend about 80% of our money on Google at this point.  That seems to be where the action is.  You do need to check your keywords often and adjust your bids.

5.  How does the presence of available products online factor into what products you carry in your store?

This is a major factor in our decision making.  It is similar to trying to have products that local competitors do not have.  We make sure that the product has some good selling propositions.  When we don’t have different products, I think it is important not to give out part numbers.

In an effort to control costs, what benefit can buying groups provide pool builders?

Buying Groups typically provide better CONTROL for a Builder.  When Builders plan in advance and carry enough stock in their own warehouses to cover most of their equipment needs; they can focus on other things.  The stock is in their building, where they can see it and is paid for. Then, as the day nears when they will install the equipment, they don’t have to stop everything and make sure it is not ordered nor coordinate a delivery. They just have their people take it to the job site on the appropriate day.  If there is a delay in a job, the equipment remains in the warehouse. If there is a rush, the equipment is already there. Buying this way can save a Builder 20% or more.

Do you have any suggestions on the possibility to renegotiate existing agreements, such as leases or other long term obligations?

The best tip is to try to meet the needs of the person who will be granting the request. Each company a Builder does business with has their own problems; whether a Boss or a Bank or Shareholders, everyone usually answers to someone. Making a Lease longer in exchange for a lower rate meets some of the Landlord’s needs (stability). Asking for a smaller copier meets some of the Copier Leasing Company’s needs (keep an account and don’t have to repossess equipment). People will respect give-and-take more than threats. Pleading Poverty isn’t a good tactic, instead, say that if you focus your limited resources on finishing jobs, you will be in business after this recession ends and be a great customer again. Assure the other side that if they say yes, you will act right away (and there won’t be another round of negotiating for an even better deal). 

If I am in arrears to current suppliers, what is the best way to deal with them, knowing we are important to each other?

Offer a PAYMENT PLAN!!! When you say anything other than: “I can pay you $ X each week until we’re caught up”, all the person owed the money hears is: “Blah, Blah, Blah…” When you offer to make weekly (or Monthly) payments, they can write up your promise, drop it in a file, and move on to the next account in arrears. Once done, it’s easy to call BEFORE YOU MISS A PAYMENT and ask to lower the amount and extend the length of time. The key to Payment Plans is CALL THEM BEFORE THEY CALL YOU.  You know when you are going to be late or short before the other side does, what not call them and let them know?

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Brian Van Bower, co-founder Genesis 3:

We are a mid range builder – $50,000- $80,000.  I would love to charge for designs, but meet with a lot of resistance.  What steps can I take to help?

Beginning to charge for design is difficult when you are just starting out. Explaining to clients that you want to be able to dedicate enough time and effort into the design and planning of their project because you know how important it is to them is key. Before attempting to charge for design you must first make sure that your design knowledge and ability is worthy of compensation. Educating yourself in design, and sharing those credentials with clients, may help bridge the credibility gap. An easy sell is explaining that you charge for design, so you can afford to do it correctly, then letting the clients know that you will “credit” the design fee back to them toward the contract, should it be awarded to you. I often make a point of telling a potential client that most of my industry will include design at no cost but that often, that’s what it’s worth.

Remember to expand your focus to the entire environment rather than being focused on the hole in the ground with water in it. You may also want to seek Landscape Architects in your area that specialize in residential outdoor designs. You can then sell them on your abilities and allow them to bring you in as “their” expert on pools. Clients that use Landscape Architects expect to pay fees already so it is easier for them to accept you as a pool designer when recommended by the LA. You’ll find that the more you charge for design, the more attention the clients pay to you, and your design.

How do you approach jobs on a “cost plus basis”?

Many types of contractors now work on a cost plus basis, especially on involved projects that are likely to escalate in scope and continually change direction. Our firm is design only so we don’t do any contracting. My associates that operate on a cost plus basis like the idea that they are not forced to be in a total cost/bid situation. Usually, contractors with the highest reputations are best able to operate this way with little resistance. A strict submittal/approval system to have clients sign off on segments of construction or materials must be adhered to, since that will determine your compensation. Having a specific payment schedule is essential to success in this case. Also, clear contracts delineating who is responsible for what is important since there are no secrets in costs. You must be comfortable with your clients knowing exactly what you are receiving. Your percentage needs to take in to account your general overhead costs, insurance, etc. in order to make operating this way feasible. 

How can I handle a competitor that just moved into our market that is giving jobs away?

Hire them as a subcontractor! Just kidding. Buying your way into a market is, unfortunately, all too common in our industry. There isn’t a simple answer to this question, as it is a multifaceted issue. You must continually stress your experience, durability, and track record as important considerations in choosing a contractor for their project. Recommending that clients ask their potential bidding contractors to show them projects they have done in the area that are similar to what is being proposed is a subtle way of raising the issue indirectly. Taking the high road by avoiding talking negatively about anyone else is always the right approach. You are far better served expounding on your pluses rather than any mention of others negatives. No one likes negativity in sales. Another tact that I have always liked is being substantially different in cost, rather than marginally different. I have seen clients buy more readily when the difference in price is greater, provided you have explained the value that you have included to justify it. The perception is, similarly priced companies are all about the same while the higher priced company is in a league of their own. Don’t drop prices to try to maintain a market share! Stick to your guns; be worth what you charge and everything else will take care of itself.  

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Lew Akins, Ocean Quest Pools by Lew Akins:

Many of our competitors are selling the cheapest pools they can.  I know the clients don’t know the difference.  What can we do to combat that approach?

It all starts with finding out what the client would love to have.  Be sure to show as many features as possible to determine the customer’s real desires.  Remember that the client really doesn’t know much about what they are doing.  Act as a consultant, rather than a salesperson.  Suggest that the homeowner let you know what they would like without regard to the cost.  You can then incorporate all the elements they want into the design.  At that point a customer can choose between various items as a function of a desired budget.  We all tend to buy something we really want, even if we have to stretch our budget a bit.  At the end of the day, you will have a much happier customer.
I see these all tile pools in the magazines.  How the heck do you sell those?  I gave a seminar on all tile pools several years ago at the APSP national show.  An attendee mentioned he had never sold an all tile pool.  My question for him was “how often have you offered it?”

Many pool builders I have spoken with mention how expensive it is to tile a pool.  It is not important what it costs, it is only important that you know what it costs.  You can then offer the option to ALL clients.  Amazingly, some will actually buy it.  We sell all tiles on 20% of our jobs, only because we offer it to everyone.

Do you insist that husband and wife are both present for a presentation?

No!!!!!!  Asking a woman if her husband will be there can be a critical mistake.  We all know that the decision maker for most projects is the wife.  Why would we alienate her with such a question?  That being said, it is important to retain your intellectual property (design).  If you are building truly custom work, and doing top flight designs, no one will expect that you leave it without compensation.

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Brett Abbott, MYM Austin:

What should I focus on to make web site a better tool to get leads?

Focusing on your website is a smart strategy.  It will get more attention than any other advertising or marketing effort you make in the year 2010.  Creating a powerful website is a complicated process that cannot be explained in a blog.  However, here are a few tips that can guide you to make your website more powerful and persuasive:

1. Make sure your general design and layout looks professional. If any part of your website looks cheesy or amateurish, then your visitors will presume that your craftsmanship and/or business are cheesy and amateurish.

2. You should have some sort of “Free, low-risk offer” on every page.  Offer a report, a CD, a photo book, a DVD — anything that will (1) help the idle shopper learn more about swimming pools, and (2) entice them to give you their contact information in order to receive the free item.

3. Eliminate all outbound links on your home page. These are hurting your SEO rankings.

4. Eliminate all cheesy, lame, platitudinal, “me-too”  “ad-speak” comments such as “We’re the best!” or “We’ll make your dreams come true” or “it’s our goal to satisfy your needs.  People see right through this crap, and will therefore presume you are full of malarkey.

5. Get personal.  Be honest and sincere on your “about us” page.  Include photos of yourself, your facility, your vehicles, and the people who work for you.

6. If you are still using a flash-based website, get rid of it.  You can build a Google-friendly HTML website for half the cost of a flash website, and you can get 100 times better search engine rankings within HTML website.

7. If you are using a flash-based photo gallery that allows people to only look at one photo at a time, get rid of it.  Our tests prove unequivocally that your visitors want to see all of your photos at once, and be able to browse more freely through all your creations.

8. Make sure you are following all basic website protocols, such as:

    a. logo in the upper left should link to the home page

    b. all hyperlinks should be underlined and in a distinctly different color.

   c. any hyperlink that isn’t underlined (such as headings and menu items) should have a “hover” feature that changes when you hover over it, so that people instantly know that it’s a hyperlink.

9. And then, above all else, get some professional assistance with your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) efforts.  Because websites are becoming increasingly dominant in the sales process, it’s critically important that people find your website quickly in their search efforts.  And at the rate the science and Art of search engine optimization is changing, you will have difficulty staying in the lead if you tried to do it yourself.

How would you prioritize various advertising media for effectiveness for pool sales?

First, before you spend any money on any advertising, you should recognize these important facts:

1) All advertising efforts should include a free, low risk offer.  This will increase your response rate, as it will encourage the “future buyers” who aren’t ready to talk to a salesperson to go ahead and contact you anyway give you their contact information. (This will then allow you to start marketing to them directly, instead of advertising to the masses.)

2) All advertising efforts should be driving people to your website. It makes all of your other advertising efforts more powerful.

3) Your website itself is also an important and effective form of advertising media.

With that in mind, here are my recommended media for advertising (and lead generating) in the industry, based on the results we’ve seen with our clients:

1) Referrals — referrals are not a method of advertising, but they are a method of lead generation.  Therefore, before you invest too much money in new advertising, consider investing more money in your referral processes.  Your referral leads are usually better qualified and easier to close than your “advertising” leads anyway.

2) Website — invest in SEO so that people find you naturally. Technically, this is not “advertising,” but it’s now producing the same results as traditional advertising.

3) Pay-per-click (Google ad words, etc.) — this can be very effective, because it only costs you money when people actually click the link.  However, if it is not managed properly, you can waste a lot of money in a hurry. Get professional help with this.

4) Direct mail — this can be effective if you target the right neighborhoods, and you put together a compelling piece. The safest way to do this is with the RSVP program.  It usually costs about a nickel a home, and it only targets the most expensive homes in the neighborhood.  The folks at RSVP are semi-exclusive, so if you are already locked out, you might look around for another “post card-pack” program in your city. Most cities have one or more competitive alternatives to RSVP.

5) Radio — if you really want to “make a splash” in your marketplace, there is no more powerful medium than radio.  But the secret here is you must commit to a minimum of six months, and a budget of $50,000-$100,000, depending on the size of your marketplace and the reach of the radio station you choose.

6) Networking — again, technically, this is not “advertising,” but it is money (and time) invested to generate leads. As our society becomes increasingly more “personal” and “socially driven” while at the same time becoming increasingly skeptical of commercial advertising, networking will continue to be a powerful source of leads.  But this doesn’t mean “go join a networking group.” Instead I recommend the following:

a. Visit a different networking group every week.  Bring lots of business cards, and use your “elevator pitch” so that you leave a lasting impression on every person in the room.

b. Establish an informal “one-on-one” networking plan for yourself.  I recommend you commit to have a lunch or breakfast meeting with one new homebuilder or architect every week for the entire year. After meeting with 50 different home builders are architects, you are certain to come up with some new important business partners.

Leads are precious.  We don’t have a good follow up system in place.  Could you recommend some methods to make it better?

A “good” follow-up system is one that happens automatically without human involvement. Unfortunately, these are extremely hard to find. In theory, you could create one for yourself using a system such as “Constant Contact,” but I have yet to meet a pool builder that will commit the time and effort to put this sort of system in place.  Further, Constant Contact only takes care of the e-mail side of things, while you really should have a direct mail side to your follow up system as well.

At MYM Austin, we use a system called Infusion soft. It’s expensive ($5,000 upfront investment plus $300 per month), it’s clunky, hard to learn, hard to use, and annoying, but it gets the job done.  A lower-cost system that is not automatic, but can nonetheless be very effective, is the greeting card program from SendOutCards.com. You can create any sort of custom greeting card that you want, and mail it to your prospects for about a buck and a half each. You can “semi-automate” this system by making it part of a standard process that your receptionist or sales administrator executes on behalf of your sales team.

No matter what system or systems you use, you’ll want to make sure that the content of the e-mails and/or post cards and/or greeting cards is well-crafted, powerfully written, and compelling. Again, no easy task.