Pool Trader App – Technology for Pool Service Companies
About the Creator:
My name is Joe Wilmot and I am the creator of the Pool Trader app. I am a fellow pool technician that started in the industry in 2008 with my business H2Joe Pool Service & Repair here in Fountain Hills, AZ.
Pool Trader is a totally free app specifically designed for anyone in the swimming pool industry. The original idea and goal was to create something that can help everyone, especially weekly service techs, to get tighter routes. I drove ALL over the valley here in the Phoenix area for years, going as far as 45 minutes in every direction to service pool accounts. I would constantly drive by other pool companies or even park across the street from a fellow tech as he went into his customers yard, and me into mine. It would frustrate me to think of how far I was driving to my accounts. On occasion I would get to speak with a fellow tech as we serviced the same area, and some were doing the exact same thing I was, driving a lot of miles, but a few would say, “I live just around the corner”!! And this is where the spark of the idea came.
There NEEDS to be something where we can all work together and help one another get tighter routes. The only ways accounts were being bought and sold is 1 – a broker, 2 – craigslist or 3 – a flyer posted on the cork board at the local wholesaler. That’s what Pool Trader is, it’s a meeting place where at the click of a button you can see what’s going on in your area.
At this moment on 5/24/2020 there are 70 posts or listings in 11 states nationwide and 2 countries! Yes it’s actually international!!
Very simple…..
- download the app from the apple or google play store or you can go to my website pooltrader.net for the links.
- Then you can either create an account (FREE) or continue as a guest, click on map and you’ll see all the current listings. If you click on the “LIST” tab it will show you all listings in the order of closest to furthest from your exact location.
- If you want to make a post you will have to create an account first, very simple and quick.
- Then you have 3 options: for sale, wanted, services offered.
For sale can be 1 pool or 100 pools and it will pop up as a red pin on the map – for example (For Sale – 2 accounts in the east valley, looking to tighten up my route, $500 each, contact me for more info). A wanted post will let everyone know where your business is located, or where you want to concentrate your business, it will be a green pin on the map (Wanted – 10-15 pools in the west valley, please send me a lead if you get something in my area and you are too busy or don’t service this area. Thank you!) Or Service Offered, blue pin – (Joe’s heater repair, I’m located in the North valley and I repair all brands of gas and electric pool heaters). All of these are what you will see examples of on the app.
Personal Story
So it applies to anyone in the industry not just service techs, I’m trying to help everyone stay as local as possible to lower their overhead and maximize profit and most importantly, spend more time doing the things you love away from work 🙂. I’m just a fellow pool man trying to solve a problem that this industry has. I’ve been so overjoyed to have users reach out to me and tell me their success stories! I attended and rented a booth at the Desert Pool and Spa show here in PHX, AZ in January of this year, just to put a face to the name and meet everyone in person. A husband and wife team that have a pool service company in Peoria, AZ came up to my booth and shook my hand to say thanks…then they said, “we sold our route using your app in 15 minutes!” To which I said, “WHAT!!!???”
They explained, they had been trying to sell 31 pools to downsize their workload. They posted on Facebook and other places. Thankfully someone replied to them saying, “you should list it on the Pool Trader app”, and thank you by the way to whoever you are, your spreading the word is what this is all about!! The husband said “we were just watching a movie and winding down for the night so I said to my wife, yeah list the route on that Pool Trader app. And 15 minutes later I got a text from a guy who was seriously interested! We met soon after that, he road with me for 2 weeks to see the pools in person, and he paid for it in full, DONE!” So the contact was made in this wonderful success story in 15 minutes…WOW! I’m not going to lie I actually got a little choked up as they told me this story. To think that My app is helping people already is beyond words.
It’s growing every day and I have been in touch with numerous people and companies that want to be a part of what I’m trying to do. What does that mean for everyone? It means I intend to keep this free for everyone, forever. Many wonderful things are coming in the near future to provide even more assistance and benefits to everyone who uses the app. I am so thankful I got into this industry and am so very excited to be a part of it for years to come.
