In short pool route brokers arrange for swimming pool cleaners to take on the accounts of individuals who need swimming pool service, or maintenance.
When a swimming pool maintenance contractor develops there customer list they usually keep those customers for life. When the maintenance contractor is ready to stop doing the work they can use pool route brokers to sell the client list to another contractor.
Each swimming pool maintenance contractor will establish a list of the customers they service, and they schedule these services weekly, monthly, or bi-monthly, according to the customer wishes. Then they attempt to arrange their customer list, and when they will be at each customer house, so that they do not waste a lot of time and money driving between service calls. They try to arrange their customer service calls so that the homes they are going to each day are in the same general vicinity. That allows them to save on gas and be able to do more homes each day.
Why Sell the Customers?
Swimming pool maintenance specialist work very hard to develop a good reputation, and a customer base. When these individuals are ready to retire, or need to reduce their number of customers, they sell the customers because they put so much time into developing the customer base, and the customer trust.
When a new pool service man shows up at someone’s home they are accepted more easily if the new contractor can say that the old contractor has gone out of business and has provided them with the name of the homeowner. They can explain that they will be taking care of all of the maintenance and cleaning just like the other contractor had done prior to them. They can explain that they know what services the home requires, how often they need the services, and that the other contractor approves of their work. Most of the time, the selling contractor will already have contacted the clients on his list, to tell them to expect a new pool guy, and to let them know that the new guy is responsible, reliable, and has his approval. This courtesy call helps to pave the way for the change in workers.
The pool route brokers help the seller to list their routes so that new service contractors will know that the route is available. Think of the broker as a type of advertising specialist that deals only in swimming pool caregivers.
The person that is brokering the deal between the buyer and seller will make a small commission off of the sale. These individuals coordinate the meetings between the buyer and seller, and they also negotiate price, terms, and other details of the contract for the individuals involved. Then they provide written contracts to make the sell legal and binding.
In large cities there is a great need for pool service technicians. The number of pools grows each year, and that means that pool service routes are growing in numbers each year.