Keys To Service Department Success

Gohlke Group2 1116 Feat

As you can imagine, we have seen quite a few changes since Gene Gohlke, founder of Gohlke Pools, started building pools in Denton, Texas, in the late 1950s. You would think that a company that has been around for almost 60 years would have everything figured out, but that is not the case. Sure, we have done some things right, but we have also done quite a few things wrong. Oftentimes we have learned from our mistakes, but at other times it seems that we just repeat them. That being said, we continue working to make improvements and are excited about the future.

We participate in all aspects of the pool and spa business (new construction, retail, service, renovation), and overall, we have seen continued growth in all areas — mostly slow, yet steady, growth. But the growth that our service department has experienced has been extraordinary. It has quadrupled since the turn of the century and doubled in the last five years.

This growth is a result of some intentional planning by us, mostly as a result of the bear market that started in late 2007 and continued thru mid-2009. We had never really focused on our service department prior to that, but the struggling economy we experienced during that time forced us to look for potential growth areas, and at that time it was not in the area of new pool construction. The service department was the obvious choice: We realized pool owners would spend less on their pool during a poor economy, but their pools still had to be serviced, at least to some extent.

This growth has resulted in some definite growing pains, which resulted in stress and anxiety. But we learned a few things about running a good service department. Below I've listed some practices that have made us more profitable.

Be a great place to work

This is an area in which we have definitely learned the hard way. We've always felt we have compensated at or above the market by offering above-average compensation plus benefits (retirement & health insurance). But we still seemed to have more turnover than we should. We began to really look at our lack of employee retention and in doing so, we read articles, looked at employee surveys and observed what successful companies were doing. We discovered that we needed to show more appreciation and respect for staff, include their input on decisions and provide a good work/life balance.

People simply will not work where they are not happy, regardless of the money. I recently saw a quote by Anne Mulcahy (former CEO of Xerox who has also served on multiple boards of directors of major corporations) that sums it up: "Employees who believe that management is concerned about them as a whole person — not just an employee — are more productive, more satisfied, more fulfilled. Satisfied employees mean satisfied customers, which leads to profitability."

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As a result of this, we made improvements. Here are a few things we do to try to make our company a better place for our employees:

  • We ask our managers to tour multiple times daily and to do their best to get to know the staff members and get their input on various company issues.
  • We provide a monthly birthday cake for all staff members who had a birthday that month.
  • We have cookouts or have food catered in on a fairly regular basis.
  • Periodically, we have company basketball or volleyball games, and have even had hunting trips and shooting excursions.
  • We attend sporting events: Texas Rangers baseball, horse races, etc.
  • We participate in community events together. We have a soap box derby car (downhill racing) that we built and raced last year and we will be in another race soon.
  • We provide flexible work schedules if needed.
  • We provide flu shots for our staff.
  • We offer a Dave Ramsey financial management course to our staff.
  • We are always on the lookout and open to new activities for our staff members, and realize that in order to get the customer experience right, we must first get the staff member experience right.

Be the most professional

Being professional is very important — we strive to be the most professional company in the market. When you act and look like a professional, it allows you to charge like a professional. Being professional includes many things, including the following:

  • Staff members must "look the part" — be uniformed and well groomed.
  • Company vehicles must be clean, organized and well-stocked so repairs can be completed in one trip.
  • Technicians must develop good communication and follow-through skills. This is just as important as good mechanical skills. We encourage the staff members to talk to the customer; it makes everything work much smoother. For example, our technicians call the customer when they are in route and upon arriving.
  • After our technician has diagnosed the problem, options and prices for repair/replacement are provided for the customer. Our technicians are able to quote a price quickly and easily due to the fact that we use flat-rate pricing.

Embrace technology

The value of technology cannot be overstated. Here are a few of the ways that we use technology to give us an advantage:

  • First of all, our service technicians have laptops and printers in their vehicle. It allows them to do many things, such as efficiently plan their routes, access all job information (customers' pool equipment photos, equipment lists, service history, etc.), schedule future work, bill onsite (via email invoice or print receipt), create estimates, check inventory, access manuals and catalogs, etc.
  • When on the job, our pool cleaners are paperless, and instead use their phones to access job information, input water test results, etc.
  • Vehicle tracking systems have come a long way and help us in so many ways. They give us the ability to see how staff members' days are progressing and make adjustments if they are ahead or behind schedule. It makes it easy for techs to pick up extra work, since we can see if there are any additional accounts near their current location. We can also route our vehicles more efficiently, establish a record that staff members have been present on the jobsite, advise when oil changes need to take place, advise when someone is speeding, etc.

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To sum it all up, we feel that our No. 1 enemy is not the competition or the economy — it's complacency and something called The Law of Familiarity.

The Law of Familiarity states that we lose a bit of our edge when we are around something for a long time. We take things for granted and start losing the firm resolve that got us where we wanted to be. It is a killer of careers, businesses, and families.

Even though we have been at this for many years, we try keep this in mind and remember that every day we are a work in progress.

Comments or thoughts on this article? Please e-mail [email protected].

Matt Gohlke is president of Gohlke Pools, a second-generation pool firm located in Denton, Texas. He is an APSP CBP, a Texas Residential Appliance Installer (the Texas service technician license), a CPO and a columnist for the Denton Record-Chronicle. Gohlke Pools has received many national awards, certifications, and recognition including being named as the Texas Family Business of the Year for 2009 and the Aqua 100 Hall of Fame.

Nick Day is the service manager of Gohlke Pools and has seen the department through a time of substantial growth. He is one of the premier service technician trainers in the country, and during his 17-year tenure at Gohlke Pools, he has also served in the role of retail manager and inventory manager. He is a Texas Residential Appliance Installer (the Texas service technician license) and a CPO.

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