Interview with the SPASA Awards of Excellence Winners

Interview with the SPASA Awards of Excellence Winners

A huge congratulates to Trenton and Nikki from Jim’s Pool Care Glenelg, on your recent win at the SPASA Awards of Excellence!

We recently reached out to Trenton and Nikki from Jim’s Pool Care Glenelg, to ask them a few questions regarding their journey with their Jim’s Pool Care Franchise so far. Their answers give us a really interesting perspective on their journey and how they got to becoming winners of such a prestigious award.

What attracted you to the Pool Industry?

We have been around swimming pools our whole lives (growing up with them and also our own home having one), however the outside lifestyle also appealed to us. Coming from inside corporate jobs for the past of 15 years not being stuck in an office or shopping center really stood out.

What benefits you see in being part of the Jim’s Pool Care group?

The training and support aspect really stood out to us when we were deciding what business to get involved in. Coming from industries that have a large amount of structure and training development models we wanted to make sure that we had that support when it was needed. Just owning a pool and growing up around them, certainly didn’t make us experts by any means.

We also felt comfort with a known and trusted brand such as Jim’s.

What was the hardest part of starting and then growing a business?

Starting with zero customers and knowing that we had to make it work as we had thrown ourselves in boots and all was probably the hardest part in the early days and staying motivated to do all the basics such as door knocking in our local area certainly kept us focused but once you start to see the hard work pay off it was all worth it.

What motivates you each day to get out there and grow it?

Just being our own boss is certainly a motivator for us. The fact we can chose when we want to work and build our lifestyle around work rather than work dictate our lifestyle is a huge motivator for us. Add in the buzz we get when our customers refer us to friends and family and the circle just keeps going around and around.

What things you have done to grow it, ideally mention everything, regardless if it worked short term?

We have door knocked, offered free cleans to friends and family, worn our uniforms on weekends even when we aren’t working to get people to talk to us (it works especially in the supermarket and Bunnings), we gave small inflatable gifts to our new regulars to thank them for trusting us with their pools on our first visit with hand written notes. We made sure all the equipment had our stickers on it, people move houses and if your name is on the equipment it is often the first person they call about it. We dropped folders off to real estate agents to introduce ourselves and outline our services for both rental properties and sale of home cleans.

We follow the Jim’s model when it comes to communication with leads, follow up, arriving on time, being presentable and general communication with new and existing customers.

We ensure we do a great job with any work and we ask people to provide reviews/surveys on us regularly.

Smiling and loving what we do is also a huge thing, when people can tell you love what you do it is very comforting and it fills our customers with trust that we are going to enter their property and care for their pool and equipment like it was our own.

What you really like about the business?

Everything…..we get to work together, outside, meet amazing people, learn new things and have a balanced lifestyle. What is not to like about it really….oh and I get to play with some really cute dogs/puppies (Nikki said that).

How important is customer service to you and your business, and what does that entail?

Customer service is more important than anything. Both our backgrounds are in customer service from a corporate perspective so we understand that ensuring the customer is at the centre of everything you do is crucial to your business.

In our business customer service starts from the first time we speak with the customer as a lead or referral, using peoples names, being polite and using manners, eye contact, arriving on time when an appointment is set, being friendly and professional. Pay attention and listen when talking to customers, they love when you remember something they have told you, and your refer to it later especially when it comes to themselves or members of their friends or family.

Giving the best customer service is not something you should have to try to do or think about, it should come naturally if you love what you do, like we do.

How has it helped with your with family commitments and flexibility around hours?

We have been able to have great flexibility with family commitments, more than we ever have had before. We have been able to see family interstate, attend school events, give driving lessons and have our own time away which is something that always got put on the back burner before. Especially when having a “boss” basically dictated when we could and couldn’t take leave……

Where you see yourself/your business in coming years?

We want to continue to enjoy the business and the flexibility it offers. We want to make sure that we continue to achieve our financial goals as well. We also have plans to put extra cars on the road in the coming months which will give us greater freedom for taking on new work, participate in opportunities in the industry that come our way but also give us greater financial freedom and lifestyle choices. The business can continue to operate while we enjoy a break or two !!!!

What are you excited about this year?

It has already been such a big year for us, but we are excited about sharing this journey with some other like minded team members that we put on. More time with family and trips away are always exciting but knowing that the wheels of the business will continue to turn while we are away is very appealing we must certainly say.

We are excited to keep learning new things, we don’t think that will ever change and we think that the up and coming conference at the Gold Coast is going to give us the perfect platform to learn from those that have been doing it longer than us but also those that have just started as it doesn’t matter how long you have been doing something there can always be something that can be learnt.

A HUGE Congratulations again to such an amazing team, we are so proud to have both Trenton and Nikki as part of the Jim’s Pool Care Team. We look forward to what the rest of the year brings this dynamic couple and we are sure there will be plenty more awards to come!

If you would like to learn more about starting your own successful business, visit www.jimspoolcarefranchise.com.au for more info.