What a One-Truck Pool Service Needs From Software

Pool service software can come with a very long feature list. A one-truck business does not need most of it. You need a few things to work well, and you need to be up and running without a long setup.

This post covers what a one-truck pool service needs from software, what you can skip, and how to check a tool before you pay for it. It is written for a business with one truck and a list of regular pools. If you add trucks later, read the list again, because your needs will change.

What you are really paying software to do

Strip it down and a one-truck pool service needs software for three jobs.

• Get paid without chasing. You cleaned the pool. You want the money for it, without a trail of reminders.
• Give customers one clear place. They should be able to see their plan and manage it without calling you.
• Keep visits from slipping. Customers who remember you are coming are easier to serve.

Everything else is a bonus. Pay for a bonus only when you will use it.

Billing that runs on its own

Pool service is repeat work. Same pool, same price, month after month. Billing every visit means you send an invoice, wait, remind and repeat.

Here is the math. Say you service 25 pools at $120 a month. That is $3,000 a month. If you bill each visit, and you visit weekly, that is about four visits per pool, or 100 invoices to send and follow up. On monthly plans, it is 25 charges.

In Ruunly, plans can bill monthly or yearly. On a monthly plan, the card on file is charged automatically every month.

Keep the plan simple. One price and a clear list of what each visit covers. The easier a plan is to explain, the easier it is to sell to the customers you already have.

A simple way for customers to sign up

A homeowner should be able to sign up without a phone call. In Ruunly, customers sign up on your site and pick any of your plans, packs or one-time visits in their portal.

Look for the same thing in any tool you try. Can a customer find your plans, pick one and see what they signed up for, without waiting for you to call back? If signing up is hard, some customers will call you instead, and you are back to doing it by hand.

Reminders so nobody forgets

A forgotten visit costs you a wasted trip and your customer a clean pool. In Ruunly, customers with an email on file get a reminder before every visit.

Room for vacations and off weeks

Pool owners travel. A pause with a resume date is easier to manage than cancelling and starting over, and it saves a call for both of you. In Ruunly, customers can pause a plan from their portal with a resume date.

Something that works from your truck

You are not at a desk. Ruunly works in your phone's browser.

What you can skip at one truck

A small business does not need to pay for tools built for much bigger operations. You can skip:

• Software built to manage a fleet of trucks.
• Advanced reports you will never open.
• Add-ons you pay for every month and use once.
• Anything that takes weeks of learning before your first customer is billed.

A simple test helps. If you cannot say in one sentence what a feature does for your pools, it can wait.

Which plan fits

Ruunly is from $19 a month. Each plan is on the pricing page. Starter holds 25 recurring clients. Pro holds 100. Growth has no limit. Count the pools you serve on a regular schedule, then pick the plan that covers them.

If you still bill each visit and want to move your regulars to monthly plans, How to Sell Pool Maintenance Plans to Existing Customers walks through the pitch.

How to test a tool before you move everyone

Do not move your whole list on day one. A small test tells you more than a feature page.

1. Pick three to five regular pools with customers you know well.
2. Set up one simple plan with a clear price and a clear list of what each visit covers.
3. Sign those customers up and watch one full month.
4. Ask three questions. Did billing run without you? Did customers understand their plan? Did you spend less time on admin than before?
5. If the answers are yes, move the next group. If not, you learned that cheaply.

A short checklist before you pay for any pool software

• Count your regular pools and check the client limit on each plan.
• Check what changes in the price as you add pools.
• Find out how long setup takes and whether you can do it yourself.
• Try it with a few real customers before you move everyone.
• Read the billing terms before you sign up.

The bottom line

The best software for a one-truck pool service gets you paid, keeps customers in the loop and does not turn you into an office worker. Start with the basics. Add more only when you will use it.

Ruunly gives a service business recurring billing and a customer portal. From $19 a month. There is a 14-day free trial on Starter.

Start on Starter or see the plans. Running a pool business? Read more on the pool service page.

The Ruunly team