Written by John Gori
Why Pool and Spa Companies Need Integrated Field Service & Back-Office Management Software
Today’s pool and spa companies must meet rising customer expectations shaped by leading eCommerce brands. Clients now demand fast, seamless service at a fair price, yet businesses face escalating operating costs and growing labor challenges. Without the right tools, managing scheduling, inventory, customer communication, and financial operations becomes overwhelming. This is where integrated field service and back-office software provides a competitive advantage—helping pool and spa businesses improve efficiency, control costs, and retain skilled staff.
This faces Pool & Spa Companies with the need to be operationally efficient while still providing “white glove” service levels to an array of customers from homeowners to property management companies to hotels. NetSuite’s ERP and FSM services, coupled with Accrete’s PoolSmart product, bring a broad range of capabilities tailored to address your specific needs in multiple areas:
1. Capture New Customers with NetSuite Lead-to-Quote Automation
New Customer Capture using NetSuite’s Lead to Quote process to manage customer acquisition, from lead tracking to the bid processes, and on to quotes/estimates. Once the customer is won, carry the information forward into project/job execution without data re-entry. Customers now expect customized, professional-looking quotes with responses to their questions delivered quickly.
2. Manage Existing Customer Revenue and Service Renewals Efficiently
Manage existing customer revenue by tracking customer profitability, managing pricing over time, ensuring any necessary renewal agreements are signed, and maximizing upsell opportunities for add-on services. Track usage of billable items like chemicals, filter cartridges, and repair parts to ensure they are invoiced to the customer when appropriate. With PoolSmart you can manage mass annual service agreement updates and get customer electronic signatures, then handoff the agreement’s line items (open, close, weekly cleanings, etc.) for technician scheduling.
3. Streamline Pool Construction and Spa Installation Project Management
Efficient management of pool construction/spa installation from setting the budget, to Work in Process / Performance to Budget, invoicing, subcontractor management, personnel & equipment scheduling, change orders, and more. Once the construction/install is completed, any equipment documented in construction is now visible to the maintenance team (including warranties) to schedule recurring visits. The steps in the “construction project” can include a trackable task to get the ongoing maintenance agreement signed.
4. Improve Inventory Control and Prevent Revenue Loss
Inventory control through tracking items starting with receipt from vendor into inventory. Inventory can be held by storerooms or on service vehicles, with the ability to transfer and track stock between them. Usage can either be directly to a construction project or by expenditure from the inventory on the truck. Reorder point stock levels can be set for each truck, so that falling below the reorder point triggers an “order” to the warehouse to replenish the truck when they return. Items can be tracked by serial number or lot number when appropriate. Simple errors like failing to document all parts used in construction resulting in inaccurate job Profit & Loss reporting. Technicians using billable items like chemicals, filter cartridges, or check valves without documenting that usage result in untracked costs, lost revenue, and mis-stated inventory.
5. Simplify Technician Scheduling and Mobile Dispatch
Technician Scheduling providing a unified view of technicians or crews available and already assigned, along with a list of unassigned jobs. Dispatch them by pushing the job to their mobile device. View the status of jobs as they are started/completed, and track utilization of technicians over time. Reschedule jobs that couldn’t be completed (parts need to be ordered, etc.). Track the skillsets of field employees so they can be matched to appropriate jobs.
6. Track and Optimise Equipment Utilization Costs
Equipment Utilization Equipment like trucks, backhoes, bobcats, etc., can be added to the dispatch board to better schedule them, track their maintenance & operating costs, report their utilization, etc.
7. Gain Visibility into Customer Site Equipment and Maintenance History
Customer Site Equipment can be tracked. With an inventory of equipment (control panels, pumps, filter tanks, heaters, auto-closures, etc.) on each customer site your staff can view what equipment the customer has each time you interact with them. Routine maintenance can be scheduled including recurring visits, annual open/close visits, etc. Locations with multiple pools/spas can break out each “body of water”. Technicians can see the maintenance history of each piece of equipment and document their work complete with pictures. When taking on new customers, the technicians can “capture” the onsite equipment including nameplate photograph to start tracking the equipment.
8. Enhance Field Service Management with Mobile-First Tools
Field Service In addition to sending tasks to the mobile for Construction, Planned Maintenance, and Break-Fix, routine cleaning routes can be pushed to the technicians that perform that work. Periodicity of the visits can be weekly, monthly, daily, or any variation (twice per month, 3 days per week, etc.). You can push items like access information (gate codes), customer contact info, services to perform (checklist), capture of before/after photos and water chemistry readings, etc., to the technicians’ mobile devices (phone, tablet, laptop). Once they have downloaded their jobs for the day, the mobile device can operate “untethered” (without Internet access) and then sync automatically when it detects a restored Internet connection. Any chemicals or parts (ex: filter cartridges) used can be recorded for inventory tracking, cost accounting, and customer billing. What the technician sees and fills out is customizable to fit how you want to operate. The ability to quickly take a credit card payment in the field, with the payment tied to the service performed improves cash flow, decreases the potential for bad debt write-off, and minimized processing costs.
9. Flexible and Accurate Customer Invoicing Options
Customer Invoicing whether Time & Materials, Monthly Fee, Milestone, Schedule of Values/AIA, all can be set up for any given customer. When working with builders, retainage can be handled as well as change orders. Because of the integration with field service services or materials used on a customer site can be set to either invoice immediately or on the customer’s next monthly bill. The integrated nature of the solution stops the “profit leaks” of disconnected systems.
10. Strengthen Vendor Management and Purchasing Control
Vendor Management from qualifying new vendors to tracking vendor pricing, you can manage your supplier base. Track different pricing terms from multiple vendors providing the same item to you. Issue Purchase Orders (even initiated from the field if you want), receive items from the vendor (either as expenses or into inventory) and manage bill payment efficiently. Track items picked up from supply houses or hardware stores by field personnel including creating an accounting entry to match up to their corporate expense credit card.
11. Manage Reverse Logistics and Returns with Full Transparency
Reverse Logistics for failed items is tracked from start to finish. Create an RMA transaction to return the failed item from a customer or construction project. Set a task to retrieve the item from the site (if necessary), and take it into quarantine so that it is visible for tracking but not as “good stock”. Meanwhile get the vendor’s RMA (or RTV as some call it) and add that number including whether you will be receiving a credit from the vendor or a replacement item. Then your warehouse will be directed to take the returned item from quarantine and ship it back to the vendor using the tracking number, and recording the shipper (i.e. UPS, Fedex, etc.) tracking number. At any point you can see the history including all of the accounting transactions involved.
12. Real-Time Dashboards for Smarter Business Decisions
Real-time Dashboards – Customizable, real-time dashboards providing information you can use to make good business decisions. Whether your primary concerns are more efficient construction budget control, technician utilization, better inventory control, more accurate invoicing. For reporting, schedule recurring reports, send them to people as PDF’s or Excel, even self-develop custom reports.
13. Unlock Advanced Analytics and AI with NetSuite ERP Platform
Platform for AI – Integrated ERP and Field Service solutions provide a central platform for advanced analytics and AI capabilities, from initial customer contact automation to predictive maintenance, contract renewal automations and recommendations based on water testing results. NetSuite has and continues to invest heavily in AI in their products, and Accrete was one of their pilot partners in implementing AI solutions for our customers.
Find out how NetSuite and PoolSmart can improve your business processes and profitability—schedule a consultation today.
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