I once asked a Pool Builder that had designed and built many pools with automatic pool covers why so many of his customers wanted pool covers. He said when starting a design I simply ask one question, “Do you want to look at your pool or swim in it?” With a small laugh and grin I asked him to elaborate.
This pool builder, with years of experience, stated that he had learned there are basically two groups of people that want pools. There are those who want to swim and play and exercise regularly, and there are those who just want something beautiful to look at. For those that want the pool for recreations, he would speak of the heating and cleanliness benefits of a pool cover. Those that want to swim regularly but don’t have a cover begin their pool time taking time to skimming debris from the pool. Those that have an automatic pool cover simply retract the cover and jump into the warm, clean water.
The experience shared is that of just one Pool Builder but similar experiences are had by other pool builders and homeowners alike. As a company that installs both automatic pool covers and removable mesh pool fences we have the opportunity to interact with many customers in the same neighborhood with very different pools. One particular community we have been working in has presented an interesting experience. The first family we worked with was a new pool construction with an automatic pool cover. They referred our company to their neighbors who then had mesh pool fences installed on their existing pools. As I began meeting more families in the neighborhood, a similar story was shared. During the summer families would get together at each other’s houses. More and more, everyone went to the house with the automatic pool cover. Everyone said they wished their pool was as warm and clean as the pool with the auto cover.
As more houses began to be built in the small neighborhood more automatic pool covers were being installed. From the neighborhood experience, the new pools were buying an automatic pool cover based on the benefits that had been communicated by their neighbors. One neighbor even decided to remodel their entire pool, though only 5 years old, to accommodate an automatic pool cover. Not every new pool in the neighborhood was built with an automatic pool cover but the pool builder’s idea was not far off. Families who valued the fun, warm, clean pool bought pools with automatic covers. The other neighbors simply wanted a very large water feature and did not feel the need to cover their pool.
I think the biggest lesson i learned here was to make sure to give customers the opportunity to choose their pool experience. So much is put into design of the pool that sometimes that function can be lost. I used to keep a list of customers that had told me they wished they could have had a cover built into their pool but never were offered the option of an automatic pool cover. I hope more pool builders will consider asking the question; do you want to swim in the pool or just look at it?
