April 28, 2012
► Customer Feedback: A customer who wishes to remain anonymous mentioned a team member that did an unusually good job by remarking “Josh was very helpful and polite. Trina is very smart, knowledgeable, and nice.” The customer rated our communication as excellent, our products as excellent, and would recommend us to a friend. When asked what we really do well, they stated “You know your product and do a good job of keeping consumers informed and helped.”
► Advertising this week: Hurry, Hurry runs Sunday April 29, just for last two days of April Sale. Patio and Pool Sale also starts April 29 with a new set of weekly specials. Of course, the April Sale ends on April 30.
► Congratulations to Patrick on his Fifteenth Anniversary with us yesterday. How long is that? We have an employee here who was one year old when Pat started here! Please join me in congratulating Patrick. It has been a pleasure and honor to work alongside him this long. And, to see him grow from a young trouble-maker to a mature leader. Thank you Patrick.
► We are now out of good solar heating systems. The sign and price page have been changed, as shown here: “Currently, we can not find any American companies making quality solar systems for larger pools. When and if we do, we will bring them in.
Note: a good solar system is a mat or panels, taking up as much room as 1/2 to 2/3 the size of the pool. That requires a good match of size and hydraulics.
Below is a small unit (the GAME one) for small pools. Note that 7ºF a week is kind of slow, but you can link a lot of them together to increase speed on pool size. A good solar system would typically raise pool temperature 6o to 8o F a day with almost no effect on flow or pressure.
► I just got a new price list from Visscher, and created a new special order list. Some things went up. Some went down. Plus, it costs way more to ship from British Columbia these days.
► Three chlorine deposit sales were rung up wrong last week, for a total of seven wrong deposits. One cash return with no name. All by people who know better. Remember, your quarterly bonus will be lowered for each mistake.
► There will be a group of pool supplies going on sale after we end the April Sale for a few weeks, so that people who missed the April Sale still see some savings.
► This is the last week for the department monthly sales: Hot Tubs, Above Ground, Pool Tables. They all end Saturday, May 5th.
► Based on last week’s big chain flyer, our regular prices are the same or lower than their sale prices. A customer went to them to see if we he could get a better price on a filter. We are $399 regular, $319 on sale. They were (according to him) $600 on sale. That lines up with their prices in last week’s flyer: $59.99 on sale for 8# Jumbo Slow tabs. We are $59.99 regular ($47.99 on April Sale) for 15 pound Robelle Jumbo Tabs. Looks like they want to make a lotof money this year.
► The Skeeter Vac clears mosquitoes from a 1½ acre lot, by running it 24 hours a day. It uses burning propane to attract female mosquitoes (the only ones that bite) by emitting CO2. That’s how mosquitoes find animals to bite. They are attracted to the CO2 in animal breath. The vac also uses a replaceable bait bloc and has a replaceable bag that collects them. A tank of propane will last about 3 weeks.
► We are trying to teach people that water sample bottles are reusable, so we will only give out the green ones, and save the blue and orange ones until we run out of green. Obviously, we want people to keep and reuse what they already have. We are just talking about putting green out at the lab and the front door.
► Please learn the stock. Note that the Discount Generic chemicals are generic. They are not always Robelle or any other brand. They are whatever we can get cheapest. Right now, the generic powdered shock (65% CalHypo) is Poolife. So are the 25# Jumbo Tabs. They are not Robelle. If someone wants Robelle (say because you didn’t check inventory), Target is not the substitution. Target is better and more expensive.
► Remember, circulating 8 hours before an opening balance is best, not required. Don’t make it hard on people. The difference is probably smaller than your ability to get the same answer twice on the same water!
► From Patrick: Please remember when stocking test strips, to rotate stock. It costs us money when we have to throw them out because they expire!
► From Victor: Let me know when we are low on stock or supplies. Not when we are out.
► Welcome to our new team members Rebecca and Jeremy.
► Please tell customers:
1. This is an introductory offer on the Rewards Program, and we will switch to our regular rebates very soon: 1¢ per point, or 3% on small purchases – half of what we are offering now. People who sign up at 2¢ per point will get 2¢ all year. People who sign up at 1¢ will get 1¢ all year.
2. It is an email program. Watch for our confirmation email and reply to it, or we won’t be able to send them their certificate.
3. If they do not get a confirmation by email in two weeks, call us.
► Our final five minute management lesson submitted by Anne-Marie: A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground in a large field. While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him. As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he was. The dung was actually thawing him out! He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy. A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung and promptly dug him out and ate him.
Morals of the story:
- Not everyone who craps on you is your enemy.
- Not everyone who gets you out of crap is your friend.
- And when you’re in deep crap, it’s best to keep your mouth shut!