In some parts of North America, pools are closed for at least as long as the swimming season itself. Many pool owners would love to start using their pools earlier in the spring and continue swimming into the fall by being able to open and close their pools easily when temperatures are mild.
Automatic pool covers lend themselves to extending the swimming season while also providing safety, beauty, cost savings and convenience. The market demand for these products continues to grow rapidly, year over year. Pool professionals have the opportunity to deliver these benefits as pool owners hunker down in their own backyards under the uncertainty created by COVID-19.
Benefit 1: Extended swimming season
Today’s consumers are looking to maximize their swimming pool investments. This means spending as much time as possible in the pool! This is especially true this summer as consumers want to stay home and enjoy a ‘home stay-cation’ with the uncertainty created by COVID-19.
The fact that the automatic pool cover can be opened and closed on warmer fall and spring days means the pool owner can extend their swimming season with little effort or wait. They no longer need to close their pool completely for the winter at the first signs of a snow flurry. Because pool owners know their automatic covers can contain the heat, they are more likely to purchase a pool heater as well to maintain comfortable temperatures in the fall and spring.
Some owners actually want to swim year round! Sometimes we build their pool, and they say they want to warm the pool to 90 degrees and swim on New Years Eve. If they truly want that, they are going to need an automatic pool cover.
Automatic pool covers also help keep the pool clean and the water chemistry balanced more easily. Savvy pool professionals selling automatic pool covers should take the time to explain that APCs help keep debris out of the pool water when the pool is not in use. This is especially important in the fall months when trees are shedding their leaves.
Once consumers realize they will be able to extend their swimming season and will spend less time keeping their pool clean, it becomes much easier to sell an automatic pool cover.
Benefit 2: Safety
It’s important to pool professionals to emphasize safety as much as convenience when selling automatic pool covers. The security of knowing the cover cannot be reopened without a code or key gives pool owners peace of mind. Selling the safety aspect is an essential part of closing the sale.
When asking pool owners why they want a cover, the main response is always safety. When professionals take the time to explain that an automatic cover is also a safety cover, clients overwhelmingly choose this option, as they get the added convenience of not having to manually remove a cover each time they want to use the pool. When potential pool owners hear that it only takes 45 seconds to open or close the cover, they are sold.
Benefit 3: Savings
The automatic pool cover may be unrivaled in the savings they provide. The added benefits of the cover actually reduce the overall costs of maintaining a pool. And automatic covers help retain heat when the pool isn’t in use and keep chemicals and water from evaporating, which together contributes to a reduction in operational costs.
Studies show that those who add automatic covers to gas-heated pools will save approximately $2,000 in heating costs each year, along with approximately 8,000 gallons of water evaporation loss. All told, it costs only about $5 per year to operate an automatic safety cover.
Benefit 4: Beauty
Though it is not necessarily among the top reasons a pool owner chooses an automatic pool cover, the product does have an added aesthetic bonus that it can seemingly disappear when the cover is open. It has a beautiful finished look that won’t be an eye-sore to look at in the winter months. This aesthetic appeal often seals the deal.
If customers are trying to decide whether or not to choose an automatic pool cover, professionals should encourage them to do so prior to construction. This allows the cover to be installed under the coping with a hidden track. If they wait to add the automatic cover later, they will need to contend with a track on the deck, which is not as visually appealing.
Finally, with so many color choices available today, cover colors complement the backyard design and complete the look of the entire pool area.
