NOTE: DEADLINE EXTENSION! Due to overwhelming demand, the deadline to enter has been extended for another week to July 31 by 11:59 p.m. Please note no further extensions will be made, so be sure to get your entry in now!

Over the past decade and a half, our Top 50 Builders program has grown to be a juggernaut in the industry. It’s the most visited section on our website, with keen interest from builders and homeowners alike, and the honor is an invaluable marketing tool for the companies who make the list.

It occurred to me that we should develop a similar award for service companies. After all, the pool service sector is one of the fastest growing areas of our industry. In the past five years, the demand for pool service has risen sharply following the rise of new housing starts. Consequently, we’ve seen more and more people entering the service side of the industry. In fact, market research firm Ibis World reports that there are more than 67,000 pool service businesses in this country as of April of this year.

We want to honor the top 50 of those 67,000 companies.

To that end, I invite all service companies, large and small, to enter our inaugural Top 50 Service award program, including firms with service departments and even franchises.

To be clear, this program will focus on service companies and not individuals. There’s already an excellent program by Pleatco that honors exceptional people from the service sector, and our new program is not designed to compete with it. Rather, Top 50 Service will bring recognition to the companies that serve their customers and industry best.

We’ve worked hard to develop criteria that are comprehensive and fair. It’s primarily based on Top 50 Builders but with a few key adjustments: While entrants will be similarly required to report revenue, education, industry involvement, web presence, and staffing info (if applicable), we didn’t feel it was fair to compare a small company with a franchise. So the final Top 50 list will be divided into separate categories pertaining to company size/business model. And, while franchisers are welcome to enter, each must enter separately. As with the Top 50 Builders program, entire franchises cannot enter as a single entity.

Lastly, because the nature of pool/spa service is offering customers a service, we’ve again partnered with GuildQuality, a customer satisfaction surveying firm specializing in the construction industry, to help us find out how pleased your clients are with your company. GuildQuality will reach out to each applicant for a customer list and randomly conduct satisfaction surveys for each firm to generate a score.

In developing this exciting new program, we’ve relied on the advice of IPSSA leaders and many experienced service techs, and to them we owe our thanks. To name but a few: John Oldfield, David Hawes, Ray Arouesty, Ben Honadel, Kirk Bradley, and Todd Starner. To them and the many others who generously gave them time and input, we’re very grateful.

Don’t wait! The deadline to enter is July 24. The entry portal can be found here: poolspanews.com/top50service-entry

Good luck!