After nearly six decades as one of the top builders in one of the country’s busiest markets, a PSN Top 50 Builder has joined the trend toward service.
Just under a year ago – in September, 2023 – Phoenix-based Shasta Pools officially got into the pool cleaning and maintenance business.
The company already had separate divisions for renovation, commercial construction, luxury-pool construction, landscape and outdoor design and construction, but it hadn’t offered pool cleaning and maintenance.
Starting a service division is a big switch for a large-volume builder, especially one that has been around for nearly 60 years.
But, over time, the company had fielded many requests to manage the pools they'd built. And recently, Shasta established a new mission. Adding weekly service and maintenance aligned perfectly with the new charge, says Skip Ast III, Shasta’s director of sales.
“[Shasta CEO] Skip Ast Jr. has recently challenged the leadership team on multiple occasions, saying that we don’t build swimming pools -- our job is to enhance people’s lives. With this focus we want to explore any and every opportunity to enhance someone’s life. When you look at the big picture, the win-win for the customer and our family’s business is huge,” says Ast, who hails from the founding family's third generation in the company.
Management believed becoming more of a turnkey operation, even after construction, would improve the user experience. “We wanted to give them a pool that they just had to enjoy, rather than figuring out how to maintain it or finding a different company to clean the tile,” says Dave Lewis, director of pool care and outdoor environments.
Start-up strategy
To help the company break into this new industry segment, Shasta Pools recruited an office manager and a field manager who had worked in the service segment for several years. This would provide a deep foundation of knowledge.
“It’s really made the difference for us [in] not only being able to come out strong in numbers but in quality also,” Lewis says.
In looking for ways to distinguish itself from local competitors, the company addressed technician training: Each new tech must receive a Certified Pool Operator certification within a certain time period after hiring. Additionally, the company has a long-time in-house training manager, John Mortensen, who assumed responsibility for coordinating the service department’s instruction as well.
“Growth can only happen at the speed that you can find and train good quality technicians,” Lewis says. “We actually want to provide a pathway for our techs to make a career out of this, rather than considering it a summer or college job. We have more career-minded people who enjoy this type of work, and we’re trying to find a way to make it possible to make a career out of it so you have consistency and maturity in people’s yards.”
The company also tries to differentiate itself through its communication with customers, providing a report and photos after each visit, as well as chemical readings, a list of chemicals added and any issues that need to be addressed. Techs also perform an evaluation of each pool upon visiting.
For monthly clients, the company offers two packages – the entry-level Cares Package and the Elite Package. The latter includes added benefits such as a certain number of filter cleanings, phosphate-remover treatments and basket/o-ring replacements per year, and priority scheduling when needed.
So far the company has grown to 450 weekly accounts and is planning for aggressive growth. “Traditionally there’s a sweet spot somewhere in the 4,000- to 5,000-pool range,” Lewis says. “I don’t know why we’d stop there, but we’d feel like we’ve achieved something when we hit that target.”
Ast says the team has found that the service department adds an unexpected contribution to the company’s mix, as yet another pool of specialists who can provide information and advice to other departments who need to understand a concept or product that’s out of their wheelhouse.
“We all learn from each other,” he says.
