Running a route

Hiring Your First Pool Tech, a Practical Checklist

A practical checklist for hiring your first pool tech, with a labor cost worked example, skills check, training plan and legal points to confirm locally.

Your first hire changes the job. You stop being the person who does the work and become the person who checks it. The checklist below covers the costs, the legal setup, the skills test and the first three weeks.

Wages, taxes, insurance and employment law vary by state. Check with an accountant, an employment attorney or your state labor agency, and your insurance agent before you hire.

Know what a tech really costs

The hourly wage is only the first line of the cost. Add payroll taxes, workers' compensation, any paid time off, training time, phone, uniform and the truck. Ask your accountant and your insurance agent for the true add-on rates where you work.

Example, with every number made up for illustration: a wage of $22 an hour and a 20% add-on for payroll taxes and workers' compensation.

• Loaded hourly cost: $22 x 1.20 = $26.40
• 8 paid hours: $26.40 x 8 = $211.20
• Route hours in that day, from the time budget in how many pools per day: 375 minutes, or 6.25 hours
• Labor per route hour: $211.20 / 6.25 = about $33.79

Now check the day. Say the tech services 9 stops at a price of $44 each, including $6 of chemicals. Revenue is $396. Take out chemicals, 9 x $6 = $54, and labor, $211.20. That leaves $130.80 for the truck, fuel, insurance, tools and your own time managing. If those costs add up to more than $130.80 a day, the hire loses money at that price.

Run the same check with your numbers before you post the job.

Is it time to hire?

• Your own route is full and accounts are waiting.
• The waiting accounts sit close to your existing zones, so a new route day is tight.
• You can cover training time without dropping your own stops.
• The cost check above works with your real numbers.

Set up the legal side first

1. Employee or contractor. This is a legal classification with tax and insurance consequences. Get professional advice before you decide, and again if the arrangement changes.
2. Insurance. Tell your insurance agent before the first day. Ask about workers' compensation, commercial auto and who may drive the truck. Pool service insurance basics lists the questions.
3. Payroll and registrations. Ask your accountant what you need to register and file in your state.
4. Driving record and background checks. Ask a local attorney what is allowed in your state and what your insurer requires.
5. Licensing. Ask your state about who may perform pool service work and whether the tech needs their own credentials.

Write the job down

• Stops per day and the zone or route days.
• The visit checklist, step by step.
• What photos and notes to send at each stop.
• What the tech should do when a gate is locked or a pool is green.
• What the tech may not do, such as repairs or chemical changes outside the plan.
• How to reach you during the day.

The weekly pool service checklist gives a base to start from.

Test the skills

A short, paid test tells you more than a conversation.

1. Water test. Have them test a sample pool, then compare to your own readings.
2. Reading chemistry. Ask what they would do with high CYA, low alkalinity or a high combined chlorine reading.
3. Safety. Ask how they store and carry chemicals. The right answers include following the label and SDS, never mixing chemicals and adding chemical to water.
4. Equipment. Ask them to read a filter gauge and explain what a pressure rise means.
5. Ride-along. Spend half a day together and watch how they treat a customer's yard and gate.

The first three weeks

Read the first day with a new tech scenario for what the first morning can look like.

Keep quality up once you step back

• Require a service report and photos at every stop.
• Spot check three stops a week by visiting a few hours after the tech.
• Re-test water at a random pool and compare to the tech's readings.
• Review customer messages and complaints weekly.

Numbers to watch for each tech

Review these every week for the first two months and monthly after that.

• Average on-site minutes per stop, compared with yours at the same pools
• Stops completed against stops planned
• Callbacks and complaints
• Chemical use per pool, compared with the pool's own history
• Reports and photos that are missing or late

A tech who runs fast while callbacks rise is skipping steps. A tech who runs slow on every pool may need more coaching on routine. Compare each tech with the pool's own history as well as with yourself.

Mistakes people make

• Hiring before the systems exist. If your route lives in your head, the tech cannot run it.
• No pool notes. Gate codes, dogs, equipment quirks and customer preferences have to be written down.
• Informal arrangements. A friend helping for cash can create tax, insurance and liability trouble. Talk to a professional first.
• Training by assumption. Do not assume they know your standards. Show them.
• Letting quality checks lapse. The first slip often shows up as a customer complaint before your own review catches it.