Upending the Pool Service Industry: How DailyView Pools Turned Vision into Reality Embracing Cutting-Edge Tech from Waterguru & Pool Brain
In the heart of Charlotte, North Carolina, a revolution in pool maintenance was quietly taking shape. DailyView Pools, a company that had built its reputation on quality swimming pool construction and renovations, was about to embark on a journey that would redefine the standards of pool care in the commercial sector. At the helm of this transformation was Miguel Avila, the company's young and energetic president, whose background in entrepreneurship and innovation was about to catalyze a significant shift in the industry.
The Seeds of Innovation
Avila's path to the pool industry was anything but conventional. His studies in entrepreneurship and innovation at the University of North Carolina, coupled with his experience at Venture Place and involvement with Venture for America, had instilled in him a passion for technology and analytics. "Before AI became the new cool thing, I was deeply immersed in analytics using AI tools as part of a community in Pittsburg connected with Carnegie Mellon university," Avila recalls. This background would prove invaluable as he sought to modernize DailyView Pools' operations.
As DailyView Pools expanded from residential projects into the commercial sector, serving multi-family properties, hotels, and municipal facilities, Avila recognized both the opportunities and challenges that lay ahead. The company's reputation for excellence had opened doors, but maintaining that standard across a growing portfolio of commercial pools demanded a new approach.
The Challenge of Scale
The turning point came with the decision to scale the service side of the business, in order to address the growing requests by customers to maintain their beautifully renovated pools. That decision meant adding and training new staff while maintaining a high-quality standard over a growing portfolio of pools. Making this challenging besides staffing was the obstacle of not seeing shifting pool conditions on days when staff wasn’t on-site. Avila reflects “We needed a universal way to monitor water chemistry and equipment performance at all times to meet customer’s expectations. And from a staff productivity standpoint, focus on pool cleaning and equipment maintenance, not manually testing water chemistry and logging data.
"We were operating in the dark," Avila admits, reflecting on the industry's standard practice of weekly testing. "Lacking visibility into pool stressors that quickly produced algae buildup before the next scheduled visit was a major liability. We needed a way to monitor conditions constantly without physically being there."
Discovering WaterGuru SENSE
It was at this juncture that Avila discovered WaterGuru SENSE, an automated smart pool water monitor developed in Silicon Valley, that promised to revolutionize how they managed water chemistry. The decision to implement WaterGuru SENSE across their commercial and residential pool portfolio was a pivotal moment for DailyView Pools.
"The professional version of WaterGuru SENSE became our eyes and ears," Avila explains. "Suddenly, we had access to real-time data on water chemistry and pump flow, all at our fingertips through a mobile app. It was like turning on the lights in a dark room. We’re no longer limited to knowing pool health conditions only on our scheduled service days, eliminating surprises and elevating our level of pool care that distinguishes us from competitors. Using Waterguru’s Pro version, DailyView Pools observes water chemistry data as it’s changing, dispatching staff to arrive whenever needed to protect against algae growth and other profit killing pool conditions. That’s exciting, a real breakthrough for the pool service industry”, Avila adds.
Staff are no longer required to blindly make site visits for testing; instead, they are dispatched only when the data indicates a need for rebalancing, or a routinely scheduled cleaning and equipment maintenance. Moreover, WaterGuru's AI-guided recommendations empowered less experienced technicians to maintain optimal water chemistry with precision. The risk of contending with a green pool or even slight algae growth in the pool’s plaster is mitigated by use of this ‘always-on’ monitoring technology, raising the performance bar for the company and increasing profitability from avoidance of costly cleanup events.
But the benefits extended far beyond just water chemistry management. By monitoring pump flow, SENSE ensures that vital equipment is performing well at all times. The pump flow monitoring feature became what Avila fondly refers to as their "early warning system," alerting them to potential equipment issues before becoming major problems.
"I love the feature of pump flow measurements," Avila enthuses. "This essential data enables us to be proactive, precluding big problems from happening which prevents asset downtime, a top priority for our commercial customers." Avila adds, “We reduced travel time by 426 hours in 2024, allowing us to maintain more pools, while focusing on customer acquisition and retention. Sharing historical data drives new conversations with stakeholders without having to be on site”.
The Pool Brain Synergy
While WaterGuru SENSE was helping transform DailyView Pools' approach to water quality management, Avila recognized that to truly revolutionize their operations, they needed a comprehensive solution that could handle the complexities of their growing business. This led them to Pool Brain, a leading provider of pool management software.
Pool Brain offered DailyView Pools the tools needed to manage the business side of their operations efficiently. From scheduling and resource allocation to customer relationship management and financial tracking, Pool Brain provided a central hub for all of DailyView Pools' operational data. Using Waterguru together with Pool Brain, the company has a comprehensive understanding of the state of each pool across Charlotte and its surrounding markets. The real magic, however, happened when DailyView Pools integrated WaterGuru SENSE with Pool Brain. "When we began utilizing Pool Brain's integration with WaterGuru, the impact on our business was immediate," Avila recalls. This integration created a powerful synergy, allowing DailyView Pools to align staff resources with customer situations for optimal results.
The combined solution provided DailyView Pools with a level of operational insight that was previously unimaginable. WaterGuru's constant stream of water quality and equipment performance data fed directly into Pool Brain's advanced analytics and operational visibility, allowing for predictive maintenance, optimized scheduling, and data-driven decision-making. Either solution individually raises pool service performance, but the two combined is propelling the industry deeper into the 21st century with transformative impact.
Transforming Operations and Customer Relations
The implementation of WaterGuru SENSE and Pool Brain didn't just improve DailyView Pools' internal operations; it transformed their relationship with customers. In conducting periodic performance reviews, sharing the Waterguru captured data provides comforting proof to property managers that their pools are exceptionally well maintained, alleviating concerns over liability and litigation.
"When we tell them that we provide a dashboard for them to see their pool's health condition at any moment in time, they grow excited," Avila shares. "When they learn that water chemistry, temperature, and pump flow are all monitored remotely, with them having access to this information, their eyes light up."
This transparency provides a new level of customer collaboration which has translated into enviable business growth. But the value of data doesn’t stop with established clients.
As a sales tool, Waterguru also aids in conversations with future customers. Showing pool health data for existing customers is a powerful way to win over new clients as well. “Offering 24x7 pool health monitoring as an integral part of our service gives property managers confidence that even when we're not on-site, their pool health conditions are closely guarded, similar to what ADT does for their physical security”, states Avila.
The company’s data-driven approach sets them apart in a competitive market, demonstrating their value through performance metrics rather than just promises. Avila explains, “So oIen customers don’t know service delivery performance, so showing them real data substantiates our work. "WaterGuru helps us tell a story using data as proof to our commercial customers that we're doing an outstanding job on their behalf," Avila explains. "And after a 30-day trial period, it’s helping us secure long-term contracts."
Nurturing Talent and Driving Growth
The technological adoption also had a profound impact on DailyView Pools' workforce as the company uses Waterguru’s AI technology in onboarding new team members. Avila observes, “Some staff are experienced veterans but as we rapidly grew, a priority has been training newly added staff. We now track individual technician’s performance," Avila notes. "When taking over responsibility for a pool, we use data to coach them, comparing the chemical readings before and aIer each pool service. This has accelerated their learning curve and ensures a great outcome for customers, leaving nothing to chance."
This data-driven approach to training and performance management allowed DailyView Pools to rapidly expand their team while maintaining their high standards of service. It also freed up senior technicians to focus on more complex issues and customer relations, further enhancing the company's reputation.
Looking to the Future
As DailyView Pools continues to grow and evolve, Avila remains committed to pushing the boundaries of innovation in the pool industry. The combination of WaterGuru SENSE and PoolBrain has not only solved immediate operational challenges but has also positioned the company for future growth and expansion.
"We're no longer limited to knowing pool health conditions only on our scheduled service days," Avila reflects. "This level of insight and control allows us to take on more pools, serve our customers better, and continually improve our operations."
For DailyView Pools, the journey of technological transformation has only just begun. As they continue to explore new ways to leverage data and automaton, one thing is clear: in the world of commercial pool maintenance, the waters of innovation run deep, and DailyView Pools is diving in headfirst.
"This is a new era in pool maintenance," Avila concludes. "We're not just maintaining pools anymore; we're providing peace of mind through technology. And that's a game-changer for our industry."
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