Episode 145: Pricing Matrix - A Guide to Determine Your Rates with Rich Gallo of Pure Swim - a podcast by Greg & Tyler: Swimming Pool Industry Podcaster

Episode Summary: 

In this episode, we welcome back our friend Rich Gallo who is the Founder and CEO of Pure Swim Inc., an all-inclusive concierge swimming pool maintenance and repair company based out of Valencia, CA. In today’s conversation, Rich offers nuggets of advice to build up your confidence in your business processes and, by extension, yourself as a pool professional.  

As Rich makes clear throughout our discussion, he has nothing but love for the industry and does whatever he can to pay it forward. Rich shared with us that his purpose and goal for doing this episode is to step up and help the people in our industry that are seeking next-level type help.  

Part of getting to that next-level is understanding what it actually costs to run your specific business, and we don’t mean just having cash flow. We mean being able to pay your team well, offer a professional service, pay all of your bills, and still achieve the profit you are looking to bring in.  

Listen in as Rich speaks on the importance of dialing in your pricing matrix as a pool service professional and how doing so can help you eliminate waste and build a more profitable business.  

Download the Pricing Matrix Outline 

Topics Discussed: 

• 03:15 - Pricing matrix defined 
• 12:56 - Labor costs and quality labor discussion 
• 24:07 - Employees come before customers 
• 30:40 - Breaking down labor costs 
• 36:27 - Only compete with yourself 
• 38:10 - Creating the perfect service 
• 43:48 - Breaking down costs for your vehicles 
• 45:33 - Breaking down chemical costs 
• 49:24 - Breaking down overhead costs 
• 58:30 - Knowing your opportunity costs 
• 1:05:58 - Making your job exciting 
• 1:08:18 - Creating customers for life 
• 1:13:12 - Why repairs are not in the pricing matrix 
• 1:21:15 - Dialing in your costs  
• 1:24:23 - How to raise your rates 

Sponsors: 

• Skimmer Discount 
• Skimmer Tagging Feature 
• Primate Pool Tools 
• Pentair 

Connect with Guest: 

• Episode Webpage 
• Website 
• Facebook 
• Instagram 

Connect with Pool Chasers: 

• Website 
• Instagram 
• Facebook 
• Facebook Group 
• Twitter 
• YouTube 
• Patreon 

Key Quotes from Episode: 

• What we really want to do with your price matrix is to look not at what you’re doing currently, but at what you want to do and should be doing. 
• We don’t want to walk into a backyard and have to be on trial and justify why we charge what we charge. The position we want to be in is to be able to say, “Listen, we’re here for a reason. We’ve been invited to your backyard because you’re looking for results, and we want to convey those results immediately.” 
• Pool service has three facets: There’s the cleaning, the chemistry, and the equipment. 
• Your employees should come before your customers. If you don’t have employees, you don’t have customers. 
• No one’s going to tell you you’re worth more than what you tell yourself. If you’re in your head, you’re dead. 
• If you want to charge more, you have to give more. It’s value-added service.