higher tiered programs in part through adding specialty chemicals to the package, it is essential to understand and be able to communicate their added value to your customers. And to do that, you will need to know all about the products. Many high-end venders of specialty chemicals provide training, support and technical assistance.

Next, don’t assume you know how much money your customers may be willing or unwilling to pay. And don’t assume that your customer knows what they want. Don’t make the mistake of being an order taker, and simply meeting what the customer believes they need.

Rather, service companies that are good at value-based selling believe consumers don’t want to maintain pools themselves and don’t know how to solve problems without help from an expert.

Draw your customers out with openended questions. When meeting a customer for the first time, ask about how many hours of work the pool owner likes to spend manually netting and/or vacuuming their own pools. If the pool owner has a realistic understanding that with the “Good” program, they will continue to manually clean their own pools, they will likely opt for the “Better” or “Best” programs.

Ask about the age of the pool finish and about how much longer they expect it to last. This can provide an opportunity to discuss the “Best” level of service, which would include the best level of long term protection of surfaces and equipment, as opposed to the “Good” program which will keep the pool simply disinfected and balanced over the short term.

You could also ask about bather load. If the pool sees a lot of action during the swimming season, the pool will probably benefit from the specialty chemicals included in the “Better” or “Best” programs.

These sorts of questions differentiate the needs versus the wants of the customer. While any program you offer may address the needs of the customer, their wants are better served by the “Better” and “Best” tiers of service.

Often, customers are willing to pay higher prices to satisfy their wishes along with their needs, and value-based selling can help service professionals identify those situations. Value-based selling results in better satisfied customers and greater profitability for the service company through greater sales and differentiation in the marketplace and ultimately customer loyalty.