The 112-territory pool cleaning franchise enters 2023 with 17 new franchisees in 25 territories, as well as an impressive net promoter score of 80.
Pool Scouts, the 112 territory pool cleaning franchise, closed out a strong 2022 with achievements across various areas of the brand. The company, which operates under parent franchisor Buzz Franchise Brands, saw its franchise system grow with 58% more services and 42% more customers–well over 11,000 nationwide. To close out the year, Pool Scouts was named one of the top franchises of 2023 by Entrepreneur Magazine’s Franchise 500 Ranking, placing No. 490 on the list heading into the new year.
The brand had an impressive year in franchise development, signing 17 new franchisees that represented 25 territories. Pool Scouts entered several new states in 2022, including Michigan, Idaho and Illinois, which are set to open in 2023, while the brand saw further expansions in the states of Texas and Arizona. With that, Pool Scouts now operates in 18 states across the country.
“The past couple of years have been incredibly robust from a pool construction standpoint across the country,” said Michael Wagner, president of Pool Scouts. “Lots of new pools have been built, and they need us to take care of them. So, we expect customer acquisition to continue to be robust, and we’re very much looking forward to that. The brand really hit a tipping point over the past couple of years, especially with the number of customers we’re servicing around the country, and we expect great things in 2023.”
In 2022, pool owners across the country consistently turned to Pool Scouts for service, with 71% of Pool Scout clientele being recurring customers across the franchise system. Additionally, Pool Scouts’ value per customer increased 15% year-over-year, despite the fact that 58% of invoiced customers were brand new to the company.
“This was my first time using Pool Scouts to undertake major repairs/upgrades to my pool equipment,” said Malcom Cohn, Pool Scouts of Sugar Land customer. “The service manager who undertook the installation was professional, knowledgeable and personable. Pool Scouts provided a prompt and affordable service — a rare find.”
Notably, the brand’s net promoter score (NPS) reached a high of 80 system-wide. The NPS is a leading metric for measuring customer loyalty. It comes from the question, “How likely is it that you would recommend (insert company or product/service) to a friend or colleague?” To put into greater context across global benchmark data, which accounts for the NPS of more than 150,000 organizations, the average score is 32. Chick-fil-A, for example, has a NPS of 64.
In 2022, 11 Pool Scouts locations had a NPS of over 90, including: Pool Scouts of Cape Coral, (100), Pool Scouts of South Charlotte (98), Pool Scouts of Greater Richmond (98), Pool Scouts of Boise (96), Pool Scouts of Lake Norman (96), Pool Scouts of Hartford (95), Pool Scouts of Denton (94), Pool Scouts of Naples North (93), Pool Scouts of Glendale (93), Pool Scouts of League City (91) and Pool Scouts of Newnan (90).
“I work in a service business myself and I can say that Pool Scouts offers outstanding service,” said Phil Christ, Pool Scouts of Cape Fear customer. “They tick all the boxes in terms of professionalism, responsiveness, timeliness and value. I love the way they keep you informed throughout the process. Thorough and professional.
To support further growth, Pool Scouts continued to add to its team. New hires included Kanchan Woods, brought on as the marketing specialist, and Dave Nolan and Adrian Francisco as technical support coaches to perform field training and support around the pool side of the business. Russell Gesher was also hired to the Pool Scouts leadership team as the new director of operations. Gesher, who has over two decades of experience leading multi-unit operations through scaling, has already done a great job at driving consistency and results by working closely with franchisees, says Wagner.
Another exciting operation development was the delivery of two technical training classes in Dallas, Texas and Raleigh, North Carolina. “These were regional technical training classes that we delivered to help franchisees do repair work and learn the repair side of the business,” noted Wagner. “And our plans are to do four of those in 2023.”
Pool Scouts is also partnered with Hope Floats Foundation to raise money during Water Safety Month, providing swim lessons for families in need. Franchise locations donated a percentage of each service performed during Water Safety Month to provide scholarships through Hope Floats. In 2022, Pool Scouts raised over $16,000, which was awarded throughout Q3 to cover 800 swim lessons all over the United States.
With so much to celebrate, Pool Scouts invited members of the brand to meet in person for the first time since 2020, at its annual Pool Scouts Convention in Cancún, Mexico.
“This event was a great opportunity for our franchisees and the corporate team to come together, learn from one another, celebrate successes and share best practices,” said Wagner. “The convention was a tremendous success and a wonderful, fulfilling experience for all involved.”
With an agenda jam-packed with engaging activities, panels, sessions, speeches and an awards dinner, attendees spent their time meeting and engaging with colleagues, learning about important best-practice business topics, networking with vendors and championing the brand’s success. The brand plans to host another convention in 2023.
Looking ahead, Pool Scouts plans to bring in 18+ new franchisees into the system in the new year in several new states as the brand continues to see growth opportunities.
“Our expectations are to grow even more robustly on the customer side, across the country,” said Wagner. “We have so many new franchisees that we really expect to see substantial growth in their second year, or even a second six months depending on when they launched their business. We acquire a ton of customers in the early parts of the year, with the April-June timeframe being some of our biggest months. We are looking forward to another great year at Pool Scouts.”
