Artificial Demand for Inground Pools
I speak with alot of companies about lead generation and prospecting for customers. It’s a constant thought in the back of the minds of CMO’s and Marketing Directors as well as company owners. There’s an ebb and flow to web traffic, interest, and lead generation - specifically as it pertains to the pool industry. Folks in the industry understand that and are prepared for a swell in demand due to seasonality. Nobody was prepared for Covid-19 or the unpredicted side effects.
Right now we’re experiencing unprecedented demand in the swimming pool industry. Homeowners everywhere are motivated to build their own backyard retreat as an alternative of where they would have spent their summer vacation budget. Summer getaways have been cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Presently, there is a bubble forming as demand has far surpassed supply.
I’ve seen homeowners report via Pool Contractor, a website my firm Pool Marketing owns — that every Pool Builder they’ve attempted to contact for an estimate has expressed the same sentiment, they simply cannot take on any more business.
Homeowners with cash in hand are being turned away because there is simply no room on these pool companies dig schedule to accommodate them. Customers with $75,000 to plunk down on an inground pool are being told they will have to wait 4 or 5 weeks before a sales rep can set foot in their backyard. There is simply not enough hours in the day to get these customers off the books and sold.
A Bubble is forming in the Pool Industry
This bubble I speak of, will eventually pop. Covid-19 will vanish from the media (some day), people will go on about their normal lives and demand will taper off. The outcome of that “pop” will mean that alot of the customers that would have trickled in over a space of months or years will be gone.
Pool Construction is traditionally closely intrinsically tied to New Home Construction. Right now because of the current health crisis there is an artificial demand in inground swimming pools because of an inflated economy and the fact that no one can travel.
This demand will eventually recede. Everyone in the industry can feel it. We know it’s coming like the inevitable check in the mail. No one is talking about it but everyone is dumb founded at the spike in demand. Especially given the fact that consumers seem to have no qualms about spending large sums of money while unemployment is at an all time high and many parts of the country are still shut down. It’s a paradox that is definitely being driven by consumer confidence in the stock market and a lack of alternative options to entertain the family the summer.
We are seeing hundreds of new pool companies enter the industry this year following the current surge in demand for inground pools. It’s another by-product of the sudden consumer craze for pools. Hopefully when the pop comes, pool companies will have been well shored up and anticipating the inevitable recession to follow.
