When “One More Pool” Isn’t Worth

Ever wish you could drop a problem account without triggering a one-star review? We dig into a step-by-step method for ending service gracefully, using clear language, respectful timelines, and smart psychology to leave on good terms and protect your reputation. If you’ve battled heavy debris, unpredictable seasonal leaf drops, or customers who won’t fix failing equipment, this guide lays out exactly what to say and when to say it.

We start with the real reasons pros let accounts go—bad access, nonstop leaves, heavy use, and chemical instability—and then show how to frame the exit around route consolidation instead of blame. You’ll hear why “I’m out of your area” backfires, how a simple 30-day notice cools emotions, and how giving space can nudge reluctant owners to finally replace worn-out pumps and filters. We talk through the psychology of timing, the difference between standards and excuses, and the surprising power of leaving the backyard spotless on your way out.

We also tackle sales and reputation risks most service businesses overlook. Ghosting leads and failing to deliver bids are magnets for angry reviews, so we share a clean solution: price high to reflect true effort when a pool isn’t a fit. If they accept, your time is covered; if they decline, your brand stays intact. Finally, we cover when to refer a pool, when not to, and how small account bundles can be sold responsibly to tighten your route.

If you’re a pool service pro aiming for fewer headaches and stronger reviews, this playbook will help you exit with confidence and keep referrals flowing. Enjoy the episode, then subscribe, share with a fellow pro, and leave a review to tell us your smartest exit move.

• main reasons to drop an account
• consolidation as a respectful exit script
• avoiding “out of area” excuses
• handling customer neglect with timelines
• using pricing to filter unwanted bids
• answering calls and delivering bids to guard reputation
• giving 30 days’ notice and leaving the yard tidy
• when to refer, when not to, and why
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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome & Goal: Avoid Bad Reviews
• 3:03 Why Drop An Account
• 4:08 Heavy Debris And Seasonal Surprises
• 5:28 The Professional Exit Script
• 7:23 Avoiding The “Out Of Area” Excuse
• 8:29 When Customer Neglect Is The Issue
• 11:14 Timing, Space, And Psychology
• 12:49 Bids, Phones, And Reputation Risks
• 15:14 Pricing High To Pass Politely
• 17:44 Notice, Cleanup, And Hand-Off
• 19:34 Selling Accounts And Real Value

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 1:51

Hey, welcome to the Pool Guy Podcast Show. In this episode, I'm going to talk to you about ways to kind of let the customer go in a good friendly way to avoid a bad review. The last thing you would want, of course, is the customer to leave a negative review because that's really hard to get rid of and it sticks with you. So I'm gonna go over some tried and through true methods to avoid that. Service Pro looking to take your business to the next level, join the pool guy coaching program. Get expert advice, business tips, exclusive content, and get direct support from me. I'm a 35-year veteran in the industry. Whether you're starting out or scaling up, I've got the tools to help you succeed. Learn more at swimming poollearning.com. And there are a number of reasons why you would want to let the customer go. None being more in the forefront than the pool being a real headache. And this is probably the hardest one to let go of because the customer already knows their pool is a headache. In the old days we used to call that a dog pool. But since so many homeowners are letting their dogs swimming in their pools now, and it's very common to find pools on your route where dogs are swimming in. We don't use that term anymore. Or I don't use that term anymore because when you say dog pool, other pool guys will be like, oh yeah, I have pools where dogs swim in it too. But it just meant it was like a really bad pool. I guess we could just say it's a bad pool. I think a lot of times we just refer to it as a bad pool now. It could be bad for any reason, but usually the most common reason that you find yourself struggling with the pool is heavy leaf debris. At least most pool pros try to avoid only at the beginning when you're starting out, you take every pool, of course, you can get more established. You really don't want a heavy debris pool on your route. And sometimes you'll pick up a pool and not realize how bad it is until afterwards. And this can happen because during different parts of the season, trees drop at different points of the season. I did a podcast last year where I talked about all the different tree types. Like I carry a book with me in my truck, and it has different tree species. Kind of cool to refer to that. I also have a botanical garden near my house where I walk a lot, so I I kind of know the species now, and I know when they bloom and when they shed their leaves, and all these things are quite critical for pool service. And you need to drop this account because you don't want to do it anymore. It could be also maybe the pool is not holding chemicals well for whatever reason. Maybe it's a heavy use pool. Whatever the reason that you want to drop the pool, you want to be able to handle it in the most professional way to avoid the customer having a bad feeling about you, because those bad feelings carry on to referrals and it could carry on to a bad review online. Now, this is something that I found to be the easiest way, and I talked about it in the last podcast about getting a tight route. But the best way to approach the customer is not to say, your pool's terrible, I don't want to do it anymore. That's not what they want to hear, because they need someone to do their pool. They know it's terrible, that's why they're not doing it themselves. What you what you want to tell them and what they'll understand the most is that you just are too busy to do their pool anymore. And that is of course tied into the fact that you're consolidating your pool route. It's not just I'm dropping your pool because I don't like doing it. It's I need to stop servicing your pool, unfortunately, because I'm just overworked, I have too many accounts, and I don't have enough time in my day to get to all of those. And so I'm actually consolidating my pool route, and unfortunately, I'm letting several clients go, and you happen to be one of those clients, and I apologize for that, and you know, I'm I'm gonna give you 30 days notice to find someone else. And if you would like a referral, I can definitely do that as well. Now, if you don't want to refer this pool to anyone, which sometimes is the case where you don't want to give this to anybody, just let them know that I'm sorry, but I don't really know anyone else in the area. If you just go on Yelp and you can find these people, you can find someone to do your pool, and I'm sorry about that, and that's how you handle the non-referral part of it. Now, if you have someone that you think may want the pool, you can definitely refer them to the customer. But in most cases, I just let the pool go and I just tell them that they can find someone by just searching for a local pool service that will do their pool. That's usually an easy out. Really, nobody pushes back too much on the fact that you're overworked and you're trying to consolidate. Back in the day, I used to use the excuse that you know I'm trying to consolidate my route because I'm there's too many pools that are too far out from the base area where I work at, and so you're one of the pools on the outskirts of that. But then I kept doing a pool like a block away and they would see my truck every so often. That's kind of a head scratcher. So I no longer say that I'm I'm moving out of their service area, so to speak. That excuse doesn't work really well because a lot of times you're not, and if you get a pool that's really nice in the same area, you may run into that customer, so just let them know that you're consolidating, leave the old the whole area out of it. Don't let don't be specific saying that you're no longer gonna be in that service area, because you may well still be in that area or you may be back in that area in the future. You just don't want the customer questioning your motives as being untruthful if you say that you're no longer gonna be servicing the area. And so I think that's a key distinction that you're you leave the whole area specificness out of it and just talk about consolidating because you have too many accounts and that's your way out. Now, more than likely, if they find someone to take over the pool or if you refer someone, there's nothing's gonna happen. There's not gonna be a bad review, especially if you've been doing the pool for a year or two and you're just tired of it, completely tired of the frustration of it. That's fine. Now, if the customer is the cause of you dropping the pool, and they know they're the cause of you dropping the pool, that gets a little more difficult. A scenario you might run into is when you're letting the customer know that you would you would really they really need to replace their filter or their pump. You know, you're you're putting silicone on the filter grids because they don't want to buy new grids, everything is run down, and then you just tell them you're consolidating at that point, you have to drop their account. That could be problematic if the customer kind of knows that they're the fault for you dropping the account, and that usually doesn't go over too well in that situation. So you need space in that case, and what I mean is that you need more time. So let's say you complain about them not fixing the equipment, and then you give them 30 days that they haven't fixed it yet, and if that's the only problem, you know, give them some more time. But it gets to a point where nothing is running properly, and then that's when you inform them that unfortunately, due to the fact that the equipment is not functioning to the standards that we need to operate the our business in your backyard, basically, we're going to have to give you notice, and you know, you can start looking for another service company. That's better, I think, and you it's not something immediate. You know, you you kind of just give them another notice of the equipment. And sometimes, believe it or not, the customer will actually come up to the plate and say, Well, you know what? That's okay, I'm gonna replace my pump and filter. Just give me a bid and do it next week. I'd like to keep you as my service provider. That may happen sometimes, so when the customer is frustrating you, an immediate transition sometimes is not the smartest thing to do. Just kind of stick it out a little longer if you can, and then let them know that you've tried your best and you told them a month ago they need no equipment, they haven't done it, and you have to give them 30 days notice because you can no longer continue to maintain their pool. And that seems to work out the best because they know that they're the problem, they know that the situation is caused by their negligence, but they understand that you've given them plenty of time, and they'll be understanding or more understanding of that rather than you dropping the account like right after the fact that nothing is happening. And a lot of this plays into psychology, of course, you know, if if if they're not seeing themselves at fault at that point, because time has passed, they'll feel better about you leaving rather than feeling like, well, you know, I I know why you're quitting, because I'm not gonna replace the pump right now. That's a little bit different than yeah, I understand he gave me more time, and it's actually been two months since he told me about it, so I understand why they're quitting. So you kind of play on that a little bit, and that changes everything. Now, something that a lot of people do is when they're doing a bid, and if they don't want that pool, they'll they'll do one or two things, and I'm gonna talk a little bit about also the danger of not answering your phone or kind of blowing people off as well. But let's say you get a bid and you just don't like the pool, it's like really bad, and you just tell the customer, yeah, here's I'll I'll give you a bid on it, I'll get back to you, and you never do. And this is a problem because this is how bad reputations start, and this is how those weird one-star reviews happen as well. Same thing with not answering the phone. If you go on Yelp, you'll find a lot of one-star reviews and companies like hey, but they never called me back, they came here and gave me a bid, said they were gonna give me a bid, they never did, I wouldn't call this company, or the other ones you get are they don't answer their phone, so this is definitely not a good company, and they leave a one-star review. That happens, so just be aware that if you are advertising your services, answer your phone, get back to people at least, and you know, respond to messages. That's really important in business, but especially when people get uptight and get upset and leave you a one-star review because they're not answering the phone, and they may leave you a one-star review for not following through through on the bid, because honestly, the customer is there spending their time meeting you, and time is money, they're putting an effort in to meet you, as well as you're putting an effort in to meet them. So it actually goes both ways in some respect. So the least you can do is give a bid. Now, here's how you do it to get out of the account you don't want. Let's just say you have a pool that you're bidding on, you get there and you realize, well, this pool is really junky, and I don't want this account. You know, there's there there's hardly any access to this area of the pool, and I have to kind of stand here to brush it. There's a lot of leaves, there's an oak tree over it, and there's no way I'm gonna do this pool. I don't have time in my route. So let's say your normal service rate is 180. You can just bid this pool 280 bucks, you know, go up$100, and that's fine. The customer's not gonna leave you a negative review, and they'll look at the bid and be like, wow, this guy's pretty expensive. And you may even do the next guy a favor who comes in at like 220, which is higher than what he normally would charge, but he's willing to take on the extra debris and charge a surcharge for it, and they have your bid at 280, like, hey, this is not bad, this guy's cheaper. But the point is you just bid over what you would bid and hope the customer does not take that bid, unless, of course, they do at 280, it's probably worth your extra time to spend there cleaning that pool. But the point is just over bid, and this happens all the time. I've had this with my vendors when I'm wanting a project done, and I get a bid and it's like astronomical. I just know they're busy and they don't want to give me a no-bid, so they give me a really high bid, and if I take it, that's fine. There's a pool builder here in Los Angeles that would do this. You know, he he was so busy that he would actually bid pools three times the going rate if he didn't want to do it, and he was very busy and he didn't want to get a bad reputation either by not giving a bid. So he bid this one pool, he told me about this bid, and it was three times what he normally would charge because he's just swamping other work, and the customer's like, yeah, when can you start on it? So that could happen, but it's not super common and they're gonna accept a really high bid. But giving a bid is important. You get it to a green pool and you don't want to do it because you realize it's gonna be a lot more work and time, and normally you charge 600 or 800. If you bid like 1800, they're gonna just probably not call you. And if they do call you, then definitely it's worth your time. So bidding high is a good way to get out of it without offending the customer. You don't want to go too crazy, like three times your normal amount, but bid high enough to where you're bidding yourself out of the market at that point without offending anybody. Now, let me get back to where you're leaving the service account and you're letting them go after a certain period of time. I usually give 30 days notice if I can. That's the most appropriate way of doing it. You don't really have to give any notice, technically, but 30-day notice that they can find another pool service company is pretty customary. And you want to tie up any loose ends, of course. Like if there's any money owed you, you you definitely want to get that before you switch accounts or switch services because you're never gonna get it at that point. You also want to make sure that everything is running properly, if that's not the problem, whether canceling, and you want to clear up the area too. Like if there's a lot of empty tablet buckets or junk that was left over from your service time or bags of salt, remove all of that also. It looks really good when you're ending the service and everything is cleaned up and there's nothing like residual of yours in the yard. I know it's a minor thing, but it it does go a little further psychologically for the customer because the reason why you're leaving that account is because you're consolidating, you don't have time for their pool anymore, you're you're cutting some pools because of that reason. And if you leave everything really neat and clean for the next service and the customer sees that, there'll be more understanding that yes, it wasn't their fault that you're leaving the account, you just were busy. And by you leaving the pool tidy and clean, of course you want to keep surfacing the pool and surfacing it to your best of your ability to make sure that the pool looks great when you hand it off to someone else. That goes a long way. It really shows the customer that it's not them, it's really you, and and the fact that you're leaving their pool clean and not skipping it and leaving it looking great for the next person is key. And then I did touch briefly on when I was talking about getting a tight route about selling the pools, and you can of course do that if the pool, if you really are getting a tight route and the pool is actually sellable and it does have value. And if you have maybe two or three other pools that you want to sell as a small package, I I would say that's smart. You can sell it to somebody and you could tell the customer that you're transitioning out of the area, and you know, Jim's pool service is gonna take over the account, and there's really nothing you don't have to really say that you're selling the pool to somebody, but again, that's hard to explain sometimes. And you could maybe get some money for the pool and let someone else take it over, and that's perfectly acceptable out there to sell you know two to five pools, and sometimes you'll see signs or listings at your supplier with like five pools for sale. That's perfectly legitimate. People will actually buy them, you know, maybe at a discounted rate because there's not that many pools, and then you can you can actually get some money for those pools, but in a lot of cases, the pools that you're dropping again have no real value. And on with the story, and I've shared this one many times. I was I was not new to the business, but there was I was doing this pool that was kind of on the edge too. It had a pine tree over it. It took me a little time to clean it, but it wasn't like terrible, and I didn't feel like dropping it. But the neighbor, this is where the pine tree was actually in their yard, and they had other trees too. And the pool guy was walking out, same time I was walking into this account, he was walking out the neighbor's house, he had his he had his leaf back, his um with the garden hose, you know, and he had this look on his face like he was totally exasperated. He's like, Hey, if you want the account next door, I'll just give it to you. I was like, Yeah, that's probably not a good sales pitch. Walking out with the leaf bagger with the garden hose and looking totally tired and burned out. I was like, uh, you know, I'm just kind of busy, and even though it's right next door, I just can't take it out. I apologize. And so those are the situations where you know the pool is really bad, and you have to find some way to just walk away from it, and it may not have any value at all, unfortunately. Even someone that you want to give it to for free, because you know that if you give it to someone else they take over, you're off the hook. That's not gonna happen in some cases because you have a really bad account at that point. So if you're looking to get rid of accounts, do it the right way and just use psychology. How would you want somebody to leave your services? You know, how would you like someone to wrap up servicing one of your, you know, whether they're your pest control company or landscaper, what's the best way for them? Or maybe even have a pool service. Who knows? Maybe you don't want to even do your own pool. But you know, how would you like them to approach you and resigning from service? And there is a right way and there is a wrong way of doing this. Looking for other podcasts, you can find those on my website, swimmingpoollearning.com. Just click on the podcast icon. There'll be a drop down menu there of over 1800 podcasts. And if you're interested in the coaching program, you can learn more at PoolGuyCoaching.com. Thanks for listening to this podcast. Have a rest of your week. God bless.