Inside POOLCORP’s 2026 Playbook: System Selling, Better Retail Support, and Pool360 Unlocked

In this episode of the Pool Magazine Podcast, host Joe Trusty sits down with Jamie Novak, Director of Marketing, and Brian Durant, Senior Director of Retail Solutions North America at POOLCORP, to break down what’s new for 2026 — and why it matters to pool retailers and service pros.

The conversation dives into how shifting industry dynamics since the pandemic have changed the way chemicals are sold, supported, and managed at retail. Jamie and Brian explain why POOLCORP is leaning into system selling with the launch of two new programs: The Royal Treatment for Regal Chemicals and The Gold Standard for EZ Clor. These simplified, repeatable systems are designed to reduce training friction, improve consistency, cut down on callbacks, and deliver a better overall customer experience.

They also unpack the launch of Pool360 Unlocked, a major update that gives dealers Amazon-like access to POOLCORP’s entire inventory network. With new pickup, delivery, and shipping options — all from a single cart — Pool360 Unlocked puts speed, visibility, and control back in the hands of pool pros. As Jamie puts it, “Your branch is now every branch.”

If you’re a retailer, service company, or pool professional looking to improve efficiency, simplify water care, and stay ahead in 2026, this episode offers a clear look at where the industry is headed — and how POOLCORP plans to support it.

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Transcript

Joe Trusty: Thanks for joining us on another episode of Pool Magazine Podcast. As always, I'm your host, Joe Trusty, and today I'm chatting with Jamie Novak, Director of Marketing and Brian Durant, Senior Director of Retail Solutions North America for POOLCORP. It's a pleasure to have you both with us today on the show.

Brian Durant: Thanks for having us, Joe. 

Jamie Novak: Yeah, glad to be here. 

Joe Trusty: Guys, before we get into what's new, I thought a good way to frame today's discussion is asking both of you, what industry dynamics have kind of pushed POOLCORP to maybe rethink how chemicals are being sold and supported in today's market.

Brian Durant: Yeah, that's a great question. I think if we're all being honest, the industry experienced a significant shift during the pandemic, and that really changed a lot about how the industry does business today. In all fairness, these changes impacted not only how chemicals are sold, but also how we support those who are selling them.

Really, the effect of the pandemic on the industry was pretty substantial, prompting a lot of retailers to alter their purchasing habits, by maybe selecting different suppliers and developing a deeper under appreciation for inventory management as well as the cost of goods fluctuation.

It’s really an exciting time for POOLCORP. We've increased our focus on supporting our retail partners across North America. And in fact, we're the only distributor investing in retail from updates in our product packaging to investing in water testing software, as well as our new systems. On top of that, we formed a retail solutions team, and that really underscores our commitment to working toward working with brick and mortar retailers across North America. This really helps us kind of ensure we've got a better understanding of their needs and how to best support them.

This'll continue to evolve, but one of the key things that we're doing right now is to gain more feedback and insight from retailers around the country. As to what their needs are. We're doing this in a number of different ways, but one of the key areas of focus is allowing our retail partners to help us navigate our future together.

Jamie Novak: Yeah, and I'd just add to that, the market is ever evolving. We're getting more digital. Our customers are looking to us for guidance from a technology perspective. So there, there are a lot of different factors at play with, just the evolution of the landscape in the market.

Brian Durant: Absolutely. 

Joe Trusty: POOLCORP has two national chemical brands Regal Chemicals and EZ Clor, and you're rolling out systems for each brand with Regal Chemicals launching the Royal Treatment, and EZ Clor launching the Gold standard.

I mean, could we maybe spend a moment talking about these two systems themselves and what the intention was with rolling out a system for each respective brand? 

Jamie Novak: Yeah, I'll take that one, Brian. So, we have both regal and easy core dealers throughout the country and Canada as well, and we wanted to offer a version of the system for each of these brands.

The campaigns are different to align with the branding of the product lines themselves. However, the support materials that we're providing are similar. Through a high-end, custom-designed retail display rack program that's available now.

Getting into what the systems are and what they entail. I think both Brian and I can speak to the particulars of that. So we just wanted to give our retailers an easy story to tell and something that would be transferable with seasonal employees, one that simplifies the user experience.

So, having simple systems gives pool owners a repeatable program. To maintain perfect pool water all season long, we really wanted it to be simple. With the Gold Standard and the Royal Treatment systems, they're very simplistic and pool owners or even service pros, if they wanna offer these as add-on services to their typical route.

You're adding the borate product, which is our water softener and enhancer, either at the beginning of the program, the beginning of the season, only topping off as needed to maintain the borate eight level between 30 and 50 parts per million. 

They'll then use our Xtreme tabs to maintain the chlorine level all season long, adding pool renew once a week to polish pool water, maintain low phosphate levels, and provide superior water clarity.

So the last piece of this system is that we want pool water tested weekly. Which is really easy to do. I mentioned technology. It's really easy to do with technology, such as our water testing apps in the Regal and EZ Clor brands, and then we have our test strips as well. So we just wanted to really create systems that are simplistic, easy to follow, easy to understand, and give you just the absolute best water clarity that you can possibly get.

Joe Trusty: I like that. I mean, what does system selling solve for dealers? Is it training, consistency, fewer callbacks, or better customer experience? I mean, where do you guys see the biggest impact immediately?

Brian Durant: Yeah, Joe, I think check, check, check, and check. You hit all four of those nails on the head. First, I think training is one of the biggest things, especially in the seasonal business that we're in today. You've got new hires coming in, so it makes the onboarding process a lot easier.

Right, you're standard, you're standardizing your system. Training really helps with the newer staff. Also, using the same system repeatedly increases confidence and competence, right? They tend to become much more familiar with the system. They understand it a little bit more every time, and they've got a lot more confidence.

When a customer comes in with a problem, you might wanna try this, and here's a great option for you. Here's a great system that's gonna alleviate those pain points for you. The next one I think you hit on was consistency, right? It's pretty, pretty telling right there. It's a uniform approach.

They use the same components and methods, really just overall reducing the errors that might take place. Customers get the same solutions every single time. So that's supporting brand reputation at the exact same time. And then at the end of the day, for me, I think really what it boils down to and what our ultimate goal here is, just creating a better customer experience, right?

Easy to follow, especially for first-time pool owners. When they come into it, it can be a little bit overwhelming when you start talking about water chemistry and throwing out terms like LSI and this and that. Let's keep it simple. So you really make it as simple as possible for them to follow up.

Just follow these easy steps. 

Jamie Novak: And on the marketing side of things, we tried to make it even simpler with our display rack program. So we have custom-made displays that are coming out and available now actually. And on the backside of that display has the steps of the system. So it makes it really simplistic when you have a seasonal employee that doesn't live, eat, sleep, and breathe pools like we all do.

It gives them the steps. To walk through with the pool owner right there on the retail floor. So we're trying to create that silent salesperson situation through the POP that we're providing to our dealers. 

Brian Durant: True. Very true. And Joe, I think one of the other big impacts that we need to call out here is it's you're taking a preventative approach versus a reactive approach, which is always a win.

Jamie Novak: Yes. 

Brian Durant: It's cheaper to keep it looking good and keep it safe, versus coming in, and now I've got lily pads in my pool, what do I do? So we're taking a proactive approach or a preventive approach versus a reactive approach. And this really leads to cost savings, happier customers, and really better profitability for the retailer.

So really what it boils down to is system selling really streamlines training ensures consistency, it reduces callbacks, it drives a better overall customer experience. And most notable, the immediate benefit is just usually fewer callbacks, right? And callbacks is time. Which is money.

It's consistent, it's reliable. It's easy to repeat. And it really just improves the overall satisfaction of your customers. 

Jamie Novak: And I just got a testimonial from one of our dealers, so I'll just read it. It was from Kyle at Paradise Pool Solutions in Tennessee. He said, ever since I started using the products in the Royal Treatment Program, proactively, complaints have been down.

Customer and employee satisfaction have increased and my service has more efficient, it's the best chemical move I have made. 

Joe Trusty: That's the kind of feedback that you're really looking for. 

Jamie Novak: Absolutely. 

Joe Trusty: What kind of support can dealers out in the field expect? I mean, Brian, where does the retail solutions team plug into that, and what new programs are you bringing online for 2026?

Brian Durant: As we talked about earlier, we're very excited. We stood up a new retail solutions team in July of this year. And this team's focus is dedicated to exclusively supporting our brick-and-mortar retailers across North America. 

We're gonna introduce a range of new initiatives, offerings designed to enhance and support our retail partners across North America. When I talk about the enhancements, these enhancements will not only include product support but also comprehensive training.

Our water testing platform, our marketing, and our digital marketing assistance. Jamie hit on it earlier, consumer promotions. We're very excited to roll out our consumer pro promotions in fiscal year 26 merchandising solutions. There are a lot of different things we're gonna be rolling out this year.

Joe Trusty: Let’s switch gears for a minute. At the end of the day, how are these systems kind of simplifying pool ownership for the homeowner in terms of creating a more consistent experience? 

Brian Durant: Yeah, and we talked about this a little bit earlier, but it can be confusing.

The water treatment can be confusing; it can be overwhelming at times. So it takes a lot of the guesswork out of it and the confusion out of it. What do I need in my pool? What do I need to do to my water is a common question.

Brian Durant: We made it easy. Follow these simple, proactive steps, and they'll result in far fewer issues that you're gonna have. And let's be honest, Joe, at the end of the day, systems are everywhere, right? Every day, every minute in the world, somebody's saying, I'll have a number one, or I'll have a number two at a restaurant.

I was at the car wash the other day. You've got systems there. Three different choices, which car wash do you want? People like simple, people like systems. So this is just building on top of the premise of that. 

Jamie Novak: Yeah, it reduces that paradox of choice. You don't have to, you don't have to decide. Someone is telling you, these are the steps that you can take to have crystal clear, perfect water.

Joe Trusty: Another big rollout for you guys this year, that I'd be remiss if I didn't talk about it, is  Pool360 unlocked. I was hoping that we could talk about that for a bit.

Jamie Novak: Yeah, that's a great one. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you for the opportunity.

So not only are we focused on giving our customers the tools that they need to sell, like we've talked about already today we're also investing in ways to make their businesses faster and more efficient. So that's why Pool 360 is now unlocked. So to Brian's earlier point today, the pandemic changed a lot for our industry, including how, when and where people want to receive products. Unlocked is an Amazon-like experience that gives our customers the ability to shop our entire network of inventory and get it via pickup, shipment, or delivered. Your branch is now every branch. 

Joe Trusty: Your branch is now every branch. What does that actually mean operationally for one of your customers who's placing an order?

Jamie Novak: I'm glad you asked. This means that POOLCORP customers who are ordering through our Pool 360 platform now have access to our whole network of inventory, elevating their user experience through speed, personalization, and convenience. Our customers now have the option to select the method and the way that they want to get their products that they need to get the job done.

They can actually even choose multiple methods from the same order cart, which is was really an incredible experience. 

Joe Trusty: I love it. I mean, what are the friction points this update is built to solve? Is it speed, availability, transfers? Was it something else? 

Jamie Novak: Yeah a lot of those actually, so the unlocked feature of Pool360 started as a simple idea in 2021 and was built out with our customers for our customers.

So our team, our internal team, used feedback from dealers to guide the development process. We all know that valuable time shouldn't be wasted trying to locate products or create multiple orders because you need to get them in different fashions. Pool 360’s new Unlocked feature allows access to our entire network, so customers can not only see what's available at their home branch.

They can see what's available at all of our branches, and even better, they can access it as well. So with our new unlocked feature, order transfers are created automatically, and ETA’s are shown instantly. So customers can also choose to receive text updates on the status of their orders. 

Joe Trusty: Can you maybe walk us through a hypothetical scenario? I mean, a dealer needs a specific product, and their home branch is out of stock. I mean, how does Pool360 unlocked change the game in terms of what happens next? 

Jamie Novak: Yes, so in this scenario, the customer will know while placing the order if the product they need is out of stock at their home branch.

They'll have instant visibility to the closest branches with inventory, and they can select to either pick up from that location if it's close enough for them to get over there or have it shipped to their home branch, or even have it shipped to the job site location where the product is needed. Pool 360 Unlocked gives our customers the power of choice so they can decide what works best for the job at hand.

This will be especially helpful for dealers in search of more obscure items, such as parts for older equipment. For example, by tapping into Pool Corps' extensive network, pool pros will be able to solve problems faster and more efficiently than ever. I, 

Joe Trusty: I love it. I mean, this is what I've always felt was missing from Pool 360, and I feel like this latest update solves a lot of the problems that Pool Pros have experienced.

It’s a fantastic product, but there's always room for improvement, and I think this is the update that Pool Pros have been waiting for. 

Jamie Novak: We love hearing that. 

Joe Trusty: What's the biggest win that you expect dealers to feel from the launch of Pool 360 Unlocked? 

Jamie Novak: Yeah, I'd say the biggest win I expect dealers to feel from this launch is that they'll have more control over how, when, and where they receive products for their jobs.

So this Pool 360 being unlocked will help dealers to access parts easily as needed, regardless of what's stocked in their local branch. So this is gonna improve the overall efficiency of their day-to-day operations and really allow them time to focus on other areas of their business. So I think that's, that to me is the biggest win that I see for our dealers. 

Joe Trusty: You guys are gonna be in Atlantic City at the Pool and Spa show. If folks wanna learn more about the new system, the new rollouts, they can stop by your booth, right? 

Jamie Novak: Absolutely. We'd love to see you. 

Joe Trusty: Jamie, Brian, thanks so much for taking time out today to discuss these two new systems and how they're bringing value to dealers out in the field.

Also, really delighted to hear about the new updates with Pool 360 Unlocked. Really appreciate your insights about that and your time today.

Jamie Novak: Thanks for having us, Joe. Really appreciate what you do for the industry. 

Brian Durant: We, we appreciate the opportunity. 

Jamie Novak: Yeah, 

Brian Durant: Thank you so much. 

Jamie Novak: Definitely. 

Joe Trusty: That's all the time that we have left for today.

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