Communication and Education are Pulliam Aquatech Pools' secret weapons
 
 

National Builder of the Year: PULLIAM  AQUATECH POOLS Fort Worth, Texas Principals: Barry Pulliam Year founded: 1916 Number of locations: 2 Geographical area served: 5 counties: Tarrant, Johnson, Hood, Wise, Parker, about 400 square miles. Year round employees: 45 (plus many subcontractors) Type of in-ground pools built: custom gunite Pools built annually: approximately 460 Additional services offered:  pool covers, safety fencing, pool service and plumbing Professional affiliations: National Spa & Pool Institute, Tarrant County Builders Association, National Association of Home Builders, American Concrete Institute, 5 Chambers of Commerce, Aquatech Corp. Awards: Small Business of the Year ("10-50 Employees" category) from Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, 1999; Pool & Spa News Industry's Choice Awards, Distinguished Builder (Region 5) 1997, 1998; Aqua 100 award, 1993, 1996-1998; Tarrant Enterprise Award for Best Business Practices ("Customer Satisfaction") from Star-Telegram and Arthur Anderson, 1997; Texas Outstanding Family Business of the Year ("Well-Managed") from Baylor University, 1997; Golden Torch Award ("Marketplace Ethics") from BBB, 1996.

By Linda G. Green, Pool & Spa News   There are two words Texas builder Barry Pulliam never wants to hear: "unhappy customer."      "Homeowners are spending a lot of money. We don't want them upset," says Pulliam, co-owner with wife Lizz of Pulliam Pools in Fort Worth. That's why their company is so big on communication and education, from the moment the contract is drawn up until pool completion. Even after the pool is completed, the company follows up with a customer survey. A quarterly newsletter keeps customers informed and involved.      The result: Pulliam Pools customer satisfaction ratings are off the charts - as evidenced by the stacks of glowing customer testimonials.       For all this and more, industry colleagues nationwide voted this company National Builder of the Year in the 4th Annual Pool & Spa News Industry's Choice Awards.   A Family Tradition      Founded 84 years ago by Barry's grandfather, Theo Pulliam, the firm began as a concrete and plaster contractor. "Back then, there was no such thing as 'pool companies'" Pulliam explains. "Because my grandfather had built so many water proof cattle-dipping vats, he was asked to build the first community swimming pool ever in Coryell County (Texas) in 1916."      With that, the Pulliam pool business had begun.      Company ownership changed hands when Barry's father, Doren Pulliam, returned from World War II. He and his brother, Douglas, specialized in pool and concrete work, respectively. Around 1956, they split the company along those lines and to this day, there's Pulliam Pools, owned by Barry and Lizz since 1985, and Tim Pulliam Concrete, owned by a cousin.

Valuable Business Lessons The crew at Pulliam Aquatech Pools in Fort Worth, Texas, has learned some valuable lessons over the years. Here are five gems from company owners Barry and Lizz Pulliam:   It's all about respect - how employees are treated and how they, in turn, treat customers: "The most important thing is to hire people who have an innate respect for customers. Employees understand that our goal is to treat customers the way we'd want to be treated. We set a high standard for our employees and are able to keep quality personnel because we treat them with the same kind of respect we expect from them." Don't be afraid to change. "We're remodeling our education and technology room for the second time. This winter, we added more rock displays because the demand for rock has increased, and we added more deck samples because more options became available." Have fun with what you do. "People who buy pools tend to be gregarious and friendly. We have an annual photo contest with two humor categories for our customers; the results are pretty silly. We also hold theme parties for employees, where Barry has been dressed as everything from Tarzan in a loincloth to Elvis in a jumpsuit. It's hard to take yourself too seriously when you have Elvis hair!" Communicate, communicate, communicate. "Uneducated customers have unreasonable expectations. Educating customers is a large part of our formula for creating satisfied, happy customers. We have systems in place to ensure communication, which, in turn, ensures success." Share the success. "Pay your employees as much as they are worth. Get as creative as you can with employee benefits - bring in that chair masseuse during the heat of the season for 10-minute stress-reduction sessions and watch the smiles appear. (This is a particular favorite in our office.)"

Consumer-friendly firm      Over at Pulliam Pools, the focus may be on construction, but there's also a 500-square-foot facility with a sales show-room and an education and technology room. In the latter, consumers learn about different types of automatic controls, cleaners and the like. "We also display 10 types of rocks," Pulliam says, noting that "people want fancier pools and lots of rockwork these days."       At Pulliam, it always comes back to the consumers - not only what they want, but also what they need by answering questions and teaching them how to make their pools a pleasure, not a pain.       Barry says communication is the cornerstone of Pulliam's customer-service friendly policy. "It starts off with the contract," he relates. "We make them read and understand it. We go to great lengths to make them [comprehend] the nature of the materials, that is, rocks, plaster, coping; then they know and understand when and if things happen. It's a win-win deal. It's what separates us out from the rest of the builders."      Constant customer communication is maintained on different levels. For example, the four schedulers who coordinate the sub-contractors spend lots of time on the phone with customers. "We want to answer their questions ASAP. It keeps the small problems small," Pulliam says. And eight pool superintendents equipped with mobile phones travel to job sites at critical points. It's not uncommon for one super to juggle 20 pools at once.       The construction process is just the beginning of the communication.      "After a pool is built, we give [people] instruction on how to operate it, no matter how many times it takes," Pulliam says. "Thirty days later, we send a survey to see how they feel about the building process. To encourage them to fill it out, we give them each a $10 beach-towel incentive, which works well." Bright future      No wonder this Texas builder has found so much success. "We're in our fourth expansion," Pulliam says. "I like that, the entrepreneurial side of business."       In the near future, Pulliam hopes to build on that success with a retail store and an additional 100 pools to the firm's annual construction volume.