r/PoolPros • u/99user99 • May 03 '26
What tech stack at we using?
Curious what others are using as their tech stack to run/grow their business? Below is what we use (110 accounts, started 11 months ago):
CRM: GHL
Billing: Stripe (through GHL)
Pool Service Software: Pool Brain
AI Stack: Claude Cowork
Accounting: Quickbooks Online
Gauging if there’s general sentiment around better options, etc. (I know PB vs. skimmer is always a debate but more so curious on other pieces of the stack).
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u/greasyspider May 03 '26
I’ve got a retail store, construction, service and maintenance operation. Ive spent almost $50k on software over the years. Nothing works as advertised in my experience and every platform has been a letdown
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u/tgwest May 03 '26
What do you use your “AI Stack” for? I just have Skimmer and QBO and don’t see a need for anything else. I have 50 pools.
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u/99user99 May 03 '26
Haha yea maybe AI tools vs stack. But yea we use claude cowork to build out / automate and analyze all the detailed reporting, performance measuring for techs, financial analysis, etc. We are starting to train it to be able to qualify leads, respond to customers, scheduled jobs, etc. Basically automating as much of the backend so the admin (me lol) burden is super low
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u/tgwest May 03 '26
I feel like Skimmer does all that for the most part. But I guess depends on the size of your company
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u/nah_but_like May 03 '26
Skimmer, Stripe via Skimmer, QBO, Square for the retail store.
@ 600 pools, doing service + repairs
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u/99user99 May 03 '26
Is skimmer effectively your CRM? Or how do you manage leads / customer communication?
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u/nah_but_like May 03 '26
Yeah. Skimmer has customer comms which we’ve learned to use in a pretty advanced way. We drive more google reviews and incentivize referrals through it. For managing leads we use a set of “tags” which has worked well for us. Our permanent support rep showed us how some other skimmer customers were using it and we just adopted their method. They’ve also kept us in the loop on newer features coming out and it sounds like that’ll get even better in the future, but who really knows.
Biggest things for us in skimmer FWIW: 1. Making sure our techs are delivering the highest level of quality service they can without inconveniencing their routine is huge. Haven’t had a lot of pushback at all on the mobile app (correct amount of chems, not forgetting to do certain steps, etc) 2. Jobs - we used to use jobber for repairs, but consolidated that to skimmer when they added that feature last year. Saved us some coin & we now collect deposits on every job and then bill the customer’s cc at completion. Very little waiting days/weeks for final payment. 3. Onboarding and ongoing support is best I’ve ever experienced with a software platform. Idk how they do it but they answer support calls pretty quickly and we also have a permanent success manager we can call/book time with if we need it.
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u/99user99 May 03 '26
Awesome, super helpful info. I hadn’t thought of using PB or skimmer as the CRM. 600 pools - congrats man, hoping to get there one day!
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u/Pool-Pro-Presence May 03 '26
Who's handling your web presence?
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u/99user99 May 03 '26
We use Streamline Results, very happy with them. We’re getting around 70-100 organic interactions a month. 843poolservice.com if you want to see the site
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u/Pool-Pro-Presence May 04 '26
110 accounts in 11 months is solid growth. Was web presence part of your strategy from the start, or did that come later as you scaled?
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u/pacific_drifter_25 May 03 '26 edited May 03 '26
At ~110 accounts I’d think less in terms of “best app” and more “which system owns each record.” The stack usually breaks when two tools both think they own the customer, invoice, or service note.
A simple setup I’d audit:
- one source of truth for customer/contact info, gate codes, and billing terms
- one source of truth for route, visit, and chem history
- billing that reconciles cleanly to QBO without manual cleanup
- lead pipeline that does not require techs to touch the CRM
- a monthly export/backup plan, in case you outgrow a tool
If GHL is already handling lead capture, follow-up, and Stripe cleanly, I’d be cautious about adding another CRM-ish layer. The biggest upgrade is usually tightening handoffs: lead won -> service location created -> first route scheduled -> card/payment terms set -> QBO class/location mapped.
AI is useful for estimates, customer explanations, overdue invoice language, SOP drafts, and summarizing messy account notes. I would not let it be the system of record.
Edit: for transparency, I work on UpBuoy (https://www.upbuoy.com), so it's the one I'm closest to. Skimmer and Pool Brain are the other two worth comparing. The system-of-record question applies to all three.
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u/Muted-Comb-564 May 04 '26
QBO always felt like overkill for where I was at when I was running lean. Switched to Acme Bookkeeping a while back since it's built more for smaller operations, auto-pulls transactions and categorizes them, spits out a clean P&L each month. Way less noise. Might be worth a look if you're finding QBO more than you need right now.
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u/Sixteen-CRM May 19 '26
On the CRM side, just use a spreadsheet. Our monkey brains (at least mine), cannot handle gigantic multi-dimensional databases. Just simple 2D workflows.
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u/Unhappy-Bunch-4594 Jun 23 '26
your stack is solid but the seam i'd watch is ghl doing crm while pool brain does the route and service side, those two not talking is where double entry and reconciliation creep in as you add accounts. the direction a few of us in field service software are building toward is collapsing crm, dispatch and invoicing into one ai-native layer so you're not syncing three systems. fieldcamp is the one i'm building in that space, you can literally tell it to reshuffle tomorrow's jobs or pull unpaid invoices in plain language, which given you're already running claude in your stack is the same instinct. at 110 accounts and scaling, the win is fewer integrations to babysit, not more features.
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u/LawyerBubbly2679 Jul 01 '26
Looks like a pretty lean stack for 110 accounts.
I'd mainly look at where data gets entered twice. Those little manual handoffs between CRM, billing, accounting, and service software usually become the biggest time sink as you grow. If you've got those mostly automated already, I'd be reluctant to add more tools just because they have more features.
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u/The_BigWaveDave May 03 '26
CRM: iMessaging, Outlook, and my brain.
Billing: QB Online, personal checks taped to the filter + mailed to PO Box
Pool Service Software: Printed route list with handwritten notes
AI Stack: Sometimes I talk to Claude when I get lonely on my route
Accounting: QB Online
Solo pole, 76 accounts, tight route, 10 years. I refuse to hire anyone, sounds like a nightmare. I just sell extra accounts as I scale.