I don’t know about most other water treatment companies but at Royal Water Systems, we offer in-home estimates that are always free of charge. I get asked, “Why do you have to come to my home to give me a price for a water softener?” all the time. Well, I can tell you that for us, it’s for very good reasons.
Most homeowners think, and they are probably right, that if they call a salesman over to their house they are going to get hit with some high pressure sales tactics. I know these tactics exist in our industry and probably a lot of other industries that deal with homeowners directly. I also know that homeowners have no use for them and this is why some homeowners are very hesitant to invite out a salesman. At Royal Water Systems, we don’t have salesmen. What we do have is people that love doing water treatment on both a residential and a commercial level. We also have people that love to help other people out with the talents that they have been given in the water treatment field.
First of all, it cost us time and money to do free in-home estimates. I think that’s pretty easy for anybody to see and understand. The reason why in-home estimates are so important to us is due to the simple fact that there are questions that will need to be answered before any water softener can be installed. Your house may not even be able to have a water softener installed in it. I can’t tell you the number of times I have sold a water softener over the phone, taken a deposit, and then showed up to do the install and there was literally no way for the water softener to be installed. It was a waste of my time and a waste of the homeowner’s time as well. So in-home estimates answer questions that we will have and it always will spark more questions from homeowners than they ever had before. Here is a list of questions that always come up with homeowners when we do an in-home estimate:
· Outside faucets – will they be hard or soft?
· Kitchen cold and refrigerator water – will it be effected?
· Will both hot and cold water be soft?
· What size of a system will be needed? – This can only be determined by testing the water at your house and finding out how much hardness is in your water and also the number of people the system will be servicing.
· Will the system be using Salt or Potassium
· Will the system be connecting to copper, pex, pvc, or cast iron plumbing? We will need to know this so that we can bring the right fittings for the installation.
· Is there a drain available to the water softener?
· Is there an electrical outlet available to the softener?
· Does the house have a pressure regulator and is it working? Water pressure cannot be more than 75lbs. This is required before a water softener can be installed.
· Does the house have an expansion tank on the water heater incoming water supply? This is another pre-requisite for a water softener.
· Is there enough floor space for the water softener to be installed?
· How much salt or potassium will the softener use?
· Are there any filters to change?
· What maintenance is required?
· What type of salt should be used?
· When and how long will the regeneration cycle be?
There are these questions and a host of others that are not mentioned here. Answering these questions will save a ton of headaches in the future and it will also avoid unforeseen surprises for both Royal Water Systems and homeowners. This is why we highly recommend them, even though they are costly to us.
If we can be of service to you in any way with your water needs or concerns, we promise we won’t send out a high-pressure salesman, but rather one of our employees that love to help people out with their water needs and concerns.
Kind Regards,
Sam Nielsen
Royal Water Systems
801-980-096