Interview with Pierre-Antoine GASCIOLLI,

Interview with Pierre-Antoine GASCIOLLI, Aboral Piscines Development Manager.

Hello Pierre-Antoine, introduce yourself!

I’m Pierre Antoine Gasciolli, head of development at Aboral Piscines, a family business founded by my parents Alain and Véronique 30 years ago!

You could say it’s a family business, because my sister also works with us as customer service manager!

How did you become a pool builder and why?

We owned a public works company and had a family member who had recently started installing swimming pools. At the time, there was a craze for swimming pools, which led us to say that we had to get into swimming pool installation, as we had all the technical equipment for it.

2 years later, we realized that installing them was fine, but we also had to sell them, which we did by opening 3 stores.

Then, keen to market high-quality products, we took our turn in manufacturing.

Why choose the name Aboral Piscines?

For the name Aboral Piscines, we had to move away from the existing names given to pools, which at the time were names of Greek stones and islands. We chose to head further offshore towards Tahiti, and more precisely Aboral, because BORA BORA, (A-BORA-L). The addition of the A at the beginning of a word was also strategic, especially to appear at the very beginning of catalogs at trade fairs and shows, which were arranged in alphabetical order.

What’s your favorite part of the job?

Business development, of course J

Recruiting new dealers, expanding the network, developing the product offering, seeing customers happy with their pool – these are the driving forces behind my motivation! In fact, I often go out into the field, as they say. This summer, in the wake of the Covid crisis, I had to actually travel to customers’ premises to manage deliveries following the significant increase in our order book. I enjoyed being in direct contact with our customers, whom I don’t get to see very much after all. Now I’m back in the office. I’m devoting my time to developing Aboral’s national dealer network and coordinating the launch of our^3rd production site, which opened in Simandre, Saône et Loire, at the beginning of October.

What’s your favorite pool in your range?

The Maatea is one of my favorite models, as it has a large deck and staircase for relaxing with family and friends. We wanted this model to be simple and elegant, in keeping with today’s codes. Round or “kidney-shaped” pools are no longer the most popular choice. My favorite model is our latest addition: the Akoya. I’ve worked hard on this innovation, which represents a revolution in the market. The Akoya features a wide deck with a submerged flap totally integrated into the hull, making it invisible. In addition to choosing the color of the hull and the submerged shutter, customers can also customize their porcelain stoneware deck with one of 6 top-of-the-range finishes.

Aboral swimming pool range

A swimming pool in 4 days, a flagship concept from Aboral Piscines, but how is this possible?

Because we’re actually machines J, just kidding. We simply fine-tuned our process down to the last detail. First of all, we travel to each customer’s site to assess the terrain. And that’s the key to a successful 4-day installation. No surprises, no mishaps. The pool shell chosen by the customer is manufactured in our factories in Bordeaux and Burgundy. She arrives “ready to install” with all the equipment and a team of professionals.

How long does it take to build a swimming pool?

On average, our production teams devote 3 days to the production of a pool model, which consists of 5 key stages. The first step is mold preparation, followed by gel coat application, reinforcement, simultaneous spraying and finally demolding.

Our techniques have been tried and tested in our factories for 30 years. We are also fortunate to be able to fully manage our own manufacturing and delivery processes. Our specialized vehicles can deliver our Aboral pools anywhere in France, as well as in neighboring countries (Belgium/Switzerland).

Your digital strategy is well-developed, so tell us a little more about it.

We very quickly made the decision to focus on the digital channel in order to increase our brand awareness and attract new prospects.
Since 2014 and the launch of our first digital campaigns, we’ve only increased our number of monthly leads. It’s also important to bear in mind that the swimming pool industry is highly seasonal, and that requests for quotes fluctuate widely. We have an average of 20,000 monthly users on our website. It’s a great success in terms of brand awareness. We are proud to regularly open new sales outlets throughout France. Our visibility on the Internet is also a real criterion in the affiliation of an Aboral outlet. Our dealers trust us! They are supplied with contacts every day.