[Crown Awards] 2005 Residential Technician of the Year

Norbert Brungardt had no idea what he was getting into when he applied for a job at Orkin Pest Control almost 12 years ago. He didn’t know that he would end up setting the standard at the Tulsa, Okla., branch, or that he would be ranked No.1 out of 53 regional technicians. What he did know was that he had two kids to feed, and a woman he loved who wouldn’t marry him while he was without a job.

"At that time, with my age, a job is kind of hard to find," said Brungardt, who turns 58 in January. But then he saw an ad for employment opportunities at Orkin, and decided to give it a try. "I went down and applied with Orkin, and they hired me," he said.

Before Orkin, Brungardt had been in the Army, worked as a meat cutter, and managed a convenience store. He was first hired at Orkin as a salesperson, but during his general training and industry education he learned that a technician position had opened up. He decided to take it. Now, more than a decade later, Brungardt is still pleased with this decision and says he’s very happy with his job. "There’s some things that you don’t like, but you’ve got that in any job," he said. "There’s a lot more pros than cons working for Orkin."

And Orkin is certainly happy to have Brungardt. Not only has he been ranked the No.1 service technician in his region, but he’s received Quality Service Awards no less than seven times and was also given the Orkin Excellence Award.

"He (Brungardt) is an all around good guy," said Darryl Murdock, branch manager. "I wish I had seven more just like him. My life would be a lot easier."

Brungardt excels at his job in many different ways, and that’s why Murdock says he deserves to be the PCT/Syngenta Residential Technician of the Year. Brungardt’s on-time service percentages (the percent of time monthly services are completed on their specified days) are high, his customer retention numbers are far better than the company average, and his collections rate is always at least within company standard, if not exceeding it. His customers appreciate him, and he’s always willing to help other employees who can benefit from his experience. "I think he deserves the award because he pretty much sets the standard in our branch," Murdock said.

EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS. Brun-gardt clearly goes beyond what many residential technicians do. He usually starts his day around 6:30 a.m. (even though Orkin doesn’t open until 7:30 a.m.), but he’s been known to service customers at 5:30 a.m. if they need him to — such as one lady who runs a daycare center at her home and prefers to have her home serviced early. Brungardt himself prefers to start earlier instead of going later, but he has been out as late as 6 p.m. for customers who need him to arrive after work. "I try to do it when they need it because I know they have family things they need to do too," he said.

In fact, dealing with families is one reason why Brungardt enjoys his job, and why he prefers residential work to commercial work. He’s done some commercial pest control, but he prefers residential pest control because it’s more personalized, he said. He likes talking with his customers, and seeing the same ones month in and month out.

"The families — they treat you like their own after a while," Brungardt said. "They get to know you and trust you. You just become so attached to people."

Brungardt deals closely with his customers, calling them and letting them know he’ll be coming by, and often communicating with them by note if he doesn’t see them while at their homes. He leaves his home phone number for them to call if they have any problems, and he does receive calls from them sometimes. In commercial pest control, a technician doesn’t need to communicate so closely, Brungardt said. Commercial technicians may go service a business and not see the boss, but just speak with a secretary. Brungardt enjoys the closeness between himself and his customers. These successful relationships are one of the things he’s proudest of concerning his work.

"I have a good rapport with my people," said Brungardt. "If they have a problem, they’re not afraid to call my house….I tell them ‘If you have a problem, I want to hear from you.’ I keep my customers over a long period of time. That’s one of the things I’m really proud of."

Being honest with customers is one of the most effective things a technician can do to maintain good rapport, Brungardt said. It’s best to tell people exactly what can and what cannot be done to help solve pest problems.

DETAIL-ORIENTED. Murdock said Brungardt is appreciated so much by his customers because of all the smaller things he does to keep them happy with their pest control service.

"He (Brungardt) is always on time," said Murdock. "If he isn’t going to be on time, he does the courteous thing and gives them (customers) a call and lets them know. He doesn’t make them sit around waiting. Little things like that go a long way."

Although Brungardt likes his job and this shows in his work, some aspects of it aren’t so enjoyable. He said that as he gets older, some things get more difficult — like trying to get to pests underneath a house. He’s also surprised by people who have trouble understanding that Orkin is a pest control company — not a pest elimination company. Another difficulty occurs when people don’t do their part to maintain the work done by Orkin, but Brungardt said that doesn’t happen too often. Usually people are willing to work with him to solve their pest problems, he said.

"Out of all the homes that I’ve got, there’s probably only four or five homes that I don’t like going in to," Brungardt said. "And when you service as many homes as I do (260 to 300 per month), that’s a very low amount."

HAPPY AT HOME. Although Brungardt dedicates a lot of time and effort to his work at Orkin, he still manages to spend time with his family. He and his wife Megan have been married for 12 years, and he has two children from a previous marriage. His daughter Becky is 33, and his son Andy is 31. Both live in the Tulsa area. Brungardt himself comes from a very large family — there were 14 kids in his house growing up.

As far as his interests go, Brungardt’s previous occupation as a meat cutter left him with a love of cooking. And because of this occupational background, Brungardt can cook a steak better than most restaurants, so he and Megan don’t dine out very often. He’s also quite involved with his church. Other than that, Brungardt said he is just happy spending time at home when he’s not working hard. "I don’t do a whole lot of stuff," Brungardt said. "I’m a homebody. Once I’m off, I like to be home."

A JOB WELL DONE. It may be obvious that Brungardt’s a busy man, but he doesn’t plan to slow down or to retire for at least another six years or so. However, he also doesn’t plan on trying to move up to a position with more responsibility or deskwork. He’s happy where he is. "I can do my job, visit my customers, and I can go home and know I’ve done my job," he said.

But Brungardt is quick to state that he doesn’t do his job alone, and he didn’t win Residential Technician of the Year Award alone either. He said the people he works with are down-to-earth, experienced and willing to help each other out. Everyone works together — from people in the office taking phone calls to division people.

"I want to thank all the employees at my branch that helped me get this award," said Brungardt. "It’s not only me. It’s the whole group. I feel like it’s a team award."

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Tales of the Trade

During his 12 years in the pest control industry, Norbert Brungardt has witnessed some pest situations that left lasting impressions. Here are two of his most memorable experiences.

IT’S RAINING ROACHES. Most rookies hear a good roach story or two. Brungardt did, but he shrugged them off until he had an experience of his own. One day, he arrived at a residence to treat a roach problem, got out of his truck — and immediately smelled roaches. He then went inside the house, closed the door, looked down and saw roaches running all over his arm. They were everywhere, even in the gasket of the refrigerator.

"The roaches were so bad that once we started treating it, it sounded like rain hitting the ground," Brungardt said. "It was the worst I’d ever seen."

It took some time, and certainly more than one treatment, but eventually the roaches were eradicated.

RAT RESISTANCE. Another day, Brungardt was called to a residence because there were rats in the garage. He arrived at the home, located the point of entry, and put down traps. A week later, he returned to find that 26 rats had been trapped and killed. At the end of a month’s time, the number was approaching 40. Brungardt said the home was close to a river, and that may have been a contributing factor to the high number of rats.