[Problems & Solutions] Answers to your tough pest questions

MAKING A SWITCH
Q  We have many residential customers. They are being slowly moved to quarterly services and in my area of the country we do not do a “winter” service. I want to look closely at this service and see where I can streamline it, perhaps using my technicians’ time better. Do you have any suggestions?

A  My first question is: Why did you make this decision about switching to quarterly service? I feel that the pest management industry is struggling with where it fits in peoples’ minds. We are not a luxury but rather a necessity to most people. Wouldn’t it be interesting if we treated customers like people rather than bill payers?

That being said, let’s discuss some options. Do you feel that your technicians are spending too much or too little time on the account? In most cases I don’t know where we separate service from reality. The reality is that we need to serve as many people as possible in a given day (i.e., max out the route and make more money because we spend less time on the site. Labor represents the largest percentage cost of a pest control service).

I know that most of the industry works this way. The average time on site for residential customers is 20 minutes, including filling out the service ticket, and maybe once in a while talking to the customer. As a service industry, I don’t think this is too much different than some other operations that the urban residential customer receives (notice I did not say expects). What customers expect is, I believe, jaded by what they have received in the past.

Changes in technology (GPS on trucks is giving way to GPS in phones, electronic capture of service data, e-mail, Internet shopping for pest management professionals, etc.) have to be considered when you think about “streamlining” your service. At the same time, you still have a contractual obligation to service the site for pests. What can you do to better your pest control service offerings? Some of the newer non-repellents coming on the market may assist you in this endeavor because it has been reported there are fewer callbacks for some common pests. How you apply the pesticides, and use them effectively, takes some thought and a consideration of time and the application method. In addition, more monitoring systems can help you evaluate pest management systems currently in place. In the future there will be remote monitoring (maybe not in my career but certainly in the careers of the younger pest management professionals out there). Systems already exist, but it will take a thorough evaluation within the pest management industry to see how these fit into a “service business.” In other words, maybe we should redefine “service businesses.”

You mentioned that you moved your company to a quarterly service. How did that go over with customers who were on a monthly schedule? Were they complacent? If so, they are probably satisfied with your service. And for most, the cost probably did not change much. What were the common questions asked when you did this — How much? Will I have more bugs? What about emergencies? Can I keep monthly service?

How did you (or will you) market this service? I noticed in the November issue of PCT that 27 percent of pest management professionals said their company always uses the words “Integrated Pest Management” in its advertisements because it is a good marketing slogan. Does that mean companies actually use “IPM” in their ads? Or does it mean that pest control firms have paid attention to the many articles written that say the average homeowner has no clue what IPM is?

Many recent seminars have featured a discussion on how the customer sees us. Since I do not see what questions are asked in customer surveys or focus groups, I do not know if questions like the following are asked: Would you prefer monthly or quarterly service? Why? What would be your concerns if we moved you to quarterly service? Would you like service reports e-mailed to you? Do you understand what the technician does? Have you talked with your technician recently? What was the last correspondence or contact you had with a pest management professional? If these questions are answered I sure would like to see the percentages and comments other then they like us “because we kill bugs.”

The author is president of George Rambo Consulting Services, Central, S.C. Fax questions to him at 864/654-2447 or via e-mail at grambo@giemedia.com.