A Golden Opportunity

If you haven’t thought about targeting your pest control services to specific end markets, perhaps it’s time you did. With the newest techniques and pest control tools available, the industry has more customer-friendly management programs than ever. And now, in at least one area, even some of the market research has been completed for you.

Consider the market of health care institutions, and specifically, the nursing home market. With more than 17,000 such facilities now in the U.S., the market for pest control services in nursing homes is a large and growing customer segment. Currently, nursing homes purchase about $30 million worth of pest control services each year. And as the population ages, this customer segment, which has a unique set of needs, will continue to grow.

Seeing this opportunity, Maxforce Professional Products has introduced a set of training materials designed to help PCOs refine their services to the nursing home market. The program also educates nursing home administrators about the changing trends in pest control, and how this can benefit them. The company has conducted extensive research to learn the specific needs and issues concerning the nursing home market and pest control, and what specific concerns exist when it comes to purchasing professional pest control services.

“We’re hopeful that this information will educate the nursing home industry to changes that have occurred in the pest control industry, particularly around IPM,” said Gordon Morrison, national sales and marketing manager for Maxforce. Morrison also pointed out the research should help PCOs better understand how they can target their services to a specific segment of the market.

“A lot of companies can’t afford to do the market research to learn about new market opportunities,” he said. “What we’ve done is taken care of the research to identify the hot buttons, the tools that help PCOs to sell their services in the nursing home market.” In this “pull-through” marketing promotion, nursing home administrators are also being informed of the newest pest control products and services available and how these meet their needs and answer their concerns. The company focused on the nursing home market, Morrison said, because it’s a finite industry that’s easy to target and will yield easy-to-measure results. “Success or failure with this type of program will let us know whether we should pursue this avenue of pull-through marketing in other areas as well,” Morrison noted.

A TARGETED PROGRAM. Much of the research done on the nursing home market, as well as on other specific end-user markets, was compiled for Maxforce by The Green Edge, a marketing and consulting firm in Bloomington, Minn. A study of a large number of different end-user segments indicated that the nursing home market offers very good market potential for PCOs, said Rem Laan, account group supervisor for The Green Edge.

“Baits are moving more into the mainstream of the primary means of pest control,” said Laan, “and part of this whole approach is to try to make people more aware of what the advantages of baits are and to accelerate that process.” Maxforce in turn developed a professional marketing program that covers everything from sales to service in this important customer segment. The program, which includes a video, training guides, ad campaign and reprints, is designed to help both managers and technicians learn sales tips as well as the proper application techniques to be employed in nursing home accounts. A booklet especially designed for nursing home administrators was also written to help these customers become more knowledgeable about the pest control work performed, and therefore to work more effectively with PCOs. The “Pest Management Guide for Nursing Homes” from Maxforce covers what nursing home administrators will want to know regarding pest control, including federal and OSHA requirements, EPA registration requirements, what to look for in a pest control professional. The guide also discusses the topic of integrated pest management, how administrators can best work with their service provider, the specific products and tools they might employ in serving the account.

Maxforce has also advertised in Service Technician magazine, and in two nursing home administration magazines, Nursing Homes and Provider. The ads are designed to make PCOs aware of the availability of these materials, as well as to begin to educate nursing home administrators as to the changing aspects of pest control. Reprints of both advertisements are also available. Maxforce also mailed the booklet to a selected group of major nursing home chains.

“Part of our objective was to inform nursing home administrators about the advantages of baits,” said Laan. “The other aspect is to provide PCOs with tools to be more effective at selling pest control services to specific segments based on a better understanding of that segment.”

PCO Jerry Cates assisted The Green Edge in compiling the research information. Cates is president of EntomoBiotics, in Austin, Texas, a pest control company that specializes in serving hospitals, nursing homes, and other medical facilities. In his experience, Cates has found that cooperative effort is especially important when dealing with medical facilities such as nursing homes.

“The days where pest control professionals can walk into an account and do the whole thing without any assistance from the facility staff are over,” Cates said. “Some residential accounts may demand that [a PCO] solve their problem quickly and with no cooperation on their part, but you simply can’t do that with a school or medical facility. There has to be cooperation between the two.” Cates has written a formal document and distributed it to his customers detailing how they can help to reduce pest problems. For example, the document tells customers how some pest problems, such as cockroach infestations, may actually be triggered or worsened by staff members who have serious infestations at home. Or that vertebrate exclusion will be far more difficult if the lawn around the hospital is not kept mowed. “Our biggest concern was in helping them understand why nursing homes and PCOs need to cooperate with one another in some very specific ways,” said Cates.

Presented here are the major points stressed in the Maxforce materials, to help your business more effectively market and deliver your services to nursing home customers.

THE NURSING HOME MARKET. Nursing homes represent an important business opportunity for pest control professionals. This market is growing rapidly as the population ages. It has special pest control needs, and, in most states, nursing homes are required by law to use a licensed pest control professional.

In 1996, there were 17,107 nursing homes in the United States, which spend an estimated $30 million annually on pest control services. The market is growing at more than 5% annually. The rate of new construction of nursing homes is expected to increase over the next few years as the population ages. About two-thirds of all nursing homes are for-profit businesses.

About one-half of all nursing homes in the U.S. have a chain affiliation, but despite the large number of large nursing home chains, the market is relatively fragmented. The good news for PCOs is that pest control companies still have plenty of opportunities to sell their service to chains because the choice of a pest control company is often left to the local administrator at each home. These facilities, like many other residential and foodservice accounts, are prime targets for cockroach and ant infestations. As “sensitive” environments, nursing homes should always be considered prime candidates for the use of IPM techniques. In other words, pest management professionals should combine preventive tactics and control methods to reduce pest infestations.

THE SALE. Nursing home administrators need to be made aware that there have been many improvements in the techniques and products used by pest control professionals in recent years. As a result, pest control can now be much less intrusive and more effective than ever. Managers also need to know the threats that pests pose to these facilities. For example, a recent study published in The New England Journal of Medicine found that the presence of cockroaches can contribute to the severity of asthma. German cockroaches are also carriers of Salmonella and other disease-causing microorganisms. And pests can damage facilities and furnishings, and hurt the reputation and business of the nursing home.

Naturally, administrators are highly sensitive about pests and their control. Research conducted by Maxforce shows their concerns generally fall into four categories: odor and indoor air quality, convenience, reduced chemical exposure, and long-term control. For instance, strong or unusual odors may upset some residents and incite complaints about headaches or other illness. Moving residents from their rooms disrupts routines and is costly and time-consuming. It’s also expensive to prepare foodservice areas for conventional pest control applications. And pesticide product forms that limit the potential for employee and resident contact are preferred, as is placing less active ingredient in the environment. Fewer visits by pest control professionals are also preferred.

There are many IPM solutions to these concerns, and by communicating these solutions effectively, PCOs will increase their chances of winning business from nursing homes. Using exclusion techniques and non-chemical control methods will not affect the indoor air quality. Exclusion techniques and harborage reduction are also convenient and do not pose any threats with regard to odor. Bait products, such as those manufactured by Maxforce, are virtually odorless and non-volatile. They emit no airborne chemicals, and preparation work is minimized. Depending on the circumstances, residents need not be moved during treatment. Also, because of bait products’ longer residual, frequency of treatment is reduced. Bait stations have the advantages of being containerized and child-resistant, and gel baits are designed to be placed only in small amounts in cracks and crevices, where residents cannot contact them.

For those PCOs interested in tapping into the nursing home market, Cates also has some very specific advice: give it some serious thought, and be able to convey a very professional image. “If I were getting started in this industry I would first resolve to do the best job I could and be serious about doing a professional job,” Cates said. “Then I’d start looking for those nursing homes that were experiencing less than satisfactory service from PCOs, and to these I would market my service.” And as a PCO’s level of experience increases, Cates says, his or her ability to project a professional image is also enhanced, which in turn leads to a longer list of clientele.

For more information about the Maxforce program or to order any of the materials, call Maxforce Professional Products at 1-888/MAXFORCE. For more information about many of the nursing homes in your area, you can call 800/321-0343 to order a copy of the American Health Care Association’s Directory of Nursing Homes.

The author is managing editor of PCT.

Sidebar: SALES AND SERVICE TIPS FOR NURSING HOMES

Many PCOs mistakenly hold the perception that nursing home contracts for pest control services are set in stone well in advance. But like many other commercial customers, administrators are likely to change pest control professionals if they have a pest problem their existing company can’t solve.

While many chains have negotiated agreements with one pest control professional for some or all of their facilities, in many cases, the administrator can “buck the system” and use the pest control operator of their choice. Here are some ways to get started in the quest for this new business:

• An introductory call and consultation will get the ball rolling. You can identify and diagnose the problem with sticky traps and a thorough inspection.
  
  
• Once you make your original sales call, be sure to continue to follow up periodically. Many administrators don’t realize there is an effective alternative to sprays and dusts. Selling IPM and the advantages of baits is a good way to differentiate your service from other pest control professionals.
  
  
• Bait stations act as monitoring devices as well as control agents. Inspect stations and look for evidence of consumption and droppings to verify activity and identify problem areas. Providing customers with a service report that recommends reducing or eliminating conditions conducive to pest problems will improve control efforts.
  
  
• Start and end every service call with a visit to the administrator. Find out if they have any concerns or complaints and explain what you plan to do. After your work is done, review your service report with the administrator and explain the value of what you have done.
  
  
• Always check with each nurses’ station to see if they have any complaints. It’s a good idea to leave a notebook at each station so complaints or “sightings” can be recorded. Check with the maintenance personnel to see if they have any complaints. Let them know if you find any pest-related problems that need attention, and list these in your service report.
  
  
• Try to build a rapport with the nurses and staff. And make it a point to acknowledge residents when you see them.

  — Information provided by Maxforce.