Adding On With Add-Ons

As today’s unsteady economic climate makes consumers more cautious about spending money, many pest management professionals are diversifying their service offerings to add new revenue streams, reduce downtime and foster customer relationships. And one of the easiest ways is to offer new or additional service options to existing accounts. Read on to learn more about some services that you can add to your offering right now to make the most of every customer visit and better manage pest problems. Your customers will thank you for it.

Untapped market. T•A•P — Thermal, Acoustical and Pest Control Insulation from Pest Control Insulation Systems — is the patented merger of two well-known technologies: a borate pesticide additive and energy-efficient, all-natural cellulose insulation. In addition to its energy-savings thermal performance and sound-absorbing acoustical qualities, T•A•P possesses effective pest management properties. It is an EPA-labeled pesticide controlling pests such as ants, beetles, silverfish and termites, and may be installed only by those licensed to practice pest control in most states.

According to Billy Turk, the product’s co-inventor and president/chief executive office of Pest Control Insulation Systems, T•A•P offers pest management companies a whole new business opportunity.

“According to the U.S. Department of Energy, many homes are under-insulated. Since pest management professionals are in attics and crawlspaces during pest inspections on a regular basis, they can use that time to identify home insulation needs,” says Turk. “For PMPs that are looking at numbers in the fall and looking for services to carry them through the slow months, T•A•P is a way to generate great fall and winter revenue.”

As part of a total pest management package, T•A•P can be used to cap existing insulation in attics, or can be installed in the attics, walls and crawlspaces of new construction. With energy costs continuing to rise, T•A•P is a timely offering because it results in lower energy bills.

“The addition of T•A•P insulation has tremendous benefits for the homeowner as it quickly pays for itself in reduced energy costs and then continues to save customers money in reduced energy consumption for the life of the structure,” says Turk. “It’s the only pesticide that has an Energy Star Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.”

For pest management professionals who want to investigate if providing T•A•P insulation services to current and prospective customers is a good fit, Pest Control Insulation Systems offers a “pre-sell” kit that includes collateral, a demonstration unit and more.

“The starter kit gives them the opportunity to go out to talk to customers to see if the market is there. Then, if they make the decision to become T•A•P certified, they already have some jobs lined up,” explains Turk.
 In addition to installation training, PCIS offers sales coaching during the trial process and beyond.

“We spend a lot of time with customers upfront and throughout our relationship, showing them how to do it right and how to avoid problems because we want it to work for them,” Turk says. “We make an investment in them upfront because we feel that if they are successful, we’ll be successful.”

Tapping into success. A few years ago, Jeff Annis, president of Advanced Services for Pest Control, Augusta, Ga., had T•A•P insulation installed at his home, office, and two other homes to check it out for himself. He brought along his technicians to watch the installation so they could see how it was applied in person.

“We noticed a significant difference the following summer in terms of our comfort level as well as in energy use, with a 20- to 30-percent reduction in kilowatt hours. And my house was well-insulated to begin with,” Annis says. “The biggest change is for those who don’t have any or much insulation in the first place — they will notice an extreme change in kilowatt hours.”

Advanced Services began selling T•A•P insulation earlier this year as part of a more comprehensive “top to bottom” service to its clients. Annis originally set a sales goal of 100 jobs this year, and sold 15 additional jobs in September alone.

“We’ve accomplished our goal and then some. We’ve gotten good at installing it and at selling it, and we look forward to doing more next year,” says Annis. “This is the only service where we can tell our clients that they will get paid back in energy savings over time. This is something we can actively do that will save them money, and we feel pretty happy doing that.”

According to Russ Van Hellen, owner of Critter Control, which serves San Antonio, Austin and Houston, Texas, selling T•A•P insulation was a perfect fit. Primarily dealing with vertebrate pest management, what drew Van Hellen to Pest Control Insulation Systems initially was the company’s commercial vacuum. At the time, the company used shop vacs for cleaning up droppings and debris.

“Insulation removal is not easy work, especially in south Texas, it can be pretty brutal. I wasn’t really wasn’t interested in fiberglass insulation removal or installation,” says Van Hellen. “Prior to working with PCIS, we used to refer customers to someone else to take care of that kind of work.”

Now, any attic the company inspects is a potential sale, sometimes for clean up, insulation removal and re-insulation with T•A•P, sometimes just for attic capping, where T•A•P is applied directly over existing attic insulation to upgrade the thermal performance of the home.

“When inspecting attics, most of the time we find that clients don’t have adequate insulation anyway,” Van Hellen says. “The whole focus right now is about saving energy so putting in T•A•P is helping our customers reduce their energy consumption and save money. It’s been an easy sell for us with a steady stream of customers.”

It’s also added a new revenue stream instead of sending it to the insulation contractor down the street. While T•A•P involves an investment in capital as well as time related to installation and sales training, it quickly pays for itself. The profit margins are higher so technicians get higher sales commissions.
“The first few jobs we sold were very big jobs for us, so it paid for itself in the first few months,” Van Hellen says. “By increasing the insulation factor, air conditioners don’t run as often. It also serves as a noise buffer for homes in a flight path or high traffic areas. Plus, because of the pest control properties, customers don’t have to have their attics treated. So, for customers, it will pay for itself over time as well.”

Gutter gigs. As costs continue inflate, it’s difficult to raise prices without forcing customers to look elsewhere for service. However, offering customers other complementary services to increase the dollars coming in is the key to future financial growth, according to Murray Bernstein, chief executive officer of Gutter Filter America.

“In this new economy, the key to beating inflation and increasing profits is providing new, complementary add-on services to your past, present, and future customer base, maximizing every dollar from these relationships. Every day you wait to offer gutter protection services is a missed opportunity to capture new profits,” Bernstein says.

Gutter protection services are easy to sell and a natural add-on service for the pest management industry. The goal is to prevent mosquitoes from breeding and keep gutters and surrounding areas dry so they are not conducive to pest infestation and activity.

Today’s gutter protection systems are easy to install, require no special tools and insert directly into existing gutters. Bernstein says that most jobs installed with materials from Gutter Filter America take less than one hour. The company offers a lifetime warranty, year-round support, and sales training and marketing materials to support its pest management customers.

“Pest control companies who already incur truck and employment expenses have the ability to launch a Gutter Filter protection service without experiencing any additional overhead costs,” says Bernstein. “Gutter Filter is not just a product, it’s a turnkey sales and marketing program that is a perfect add-on to your existing business model.”

Shawn Dyson, vice president of operations for Leaf Defier, says the reason today’s gutter protection systems are so effective is because of the engineering investment made on the front end to make sure gutters are un-inhabitable for pests, which is a key benefit of an effective gutter protection product. At the same time, the Leaf Defier is easy to install based on its design because there is only one way it fits into the customer’s gutters.

Leaf Defier also provides marketing materials to support and help sell the product as well as a presentation that answers many of the common questions prospective customers might have. Another key benefit is that the PMP doesn’t need to order the product until the job is sold, and if the homeowner moves, they can take it with them.

“Since we first introduced it, the response has been overwhelming. There’s a real need in the pest management industry for complementary add-on services, especially for problems that begin in the gutter. You need to take care of the root of the problem, so you are able to bring an effective resolution for customer,” Dyson says.

The author is a frequent contributor to PCT magazine.

Want to learn more?

Earth Care Products
www.cleartheair.com
800/611-1611

Gutter Filter America
www.gutter-filtration.com
609/489-6386

Leaf Defier
www.leafdefier.com
866-795-4770

Pest Control Insulation Systems
www.tapinsulation.com
866/BUG-PCIS