Louisiana fisherman Thomas Gonzales is working to save his beloved Delacroix Island from the invasive nutria.
While PMPs are used to controlling a variety of rodents, not many can say they’ve been face-to-face with 20-pound rodents known as “nutria.” Those who have likely live in the coastal wetlands of Louisiana — an area under threat from these invasive semi-aquatic rodents. As the coastline disappears, hunters and trappers, fishermen and shrimpers, storytellers and musicians are leaving en masse. Nonetheless, a stalwart few remain and are fighting back.
A new documentary — “Rodents of Unusual Size” — tells the story of one such diehard, Thomas Gonzales, and his community of Delacroix Island, as they fight the invasion of the rodents. The state of Louisiana has started a program that pays a $5 bounty for every nutria tail collected, which has helped the effort by encouraging former trappers to hunt the nutrias for their tails instead of the fur. Others have tried business ventures to harvest the nutria for their fur and meat in hopes that by creating a demand for this sustainable resource they can help protect the wetlands and fight back the rodents.
Another star of the film is Kermit Ruffins, a local celebrity and jazz musician, who barbeques nutria outside his concerts in an effort to create interest in eating the rodents. Then there is the Native American tribe who wants to return to their trapping past by selling the pelts to Russia and China. Also profiled is the fashion collective known as Righteous Fur who designs clothes made out of nutria fur, puts on fashion shows, and tries to renew the demand in the fur industry by promoting “sustainable fur” that will save the wetlands.
Nutria, which are invasive South American rodents, are the focus of a new documentary.
And yet despite the havoc this invasive species has done to Southern Louisiana, it has also been embraced by the culture. The Audubon Zoo in New Orleans has opened a nutria exhibit, the local Triple-A baseball team has a nutria as a mascot and some Cajuns even have nutria as pets.
As the filmmakers noted in a press release, “Through these offbeat and unexpected stories of the people confronting the nutria problem, ‘Rodents of Unusual Size’ examines issues surrounding coastal erosion, the devastation surrounding hurricanes, loss of culture and homeland, and the resilience of the human spirit.”
Proper communication sets the tone for appropriate expectations. And great (or at least very high) expectations are what today’s consumers have of their pest management professionals.
Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in a PCT e-newsletter titled “Focus on Bed Bugs,” which was sponsored by MGK.
When Charles Dickens wrote his epic novel Great Expectations, it is a safe assumption that he was not writing about customers with a bed bug infestation in their home, apartment or hotel…but he could have been.
Great (or at least very high) expectations are what today’s consumers have of the pest management professionals they hire to rid their home or place of business of these most unwanted pests.
How do PMPs live up to these lofty expectations? A lot has to do with properly setting expectations with customers before any treatment begins.
“Each insect is unique and there is not a one-size-fits-all way of treating for them,” says Dr. Susan Jones, a researcher at The Ohio State University who works extensively with pest management professionals on bed bug control strategies. “This is the first thing a pest professional needs to explain to a customer and help set the proper expectations.”
Jones says bed bugs possess the ability to adapt and survive in a variety of environments and as a result there are no quick and easy solutions to eliminating them.
“In most cases multiple treatments using different methods such as insecticides or heat are needed in order to achieve control and consumers must be informed of this before any service is agreed upon,” says Jones. “Treating bed bugs is not a one-and-done proposition.”
The veteran researcher also says consumers must accept the realities of what it takes to truly achieve control of bed bugs in their homes, apartments or businesses.
For example, heat treatments are a widely used and effective method for eliminating bed bugs but they offer no residual. Bed bugs could be reintroduced into the home or apartment 24 hours later and there would be no residual product to stop them.
DIFFERENT ACCOUNTS. How you communicate with clients about bed bugs will vary by the type of account you are dealing with, according to Rick Cooper, Ph.D., senior director of service, Terminix.
In single-family homes, the likelihood of frequent reinfestation is less likely than a hotel, transitional housing or an apartment building.
“When you are working in a multi-family account you could be facing a chronic bed bug problem and your approach with customers’ needs to be different,” says Cooper.
Cooper recommends a proactive strategy focused on education and expanded inspection practices, especially in apartment and condominium complexes where bed bugs can easily move between adjoining units (next door, below and above).
“Unless pest professionals have access to all units in a building to conduct a proper inspection, identify the source of and assess the severity of the infestation, it is unlikely complete control will be achieved,” says Cooper. “You will end up chasing your tail and the client will be frustrated as well.”
CUSTOMER COMMUNICATION. It is also a sound practice to manage customer expectations on how to react to a potential bed bug sighting.
“Seeing a single bed bug or what a customer thinks is a bed bug isn’t cause for an emergency,” says Mark Sheperdigian, B.C.E., vice president of technical services for Rose Pest Solutions in Troy, Mich. “One bed bug doesn’t necessarily mean there is a full-blown infestation in place.”
Making the proper identification is the first step — have the client put the bug in a bag with a note stating when and where it was found — and then follow up with a thorough inspection.
Monitoring with traps and interceptors may also be needed and explaining how these tools are used is also part of the client education/managing expectations experience.
Once pest management professionals explain to clients it could require several service visits using various methods to achieve control, PMPs need to review what they expect from the client in the pre-treatment phase.
Experts agree that pest management professionals may be placing too heavy a burden or be overly reliant on clients when it comes to the preservice preparation phase.
Cooper cites the example of senior citizens or disabled persons not being able to move furniture or reduce the amount of clutter in an apartment or home prior to treatment.
“In these cases PMPs may need to do more prep work on the front end than is normally required to ensure an environment that gives the treatment the best possible chance for success,” says Cooper.
Ohio State’s Jones says pest professionals must put less work on the client in the preparation phase and use the time to their advantage.
“In some cases PMPs miss out on identifying the true source of an infestation or perpetuate the infestation by letting a client move items around before the treatment,” says Jones. “For example, a client bagging bed bug-infested clothing and not laundering them will result in the reintroduction of those same bed bugs into the home or apartment once the treatment is complete.”
Bird-B-Gone is developing new Virtual Reality (VR) courses for its Bird-B-Gone University. This training tool helps educate PMPs more effectively by placing them in engaging, real-world, 360-degree environments. The company says the result is better customer quotes and a better bottom line. Bird-B-Gone says the benefits include: Complements classroom and onsite training curriculum; learner develops and demonstrates skills to sell bird control; learner retains more information; provides more people immediate access to training resources; and does not require anything other than a smart device or computer.
Insects Limited says insect monitoring just got easier. The company’s SightTrap uses a 5-mega pixel color camera along with multi-species pheromone lures to attract more than 20 species of stored product insects. The new SightTrap is a remote pheromone monitoring device that will automatically record daily images of pheromone traps while identifying pest insects through Insect Limited’s custom software called ForesightIPM. This custom software will access real-time information on PMPs’ computers and smartphones. It features customer-friendly trending reports, Insects Limited says. This means reducing customer complaints in less drive time and with fewer steps anywhere in the world. Insects Limited says this easy-to-use remote pheromone trapping program comes with personalized training.
Syngenta has introduced its new mobile app, the Syngenta Pest App. The app, which is free for Apple devices, can be used by PMPs, even if they’re on the road without an internet connection. The app will be available for Android devices before the end of 2018.
The app contains a wealth of pest control information for pest management professionals on the go, who can do the following:
Access details about Syngenta products, including labels and safety data sheets.
Read information about the PestPartners 365 yearlong rebate program and SecureChoice assurance programs.
Use a mixing calculator to help ensure the right amount of product for tank-mixing.
Watch a variety of educational videos.
Access contact information for local Syngenta territory managers and distributors.
“A PMP often needs access to a variety of reference materials when they’re servicing someone’s property,” said Pat Willenbrock, head of marketing Professional Pest Management (PPM) at Syngenta in North America. “With the Syngenta Pest App, we’re aiming to give PMPs knowledge at their fingertips, so they can get what they need when they need it most.”
After downloading the app, PMPs can access it by creating a free account, or by logging in with their existing account. After the app syncs for the first time on an internet connection, it will load the synced information on subsequent sessions, even if internet access is not available. To download the Syngenta Pest App, visit the Apple App Store or text PESTAPP to 20103.
ServicePro’s Intelligent Routing is a module that allows pest control companies to schedule the most efficient and economic routes when organizing their technicians’ day. A pest control professional can schedule and reschedule by dragging and dropping, or choose the criteria by which they want to optimize a workweek. For example, they can be given the choice between preferred routes and date ranges, taking into consideration technician shifts, lunch hours, work days, holidays, etc. ServicePro is also offering ServSensor, a 24/7 remote monitoring solution. Easy to install with any type of rodent and wildlife traps, ServSensor can be set up to send notifications by SMS or email when relevant activity occurs at a service location. With ServSuite, ServSensor can be used to generate reports that will help prevent future infestations.
4 Steps to Optimizing Your Website For Mobile Pest Control Users
Consumers spend more than five hours a day on their smartphones, with mobile traffic accounting for 63 percent of all online traffic in the United States, according to SimilarWeb. While you may have already spent significant time and money creating a robust website, the investment you make in optimizing it for mobile users is imperative to its success. Google notes that having a mobile site that’s slow or hard to navigate doesn’t just hurt short-term conversions, it impacts a person’s perception of a brand overall, as more than half of people look poorly on brands with mobile sites that are not designed for use on a smartphone.
As this trend towards mobile continues, it’s essential that pest control companies ensure their content is optimized for mobile platforms in order to compete in today’s mobile-dominated world. While there are several factors that go into optimizing your website for a better mobile experience, here are four steps you can take right now that won’t cost you an arm and a leg:
CUT DOWN ON COPY. In an age of dwindling attention spans, short, concise copy can speak volumes. Did you know that consumers have the attention span of a goldfish? In case you’re wondering, that’s roughly eight seconds! When users access your website on their mobile device, they are expecting answers to their questions about your business immediately. To ensure users are staying on your site, serve up thoughtful copy in as few words as possible. For example, within a few seconds, mobile users should be able to learn who you are, what pest control solutions you provide, where you’re located and how to contact you. Stray away from complex words and sentences that may clutter your page, and instead focus on direct, meaningful copy. The easier your information is to digest, the quicker that mobile user can consider becoming a customer.
CHOOSE THE RIGHT PHOTOS. Choosing the right mobile-friendly images for your site is equally as important to user engagement as concise copy. KISSmetrics highlights that 40 percent of people abandon a mobile website that takes more than three seconds to load, and a common culprit of slow load times is large image files. Detailed images, while impressive, could actually be slowing down your mobile site, causing your bounce rate to soar.
To combat this, try swapping out large image files with smaller ones. If a highly detailed image must be used, there are also a whole host of free image compression tools available on the web, including JPEG Optimizer, Optimizilla and CompressNow, all of which allow you to compress an image and optimize it for the lowest file sizes available without sacrificing image quality.
EASY TO NAVIGATE. Whether it be for convenience factors or personal preference, more and more users are accessing content on their mobile devices instead of on their desktop computers. Because of this, it’s incredibly important that the mobile version of your website is easy to navigate quickly.
For example, if you want users to specify which state they live in to better assist them in their pest control needs, utilize a drop-down menu of states for the user to scroll through rather than having them type their state into a search bar. By reducing unnecessary typing, you’re allowing the user to navigate your mobile site more quickly and efficiently. Touch feedback is another great way to cater to a mobile users’ needs, and utilizes text highlights and color changes to reassure users of what they selected, and indicates what actions are enabled and disabled.
AUTOMATE IF YOU CAN. The Professional Pest Management Alliance (PPMA) commissioned research to better understand how consumer behaviors relate to the pest control industry, and found an increase in mobile usage across Millennials, Gen Xers and Baby Boomers alike. Seventy-six percent of Millennials and 72 percent of Gen Xers prefer to receive mobile alerts prior to a professional arriving at their home, with 42 percent of Baby Boomers also preferring text reminders of service appointments. By knowing how your customers like to communicate, you’ll be able to serve them information how and when they want it.
Implementing automated SMS reminders is another way to optimize your overall mobile strategy while giving consumers what they need. GoReminders, Appointfix and Reminderly are great platforms for sending automated text reminders to your customers so that your staff doesn’t have to do it manually. Additionally, 78 percent of Millennials prefer to book an appointment online, and 77 percent also find online payments most appealing. To make it easier for users to book an appointment via mobile, only ask for what you need to complete the reservation. According to Vizlly, you lose 10 percent of your bookings for every unnecessary field in your form, so keep it simple and only ask for name and contact information to start.
FINAL THOUGHTS. While capturing the fleeting attention of mobile users may seem like a daunting task, by cutting down on copy, choosing the right photos, simplifying navigation and automating what you can, you’ll be on your way to a more mobile-friendly web presence without breaking the bank. As we head into the new year, make mobile optimization a priority for your pest managemnet firm today!
Cindy Mannes is executive director of the Professional Pest Management Alliance and vice president of public affairs for the National Pest Management Association. She can be reached at cmannes@pestworld.org. For more information about PPMA, visit www.npmapestworld.org/ppma.
Managing Pests in Apartment Buildings
Columns - Tech Talk
Apartment buildings are challenging because they provide easy access to food, water, shelter and the added bonus of adjoining walls and shared utilities.
If there is one thing we can all agree on in the pest management industry, it’s that managing pest problems in apartment buildings is not easy.
Pests thrive in apartment buildings because of easy access to food, water, shelter and the added bonus of adjoining walls and shared utilities. If resources become scarce in one unit, pests such as mice, cockroaches and bed bugs easily can move from one unit to another. This presents a unique challenge to apartment building managers because it becomes increasingly crucial to manage the behaviors of residents. In order to find success with pest management in an apartment building, here are some best practices:
Utilize the whole staff to accomplish your goals. If you are responsible for a small apartment building, you may have to deal with the manager, maintenance person and salesperson all rolled into one. In a larger complex, though, multiple people may play these roles. The first step in implementing a successful Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program, regardless of staff size, is to get all individuals on the same page — including the residents.
Involve the residents. This may seem like the most challenging part of the plan, and we’re only on step two! At the end of the day though, resident involvement is absolutely crucial for success. Pests such as cockroaches and rodents thrive in unclean and cluttered environments. Educating residents on how they can prevent pests is a key step in your building’s IPM program.
Work to educate staff and residents. What is the old saying — you don’t know what you don’t know? Setting the expectation that all residents and staff members are going to assist in the efforts to prevent pests is great in theory, but if they don’t know how to do that, it will never work. Consider working with the apartment company management to create a formal training plan and/or distribute printed literature on the most common pests found in apartment buildings.
Outside of pest information, these resources should include cleanliness expectations for each resident, steps to take if they suspect a pest and key warning signs of common pests. You also should notify tenants that over-the-counter pesticides are not the answer. Over-the-counter pesticides often are used inaccurately, which may be dangerous to apartment dwellers. They also may counteract professional pesticides or even make a pest issue worse if they aren’t selecting the right products. For example, cockroaches will scatter to avoid a “bug bomb” and go deeper into hiding, and some species of ants will actually divide their colony to ensure survival when repellents are used.
Uphold expectations. After staff and residents are trained, require inspections at scheduled intervals that plan for designated individuals to physically go inside each unit at least twice a year. They should be looking for actual pests; signs of pests such as feces, rub marks or gnaw marks; structural conditions that would be conducive to pests such as holes or gaps around external utilities, windows and doors; or internal conditions like clutter, lack of cleanliness or improper food storage.
#1 PROBLEM. One of the biggest headaches for apartments, and one of the biggest risks to resident health, is the German cockroach, the most common species of cockroach found in apartment buildings. They are known to spread a number of diseases, risking your residents’ health and well-being. These diseases include E. coli, Salmonella spp. and typhus. German cockroaches also are known to cause allergic reactions in children or worsen asthma symptoms. Below are some key characteristics of German cockroaches:
Adults are pale brown to tan and are ½-inch long.
Adults have wings and two dark stripes that run lengthwise just behind the head.
German cockroaches have the highest reproductive potential of all structure-invading cockroaches, meaning they lay the most eggs and live the shortest amount of time.
German cockroaches are usually found close to moisture and food (behind sinks, in cabinets, beneath kitchen equipment).
If German cockroaches are found away from food sources, it signifies a very significant population.
What should residents do to prevent cockroaches in their apartments?
Seal all food in plastic or glass containers.
Wipe down all kitchen surfaces regularly.
Remove trash frequently from unit.
Throw away cardboard boxes and paper frequently (a favorite of cockroaches).
Wash and store dishes immediately after use.
Clean under utilities on a regular basis.
Eliminate clutter.
Report any moisture problems to management immediately.
Report any signs of cockroaches to management immediately. Signs include:
Droppings, which resemble pepper flakes or coffee grounds, on countertops, drawers, corners of the room/counter, along the tops of doors or cracks/crevices.
Egg capsules, which are dark, reddish-brown and usually appear near food and water, or empty egg cases.
An unexplained “musty” odor.
A healthy home is one that is dry, clean, ventilated, safe, well-maintained and pest-free. Your residents have high standards when it comes to pests, and so should you. A little work on the front end can result in big returns!
Shane McCoy has a master’s degree in entomology with 23 years of experience. He is currently the chair of the Copesan Technical Committee and the director of quality and technical training for Wil-Kil Pest Control, Sun Prairie, Wis. He also has 13 years of pest management experience with the U.S. Air Force.
Copesan is an alliance of pest management companies with locations throughout North America. To learn more, visit www.copesan.com.
