SMART MARKETING: Being Part Of A Professional Company

I ’ve heard about people in our industry who give a customer a price for service over the phone or on the back of a business card, without ever doing an inspection of the property. The picture I get in my mind about a man or woman who does this is of someone who is either “too busy” to do things right, or is just inconsiderate of the customer. (If I’ve offended anyone with those remarks, I’m sorry.)

I realize that not every operator can afford to invest meager marketing dollars into what are traditionally called “point-of-sale” materials. Maybe they believe that customers don’t want a bunch of information or don’t need full-color materials. Maybe they believe that their image doesn’t suffer from treating the selling process in an off-handed manner.

The selling process begins when a customer calls with a problem, to which he or she believes you have the solution. Sometimes the customer will shop pricing during the initial call, but most often an inspection of the customer’s property is required (or at least desirable) before a price can be determined.

SELLING 101. Here’s a scenario: a customer calls with a problem and invites you to his or her home. Maybe the customer has called a few companies and will make a decision based on the experience. 

The range of possibilities is pretty broad. You could simply knock on the customer’s door, tell the customer how much the service will cost, smile (maybe) and wait for a response. Or, you could hand the customer a business card with the price on the back, and wait for a response. Or…you could try this.

Show up well groomed, with clean hands and fresh breath. Have a clean vehicle with all equipment as “out of plain sight” as possible. Approach the cus-tomer’s front door, knock, and step back, so the customer can see you through a peephole. When the door opens, smile, introduce yourself and inform the customer that you are there to inspect the property. At this point, you can ask the customer if he or she has been experiencing any particular problems or seeing any conducive conditions. If so, begin your inspection with that information. If not, tell the customer that you’d like to start your inspection outside and then complete it inside the customer’s home. When the customer grants you this permission, begin your inspection.

Your inspection should be as comprehensive as possible. Prepare a graph of the customer’s property, indicating any activity, infestation or conditions you discover. Complete a treatment specification form indicating how you will eliminate whatever condition or activity you discover, and then how you will prevent it from happening again. If you use a rate card, you should prepare one that both explains and justifies your rate for service.

After your inspection, explain what you found and what you will do to deal with it, so the customer can be assured that you have knowledge and experience. If available, you should put copies of everything (graph, service agreement, treatment specifications) into a folder and leave it with the customer, whether he or she has agreed to give you the business or not. This information sells in your absence and does so better than a business card with a price scrawled on the back.

Finally, you should leave the customer’s property in AT LEAST the same condition as you found it. Don’t track dirt inside the house, and don’t leave fingerprints on walls or furniture!

It doesn’t strike me as professional for us to quote prices without doing an inspection. How can we know what the customer’s needs are without doing a complete and comprehensive inspection of their property? Would you want a doctor to diagnose your health based on a phone call? Wouldn’t you want him/her to “inspect” or examine you?

I know that this may sound perhaps more complicated than it needs to be, but if you think about things from the customer’s perspective, you’ll understand why a process like this is important. We are pest management professionals. The operative word is “professional.” Let’s behave like professionals.

The author is senior vice president of Massey-Persons-Brinati Communications, a subsidiary of Massey Services Inc., Maitland, Fla. He can be reached via e-mail at bbrewer@pctonline.com.