Watch The Birdie

by Jim Harmon

 Have you ever wondered how those other companies get the big bird jobs? How do you even start to find the customers, develop the jobs, and sell them to the customer? Most salespeople will admit that the bird jobs are out there; you really just have to find them.

Evaluate the market. Not everybody will be interested in controlling the birds in your area. Further, not everyone interested in controlling their birds will spend the money to hire you to do the work. The cheaper customers may get an employee from their warehouse to bring in his rifle on Sunday morning. The qualification of your market and potential customers is crucial when estimating bird control work. You will spend quite a bit of time conducting the estimate, inspecting the account and writing up the presentation. Choose carefully.

Before you go rushing out to start selling bird jobs, there are a few items you need to acquire first to do the job right. Inventory what equipment you might need to do basic bird jobs. This may include a rotary hammer, drill bits, ladders, a safety harness, a pellet gun, and other tools needed for working with bird control materials. Start totaling up the amount of money you will need to start conducting bird work and you may think twice. The startup equipment alone may cost more than $3,500. Is it worth the investment?

For the sales end of the work, you should have a hard hat, a clean crawl suit, work gloves, a flashlight, a ladder, pad and paper, and a measuring wheel or 100-foot-long measuring tape. Each item has a purpose. I prefer to use a measuring wheel as opposed to a tape for ease of use while still retaining accuracy.

SPECIES IDENTIFICATION. Determining what bird species you are dealing with is crucial to the success of the job. Bidding a netting job for sparrows with 2-inch netting instead of 3/4-inch netting will not be very favorable to the client; the birds will probably be able to fly right through the netting.

English sparrows, pigeons, crows (usually) and starlings are all generally considered pest birds and therefore are not protected by law. Sea gulls, on the other hand, are protected birds, so special methods may be required in order to comply.

WHAT ARE THEY DOING? The type of control method that should be employed will vary depending on the client's desires for aesthetics and the type of bird activities the birds are engaging in at the site.

If there is evidence of nesting activity, the area will generally be considered a high-bird-pressure area. The birds have made an investment at the site in constructing a nest, and will work hard to defeat or circumvent any type of control measure that may be deployed. In such cases, the use of bird netting will usually be necessary.

A medium-pressure area might be one in which the birds roost at night or are feeding in the area. In such an area, in addition to netting, spiked materials may also be used.

Low-pressure areas are those where the birds will loaf or roost once in a while. These areas may call for any type of control measure, including wire coil, netting and/or spikes.

Another method that should be discussed here is the trapping of birds. Bird trapping is very tricky and takes time. If there is a local population of birds, trapping for a few weeks may solve the problem, at least temporarily. If conditions conducive to bird infestations are not removed, however, other birds will inevitably migrate into the area.

WHERE ARE THEY DOING IT? After determining how heavy the bird pressure is in the area, the next step is to inspect the site. What areas are of most concern to the customer? Include these areas as part of the base proposal. Offer to exclude other areas at separate prices. Nothing is worse than pricing the job for the entire building when the customer really only wanted the air handlers and fans netted.

Walk the property inside and out. Find out where the lunch area is. Inspect the trash cans and dumpsters for bird activity. Look under pipes for feces. Walk the roof completely. Inspect for bird droppings and nests.

Access to conduct the job is always an important factor to consider. If a personnel lift is required, be sure to contact the nearest rental facility for pricing. If the area where you may be working is higher than 20 feet, you should use a harness and safety rope.

Can you get to all areas of the building when the job is done? Do you have access to close off the area during cleaning? Where will the nets or other exclusion materials be attached, and how difficult will it be to do so? These questions sound very basic, but they force the salesperson to think through the job.

CUSTOMER NEEDS. The next area of questioning should be what exactly does the customer want? There may be pigeons all over the roof of the building, but the customer doesn't want to control all of them, only those roosting on the edges of the building. Your quote will be more than the customer desires, and you might miss a sale trying to convince the customer of what they really need.

This is where proper communication with your customer is important. Interviewing the customer in the initial stages of the meeting is a way to get them to open up, tell you the extent of the problem, what they want from your services, and how much they are willing to pay.

After inspecting the property, make up a diagram and indicate the problem areas. A format similar to a termite inspection report is adequate here. Indicate feces, roosting areas, nesting areas, and so on. Go over each area and indicate what you found there, the cause, and how you can remove the problems. Gauge your customer's reactions as you detail each section. Watch for severe negative reactions, and deal with each accordingly.

One good way to change a customer's negative outlook on the cost of a bird control job is to point out that the acid in bird feces can reduce the life of machinery by as much as 50%. Other good types of information to discuss are the health and safety risks from bird feces and the problems associated with insects and other parasites associated with bird nests. These facts may remove some of the questions and concerns the customer has. If not, be prepared to revise the program into smaller parts or go with other programs. Be honest with the customer. Show them each of the products. Let them make the decision.

ADD-ONS. Too often, PCOs quoting bird work forget about ancillary services that can provide them a bit more money while providing that little extra service for the customer. Bird manure and nests must be removed prior to most jobs. For a small fee, you can conduct this service for the customer. Don't be afraid to contract the service out to a cleaning company.

All of these factors will influence your sales presentation and the package of control measures, guarantee and pricing that you offer.

Your sales presentation should include a walk around the structure using your diagram and an explanation of each part, your observations, the type of materials you plan to use, how the control materials will look after they are installed, guarantees, and the amount of time that will be needed to conduct the work. Use pictures of previous work to show the look of the installed materials.

As you are completing the discussion of each section, make sure that your customer agrees that this is what they want. At the end, ask for the sale. Hoping the customer will make the leap to accept your proposal will not work. When the price of the work is in the thousands of dollars, the customer will always be reluctant.

After going through all the steps, you will stand a good chance of beating out the competition for the job. Don't be afraid to ask for prices that are in the range of three to five times the cost of materials and time. When you start doing some of these jobs, you will understand why it is so important to get the price you want for the job.

Jim Harmon is a board certified entomologist with a master's degree in urban entomology. He is a consultant to museums, libraries and archival facilities, and has written a book entitled Integrated Pest Management In Museums, Libraries and Archival Facilities. He is the manager of Industrial Pest Management, San Gabriel, Calif.