White Glove Services

That puts pressure on pest management companies looking to serve affluent markets. While businesses strive to provide exceptional service to all their customers, success in the affluent market demands extraordinary service — above-and-beyond, over-the-top, no-holds-barred, outstanding customer care. It requires a willingness to do whatever it takes to please clients who can sometimes be demanding and an operational model that enables your team to respond on a dime when an urgent call comes in from one of these high-value accounts.

While there may be a lot of I’s to dot and T’s to cross in serving affluent clients, Clements Pest Control, Vero Beach, Fla., and Quality Pest Services, Anaheim, Calif., have found that it’s well worth the effort. Both firms are thriving in their respective markets as pest management partners for high- and ultra-high-net-worth clients.

Clements Pest Control, which offers general pest management, rodent control, preventive care, and lawn and ornamental services, serves wealthy residential clients owning $4 million to $50 million properties. To get an idea of the areas served, think Palm Beach Island, Jupiter Island, Orchid Island, the barrier islands and Vero Beach on Florida’s east coast; Naples on the Gulf Coast; and the Winter Park area in central Florida (Orlando).

Clements COO Christopher Slade explained, “My family has serviced the Vero Beach area for 60 years. When I came into the business about six years ago, we adopted an expansion strategy focused on buying smaller businesses with footholds in affluent areas — properties ranging from oceanfront vacation homes to large polo estates. Our Vero Beach clientele has always expected white-glove service, so our reputation, brand and service protocols were already well-established when we began expanding into these other markets.”

Quality Pest Services serves celebrity homes and other high-end accounts in Beverly Hills, Malibu, Laguna Beach and similarly exclusive neighborhoods in Southern California. President Lee Whitmore shared, “We’ve created a niche for providing fumigation services, primarily for drywood termites, which are indigenous to the area and quite active. We also provide insulation removal and reinstallation — especially for properties with rodent infestations — and volumetric heat services for bed bugs and other insects. Most of these folks live in such giant homes that when they have a bed bug or termite infestation, the most effective approach is for them to use fumigation services, which we’re happy to provide.”

Whitmore has built his business largely on referrals from clients as well as termite companies. “We work with more than 100 of the most discriminating termite companies in California, and many of them use us exclusively,” he said. “They like being able to offer their clients fumigation services, and they know that when they hire us, we make sure everything is handled precisely.”

Slade and Whitmore shared insights into how they’ve succeeded in the affluent market segment:

CUSTOMIZE THE EXPERIENCE. Few generalizations can be made about the expectations of high-net-worth clients, because their circumstances and priorities can vary so widely. You of course have your established treatment protocols, but how those protocols are carried out can look very different from one account to the next. An affluent client’s notion of what a service experience should entail may be very different from the experience your team delivers to more typical clients.

Slade described it like this: “With some clients, it’s all very straightforward. With others, it’s more of a book with a new chapter every month or quarter because the property is evolving; there are new needs and demands all the time.”

Because Clements Pest Control specializes in lawn and ornamental in addition to pest management, client demands often become complex. “There can be a wide diversity of plant material and types of turf, each requiring different services. We also have some clients who are very focused on horticulture — one has a house just for orchids, another loves hibiscus — and we have to be able to manage every aspect of their concerns.”

The good news is that individuals with these distinctive needs generally understand that there are costs associated with extra TLC and expertise. “We’ve had circumstances where a client says, ‘I don’t care if you have to research a new product or call the University of Florida to find out why this is occurring, I just want you to take care of it,’” Slade shared. “For example, once when we had a severe and persistent whitefly issue, we called in entomologists to take samples and make recommendations. Meeting the clients’ expectations meant taking those extra steps to deliver excellent results.”

FOCUS ON CONVENIENCE & PRIVACY. High-net-worth clients often value their time above all else. They hire individuals and service companies to care for their homes to free themselves from those time-consuming responsibilities. So instead of speaking directly with the homeowner, your service technicians will be talking with the landscapers about trimming back shrubs, and with the household staff about eliminating conducive conditions indoors. Your team needs to understand that they are charged with prioritizing client convenience throughout every aspect of servicing the account.

With that commitment to clients in mind, Whitmore’s team is introducing a comprehensive service they’ve branded “White-Glove Service,” which addresses the preparations that need to take place inside and outside the home prior to fumigation. “Our White-Glove Service covers everything from bagging food and clearing plants before a fumigation to repairing any tiles on the roof that may be damaged by the tarps,” he said. “We do a lot of specialty requests that can be bolted on as clients need them. They see value in this kind of one-stop service approach, where we take care of the details ourselves. It benefits us as well, because we can make sure all those components are handled appropriately so that the job goes more smoothly.”

Affluent clients take their privacy seriously, too. They may request that services be provided at certain dates or times to avoid visibility when guests are visiting, and they may not want you to share that you provide pest management for their properties. Whitmore recalled that one actor’s spouse insisted his technicians place a call to see whether a room was occupied before they entered it to provide service. Because the mansion had so many rooms, that slowed his team’s process considerably. It’s all in a day’s work, he said, when white-glove service is the goal.

PRIORITIZE COMMUNICATION. As important as communication is with any type of pest management account, it can be even more consequential with high-net-worth accounts. There are often more people involved, and almost certainly more intricacies and nuances to be addressed.

With Whitmore’s celebrity clientele, the communication often happens with a personal assistant who serves as the coordinator of household services. Slade’s team most often works with property managers, house managers and grounds crews.

“In our market, many of the residents are seasonal. They may have multiple eight-figure properties that they bounce in and out of. These individuals often have their own team of house managers and property managers who work with vendors and subcontractors on their behalf,” Slade explained. “For us, it’s very important to understand who the decision- makers are within that property. In this way, it’s more like a commercial account — being run a little like a business — than a standard residential account.”

The decision-makers will make themselves known at, or prior to, the first meeting. Whether that’s the residents themselves, a property manager or another representative, it’s the pest management representative’s responsibility to use that meeting to collect relevant information that will help the service team anticipate and fulfill every need.

“This conversation should focus on the client’s expectations and priorities — plus any changes they plan to make throughout the year,” Slade said. “We typically follow up with annual meetings so we can be sure we are always tailoring our services to their evolving needs.”

Keeping the lines of communication open in the time between those meetings is crucial, but don’t expect these clients to call your general office line. Slade explained, “They don’t want to speak to three or four people to maybe get an appointment in a couple days; they want to talk with a decision-maker — an account manager or owner — and want their issue resolved today. That sense of urgency has to be a priority for your service team.”

For Quality Pest Services, the initial meeting typically includes the homeowner’s representative, the termite company referring Quality for the work and a key person from Whitmore’s team. “We go over prep requirements, the schedule of events and what they can expect,” he said. “We address their concerns, provide information about the service that will be performed — and if there’s anything we need to follow up on, we do that as well.”

Client concerns most often focus on the fumigation process. “In general, affluent clients tend to be more discriminating purchasers than most, so we often need to address questions related to the efficacy and safety of the products we’re using in their homes,” Whitmore said. “We go over the labels with them and explain that we use the same products in hospitals, restaurants, commercial businesses and even super-sensitive research facilities. When they hear that, they’re usually comfortable letting us proceed.”

MAKE A GREAT FIRST IMPRESSION. One of the challenges of moving into the affluent market is that clients may not be as relatable to service technicians as other customers are. It may be more difficult for your technicians to anticipate their needs, especially when those needs can be all over the board.

Stringent hiring practices and customized training are essential to ensure every team member can address questions, special requests and unusual issues with the utmost professionalism, Slade explained. “My biggest focal point is hiring great personnel — people who understand what it means to deliver truly top-notch service and ensure that every client sees exceptional value in the care they are receiving.”

Technicians need to look the part, too, he continued. “I see a lot of vendors servicing properties, and it amazes me how sloppy some of them look. It’s important to remember that your company’s brand image is projected by the technician who shows up at the household. The uniform, truck and equipment all need to signal professionalism. You want the client to think, ‘Wow. I’m really getting a great service here.’ We devote a lot of time and attention to what our service team wears, how they interact with clients and their level of professionalism. All of those things add up to how that client will view the company.”

Branch managers play a key role in the client relationship, Slade added, saying they are the first line of defense, having direct communication with the property decision-makers. They’re deeply involved with the accounts, doing on-site follow-ups to ensure everything is going according to plan.

For continuity, each client is assigned specific technicians who get to know the needs, priorities and nuances of the account so they can deliver meticulous service every time. “We also have very good software systems that log everything — we keep a lot of notes and details — so if someone new needs to show up to that account, they can figure everything out,” Slade said. “Still, we don’t really want to be in that situation. What we want to do is provide consistent service with managers and technicians who have a deep understanding of what needs to be done at a particular property.”

If tapping into the affluent market is one of your company’s goals, keep Whitmore’s perspective in mind: “These folks put their pants on one leg at a time, just like everybody else. Members of the affluent community sometimes can be more challenging with their needs, but they’re also wonderful people who want their homes to be as nice as possible. We just do our work in a precise, professional manner, communicate effectively from the outset and remain accessible at all times. As a result, we’ve had a lot of luck and a lot of satisfied customers.”

The author is a frequent contributor to PCT.