What pest management professional wouldn’t be interested in increasing revenue, while decreasing callbacks? It might seem like a no brainer, but many PMPs aren’t using mosquito treatments to create a more efficient general pest management strategy – yet.
“When you’re treating for mosquitoes, you’re treating their resting places – under decks, leaves and in dark places where there isn’t a lot of air movement,” said Thomas Powell, eastern technical field representative at MGK. “The same places can be great hiding places for hunting spiders, cockroaches, wood roaches and ants that are feeding on plant eating insects under the leaves. Not only are you treating for mosquitoes in all of those resting areas, you are getting a really good treatment for general pest control.”
When making a general pest control application, PMPs often create a barrier, treating 2 to 3 feet up and out on the structure, doors and windows. But when you incorporate a mosquito treatment, you’re treating further out from the structure.
“You’re not waiting for them to cross barriers,” said Powell. “You’re killing them out in the yard.”
And that extended treatment barrier affects more than just mosquitoes.
“The products you’re using are labeled for more than just mosquitoes,” said Powell. “They work on more than just mosquitoes. You’ll reduce pest populations overall around the house.”
Brien Binford of Binford Insect Control in Bryan, Texas, has seen success with OneGuard, which features a knockdown agent, a long-lasting insecticide, a synergist and an IGR in one product with controlled-release technology, manufacturer MGK says.
“For our company it has given us another avenue to increase our revenue, because mosquitos are constant problem in the spring and through the summer months here in central Texas,” he said. “OneGuard has such a broad label on controlling other insects, it has made it a lot easier and cost effective to use this material as our mainstay.”
Once technicians understand that performing mosquito control treatments could reduce their general pest callbacks, they may become ideal mosquito control salespeople. For most technicians, a callback doesn’t mean any extra money in their pocket, so avoiding them is key to a profitable day.
Powell remembered one frustrated technician, angry that he had sold a mosquito job on an account that had frequent callbacks. When the technician saw with his own eyes that as mosquito treatments began, the callbacks dropped off, it was an “aha” moment.
Pest management professionals might even go as far as to combine pest treatments that on the surface may seem very different. According to Jason Everitt, of Rottler Pest Solutions in St. Louis, Mo., customers were tired of being “nickel and dimed” for treatments. Since the firm’s tick and mosquito programs were so similar, they decided to bundle them. Now, Everitt is making 10 applications a year, and has far fewer callbacks.
“Being on the property more often and addressing small pest pressures early, it never lets those populations (become) a nuisance,” he said.