Fred Rottler started the business that eventually would become Rottler Pest & Lawn Solutions in 1954. He borrowed $10 from his aunt to buy a spray tank, and started knocking on doors in St. Louis. Rottler Pest & Lawn Solutions was founded in 1956, and has been in the family ever since. In 1994, with Fred’s sons Gary and Mike at the helm, the company made its first $1 million, and is on track to top $8 million in revenues this year.
This fall, Mike Rottler takes the reins as president of the National Pest Management Association. He said he hopes to leverage his own experiences growing a two-truck operation into the largest privately-owned pest control business in Missouri for the benefit of the entire industry.
In an interview with PCT, he said the industry must remain open to change and new ideas like "greener" pest management and ways of doing business. He also discussed his philosophies on successfully offering such add-on services as holiday decoration, lawn care and wildlife management. And he talked about the motivation of a second-generation employee and owner, who as a boy really only wanted to work with his dad.
Q: It sounds like you came into the business — and got to the point you’re at today — almost naturally. Is pest control something you always wanted to do?
A: I always wanted to work with my dad, and that was the key. My dad was always good to us as kids growing up, and I just always enjoyed spending time with him. I didn’t necessarily love the pest control business.
Frankly, at times, I was disappointed in the pest control business. I kind of felt like, ‘This is a dead-end industry, a dead-end job.’ I just didn’t understand that it really wasn’t; it’s really not. It’s a very good industry and a good business to be in. We’re pretty fortunate in our industry, we really do have a lot of opportunity, and it’s just how you promote your organization, how you train and how you develop your relationships with your people. As far as it being a natural thing, I just wanted to work with my dad.
Q: What did you learn from him, working together?
A: A lot of things. A lot of things I apply to the business that it took me a while to figure out. Because, while I wanted to work for him, I also wanted to grow a vibrant organization. And I think I wanted to do that not so much for the money — so that I could drive a big car or have a fancy house or anything like that — because I really don’t. I think I did it just because I wanted to prove to him that I was worthy.
I think that most kids want to prove to their dad that they’re good enough, you know? That sounds kind of out there, but I think we think like that. When I look back at the time, I was like, ‘No, I’m building a company, we’re building a business. We’re going to be the best. We’re going to be the dominant player in our market.’ That’s what I would say, but at the end of the day, I think it was just more about wanting to prove that I could do it, and that I was trying to live up to his expectations.
And he didn’t really have any expectations — that’s the funny thing about it. He was never that way, he was just the opposite. He was more, ‘Hey, are you happy? Do you like what you’re doing? Are you taking care of your family? You taking care of your customers?’
So, I think I learned a lot of things from him. I think I learned a little bit more how to treat people. That was what he did well. He was good to people and enjoyed people.
I was always the driver in the company, and I think to some degree I still am. I’m the guy going, ‘Okay, we can do this. We can get to the next level.’ Sometimes I have a tendency to be a little hard on people, expecting more out of them, expecting them to perform at a higher level, maybe even a higher level than they are capable of.
I started to figure it out: My dad was never that way with me (and my brother, Gary), and we would do anything that he asked. If he asked us to go take care of a customer, to go do a job or if we even thought he wanted us to get something done, we’d go do it.
I really think that’s leadership. Good leaders aren’t the ones that are pounding their fist on the desk, telling their guys to do better, do more, that sort of thing. They’re really just putting them in a position where they are able to be successful. And I think when I started to figure that out, I started having much better employee retention, and I think I got much better results from my people. And that was something that was fairly profound. It dawned on me: My dad didn’t treat us like employees; he treated us like family, and for obvious reasons.
When I started to apply that way of thinking to my staff, I got much better results and retention. And you build that loyalty and then watch it grow; it’s an interesting thing. I’d seen it in other organizations, but for the longest time, I didn’t understand it. And then I started putting two and two together. I’m a little slow. It took me until my mid-30s to figure that one out.
It’s a work in progress; it’s not always easy to be that way. Those value systems are the things that are most important to organizations as time goes on. Because whatever technological advantage you have is going to be short lived. It’s your people and their performance that is what it’s all about.
Q: You’re the president of the largest privately-owned pest control company in Missouri, and now the president of NPMA. What are you going to bring from your experiences at your own company to your position at the head of this association?
A: What I bring to the table is I’ve been in a two-truck company. I know what it’s like. I know what those folks are dealing with. It’s been a while since our company was two trucks, but I remember, and those are good memories. I think small, one- and two-man operations are a significant part of our industry — and not always appreciated. I can tell you that my dad — and when I came to help him — we did good work, and our customers liked us. I can recall customers waiting a month for (an appointment).
I’ve also been involved in a business that’s grown from that three-person operation to where we’re 90-plus people today. I’ve been down that road, so I think I can talk for folks along the way. I know what it’s like to be at $1 million, I know what it’s like to be at $3 million, and it continues to change at $7 and $8 million.
My message is: The system that is in place works. The associations at the local and state level were important in developing our company. The local association helped us grow our business initially; it got us off the ground. There’s a place to go and discuss things. You get NPMA involved, and it takes you to a whole new level, where you’re exposed to companies from around the country and have the chance to share best practices with them.
It’s incumbent upon the companies that are looking to grow that they understand: They need to support all of their associations. There’s no free lunch.
One of the challenges I see is that this green movement is not going away. We’re going to have to change as an industry, there’s no question about it. It has benefited us as well, and I think if we embrace it and look for ways of providing better, more environmentally conscious service, then everybody wins, everybody benefits. And the manufacturers are doing that by coming up with products that are reduced risk or exempt materials. I think there’s a lot of work being done, and consequently, I think we’re in the position that we’re in because of the folks that have come before us and done a good job with their businesses, and they’ve done a good job with the association. We need to continue that.
Q: What’s top of mind for you as you come in as head of this association? What direction do you want to take things?
A: That we continue that process of building those relationships where the states are involved in NPMA and communicating on a regular basis.
We need to really look hard at developing greener services, and be thinking out there. It’s a challenge for our industry. We’ve got to get more involved in our communities, we’ve got to get more involved in the politics locally, and then report that back to the state and national levels. This green movement is something that, if we’re smart, we’ll get out in front of it, as opposed to having somebody shoving it down our throat. We need to be forward thinking.
We’re past the days of fighting tooth and nail on the pesticide side. Those days are short lived. I mean, we still need to support our products, but at some point in time, you’re better off developing new technologies. I’m excited to see that’s happening; I think some of the manufacturers are doing that. And that trend will continue.
There are some folks out there that aren’t going to like hearing that, but some of this stuff, I’ve seen it happen over the years. It’s not changed. When the politics are there, it doesn’t really matter what the chemistry (says).
Sometimes as an industry I think we’re slow to change. A lot of what we do, especially the smaller companies, we’re used to doing over and over again. We go out, we see 10 or 12 customers every day and most of the problems are similar. We get in that mode of ‘We don’t like change.’
I think most people are that way: They don’t like change, so I understand that. And I’m not saying we throw in the towel every time somebody says, ‘Oh, I don’t like this product.’ That’s not my message at all. But I do think being open to change and embracing it may help us grow our market share. And that’s not a bad thing.
Q: What can companies do to stay ahead of the curve and stay open to change?
A: I think first and foremost, being involved in the associations. NPMA’s membership is approaching 6,000. We probably have 1,500 to 2,000 active members. You need to hear some folks; you need to see what’s going on. You need to be involved and get to know these folks and listen to what they have to say before you say, ‘It’s wrong. We don’t need this.’ Maybe it’s not a bad idea, maybe we should. That’s kind of where I’m going with it.
A lot of the things I see today I had a different opinion about before I was involved with the association — totally different.
Q: Your company is one of a number that has been able to successfully market add-on services like wildlife control, lawn care and even Christmas light installation. How have you been able to do that?
A: I think our philosophy is that we want to take care of the customer. We don’t want our customer going elsewhere. So, we’ve embraced services like wildlife management and lawn care. I think those initially were to retain customers and basically respond to their needs. They asked us, we tried to help them.
Then we got involved in holiday decorating, and that was more of a situation of trying to grow and retain employees. We’ve never been (a company) to have seasonal employees. We typically hire people and try to keep them on the payroll year round, and we’ve been fairly successful with that.
And that’s part of the reason we’ve been growing our business successfully: We’ve always focused on a business model that was about employee retention. We know that if we retain our people, then they do a good job retaining our customers. So I think that’s really kind of what’s driven the add-on services. Our folks know that’s why we do those things: so that they have a paycheck year round and they have opportunity. That’s probably the secret to it.
Q: What do you think is the biggest challenge facing the industry today?
A: Obviously, I think we need to grow our market share, and that’s certainly not something I see as a significant challenge. We’ve got to be able to penetrate other markets as an industry, and we should. And, obviously, the biggest thing is attracting and developing people in our industry. I’d say it’s a good industry to be in, and I think sometimes we tend to put that…we don’t make that known as we should, as an industry. I think it’s important that we continue to position ourselves to be a good place to work, a good industry to work in. We’re still kind of low profile, behind the scenes. People know we exist, but they don’t think of us when they think of careers. It really is a very good industry to be in. n
The author is assistant editor of PCT magazine and can be contacted via e-mail at cbowen@giemedia.com.