A Pound of Cure

Killing many cockroaches quickly creates instant gratification for PCOs and customers alike. But the slower, more long-term control effected by IGRs affirms that patience is a virtue indeed.

Fifteen years ago, Truly Nolen of America service technicians were busy making progress on the company's tough cockroach accounts. But they were not always successful, according to Scott Nolen, company president. The problem, Nolen said, was that on many jobs, cockroach populations were down after a treatment, but then they quickly recovered. In some cases, company technicians suspected the cockroaches were simply moving from one area to another following the treatment.

The management team at Truly Nolen decided to get off the control roller coaster. They started with an honest look at what their service was accomplishing, and eventually wound up with a more successful approach.

That effort produced results and has helped the company's success immensely over the years. Today, Truly Nolen is one of the largest solely-owned pest control companies in the United States, with 1995 billings of more than $55 million. Truly Nolen has 61 branch offices located throughout Florida and six other states.

THE OLD WAY. "Fifteen years ago, we treated cockroach infestations like everyone else," Scott Nolen said. "Flush and kill with an adulticide for immediate results."

Pest control professionals and customers alike see progress every time this method is used, but they aren't necessarily witnessing success. The problem, according to Nolen, is that everyone continued down the same path, always making short-term progress, but never achieving a high level of long-term success. The treated areas would be reinfested and require a retreatment after a month or two.

When Truly Nolen of America started treating apartment buildings, progress alone wasn't acceptable. "We had two problems," Nolen explained. "First, when you were using the flush-and-kill philosophy in apartment buildings, the cockroaches would migrate from unit to unit, so you would never know if you had achieved control or just repelled the problem.

"Second, there's a lot of liability involved in going into an apartment building because the owner or association typically has purchased your services, not the resident. Many times they feel forced to have pest control, which puts you in an adversarial position. You don't want to be in the building on a regular, ongoing basis."

THE LONG RUN. Faced with these realities, Truly Nolen of America started shaping a new treatment approach. "We wanted something that assured long-term success," Nolen said. "We wanted to take that cockroach population down to zero and leave some measure of residual control behind in case there's a new infestation. That way, you can take care of one or two newcomers subtly and not worry about having 100 cockroaches move in overnight."

"Our new concept was to quit flushing, moving and chasing the bug," Nolen said.

Insect growth regulators, which have been used for many years to control fleas, fit perfectly into this concept of cockroach control.

Truly Nolen experimented with its new IGR-based methods on some of its toughest cockroach jobs. "We were doing some low-income housing virtually free of charge," Nolen said. "The cockroach problem was unbelievable."

"Everywhere we used an adulticide failed," he said. "The only places where we achieved success were those areas we treated with IGRs and other nonrepellent products."

Based on this experience, Nolen firmly believes using an insect growth regulator is the most effective, cost-efficient method for eliminating a cockroach problem. "The only way to completely eradicate a cockroach population is to go into a preventive mode and stop them from reproducing," he said. "I call it getting them to die quietly. And the best way to achieve that is with an IGR."

PATIENCE IS KEY. The quickest way to see progress in any cockroach control program is to kill some cockroaches immediately. Nolen believes that is why broadcast spraying is still popular. "This is a `now' world we live in," he said. "Using an adulticide is a straightforward approach and you'll see some immediate — although incomplete — results.

Success with insect growth regulators requires, in many cases, a paradigm shift from being reactive to pro-active. Technicians' jobs involve killing cockroaches, so when they see one, they tend to react accordingly.

"We want them to be pro-active in terms of prevention," Nolen said. "We don't want them chasing one cockroach. We want them to study the whole environment and plan an attack that will eliminate that cockroach and any others infesting the structure."

Nolen emphasizes that most technicians are good hunters, and teaching them to strategically use IGRs requires a change in their psyche. "Speed and efficiency is a big part of their jobs," he pointed out. "Teaching them that the ultimate efficiency is what happens a month after the treatment and not the first few minutes after they've done the work is our greatest challenge."

Insect growth regulators disrupt the balance between various hormones that control molting, thereby impeding the insect's ability to develop normally into its adult stage.

CUSTOMER EDUCATION. Selling customers on the use of IGRs requires that the PCO manage expectations. "When customers hire you to take care of their cockroach control problems, they want to see dead cockroaches," Nolen noted. "Using IGRs means we need to keep them focused on the ultimate goal — long term elimination of the pest."

Nolen tells customers that he can come out each time cockroaches are in view and kill a bucketful, but effective control requires a more pro-active approach. "We explain that there are several methods of control available," he said, "but we believe the best long-term, results-oriented program involves using IGRs."

"They're told they won't see a lot of dead cockroaches initially," Nolen emphasized. "But if they're willing to give us a few weeks, we can eradicate their problem once and for all."

Insect growth regulators can be successfully marketed to homeowners as a preventive treatment. Nolen noted that many customers with new homes don't want to wait until they have insects to call him. "People know they're going to get bugs in the springtime, so they want us to go to work preventing them before there is an infestation," he said. "There is a lot of room for IGRs in programs like these."

THE OUTLOOK FOR IGRs. Nolen believes insect growth regulators have a bright future in the pest control industry. "As more PCOs begin to understand how to use IGRs and get results, there no question their popularity will increase," he predicted. He added that homeowners' growing desire for preventive control and less frequent visits will also drive the business toward IGRs.

Nolen said his company's insect growth regulator product of choice is Gentrol IGR, manufactured by Sandoz Agro Inc. He noted that he prefers the flexibility provided by the product's broad label. Gentrol is the only IGR approved for use anywhere that food is prepared, manufactured or processed.

The flexibility of Gentrol's label enables Truly Nolen of America to use the product in virtually all of its accounts because the chance of misapplication is reduced, Nolen noted.

"Image is so important," he concluded. "Our name and the value that people associate with it are all we have to sell. Without the name Truly Nolen, we're just a bunch of trucks with people in them. So having a product with a label broad enough for just about any situation we might encounter is critical."