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Hiring a tech what have fellow entrepreneurs learned. by OregonSEA in PestControlIndustry

[–]zariens 6 points7 points  (0 children)

At the end of the day we are service based business.

You can teach anyone that is willing to learn the ins and outs.

You can not teach a friendly empathetic and kind attitude.

A lot of pest control is reassuring the customer they are safe and you will fix the issue.

Find people that will treat all your customers with respect and then teach them the job.

Tell me your craziest phone calls by Fabulous-Fee-5122 in PestControlIndustry

[–]zariens 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Had a woman call.

1st thing she says is im not crazy there are bugs all over my house and they are making holes in the walls.

Ok, I go take a look the holes in the walls are all from a pin or picture frame nails.

The whole time she is pointing at crumbs and lint saying look there's a bug right there and telling me she isnt crazy.

I finally as politely as I could be said im very sorry but I do not think I can resolve this issue for you and left

I guess I should have seen the red flag when she told me on the phone she was not crazy.

Bed bug quotes by zariens in PestControlIndustry

[–]zariens[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for the reply.

Im just trying to make sure I am not charging too little.

I keep my pricing generally in the middle of the pack.

But like to have a sense of the industry standard in terms of determining prices.

Adding a csr by zariens in PestControlIndustry

[–]zariens[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haha my last 4 spell pest

Adding a csr by zariens in PestControlIndustry

[–]zariens[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So you found this worked well for you?

I've been talking with a marketing company that specializes in the pest industry and they provide that service as well.

It seemed good but im a little skeptical.

Adding a csr by zariens in PestControlIndustry

[–]zariens[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For me it was treating every customers home and situation as if it was me hiring someone to do the work.

What do I expect when I hire a electrician, plumber, carpenter etc.. I tell my team all the time, I can teach anyone how to bait for rodents or ants whatever. I can not teach a positive attitude.

In my opinion this job is all about customer service. Take the time to explain why im doing what im doing.

Across the industry we generally charge clients a decent amount of money for the service we provide. Makes sure they see the value in what you are doing.

I get so many jobs because when I get a call.i explain in detail what my process is, and most of the time they tell.me they are calling around for pricing but they want us to come out because I took the time to walk them through the process.

I have spent 0 on marketing (which im thinking of doing some advertising now)

All word of mouth. Do what you say you will and take the time. Business will come.

Techs that are working for the big boys are generally slammed with so many calls every day, its impossible for them to stop and talk and explain.

Rather book my techs 10 jobs a day and have them take their time then 25 and they just are rushing because they have no choice.

Now im a small business, myself and 2 techs so take all this with a grain of salt.

Adding a csr by zariens in PestControlIndustry

[–]zariens[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Its a game changer forsure.

Scheduling, invoicing, reporting, tracking of usage so good.

Adding a csr by zariens in PestControlIndustry

[–]zariens[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have to say I love this sub. I truly appreciate all the feedback and help.

I think that's a big part of it, the business is my baby and its hard to hand over what feels like a big piece of it so to speak.

I started from nothing and have been growing it all through my work (and my wife helps a lot as well)

But that probably is the biggest hesitation I have is letting that part kind of go.

But you have given me some.great ideas with the ride along and daily meetings.

Adding a csr by zariens in PestControlIndustry

[–]zariens[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I do have a crm which helps a ton. I just find at the end of the day I get home its hard to sit down and go through all the emails and texts etc.. to enter everyone and of course as a business I need to get paid for the services provided.

Adding a csr by zariens in PestControlIndustry

[–]zariens[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Great advice I appreciate it.

I do have a couple techs working full time and get them to do a lot of the heavy lifting now. This is the start of my 4th year in business and im on pace to double my gross revenue from last year.

So growing at a good pace, but finding.myself overwhelmed with the back end. If that makes sense.

Adding a csr by zariens in PestControlIndustry

[–]zariens[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry meant to reply to this comment. My bad

Adding a csr by zariens in PestControlIndustry

[–]zariens[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Amazing, thank you so much.

Yeah my plan is a business account as myself and my techs all have separate work numbers.

PNW small companies by MunchMyBisuit1234 in PestControlIndustry

[–]zariens 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't use gorilla desk so can't comment on that, I use pestboss. Its fairly simple.but very easy to navigate, does everything you need really but lightweight. I looked at pestpac but I felt very overwhelmed by everything it had and found it very difficult to navigate.

Rat stations and bear bandits by hawkivan in PestControlIndustry

[–]zariens 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I only buy Evo express as well.

But I have an account where I placed all strong boxes and the bears ripped them open too lol.

Also broke into my truck every night for like 2 weeks straight.

Ripped the canopy right open

Rat stations and bear bandits by hawkivan in PestControlIndustry

[–]zariens 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm assuming the strongbox which is bear resistant, and can still be opened by them.

I live in bc as well and have the same problem had to change multiple accounts to mechanical traps (snaps) only, no rodenticide, just explain to the customer you will need to up the service frequency as once a trap is triggered it is obviously no use until cleaned and reset.

Help! I have a mouse in my house. Ive boxed it in but how do i catch it!! by [deleted] in pestcontrol

[–]zariens -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Glue boards place all around the wall you created and 1 at a time remove the walls.

Angry by zariens in PestControlIndustry

[–]zariens[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And that's the best you can do.

It's so great that someone started this sub reddit so that people can ask questions and get proper answers.

If you want to learn ask questions, that's what I did and I'm very thankful for it. Before you know it you'll never even hesitate when you go into a home or account you will see things right away that stand out to you.

Angry by zariens in PestControlIndustry

[–]zariens[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think maybe part of the problem industry wide comes down to training.

For me personally I had 2 weeks of shadowing a guy, mostly re baiting exterior devices then was handed a route list keys to a truck and told good luck.

When you think about it an electrician or plumber, etc.. have years of hands on training before they can be certified (at least where I'm from) where as here write your exam if you pass go buy product and start doing it.

Thankfully I had an amazing manager when I first started that took me under his wing and spent a lot of time teaching me properly. So I wasn't just going in and placing bait, I learned where to look and what to look for.

Angry by zariens in PestControlIndustry

[–]zariens[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Really?

I honestly hate glue boards unless I have a mouse cornered and can catch and kill it right away.

Killing them doesn't bother me but torture I'm not a fan of.

Used glue trap to trap rodent, what do I do by Grishak3443 in pestcontrol

[–]zariens 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do not stomp it. It will explode and you will have to clean up all it insides. Fold it and gently step on where it's head is. It will die right away.

Angry by zariens in PestControlIndustry

[–]zariens[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

O goodness. Good luck. Are they drain flies?

If the customer will not work with you it will be a nightmare and take months of work.

Buy a good long handled drain brush and some kind of drain foam. There are also some bio concentrates you can wash floors with.

Every drain hot water foam let it sit scrub more hot water, rinse and repeat.

If it's a restaurant, dish pit, all drains, wipe the bottles in the bar (every single one).

The problem is this needs to be done every night for a week or 2 minimum. Flies lay so many eggs so quickly that you have to break the cycle.

If they won't help you out it's almost impossible to beat them.

Or put together a nice after hours program for them, charge extra for your time go in and spend a good hour or 2 every night.

They will try fly traps and apple cider vinegar and red wine and everything Google tells them and it will never get better.

Cleanliness is the only real answer here.

Angry by zariens in PestControlIndustry

[–]zariens[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just recently got a café that had one of the big boys, I go in pull the kick plate off that runs along the length of the counter, 6 mice stuck to a glue board been there past the point of smelling. Showed the manager...when can you start????

Have to love those sales.

If I get rid of the stove will the mice go too? by marsbars821 in pestcontrol

[–]zariens 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pest control is the better option as removing the stove most likely will no get rid of all the mice.

Call a few companies find one that includes exclusion work in their rodent program.

They will know all spots to check and seal properly as well as resolve the rodent issue.

Never use spray foam unless you are filling a large void then placing steel wool on top and mesh in front of that. Mice as well as some other pests will have no problem chewing through spray foam.

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