[Crown Awards] Super Service

It’s safe to say that all pest control companies make an effort to provide exceptional customer service. More than 50 companies, however, were proud enough of the service they provide to submit nomination forms for the first Crown Best-In-Class Customer Service Awards, with three companies recognized for their extraordinary customer service programs at last year’s NPMA Academy. The winners, recognized by co-sponsors of the award, Syngenta Professional Products and PCT magazine, were:
• Large Company Category — Truly Nolen of America, Tucson, Ariz.
• Medium Company Category — A-Active Termite & Pest Control, Virginia Beach, Va.
• Small Company Category — ZipZap Termite & Pest control, Gladstone, Mo.
These companies demonstrated excellence in the following five categories — customer service recognition, customer testimonials, unique customer service initiatives, peer recognition and extraordinary customer service success stories — and their applications were evaluated by a distinguished panel of judges: . The panel of judges included Phil Cooper, president, Cooper Pest Solutions and author of What+How=WOW; industry icon Norm Ehmann, a former PCT Professional of the Year; and  Dr. George Rambo, president of GR Consulting Services.
“We are pleased to honor the Best-In-Class Customer Service Award winners,” said Ashish Malik, business head, Professional Pest Management, Syngenta. “Customer service is paramount to Syngenta and we are proud to take part in recognizing these accomplishments. Much like the winners of this award, we believe that excellent customer service is essential to maintaining relationships and keeping the pest management profession strong.”
“The common link among the three winners is an exceptional attention to detail and a commitment to providing innovative customer service to their customers,” said PCT Publisher Dan Moreland. “By going above and beyond what generally constitutes standout customer service, these companies are raising the bar for the pest control industry.”
Awards judge Rambo observed, “The winning companies stand out in terms of offering unique customer service programs. And it was clear from all the nominations that the industry does much more than simply kill pests.”
Large Company Winner:
Truly Nolen of America
Customer service at Truly Nolen of America, Inc., is more than an initiative. It is a way of life — from the top down.
Truly Nolen was founded in 1938 and with more than 69 company-owned offices and 14 franchises, the company serves more than 150,000 customers and employs about 1,000 partners (as their employees are called), of which about 500 are service technicians.
After many years of serving the public, Truly Nolen understands what customers really want from a pest control company — a convenient, thorough service and an environmentally conscious approach provided by a professional they know and trust. “We believe in the importance of quality customer service and this philosophy continues to drive this company to success. In fact, Truly’s ‘customer defines quality’ approach is a Truly-ism that has made this company one of the largest privately owned pest control companies in the United States,” explains President Scott Nolen.

PARTNERS SPELL SUCCESS. Truly Nolen embraces the partner concept. The term “partner” implies that all Truly Nolen employees are united in a professional relationship, working together toward a common goal. “In this case,” Nolen says, “we are partnered to provide excellent customer service and play a vital role in the well-being of those living in our service areas.”
The company conducts state-of-the-art training for its sales, service and business management staff, as well as its customer service representatives (CSRs). By meticulously grooming all employees to be the absolute best they can be, Truly’s standards for service excellence are readily obvious in the words and actions of its committed team. The company’s mission statement reads:
“To be an Ever Growing Healthy Entity
Through Faithful Use of Integrity
Providing Unsurpassed Quality Service
Propelled by Empowered Partners
Working in an Environment of
Trust, Respect, Participation, Teamwork,
Reliability and Innovation
Adding Value to the Lives We Touch”

Training at Truly Nolen is focused equally on how to kill pests and how to meet the customer’s needs. In a highly technical industry where pest problems can run the gamut, it might be tempting to devote most of the training time to getting rid of the pests.
In Truly Nolen’s training handbook, one chapter titled “Building Relationships and Growing the Route” includes such topics as:
• Basics of Meeting People
• Who are Truly’s customers?
• What do Truly Nolen customers want?
• First Impressions, Body Language and Communicating with the Customer.
In an effort to standardize the responses to customer questions, the manual includes a dialogue section that answers nearly any question an employee may encounter from a customer. The chapter on CSR information includes Truly’s Six Forbidden Phrases — words and phrases to use in place of inappropriate terms when communicating with the customer.

PARTNERS COME FIRST. Besides focusing on customers, Truly Nolen believes its employees are tops. The company’s philosophy is based on the importance of rendering unsurpassed quality service and recognizing those partners that exemplify these high standards in both their professional and personal lives, and add significant value to the lives they touch in their communities. Two primary methods of acknowledging partners are the President’s Club and the Truly Nolen Times, the company newsletter.
The President’s Club was established to reward the “best of the best” in sales, service, administration and management during a one-year period. At the end of each year, rankings are determined by looking at a range of variables. Sales honorees must meet a minimum sales threshold for the year. Technicians are selected based on elements such as lowest cancellations and lowest unserviced accounts. Top branches are selected following a review of their overall performance during the year in the various categories that are evaluated.
President’s Club honorees are then acknowledged in the Truly Nolen Times and participate in the annual President’s Club trip to enjoyable vacation spots like Las Vegas, New Orleans, Bahamas, Cozumel, Puerto Vallarta and Acapulco.
The Truly Nolen Times has been published monthly or bi-monthly since the late 1960s. The primary purpose of the Times is to recognize the contributions and accomplishments of partners. It includes news about how partners have had a positive impact on their communities. Such activities include “Relay for Life,” Habitat for Humanity home treatment, “Cool Cruisers,” and any other efforts by partners to support their local communities.

SUCCESS STORIES. The success stories included in the volume of information submitted by Truly Nolen are numerous and detailed. Suffice it to say that Truly’s customers are truly impressed with the service they receive and from the efforts by the company’s technicians to go beyond the call of duty. In one of these testimonials, the customer says, “I would like to have one of your jackets size EX Lg. I would wear it proudly and tell people about the company and how pleased I am with your workers and the products they use to help keep me bug free.” Now THAT’s a testimonial!

Medium-Sized Company Winner:
A-Active Termite & Pest
Control Company
The essence of customer service at A-Active Termite & Pest Control in Virginia Beach, Va., is very simple: making people happy, not just customers but employees and vendors as well. A-Active won the Best-In-Class award at the medium-sized company level.
It’s natural to avoid hearing complaints in any business, but at A-Active management sees the true value of paying attention to complaints. “We continually seek out any weak link in the Customer Service Chain that may affect the way our customers see us. We look to develop win-win relationships so that all parties are working with our customers’ best interests in mind,” says company President Kevin Kordek. “It is our ability to accept the constant feedback from our customers about our service and respond quickly to a universal need that enables A-Active to provide a better and more convenient service. It’s important for a company to grade itself on what and how its customers feel about the company’s values.”
SERVICE INITIATIVES. Customer service initiatives start with the new hire. The company prides itself on hiring the right people by using strict hiring practices and high standards of quality control and performance. Finding quality employees is no problem for management. Most of the new team members at A-Active were referred by existing team members who feel great about their company and invite their friends to join the team.
“While having the right people in the field representing our company is very important, their training and orientation is even more important,” says Kordek. “We believe our success depends on everyone adopting the company culture as it relates to customer service. It gives our company a personality that our customers recognize as ‘A-Active’ regardless of whom they interact with,” he said. Kordek believes that if A-Active fosters an entrepreneurial environment with its inspectors, technicians and administrative team that they will, in turn, accept “ownership” of their clients and the results of the service they provide. This philosophy assumes risk — the risk that everyone on the team can perform at this level. “This is where the personality of the company shines through — where the ‘people’ part of our business comes to life and where the reasons that we got involved in the pest management industry become apparent,” says Kordek.

NEW HIRE TRAINING. A-Active hires its sales and service personnel under the Quality Pro criteria (criminal background check, driving record check, personality profile and drug testing). An impressive number of educational programs and exams are on the docket for each new employee before going on their own in the field. In addition, each new hire is required to attend all “Sharing the Vision” meetings every Tuesday and Thursday.
Every Tuesday and Thursday morning, employees of A-Active join together in what is termed a Share the Vision Meeting. To deliver a consistent message to customers, a consistent message must be delivered to employees, believes A-Active’s management team. These 45- to 60-minute meetings serve as a forum to reinforce fundamental principles such as patriotism, integrity, enthusiasm and company vision. Typical meetings cover such topics as budget and sales reviews, safety, sales training, service training, review of policies, sales and service experiences, quality control, client letters, wellness and industry news.

QUALITY CONTROL PARAMOUNT. The Quality Assurance program consists of an ongoing series of client surveys that measure performance at every client interface (administrative, sales and service). The information provided in the feedback measures the success of each client interaction. New clients receive the survey at the end of their first month of service. In addition, the company mails a survey to a random segment of their customer base each month to develop a fair cross section of opinions about the various services. Any evaluation rating a “9” or less warrants a call by the Operations Management, vice president or president to find out what it will take to get a “10.” The results of this client contact are covered in the next Share the Vision meeting.
Management uses the survey results to select the Employee of the Month and Year and these results are publicly shared and serve as a positive reinforcement of the mission. “Everyone at A-Active knows that a client’s experience must be positive or we have failed!” explains Kordek.

FREQUENT CONTACT. Like many pest management companies that treat quarterly, Kordek finds it a challenge to keep in contact with customers who may not be home when service is performed.
A-Active focuses service protocols and policies around gaining the maximum effectiveness in the service and maximizing communication with the client. Here are some ways A-Active goes the extra mile to make their presence known.
• Pre-notification – clients are called before service
• Service tickets – professionally printed service reports that contain all pertinent information including IPM recommendations for the client
• 24-hour emergency service
• Cobweb removal at all service calls
• Papers and trash cans – technicians bring in papers and trash cans if necessary
• Client referral bonus – if a client refers someone who purchases a service, the referrer receives $25 credit and a personal thank you-note.

REGIONAL AND NATIONAL AWARDS. A-Active has received numerous local and national awards. One achievement the company is most proud of is that of technician Larry Williams, who was selected the PCT/Syngenta Residential Technician of the Year in 2003. The many unsolicited complimentary letters about his work also included references to the high standards of the company.
One of the unsolicited customer letters included the following testimony to the integrity of A-Active Termite & Pest Control: “Over the years, we have come to realize that we can trust A-Active more than any other business in this area. You have earned this reputation with us because there is an atmosphere of integrity and commitment to dedicated service that pervades your organization. We believe your exemplary leadership, insistence on high standards and above all, genuine honesty has brought this about. Simply stated, A-Active has earned our complete trust.” A true testimony to the winner of the Best-In-Class Customer Service Award for medium-sized companies.
“Zero tolerance for termites and pests” is the concept for the company’s marketing campaign. And zero tolerance for unhappy customers is the result!

Small Company Winner:
ZipZap Termite & Pest Control
The Best-In-Class winner at the small company level is ZipZap Termite & Pest Control in Gladstone, Mo., a suburb of Kansas City. Jeff Preece and his wife, Janet, operate their pest control company, keeping the customer first in mind. “We’ve built our business over the past 10 years, one referral at a time,” explains Jeff. “We have only one Yellow Pages ad in a smaller book, but most of our other customers come from referrals.”
With just four full-time and one part-time employee, Preece continues to grow the business, slowly and steadily. He has recently instituted a customer service initiative that brought surprising results. Every time customers refer business to ZipZap, their names are entered into a drawing. The company awards $50 to each month’s winner and in December, the drawing is for $1,000. “This has increased our referral business by 60 percent since we started this program this year,” Preece explains. “It doesn’t matter how wealthy the client is, they still love the idea of having a chance to win a prize.”
Preece says that the company does what it takes to please the customer including a 90-day warranty on termite inspections. In one instance, a customer had an issue with termites after the 90-day warranty but ZipZap honored the warranty and took care of the problem. “Sure, it might have cost me a few bucks,” Preece says, “but that was the only inspection I have ever had to treat because of termites since 1995. This customer refers lots of business my way, so I will make more on the referrals from that customer than I lost in time and chemical doing the treatment.”

HANDS-ON TRAINING. ZipZap provides all its technicians with hand’s on, one-on-one training. Preece periodically rides with each technician in order to evaluate the technician’s customer service skills, study how they respond to the customer, answer questions, etc. “This business is not about killing bugs,” according to Preece. “It’s about treating people right.”
Like A-Active, many of ZipZap’s customers receive quarterly service and most of that service involves exterior treatments only. So keeping in touch with customers is very important to the company. NPMA’s Pest Gazette newsletter is an important part of keeping in touch as are letters and reminder cards.
Like the larger company Best-In-Class winners, Preece appreciates and seeks out complaints to keep his service the best it can be. If there’s a problem, Preece calls to apologize to the customer immediately when he becomes aware of it. “Each customer is important, no matter how large or small,” Preece explains. “I don’t let complaints fester into something bigger. The quicker we respond, the better.”
ZipZap’s customers will soon be able to evaluate the company’s service online. Preece feels that this will be a non-threatening, non-confrontational way for people to give valuable feedback.
In a continuing effort to stay up-to-date on industry trends and technology, Preece is an officer in his local and state pest control associations and feels these are important roles that allow him to continue providing the best customer service possible. Preece is one of the few company owners in his area to have attained the prestigious Board Certified Entomologist designation. This, he believes, gives him credibility when working with his customers.
ZipZap is heavily involved in community activities such as baseball teams, Children’s Miracle Network, a support shelter for battered women and other charities. This support is both monetary as well as service oriented. Taking care of the customer and doing what’s right guide Preece and his staff toward delighted customers every day.
Editor’s note: The 2006 Best-in-Class award winners will be recognized at this year’s NPMA Academy, to be held July 13-15 in Las Vegas, Nev.

The author is president of Compelling Communications (www.compelcom.com), St. Louis, Mo., and can be reached via e-mail at jvanklaveren@giemedia.com