[Industry Trends] Lockdown

If a rose by any other name is still a rose, does the same hold true for pest services? Is pest control different from pest management? What about companies whose names include pest elimination or those who retain extermination? Are these descriptors simply names, or marketing tactics, or do they truly signify differentiation and evolution in our industry?

Before you settle your opinion or decide it’s not of interest one way or the other, you may want to consider the latest industry trend — that of pest prevention. Are the references we’re beginning to see with more and more frequency depicting the next industry evolution; or is it just marketing?

Prevention is receiving increasing play and prominence in job ads (“We currently have an opening for a pest prevention service specialist…”); service programs (EcoSensitive Pest Prevention; PrevenTech); videos (“Learn Why Pest Prevention is Better Than Pest Control”); mission statements (“to provide quality guaranteed pest prevention”); and even as the logic for one company’s recent name change. 

PEST PREVENTION HISTORY.  While some companies have been using the terminology and techniques since the late 1980s, prevention has gained industry prominence in recent years and, more importantly, industry executives say, it is the way of the future.

It was in the late ‘80s that Massey Services began looking at alternatives to the industry’s standard services, due to a number of issues of the time. Although the pest control industry was not yet under fire, lawn care companies were continually attacked for chemical use, and homeowners were becoming increasingly concerned about chemical contact. At the same time these concerns were developing, home service was getting more and more difficult to schedule, as it was becoming increasingly common for families to be two-income households, leaving no one at home to allow service inside the house.

“How do we create a service that is less intrusive and puts pesticide in places where consumers don’t come in contact with them?” the Orlando, Fla., company’s executives began asking in response to the situation, said Adam Jones, Massey’s vice president of quality assurance. And in asking the questions, he said, they realized the industry was trying to solve problems after occurrence rather than prevent problems from occurring in the first place. Thus, he said, the question instead became, “Why don’t we just figure out how we can seal off the structure?” and keep the pests out.

From these executive brainstorming sessions, Massey developed its concept of pest prevention in 1988, Jones said, though it wasn’t until a few years later that they put a solid definition to it: “Pest prevention is a customized environmental management program designed to eliminate conditions, avenues and sources of pest infestation in and around the home.” This was unique for its time, Jones said. “Residentially, ‘control’ was the buzzword at the time, and what you were hearing commercially was ‘elimination.’”

Since Steritech’s inception in 1986, it has pursued reduced-risk pesticide-application strategies, but like Massey, didn’t define the concept until later. In 1996, the company formalized its policy of implementing first mechanical and integrated controls, then using traditional chemical pesticides only as a last resort. A year later, the Charlotte, N.C., company registered its EcoSensitive Pest Prevention program. “The reason we got to pest prevention is that we felt we’d pretty much tackled elimination, so the idea of pest prevention was the next step,” said  Director Eric Eicher. “How can we prevent the re-infestation of this facility now that we’ve eliminated it?”

The definition Steritech uses in its EcoSensitive program is “eliminating pests without the unnecessary use of pesticides or overusing pesticides,” Eicher said. “It is precise application used only when necessary in response to detailed inspection and monitoring.”

Perhaps Rick Bell, vice president of government affairs and technical service at Arrow Exterminators in Atlanta, best verbalizes the state of the industry, explaining pest prevention as a “change through evolution.” Though its name still reflects its 1964 founding, Arrow’s program now focuses on “preventive maintenance, which is achieved by identifying and eliminating conditions which are conducive to supporting pest populations.”

While pest prevention is not a new concept, it has taken time for it to permeate the industry and gain the acceptance of consumers. “It’s been a topic of conversation for 15 years,” Bell said. “Our industry is primarily about education. We have to educate ourselves and believe in our message before we can ever take that out to the public to make them believe it.”

All Pest Solutions in Franklin, Tenn., recently changed its name from Kil-All Pest Control to better reflect its focus on prevention and management services.

“We felt it was time for a name change because of the stigma around the exterminator that sprays baseboards — that’s not all that we do now,” said Vice President Tim Blankenship. The company also felt a drive from its customers toward the new focus. The area is seeing a growing number of people relocating from northern states, many of whom had never needed pest services but were now finding the service to be more essential, or were just told by neighbors that they would get pests, Blankenship said. “So whether they needed service or not, they were calling us for some sort of preventive service,” he said.

EVOLUTION FROM IPM. It seems that the greatest downside of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) was a lack of a cohesive definition and understanding of the concept — both by customers and within the industry, the executives agree.

“We use IPM, and it’s a fantastic concept, but in the purest sense of the word, it’s a difficult concept for the public to grasp,” Bell said, asking, “What is the insect population density that specifies an action threshold?”

“I think everyone has a different definition of IPM,” Blankenship said. And in many ways, prevention simply shares a circular rationale with IPM. “IPM is a big part of prevention,” he said. Yet in its integration of pesticide alternatives, “it also includes prevention.”

Ed Brandt, sector lead for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program (PESP), agreed with both these assessments. “We view IPM as prevention,” Brandt said. “One of the difficulties of IPM is that very few people know what it means. Prevention is user-friendly terminology.” PESP is a voluntary partnership program between EPA and pesticide users to reduce the potential pesticide health and environmental risks through environmental stewardship and demonstrated commitment. (See “PCOs Gain EPA Recognition” for more information on PESP.)

PEST PREVENTION SERVICE.  The primary focus of prevention services is exactly what the word said — proactively working to prevent pests from entering structures in the first place. “You do everything you can to prevent bugs from ever coming in,” Blankenship said, explaining that particularly in residences, “most of the time when they get a problem, it comes in from the outside.”

Massey’s prevention service takes a three-prong approach, addressing conditions, avenues and sources:

1) Conditions — Inspection for conditions conducive to pests, addressing and eliminating significant hygiene, sanitation and housekeeping issues such as standing water, wood stored near the building’s foundation and unsanitary garbage areas.

2) Avenues — Determining how pests do or could gain entry into the structure, then preventing this access through maintenance or recommendations. Avenues could be unsealed cracks and crevices, breaks in caulking or weather-stripping, or even access gained by a building’s natural expansion- and contraction-caused cracks.

3) Sources — Places of origins for the pests, those areas which enable them to live and breed. Populations can develop in sites with accumulated leaf litter and mulch that provide harborage, and aphid-infested shrubs that can provide food.

The goal of the program, Jones said, is to deal with any existing problems then prevent pests from getting in to create new infestations.

Steritech brings a zero tolerance philosophy to its pest prevention program. “We throw zero tolerance out there as the new benchmark in the industry,” Eicher said. “We do not tolerate infestations of any kind for any reason.” At the same time, he adds, “Our goal is to only use the pesticide when we find the pest. We work with the customer to correct deficiencies that allow infestation.”

Although they are applying less product, the Steritech technician spends time with each account, inspecting then making many of the minor structural modifications needed for prevention. “We are substituting correcting structural deficiencies instead of applying pesticide,” Eicher said.

“As far as the customer goes, one insect is too many,” Bell said. So Arrow’s goal is to “stop any potential pest entry on the exterior of the home.”

For this reason, companies that focus on prevention generally add a new range of offerings to their service program. Arrow now provides structural maintenance services, contracting with its clients to replace garage doors, fix screening, seal off cracks and install door thresholds. “We need to be able to sell more things off our wagon than just pest control.”

TECHNICIAN TRAINING. Because prevention programs require technicians to look at pests and service in a different way, training has had to evolve as well for companies implementing this service. It is less about “What do I do to kill the pests?” and more about “How do I focus on pest behavior?” Jones said. “Conceptually, that was a huge paradigm shift.”

The shift was most difficult for technicians who’d been with the company a long time and had always done it the old ways, he said. “The hardest job we ever had was taking a compressed air sprayer out of a guy’s truck and shelving it.”

Steritech’s training has evolved to its present prevention focus, with full-time dedicated field trainers who are certified trainers and take on only three trainees at a time. New technicians go through field training and then to the Steritech Institute for pest and food-safety training. “It’s all part of our culture,” he said, “so our training programs are built around safety, the EcoSensitive program and a zero tolerance approach.”

All Pest Solutions now sees consultation as a greater part of its service, and the company is in the process of revamping its training to fit its prevention focus, Blankenship said. As such, it has implemented a service card analysis process by which technicians complete an inspection, fill out a “How we can better serve you?” analysis card, noting such things as clogged gutters or overhanging limbs, then discuss the suggestions with the homeowner as ways of helping to eliminate and prevent problems.

Blankenship expects the training to continue to evolve as the company keeps itself up to date with the industry. “We are always changing and always training,” he said.

CONSUMER EDUCATION.  And the educational need wasn’t restricted to internal training. Although it was consumers themselves who were expressing concern about pesticide use, it was these same consumers who had learned to equate value with chemical application. “Most people felt that what they paid for was the product,” Jones said, with customers feeling or even verbalizing, “If you didn’t use pesticide then what am I paying you for?”

It took many years of customer education to effect a change — flyers, technical communications and guarantees. “The final thing that sealed the deal,” he said, “was when we put an actual written definition to it.”

All Pest Solutions has found that customer reaction to the prevention program is a matter of communication. Today’s customers are more informed and educated, and the Internet plays a big part in how they make their decisions, Blankenship said. They are concerned about making safe, healthy decisions, but at the same time want to eliminate pests from their homes and businesses, and they want to know that their service provider shares this concern.

So when field representatives explain to customers that they are cutting back on pesticide use and incorporating more prevention practices, they also assure the customer that they will move indoors and use product if there are any problems. “It all depends on your delivery,” Blankenship said. “When we deliver the news to them in a way that it shows that we’re doing this mostly for their safety, the reaction is good.”

“We’ve got to educate ourselves — obviously a huge part of that is educating the consumer,” Bell said. “It’s like any new thing; you have to work with it and determine what is best for the company then roll it out to the customer.”

PESTICIDE USE. While the rise in pest prevention services does reduce pesticide application, it is not intended to eliminate it altogether. “We are not using the volume of materials we used to because we’re trying to pinpoint areas,” Bell said.

“The inspection is the key component of anything you do,” Bell said. “If you are true to yourself, you have no idea what type of program is needed until you’ve done the inspection.” It may be that pesticides are needed, or perhaps vacuuming is sufficient; but generally, he said, it will involve a combination of controls, including sanitation, mechanical and chemical control — with the bottom line being that the service is focused toward prevention rather than reaction.

In fact, Massey created an educational video based on its conditions/avenues/sources service which it put on its Web site and provides to its salespeople for customer education. (The video is currently being updated and will be reloaded to the Massey site when completed.)

“It’s all a part of, No. 1, doing a thorough inspection and that will lead you where you need to go with your control program,” Bell said. But you also need to take the situation into consideration when performing any service. For example, while you may want to avoid use of pesticides in lieu of less-toxic solutions, if there is a wasp nest at a front door, your first concern is the health of the children — and adults — using that door, and you will want to do what it takes to get rid of the threat immediately, even if a less-toxic — but slow-acting — solution were available. “There are certain things you have to do and certain things it’s nice to do,” he said.

PREVENTION IS THE FUTURE. While prevention is, by now, simply a way of life at Massey, Jones is seeing a gradual shift toward prevention in the industry, and although he sees some of it as still more marketing than actual practice, “the trend is moving in that direction,” he said. “Lots of companies are aware of it — focusing more on outside than inside,” but the true indicator of a pest prevention service is, he adds, building it into your culture and getting people to buy into it.

“I think it is the responsible program to be working with today. I don’t want this to come off as if pesticides are bad, because we still use them. But you need to use them judiciously and effectively,” he said. Companies need to weigh the risks of use and the benefits of production, and educate technicians on a full range of options, “so that in every situation, technicians can look at the problem and have a selection of products, strategies, materials and choices based on the most effective, least impactful choice.”

“I think that the whole concept of prevention is going to be the wave of the future,” Eicher said. Not only are consumers less tolerant of pesticide use and government agencies more heavily regulating the pesticides, but, he said, “we’ve proven that you can get excellent results without over-relying on using pesticides.”

“And,” he adds, “prevention makes the most sense for business. Nothing is more contrary to health, safety and cleanliness than having pests running around.”

Blankenship agrees that it is the way of the future. “If you are a business that wants to grow and evolve with the times, you’re going to have to change and go in that direction.”

The author is a frequent contributor to PCT magazine. She can be reached at llupo@giemedia.com.

PCOs Gain EPA Recognition

As the industry continues to move toward pest prevention, more and more PCOs are making the commitment to pesticide reduction and environmental stewardship, and attaining recognition from the Environmental Protection Agency for their efforts.

In 1994, EPA established the Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program (PESP). “The program was set up to reduce pesticide risk on a voluntary partnership basis,” said Ed Brandt, the program’s commercial/residential pest control sector lead. Pesticide users who joined PESP pledge to go beyond basic governmental regulations to reduce pesticide use and incorporate integrated pest management programs or practices. Viewing IPM as prevention, Brandt sees the program as beneficial to the pest control industry’s continued development, particularly in relation to educating the consumer and adding validation to companies on the program. “When you have EPA recognition, it can help make your message more credible,” Brandt said.

But it isn’t simply a matter of joining PESP. Companies must apply to the group, setting goal-oriented annual strategies, each of which includes sections on progress, strategic approach and activities, then applying a “good faith effort” to achieve and maintain the goals and measure achievement.

In return, in addition to the EPA recognition, companies can earn Champion awards for exceptional efforts; get Regional Initiative Grants (though these are more pollution-prevention focused); receive technical assistance from EPA; and interact with partners from related industries with whom they generally have less opportunity to network but often have similar issues, Brandt said.

The first pest management company to join the program was American Pest Management in 1997. Since then, industry representation has gradually grown with four PCOs involved with the group by 2000, 12 by 2005, and two more having joined in 2006.

“We found out about it in 1998,” said Steritech Director Eric Eicher. “As soon as we came upon it, we decided to become a member. It fit right with our policy because it encourages minimizing pesticide use.”

The first year the company was in PESP, it won an Excellence award (now called the Champion award), and it has been beneficial to Steritech, he said. “It keeps the company focused.”

Massey also joined PESP in 1998 and sees it as beneficial to both its company and the industry as a whole. “At the time the industry perception of EPA was somewhat adversarial,” said Adam Jones, vice president of quality assurance. “This was the first real cooperative effort to come together.”

With a total of 120 members in the PESP program, the commercial/residential pest control sector has 22 members, including the National Pest Management Association (NPMA) and 15 pest management companies:

• All Service Pest Management, Murdock, Fla.
• American Pest Management, Takoma Park, Md.
• Arrow Exterminators, Atlanta
• Batzner Pest Management, New Berlin, Wis.
• Borite Termite & Pest Treatments Corporation, Sherman Oaks, Calif.
• Clarke Environmental Mosquito Management, Marmora, N.J.
• D’Bug Lady Pest Management Co., Necedah, Wis.
• Fischer Environmental Services, Mandeville, La.
• Griffin Pest Control, Inc., Kalamazoo, Mich.
• Interpest, Inc., Cumming, Ga.
• Massey Services, Inc., Orlando, Fla.
• NaturZone Pest Control, Sarasota, Fla.
• Springer Pest Solutions, Des Moines, Iowa
• The Steritech Group, Charlotte, N.C.
• Wayne’s Environmental Services, Birmingham, Ala.

Steritech, Massey and Fischer all have been recognized as Champions based on their outstanding efforts promoting integrated pest management and environmental stewardship, with Steritech awarded in 1999 and 2005, Massey in 2002 and 2003, and Fischer in 2004.

More information on PESP is available at www.epa.gov/pesp, or contact Ed Brandt at brandt.edward@epa.gov or 703/308-8699.

Eight Ounces of Prevention

With termite swarms on the decline, more and more PCOs are marketing preventive treatments.

Anyone who has worked in pest management for more than five years knows the industry is in the midst of a major paradigm shift. The swarms that traditionally signal the start of the termite season have not occurred with the same intensity and regularity as in previous years.

As such, pest control companies have seen a dramatic drop in the number of phone calls from concerned homeowners looking to tame their termite problems. But the phones have been far from silent, thanks in large part to the emerging trend of marketing preventive termite treatments to consumers who want to avoid termite infestations, and protect one of their most significant investments: their home.

To maintain and increase revenue in a rapidly changing marketplace, pest management professionals are developing and marketing services that offer preventative termite treatments. Basic manufacturers have a unique opportunity — not to mention an obvious business reason — to work together with pest control companies to unlock new doors to future growth.

The consumer marketing resources available at the manufacturer level allow for widespread communication of the novel concept of preventative termite treatments. For example, BASF — The Chemical Company has developed a comprehensive preventative marketing platform during the last two years that encompasses television, radio, Web advertising, homeowner literature and public relations efforts.

In 2006, BASF tested the “preventive messaging” waters by creating a television commercial that would market directly to the concerned homeowner, highlighting the threat termites pose, and prompting the viewer to seek out a pest management professional and preventive treatment. Based on positive feedback, BASF ran the commercial on networks across the country this spring.

Next, BASF educated pest professionals on the potential of the preventive market. Consumer education is essential. It is the conversation between the pest professional and a knowledgeable homeowner that will close the deal.

Real estate trends have shown it is not uncommon for home-owners to make significant investments in premium products that add value to their home, such as an alarm system or energy-efficient windows. Now, the pest control industry has the tools available to market a preventive termite treatment as another added value when buying or selling a home. — Bill Baxter, Business Manager, BASF — The Chemical Company