[PCO Marketing] Making the Most of Manufacturers' Marketing Materials

Manufacturer product support for the pest management industry takes many forms. Some provide everything from comprehensive training and technical support to investing in consumer communications to helping to grow the professional services category. Many provide marketing materials in an effort to help pest management professionals close sales and communicate with customers.

When more than 200 pest management professionals were asked how often they use manufacturer-supplied marketing materials, more than 82 percent responded that they use them “often” or “sometimes,” while about 18 percent said they “never” use them. More than half (56 percent) answered positively when asked whether or not manufacturer-supplied collateral materials play a role in their purchase decisions.

MANUFACTURER SUPPORT BENEFITS. Several pest management professionals who regularly use manufacturer-supplied materials agree on the benefits. From brochures to door hangers to DVDs, they say the information lends credibility, reflects professionalism, and is easy and inexpensive to obtain. Such materials are an economical deal, especially when compared to the cost for a pest management company to produce that type of material on its own.

Chuck Davis, owner, Providence Pest Solutions, Indian Trail, N.C., worked for a large pest management firm for many years before branching out on his own about three years ago. As a small company, having manufacturer-supplied literature available helped him build credibility when he started out and has saved him a great deal along the way. Today, he still appreciates the marketing support he gets from Whitmire Micro-Gen.

“It’s great because I can just order materials online free of change. They don’t care about the size of my company — if I say I need 200 brochures, I get 200 brochures, and I will use those 200 brochures,” says Davis. “To me, that’s invaluable because it saves money, lends credibility and adds a professionalism that we wouldn’t have been able to create on our own.”

Jack Root, an entomologist and sole proprietor of Animas Exterminating in Aztec, N.M., agrees, saying that one of the main reasons he appreciates this type of support is because his small company can use high-end, glossy print literature with professional artwork that he couldn’t afford to produce on his own.

“While most manufacturer literature is geared toward products, which one might expect, it also provides quality information that can help educate customers, build credibility and foster relationships,” Root says. “We use literature with builders to establish the level of technology we use, show how the product works and discuss the Termidor guarantee to get them to buy into our services — this approach has been successful as many builders have locked into our program.”

SALES SUPPORT. Although Providence Pest Solutions conducts residential and commercial general pest, rodent and termite control, Davis says he uses literature about Advance Termite Baiting System the most often.

“As a new company, their marketing support materials gave our (service) offering using the Advance Termite Bait System credibility when it first came out, at a time when most people had only heard about the Sentricon System,” says Davis.

For sales proposals, Davis places his company agreement, company and product literature and appropriate technical bulletins into folders supplied by Whitmire Micro-Gen, which helps him tie the materials together into a nice, neat package for the prospect.

CLIENT COMMUNICATIONS. After visiting a current customer’s property, Providence Pest Solutions’ technicians leave a door hanger to let that client know they were there and to communicate what was found, and they sometimes leave promotional door hangers on other homes in the neighborhood to help market the company’s services.

“We also use Advance invoice stuffers during termite swarming season to raise awareness with our non-termite customers,” Davis adds. “In addition, we have Advance magnets for the sides our trucks to help promote the product.”

John P. Ashcraft, owner, Holistic Pest Solutions, Fluvanna County, central Virginia, says his company uses brochures and door hangers most often, using the door hangers to canvass targeted neighborhoods as well as to cloverleaf following treatment of a neighbor’s home. Their availability, however, does not affect his decision to purchase one product over another.

“Our decisions on which products to use are based on their safety and efficacy, not if the manufacturer provides marketing materials or not,” Ashcraft says. “However, having marketing materials available to us is a big bonus when it comes to generating new sales calls and in closing the sale by being able to educate the prospect via these tangible materials. Marketing materials, in my opinion, make for a more professional sales presentation.”

TOO PRODUCT-FOCUSED? On the flip side, 18 percent of survey respondents say they never use manufacturer-supplied materials.

Dave Barton, owner of Pro-Tech Pest Services, a pest management company based in Las Vegas, says he’s never really felt comfortable providing manufacturer-supplied materials to his customers.

“I would love to get more specific with manufacturer materials but because they offer them to everybody, they tend to be too ‘generic’ for my needs,” Barton says.

Barton says he has used the Pest Gazette, a four-page newsletter available to National Pest Management Association members that can be personalized to include specific company information, highlight seasonal pests and help educate customers about what they can do to help manage pest problems. However, for his customers, Barton says that most manufacturer-supplied materials are too product-focused and not educational enough. “When it comes down to it, my customers rely on the choices we make and trust us to choose the right products to take care of their problems,” Barton said. “As such, I tend to focus more on educating them about my service, rather than pushing a particular product.”

SOME PREFER COMPANY-BRANDED MATERIALS. Edith Hodgell, manager, Absolute Pest Management, Humboldt, Iowa, says her company prefers to hand out its own brochure to prospective customers to support the company brand, rather than promoting a product the company uses. In addition, she feels that much of the manufacturer-supplied literature today might push Integrated Pest Management a little too far. “It seems that most of the manufacturers’ materials are so IPM-based that they make using chemicals sound like it is the very last resort, and if it’s the last resort, it must be bad,” she says. “I don’t like giving the impression that the products I am about to put in a client’s house are dangerous, even if it is only an inference.”

On the other hand, Providence Pest Control’s Davis says he would like manufacturers to take it up a notch to stress the “green” factor even more. “Green pest management is in response to consumer demand, and we need to meet their needs,” he says. “Nisus Corporation is on the right track with their new brochure. I keep it with me constantly.”

Successful Marketing Partnerships

HomeTeam Pest Defense, a company based in Dallas with more than 50 locations in the South, has collaborated with several manufacturers to customize literature to meet the company’s specific needs, according to Russ Horton, national technical director.

“Working in conjunction with manufacturers, we’ve been able to produce marketing materials that meet our company’s treatment protocol, address our specific marketing needs and send the HomeTeam message,” Horton says.

For example, HomeTeam cooperated with Syngenta Professional Products to produce a flyer about scorpions for its western region, and has also created others about spiders and various ant species, for use when pest pressure is high to help the company educate prospects and market its services using Syngenta products.

“We collaborate with some of our customers on a situational basis to custom-design marketing materials that meet a more specific need,” says Pat Willenbrock, a senior marketing manager for Syngenta. “Because of the natural limitations of time and money, we can’t make custom items for every customer. We try to make up for this by offering a collection of standard pieces that any customer can request by contacting their Syngenta sales representative.”

Horton says he has produced custom literature with Dow AgroSciences, DuPont Professional Products and Nisus Corporation as well.

“These efforts have helped us find a comfortable balance between educational information, technical aspects and sales that really works for us,” Horton says. “Another benefit of using these materials is that it keeps us from getting into a bind regarding copyrights. The manufacturers have copyrighted language and visuals, so by using their marketing tools, we don’t have to be concerned about copyright infringement.”

A Word From the Manufacturers

To help pest management professionals market their services to consumers, many product manufacturers offer communications materials that customers can request to help maintain customer accounts and win new ones.

Jim Gorman, vice president, marketing, Nisus Corporation, characterizes the materials that his company produces as high-end consumer pieces that give potential customers solid confidence in their pest management professionals and in Nisus products. Today, most of the company’s literature emphasizes the green aspects of its products.

“Many times our company creates programs that are new to consumers,” Gorman says. “The primary benefit is that we can save pest management companies time and effort by providing these materials, which then speeds up the sales cycle and increases the revenue for their companies.”

ADVANTAGES ALL AROUND. Dow AgroSciences provides several types of marketing tools as well, including ready-to-use materials, such as DVDs, door hangers, sales brochures and direct mail materials, as well as television and radio commercials. It also offers customizable marketing materials that allow companies to add their company logos and information, and even to modify the content.

“The advantage for our customers is that they get professionally produced materials at a cost savings. The advantage for us is consistent brand messages,” says Nikki Hall, a product communications manager at Dow AgroSciences. “The ultimate benefit for our customers and Dow AgroSciences is greater sales.”

According to Pat Willenbrock, a senior marketing manager for Syngenta Professional Products, any customer can request a collection of standard marketing materials that are designed to be consumer friendly and allow for pest control companies to make them their own by adding their brands and filling in information about specific accounts.

“For instance, one of our brochures is designed as a leave-behind, and includes designated spaces to insert what pests were treated, where they were located and the next steps.”

Similar to other manufacturers, Syngenta also has designed literature to assist in new sales, including a collection of promotional door hanger leave-behinds.

“We see our customers using them to sell additional services to neighbors on current routes, which is very cost-effective growth for these companies,” Willenbrock says.

INVESTMENTS PAY OFF. As one might imagine, manufacturers make significant investments in these product support efforts.

“Bayer commits a substantial amount of time and resources to ensuring that the materials are on the leading edge for the industry, the content is complete and useful for as many PMPs as possible, and that they will address PMP needs in the field,” says Peter Farno, director of marketing, PPM, at Bayer Environmental Science.

And while those investments vary among manufacturers as well as with each item produced, manufacturers produce marketing materials because they know that by helping pest management companies succeed, they succeed as well.

“Helping PMPs build their businesses is just one part of the Backed by Bayer promise,” says Farno. “We are committed to providing PMPs with the tools they need to close the sale, build a loyal customer base, and learn new treatment techniques and strategies to help them do the job right, the first time.”

For more information on how to order literature and what’s available, visit your product manufacturer’s Web site or contact your sales representative.

About this Survey

In February, PCT magazine distributed an editorial survey to a random sampling of readers via InsightExpress, a third-party, online marketing research firm. We received 232 responses to the questions featured in this article, as well as in the charts on pages 98 and 100. This is accurate at +/- 2.78 percent at a 95 percent confidence level.