[Public Health Issue] Walking a Tightrope

In an age of potential pandemics and virulent contagions, people are worried. And while the government and the health-care industry seek to soothe our fears and find strategies to deal with serious epidemics, the pest control industry is playing an increasingly important role in public health.

Pest control professionals know that their services can help prevent illness, such as West Nile virus. Yet communicating to key constituencies about the public health aspect of the profession is a daunting task for many pest control companies.
At PestWorld 2005 in Nashville, Tenn., Raymond Fisk, Ph.D., helped attendees understand the key elements of positioning their companies as public health purveyors in a competitive marketplace. As professor and chairman of the Department of Marketing and Logistics at the University of New Orleans, Fisk speaks to groups around the world about the importance of using the correct marketing mix for specific industries.
“The NPMA is really evolving the field from pest control to public health professionals,” Fisk said. “And that’s creating an excellent opportunity for companies to create a new image in the minds of consumers. But they have to increase their marketing efforts in order to be successful.”

WHAT IS MARKETING? Fisk began his presentation with a broad overview of marketing. In defining marketing as “an organizational function and set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders,” Fisk asked pest control professionals to consider how they manage relationships with customers. “Marketing involves creating and maintaining a long-term relationship with the customer,” he said. “It’s the business function that supports cash flow and maintains revenue.”
Marketing primers often focus on a traditional “marketing mix:” product, price, place and promotion. Fisk reviewed the basics of these key aspects but noted that today’s service-oriented businesses need to consider some additional points when planning and implementing marketing efforts. Instead of creating a tangible product, pricing it competitively, packaging and placing it strategically, and then promoting the product’s benefits, companies that provide services must think in terms of the promises they make to consumers and focus on exceeding customer expectations. This process involves enabling employees to provide stellar service through clear internal messages and adequate training while communicating the value of their services to consumers.
However, the proof is in the pudding, and customers must be more than satisfied to develop loyalty to a business. “They have to be delighted,” Fisk said. “Promises are cheap, but customers will evaluate businesses based on how well they deliver on those promises. Instead of grandiose promises, modest promises that you can provide exceptional delivery on will serve you best. Remember, marketing isn’t just making promises — it’s keeping them.”
Fisk encouraged his audience to focus on retaining loyal customers and consider a customer’s “lifetime value” to the company. For instance, if a customer spends $500 per year for a service plan and stays loyal to the company for 20 years, the lifetime value is $10,000. “Keeping customers happy by providing quality service is cheaper and easier than getting new customers,” he said. And because loyal customers are so valuable to a company, they should be rewarded with unexpected benefits. Even something as small as a thank-you note for their loyalty is appreciated and helps to build an emotional relationship between the company and customer.

DIFFERENT AUDIENCES. In targeting market segments and encouraging loyalty, Fisk noted that women and men are quite different — a fact to which marketers must understand and adapt. Among the differences, women are generally more careful shoppers, more health conscious, more security conscious, more concerned with aesthetics, and more attuned to quality. They often make health decisions for their family, making them more sensitive to messages pertaining to public health issues. However, companies must be very careful not to demean women through their marketing messages. As savvy, intelligent consumers, women react very negatively to messages that seem patronizing.
“In order to market effectively to women, ask them what their preferences are and what their priorities are,” Fisk said. Smart marketers test messages with their target audience. “If you’re concentrating messages toward women, then ask them what they think of your ideas,” Fisk said. “Get customers’ opinions as often as you can. After all, it’s their dollar.” Fisk also noted that women will be a key audience in the movement from basic pest control to public health professionals. As health care gatekeepers for their families, women’s concerns about health are too important to ignore.
Fisk also advised companies to recognize and let go of customers who require more attention and interaction than their revenue is worth. In other words, the customer isn’t always right, he said. Sometimes they are downright unreasonable, present potential liability or refuse to pay what they owe. And while companies should never assume that the customer is wrong until all else fails, once it is clear that the situation will not improve, it’s best to let the customer go to a competitor. However, Fisk cautions companies to dissolve their relationships with these customers gently because “news of the break-up will travel.”
Pest control companies also benefit by competing on value rather than price. “Any fool can compete on price,” Fisk said, adding that price competition is a strategy that undermines businesses and does nothing to help consumers. Lower revenues for all competitors drives down industry profits and limits companies’ ability to present customers with the best possible products and services.
Instead, companies should educate customers about the value of their services, particularly in terms of how much time is saved by hiring a professional instead of trying to tackle a tough and potentially hazardous pest problem themselves. Competition should exist between companies that offer varying degrees of value, which requires all companies to strive for better value, benefiting profitability and customers.
Fisk also reminds pest control companies that consumers don’t necessarily need to find the lowest price in order to feel that they are getting a good deal. In fact, he reiterated that prices that are too low can harm companies by reducing revenues.
In effectively marketing pest control services, companies should look to create premium service packages that will appeal to higher-income households. This demographic group typically correlates with more educated consumers who understand and appreciate the public health role of pest control professionals. Fisk noted that in researching the pest control industry, he found very few companies taking advantage of premium service bundles targeted to this market segment. Thus, an opportunity exists for market leaders to introduce such packages.
And once consumers begin to recognize the value associated with a specific company’s service bundles, the brand itself begins to exude value in customers’ minds. For instance, Starbucks coffee may taste no better than the coffee you make at home, but the value associated with the Starbucks brand is part of what drives up Starbucks’ prices. Consumers also tend to associate higher price with higher quality, so pricing below a competitor may send the unintentional message that your service is worth less. Only extremely large corporations with enormous volume efficiencies, such as Wal-Mart, can justify lower prices along with higher quality in their marketing messages.

PRICING ISSUES. In pricing services and service bundles, companies should charge more than needed to cover costs and profit margin while staying below the price ceiling, which is the point at which customers refuse to purchase. In order to determine where this “sweet spot” rests, companies must know what their competitors are charging. Success occurs when the company becomes the market leader by charging more — and making more profit — than competitors, while staying below the price ceiling.
Yet there’s even more to the art of pricing. Different market segments have different price ceilings, which is why companies should offer at least three price points. High-income customers typically have higher price ceilings and will be more apt to purchase premium service packages. In addition, customers striving to match the purchasing power of the high-income segment, may be eager to trade up to a higher level of service. “Companies would do well to give them that opportunity,” Fisk said.
Promoting the value of your services is a tricky proposition, but with clear, creative, consistent messages, it can be highly effective in educating and persuading customers. In fact, many companies change promotional messages more often than necessary. “Only change your message when the customers indicate that they are bored by it,” Fisk said. Company owners or administrators may become bored with such messages long before customers do, so resist the temptation to change the message before it is worn out.

PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUES. In creating marketing messages, particularly those that address public health issues, it is easy to step beyond consumer education and into the realm of fear. While fearful messages do spur people to action, they also can scare them to the point of inaction. Thus, Fisk warns against terrifying customers but advises pest control companies to explain why their services will decrease customers’ risk of illness. “It’s your duty to educate your customers about your pest management services, professionalism, sanitation procedures, public health hazards, new procedures and new services,” he said.
In addition to the traditional marketing mix, Fisk recommends that service-oriented companies pay attention to physical evidence when interacting with customers. For instance, vehicles should be in good condition and clearly marked with the company’s logo, and employees should be clean and wearing attractive uniforms. “These things speak volumes about your company, so don’t forget about them,” he said.
Participants in customer-company interactions are also important to a company’s marketing efforts. Those involved in service delivery, sales or communication with the company’s main office serve as key messengers defining the company’s image. Therefore, skill development, continuing education opportunities and training are important company investments.
“Employee satisfaction is directly linked to customer satisfaction,” Fisk said. “Careful hiring practices have been shown to reduce customer complaints, and employee retention correlates to customer retention.” Therefore, companies should be sensitive to the diversity of the customers they serve and strive to employ an equally diverse workforce. For instance, to better serve women, hire more women, he says.
Coming from New Orleans, Fisk introduced the audience to a Cajun word, “lagniappe,” which means “something extra.” “Always try to give your customers that something extra,” he said in closing. “Seize the tremendous opportunity to lead your customers to better public health solutions for the future.”

The author owns Compelling Communications and can be reached via e-mail at jvanklaveren@giemedia.com.