[Special Report] What Your Customers Really Think

As a pest professional, should I care that…
• The 21st century customer is ever-changing and is presented with more choices, messages, and information.
• Today’s homeowners and households are different.
• Single-person households are surpassing traditional families.
• Gender roles are being redefined with women spending less time at home.
• The baby boomer generation has vast spending power, with 91% of the United States net worth being held by households headed by someone 40 or older.1
In short, the answer is YES! 
Today’s residential customer is no longer a stereotypical family with 2.5 children living in a suburban home with a white picket fence. Chances are good that if your company is more than five years old, your customer (generally speaking) is very different than he/she was when your organization was founded. Do you need to know who your customer is? What influences them? What they think about you? Well, only if you want to succeed in business!
“The 21st century is shifting from ‘what we offer’ and ‘what we do’ marketing to customer-focused and value-driven marketing. In order to make this shift we need to understand our customers,” said Cindy Mannes, executive director of the Professional Pest Management Alliance (PPMA) and vice president of public affairs for the National Pest Management Association (NPMA). PPMA has been working since the turn of the century conducting extensive research studies to discover how 21st century homeowners feel about professional pest management and issues surrounding the pest management industry, and is providing pest management professionals with findings to help them reach the 21st century customer in new ways.
Since 2001 PPMA has conducted the following research studies:
• How American Consumers View Household Pests (2001)
• Views on Common Pests (2003)
• Protectors of Health and Property (2004)
• Pest Control Attitudes and Usage (2005)
The research studies were conducted through omnibus telephone surveys, focus groups and Internet surveys among American household owners. PPMA has worked with International Communications Research for the past three research studies and Roper Starch Worldwide for the 2001 study.
PPMA’s most recent research, conducted in late 2005, was the first industry-wide study where both users and non-users of professional pest management services were equally sampled. Important goals were to understand the decision-making process for hiring a pest professional versus purchasing do-it-yourself products and to uncover user satisfaction with their pest professional and non-user perceptions of hiring professional services. The research dives further into questioning which pests homeowners feel require professional services, how many times non-users used do-it yourself products before the pest problem was solved, what resources users employed for finding a pest professional and much more.
Like its predecessors, the 2005 study was nationally representative.  Said Mannes, “As a national trade association, it is vital that all studies we conduct accurately represent the entire professional pest management market. We spend the extra money it takes to ensure that the facts we deliver to our industry are true nationwide.” This study interviewed 500 professional pest management service users during the past year and 502 homeowners who have not used professional pest management services. All results are reported at 95% level of confidence.

2005 RESEARCH FINDINGS. Reaching the 21st century customer today has become more about building relationships and establishing a professional reputation. In fact, the most recent study from 2005 found that 45% of homeowners listed reputation as the No. 1 key in selecting a pest professional followed by cost and honesty (see chart at right). All pest professionals should think carefully about how they want to be perceived by their customers and the media. They need to ask themselves what they want their reputation to be? Seeing how important reputation is to homeowners, it is important for pest professionals to focus on how and if their marketing materials are building and maintaining their reputation.
The reputation of the professional pest management industry as a whole is positive. The research shows that a majority of homeowners had either positive or neutral feelings towards professional pest management. Among positive words used to describe the professional pest management industry were necessary, essential, effective, helpful, etc.
Among those who had negative feelings most were due to perceptions of high cost (see chart, page 54). “Many non-users have a misconception of the actual costs for professional pest management services when the reality is that many services are quite reasonable. As an industry we can work together to educate consumers about our services and how preventative treatment can actually save them money by preventing infestations that can really cut into home-owners’ expenses,” said Mannes.
Besides saving money, homeowners want their pest professionals to save them time. This is something that users of professional pest management already know — 84% of users agree that hiring a pest professional saves them time (see chart, page 56). PMPs should use this statistic to market their services and can reinforce this issue in training. “Whether it’s through marketing materials or training to emphasize key concerns of homeowners we hope that all industry professionals can find the information they need from this research to better their business and ultimately their reputation with their customers,” Mannes said.
As for where consumers are going to find pest professionals the research found that a friend’s recommendation and the telephone book were key sources (see chart, page 58). But, with one-third of non-users mentioning the Internet as a key source to locate a pest professional in their community, the importance of establishing a Web presence cannot be underscored. More and more, the Web will be tied to profitable business growth. 
Of particular note:
• Ants are of concern to most and most prevalent nationwide.
• Among pest control users termites, spiders and cockroaches are also of concern.
• While less pervasive, cockroaches and termites are more likely to be treated by professionals.
• Damage to home and property is the key concern.
• More users feel the need for professional services is on the rise. While more non-users are unsure.
• Reasons people would call a professional are for problems they can’t handle themselves or preventative treatments.
• Users see the economics of professional pest control, while non-users are not so convinced.
• Propensity to switch pest control companies is less for regular users.
• Do-it-yourself pest control is common; however, homeowners clearly see an advantage to using a pest professional.

Important Questions. During the past four years, PPMA has spent more than $100,000 on consumer market research. Each year the research goals and questions change to reflect timely issues facing the professional pest management industry. “When West Nile virus began to threaten the United States it became obvious that mosquitoes would be a huge area of opportunity for our industry. So in 2003 we conducted focus groups to delve deeper into this issue. We wanted to know how homeowners felt about the connection between disease threats and pests – specifically mosquitoes,” said Mannes. The research found that West Nile virus topped the list of the most-feared pest associated disease (see chart, page 53). Also included on the list were Lyme disease, encephalitis, hantavirus and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Another finding was that 75% viewed mosquitoes as a disease threat versus 24% who viewed mosquitoes as a nuisance.
Without this research, it would have been a risky move for professional pest management to dabble in the mosquito control business. But, it became clear that homeowners feared mosquitoes, wanted a solution and were willing to pay for mosquito control. Three years later, many industry stakeholders are drawing revenue from mosquito control. 
“Each year brings something new to the table. So far, in 2006 bed bugs have been the hot item making headlines across the United States. We are already itching for next year’s research to see how consumer attitudes towards specific pests have changed and where bed bugs play a role.”
This year marks the first time that PPMA is making all of their research studies available industry-wide. “After conducting these studies over the years and being equally excited if not more about our most recent research, we wanted to make it available to pest professionals everywhere. We wanted to provide a premier educational resource for industry professionals with the information they need to understand current users as well as non-users of professional pest management,” said Mannes.
PPMA recently released a CD that includes the four research studies conducted since 2001 in PowerPoint form. Also included on each CD are tangible marketing tips that both large and small professional pest management companies can use within their own business to better market their services and reach out to current and potential customers.
For example, the research found that the kitchen is the area of most homeowner concern for pests and that ants are the pest of concern to the largest percentage of homeowners. Using these findings, one tip encourages pest professionals to offer a free or discounted one-time ant control service in the kitchen for non-users and to educate them about the benefits of regular preventive professional pest management services.
“Purchasing the CD qualifies you as a PPMA contributor and entitles you to many additional PPMA benefits,” said Mannes. “PPMA contributors have access to the acclaimed Pride & Professionalism video series, reduced pricing for consumer brochures and billstuffers, and more. It is only through the voluntary contributions of PPMA contributors that we are able to continue extensive research studies and other professional programs to help pest professionals provide optimal customer service.”  
Mannes said, “Our industry cannot afford to sit idly by the sea of change that the 21st century brings. By understanding the attitudes and actions of the 21st century customer we can reach out as an industry to our customers in new ways. We hope that the research we are providing will shine new light on the customers that pest professionals are serving day in and day out.”