[Technically Speaking] Fear factors

I just finished watching the “Dateline” story on the bed bug recurrence in the United States and began wondering to myself how enterprising “salesmen” for pest control companies will use the “fear factors” to put this story to use. Perhaps they’ll use it to sell preventive treatments for homes and apartments for people who travel a lot or students returning home from college.
The resurgence of bed bugs has not only created a nightmare for the public but also a problem for our industry, i.e., finding ways to effectively address the problem. More importantly I fear what lies ahead — the story features an attorney who has already filed 21 lawsuits on behalf of clients who have stayed in infested hotel/motel rooms. Imagine the consequences if you are the pest management company that serviced one of those properties I would suspect that you may be named as a codefendant. So be careful how you sell, what you sell and how you service it.

CROSSING THE LINE. Until this show fell into my lap, the original thrust of this article was to focus on the “fear factors” used in various sectors of our industry, particularly termite control. You know the drill: a neighbor has an active termite infestation, they call a company or two and get estimates, and they have their home treated. The salesman or technician who sold the job then proceeds to put door hangers or use another cold call technique to let the surrounding neighbors know that their neighbor had a termite infestation treated.
I don’t take issue with this technique in and of itself as long as it does not use “fear factors” such as:
• Termites forage hundreds of feet and could be attacking your home from your neighbor’s.
• If you have termites within 3 feet of the house it must be treated.
• Annually termites cause more damage in the United States than fires.
• Termites cause over $6 billion in damages annually.
It’s one thing to use these “fear factors” to get your foot in the door but it is even worse when the company compounds the problem by indicating there is termite damage and activity when there is none. This situation seems to be occurring more frequently in attempts to sell termite services, particularly in association with WDI reports. If you claim there is an active infestation when, in fact, there is not and treat the structure, an investigation would only reveal that there are no live termites — hence the treatment was effective.
“Fear factors” can generate legitimate business opportunities as it did during the West Nile virus outbreak that occurred during the last eight years. I think very little was done to exploit the “fear factors,” most notably a relatively high mortality rate associated with this vector-borne disease. This is primarily due to the fact that the industry as a whole was not familiar with mosquito-borne diseases and vector control techniques and for the most part did not want to expand into this area of pest management.
Similarly, Lyme disease has been around almost 30 years and yet as a whole the industry has done little to capitalize on this widespread and debilitating disease. Again, because it is not something we can see and touch it is much more difficult to exploit the “fear factors” associated with this tick-borne disease. The other factor affecting this is that the industry has been very comfortable dealing with ticks in structures and much less comfortable dealing with them in the field.

ADVERTISING. The other area where some companies continue to exploit “fear factors” is in their advertising. Despite a notice issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and state regulatory agencies regarding words not permitted in advertising the abuse of this situation continues. Recently looking in the Yellow Pages ads I found the following statements:
• Safe for children and pets — Does this mean that the rest of us use products that are not safe for children and pets?
• Environmentally safe — Does this mean that the rest of us use products that are not environmentally safe?
• Our treatment procedures are safe for your family, pets and the environment — I certainly hope so!
Advertising using these “fear factors” impacts the entire industry and implies that these companies provide pest management services that distinguish them from most of the others in the industry. The problem is that companies that comply with the EPA guidelines place themselves at a disadvantage by not making similar statements. In fact, several companies using these and similar statements have been issued cease and desist orders and/or been fined.
It is not surprising that there is a degree of distrust in the public sector for our industry. I have had customers state that they do not know who to believe regarding their pest problem and its solution. They are confused often times by the use of “fear factors.” It is a shame that an industry that is so well armed with technical resources, e.g., trade journals, books, manuals, training programs, conventions, and consultants, does not take full advantage of this information and use it to educate consumers.
No, I don’t believe that the use of “fear factors” is pervasive in the industry but it occurs often enough to tarnish the reputation of our industry. My hope is that pest management professionals will use public awareness of emerging issues and turn it into an opportunity to educate the public on the facts and value of our industry; and not use “fear factors” to sell pest control services.

The author is president of Innovative Pest Management, Brookeville, Md. He can be reached at 301/ 570-3900 or via e-mail at rkramer@giemedia.com.