[View Point] Today's PCOs: Happy as clams

I’ve been at PCT magazine for nine years and I’ve never seen pest control operators as happy with their termite control arsenal as they are today. In preparing for this month’s cover story, we sent an Internet survey to random PCT subscribers. One of most interesting questions we asked readers was, "How satisfied are you with the current termite control products on the market?"

Sit down while you read these numbers — 99 percent of respondents said they were "very satisfied" or "somewhat satisfied." Only one operator — that’s one operator out of 135 who responded that they perform termite work — said he or she was "not very satisfied" with today’s termite control products. That’s a staggering number.

We broke that number down further. We asked, "How satisfied are you with the current non-repellent termiticide products on the market?" Here’s another staggering number — 71 percent report they were "very satisfied" and 22 percent said they were "somewhat satisfied." Regarding termite baits, 63 percent said they were either "very" or "somewhat" satisfied with the industry’s current bait products.

So what do all of these "very satisfieds" and "satisfieds" translate into? They translate into more and more of you performing termite control. If you’ve talked "termite shop" to even a handful of your colleagues in recent years, you know that more pest control companies are involved in termite control than were nine years ago: In PCT’s 1998 State of the Industry report, we reported that 68.2 percent of PCOs were involved in the termite market. In our recent Internet survey, 79.4 percent were involved.

So why are more PCOs becoming involved in a market that opens them up for additional liability concerns and utilizes specialized equipment? There are many answers, but ultimately I believe the most accurate answer is that pest management professionals feel confident in providing their customers with high-quality termite control. Why? Because today’s products work. They all may work in different ways — and your individual buying decision is likely based on the specific characteristics of your product of choice (i.e., efficacy, price, ease of use, liability, etc.) — but whether you’re using baits or liquids, they all are effective in controlling termites, which wasn’t always the case in the post-chlordane era. Most of today’s professionals have total confidence in the termite treatments they’re providing to their customers.

In this month’s cover story, which begins on page 38, we wanted to report on all things termite. If you’re a bait user, we think we have something of interest to you. If you’re a fan of liquids, same thing. (Actually, many of you use a combination of both, as well as other cutting-edge termite control tools.) And if you’re one of the 20 percent who still aren’t involved in the termite market, we hope we’ve provided you some thought-provoking editorial. Now if we could only get the termites to cooperate by producing a stellar swarm season in 2007 — something that has been in short supply in recent years — PCOs would be as happy as clams.

The author is editor of PCT magazine.