2008 Residential Technician of the Year: We Are Family

The anthem of the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates, winners of the World Series, was “We Are Family.” Three years previously, about 140 miles away in Pleasant Gap, Pa., Lee Gouty began working at J.C. Ehrlich, a company Gouty considers a family in every sense of the word.

“My success over the years is because Ehrlich is a family-type company,” Gouty says. “Because of that, I work harder and work longer.” Even though J.C. Ehrlich was acquired by Rentokil Initial plc based in London, England, in 2006, Gouty still sees the family touch.

Gouty’s district manager, Keith Hamilton, sees Gouty’s work ethic everyday. “Lee always puts everyone else first. He is unselfish and solely devoted to this company and if you polled everyone here, they would tell you Lee is the glue that keeps us together.”

MORE THAN CUSTOMERS. Gouty covers a route of about 450 homes around the State College area, home of Penn State University. He’s proud of his retention rate of over 96 percent and the fact that many customers have been with him for 20 or 30 years. This speaks to his commitment to his customers, but it also translates into revenue for Ehrlich.

“I like to get to know my customers and know their homes,” he says. In fact, he invites customers to participate in inspections. By involving customers, Gouty can explain IPM methods that they can employ. “In this way, I can form relationships with my customers, and they’re not offended, but they’re eager to help.”

“Lee’s greatest strength is his passion for his customers,” Hamilton adds. “He is 100 percent committed to his customers and wants to always be there for them.”

A TRUSTED MENTOR. In addition to having the largest route in the office, Gouty is a strong influence on new technicians. “In the past 10 years, we’ve added a tech per year,” he states.

Hamilton stresses the professionalism Gouty exhibits with new technicians. “He is a very good mentor and has an excellent rapport when working with our new trainees,” he says. “Our new hired technicians thoroughly enjoy riding with him and listening to him, how he handles his customers, how he interacts with them, ‘wows’ them, and leaves them with a sense that they got their money’s worth.”

PRESCHEDULING. About 15 years ago, Gouty introduced prescheduling into his routine. As he finished a service call, he automatically scheduled the customer for a follow-up call in four months’ time. Initially, all this was handled manually, but “now with our Ehrlich Information System, the work order is assigned to that day and we can even e-mail the customer if they choose,” says Hamilton. “Lee has helped develop this further and this process is now being used successfully company-wide.”

GUIDING PHILOSOPHY. “The way I look at it,” says Gouty, “there are a thousand other technicians equal to what I do as far as killing insects and the technical aspects of the job.” His overriding concern is the customer service he provides.

This attention to the customers makes Hamilton’s job much easier. “When Lee is done with his service, he always describes what he did, what he will do during the next service and makes a point to ask them if they were in fact pleased with his service that day,” Hamilton explains. “If I could bottle that attitude I would and pass it along to all our technicians.

“I have always joked within our district that when Lee retires, it will take at least two good technicians to replace him,” Hamilton adds.

The author is a contributing writer for PCT magazine.