A Family Affair

To Ted Burgess III, the pest control industry is family. As the son of Ted Burgess II, previous owner of Burgess Pest Management, West Bridgewater, Mass., this industry essentially raised him. “I never contemplated not being in the business,” said the younger Burgess. “There was just a gravitational pull for me to stay in it — a deep-rooted understanding that I would always be involved.”

Burgess III said he remembered being at his father’s hip and accompanying his dad on sales calls, doing just about any job that needed done.

“I certainly recall being woken up early on Saturday mornings while I was in high school to go help dig trenches and drill holes for old-fashioned [conventional trench and treat] termite jobs,” said Burgess III.

Burgess Pest Management was run by Ted Burgess II, for 30 years, and he’s been around to watch the company evolve into a well-respected pest control firm that has grown 20 percent annually the past 10 years. Although the senior Burgess is retired now, he still “pokes his head in” functioning as a sounding board. “He has watched it from both ends of the spectrum, so I’m very fortunate that I got to learn from him,” Burgess III said.

Burgess III said having grown up in the industry and watching his parents struggle not having enough resources or employees, he gained insight as to the importance on being well-staffed and prepared for all situations.

TURNING POINTS. Since PCT last profiled Burgess Pest Management in 2016, many changes have been afoot, including Burgess II’s retirement and moving to a new headquarters, which Burgess III called a “game changer.” The process of transitioning management was extremely strategic to ensure that everything went smoothly leading up to and following his father’s retirement.

“My father refers to it as the youth movement,” said Burgess III.

In the early 2000s, Burgess III graduated from college and immediately started working for the company full-time. As he became more involved, he began to recognize growth opportunities and ways to improve operational efficiencies.

Another company member who Burgess III credits for the business’ recent success is managing director David “DJ” Flynn. Flynn learned the pest control trade “from scratch,” starting with termite inspections and other technical work. Eventually, however, Flynn also was able to apply his finance degree to benefit the business. He became CFO and then managing director.

“It’s highly fortunate that we had somebody with his skill set to come in and help evolve the company from more of a financial and day-to-day operational standpoint,” said Burgess III.

Both Ted and his brother Ryan, marketing director for the Burgess Companies, share a similar history of involvement in the business. Growing up alongside his brother in the industry, Ryan also understands the business from a technical standpoint. However, Ryan received his master’s degree in communications from Fordham University and has enhanced the company with the skills he learned during his time there. Ryan has been effective in creating a communications and marketing department within the Burgess Companies.

“We have become almost this three-headed monster where we each have a core focus on what we work on in the business and our personalities mesh very, very well,” said Burgess III.

One of the first breakthroughs was the decision to invest time and resources into radio and television advertising, thanks to Ryan’s efforts.

“Being present in the media certainly helps align with our branding … being tactful in our messaging,” Burgess III said. “We have partnered with the most popular sports radio station. Having an internal marketing department has been exponentially beneficial because of the breadth of what [Ryan] understands in pest control.”

SUCCESSFUL STRATEGIES. Burgess also has a team focused exclusively on business development. According to Burgess III, a huge part of the company’s success has been “departmentalizing” various aspects of the business and hypercritically delegating jobs within.

“We are really seeing how we can drive quality and efficiency within each department to provide a better customer service experience, because that’s the name of the game,” Burgess III said.

Burgess has about 100 employees now, as opposed to just 40 when PCT last spoke with members of the company in 2016. This is as a result of the combination of mergers and acquisitions, as well as organic growth. The companies currently under the Burgess umbrella are Burgess Pest Management, Burgess Turf, Nantucket Pest Management and Rhode Island Pest Management.

Since the Burgess name is becoming better-known in the pest control industry, specifically on the East Coast, what is now Rhode Island Pest Management may soon go by just Burgess, a name that carries a significant weight.

Burgess has made five small acquisitions within its geographic territory. Interestingly, it was the acquired companies who approached Burgess with hopes of taking care of their employees and customers, rather than the other way around.

“We were able to take those companies over and offer their customer base much more than what the previous companies were able to provide, and ultimately make those customers’ lives a lot easier,” Burgess III said.

However, a majority of the company’s growth has been organic. According to Burgess III, the No. 1 way the company has grown has been through customer referrals, which are a testament to its quality of customer service.

“When it boils down, we’re responsible for doing one thing for our customers — and that’s solving the problem,” Burgess III said.

A philosophy that permeates at the core is to “lead with the solution, not a sale,” Burgess III said. The company places an emphasis on the importance of prioritizing customer satisfaction over revenue goals.

This approach affects not only sales, but also the technical aspects of the company.

“Should [customers] have a positive experience through all those aspects of business, they’re then likely to tell their friends and family, ‘Hey, I’ve got a good service professional,’ which is so hard to come by these days,” Burgess III said.

One of the biggest challenges for many companies in the pest control industry is the seasonality of the work. As such, Burgess focuses on keeping business going steady all year.

“There can be certain challenges in the winter because pest pressure is down,” Burgess III said.

The company’s winter strategy is to provide prevention for commercial businesses rather than focus on residential accounts. Also, the company focuses on selling rodent protection year-round, so they have sufficient customer referrals during colder months, when rodents can be invasive. Burgess III also explained how residing in Boston, and New England area in general, is an advantage to the business in certain ways.

“If your geographic service territory brings you into Boston, as well as Providence, R.I., you have got a fantastic commercial and industrial opportunity. When you break out from the city, there are some sections that are predominantly residential, but have a great blend of both commercial opportunities and industrial opportunities,” he said.

Since the area is so diverse in commercial business, Burgess III said that it is important for the company to be familiar with each of these industries’ specific needs when it comes to pest control, and to be able to cater to them properly and diversify service offerings. One example is the thriving health care and biomedical community in Boston.

“Being well versed in a particular industry, I think is critical; knowing how to speak to those potential customers enhances your opportunities,” he said. “Use their language and you will no longer be viewed as a vendor. You will be viewed as a partner.”

LOOKING AHEAD. Burgess Pest Management is already in the process of finding a new headquarters building to account for its growth in recent years. Burgess III said the company is expecting to double in size in the next five to six years and it must find accommodations for that growth.

Some other ways the company is currently, or hopes to be, developing are “pursuing additional quality management to help with stabilizing the growth of personnel; investigating all of the latest and greatest resources, tools and equipment to make jobs easier; investing in new technology to make communication platforms better and easier for everybody within the organization; and being more aggressive in our recruiting measures to acquire new and better talent,” Burgess III said.

Something that Burgess Pest Management prides itself on is the willingness of its service technicians to go out of their way to teach new employees. As Burgess III explained, pest control is not offered at trade schools in the area, so it is entirely up to individual companies to teach the required skills.

“It takes a lot of hard work, investment, time, effort, energy and finances to get people in this industry to be successful. And I think more companies that take the time to do that, the better off the industry is going to be. Treat it like the skilled trade that it is,” Burgess III said.

Burgess Pest Management intends to uphold its emphasis on quality teaching practices as the company continues to grow into the future.

“We are focused on quality, problem-solving and exceeding customers’ expectations with high-caliber service,” Burgess III said.

The author is PCT’s editorial intern.