Cover All Bases

Worried about biters? That’s what Jeffrey Preece and ZipZap Termite & Pest Control technicians ask customers who call in for flea treatment or other in-the-news disease-carrying vectors such as mosquitoes and ticks. The Lawson, Mo.-based company created a specialized program called Bye, Bye Biters to address this trifecta.

“People may not want a general pest control program, but they are concerned about these pests,” Preece said, noting that about 15 percent of his customer base chooses just this program.

“People are more educated about disease-carrying insects and they want to spend more time outside, so the ‘biting’ program has helped us increase our revenues, and it’s been a good program for our customers,” Preece said.

If someone calls for flea treatment as a stand-alone, there’s one fee. If a homeowner subscribes to the biters program, treatments for all three pests are included and extra services are included at no extra cost. “A lot of people like that,” Preece said.

Also, Preece added flea control into some of the company’s other programs — basically grouped by number of pests treated. “We have seen an increase in demand for that because people might get sticker shock on what it takes to treat fleas after they’ve already spent money trying to get rid of them and still have them,” he said.

Across the board, pest management professionals (PMPs) who participated in our annual State of the Flea Control Market survey say that building in a follow-up visit to flea-only programs reduces callbacks. L.J. McCoy at Pest Professionals in Mission, Texas, said follow-up occurs 10 to 14 days after the first treatment, which includes a combination of residuals and insect growth regulators (IRGs).

Across the board, a combination treatment protocol reigns supreme with 86 percent of respondents reporting they used general use insecticides with IGRs.

1-2 PUNCH. Chad Highley follows “the rule of twos.” It goes like this: “After we perform a service, we advise customers to wait two days, then vacuum every two days for two weeks. That is very effective.”

Highley’s company, Environmental Pest Control in Lawton, Okla., believes in a protocol that combines a strong adulticide — and a follow-up visit 10 days after treatment.

Generally, PMPs say a double treatment for single-service flea treatments produces the best knockdown and future prevention.

Cliff Pepper, director of business development for Dixie Exterminators in Marietta, Ga., said the company will not offer a one-time flea control service. “This is not a one-and-done approach,” he said. “If you want complete extermination of fleas, we are not going to promote in any way that this can be done in a single service and solve the problem.”

Instead, Dixie Extermination sends out a technician for an assessment. The potential customer can sign a monthly pest control agreement and receive service for all general pest services, including the flea control follow-ups without additional cost. Once under control, the client can transition to quarterly service.

The contract is a one-year agreement and can be canceled at any time — but usually isn’t.

“Once the technician and customer agree the problem is addressed, that’s when we switch them to quarterly and hopefully they stay on forever,” Pepper said.

GET SMART. As with any pest management problem, educating customers on their role in the solution is key. And there’s no control over compliance. They’re all in, or really not. Conversations often center around vacuuming, yard care, pet protection with veterinarian prescriptions and keeping an eye on wildlife crossing into the property.

“I let people know, if you don’t get your pet treated, everything we are doing will be null and void within 10 days and then you’ll be mad at me,” McCoy said.

McCoy often recommends trap-and-release services his company offers because wildlife is a main conduit for introducing fleas to the outdoors, which pets and people then transfer inside. The situation can exacerbate quickly.

When Doug Foster walks into a flea infestation, his Columbus, Ind.-based Burt’s Termite & Pest Control technicians will ask homeowners to ideally leave the property for three or four hours. “We don’t want them tracking across the carpet and lawns, slipping on any material or transferring fleas,” he said.

Education includes frequent vacuuming, disposing of or cleaning pet beds and houses, and cleaning anywhere pets go. “We remind people, cats often climb on countertops or on the tops of cabinets,” Foster said.

Fifty-seven percent of survey respondents incorporate vacuuming as a prep treatment before applying general use insecticides and IGRs. Thirty-four percent stand by follow-up inspections, with 16 percent advising inclusion services to prevent wildlife transfer of fleas to properties.

Many customers are willing to comply because fleas are a scratch they don’t want to itch.

McCoy said even though general pest control programs might be a more difficult sell given homeowners’ current economic circumstances, if fleas are the issue, “they are willing [to sign up for service].”