The Road to Sustainability

While readily acknowledging the merits of “green” pest management, Cindy Mannes, chief marketing and strategy officer at Arrow Exterminators, represents a growing chorus of pest management professionals who question the long-term viability of green marketing. Speaking at the PCT Growing Your Business Summit earlier this year, she said, “Much of the green marketing trend is a response to media rather than demand from consumers. For pest control companies, this means that the desire to have dead bugs overrides the desire for having green products applied.”

Mannes says some consumers are already suffering from “eco-fatigue” thanks to the round-the-clock media coverage of all things green. Therefore, she contends a more successful long-term strategy for the pest management industry is to embrace the concept of sustainability, which she says is broader in scope than the more narrowly defined “green” movement, encompassing a wide range of social, economic and environmental issues. “The only way to succeed in today’s interdependent world is to embrace sustainability,” she said, which is exactly what they’re doing at Arrow Exterminators, Atlanta, Ga.

The $100 million, family-owned business with 70 offices in nine states recently launched an innovative sustainability initiative it calls the STEPS Total Protection System. Short for Sustainability Through Environmental Practices and Solutions, STEPS is a company-wide commitment to provide homes and businesses property protection using the most efficient and environmentally responsible methods available.

“STEPS is a testament to our company culture and commitment to reducing our overall environmental footprint while focusing on the most effective methods of pest control to serve our customers,” observes Arrow President & COO Emily Thomas Kendrick. “We believe that a thriving, healthy planet starts with thriving, healthy communities. This initiative has the potential to transform our industry, to go beyond pest control, and to contribute to creating a healthier planet and communities.”

KEY COMPONENTS. Mannes says STEPS is a straightforward, three-step process that utilizes traditional Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques – a feature of many “green” pest management programs – to control a broad range of structural pests. That three-step process includes:
1. Fully inspect the home and property to pinpoint pest issues.
2. Identify not only the pest, but the true cause of the problem (i.e., wood-to-soil contacts, moisture problems, structural defects, etc.).
3. Treat in the most environmentally responsible way to alleviate current issues and help prevent any future recurrences.

Yet the STEPS program goes far beyond providing comprehensive IPM services in an environmentally responsible fashion to the company’s 300,000 customers. “More than simply IPM, STEPS extends to every part of Arrow’s business,” Mannes said. “The STEPS Total Protection System is not just a ‘service,’ but an internal and external commitment to sustainability. It requires us to identify a wide range of stakeholders, everyone from home-owners to businesses, community groups and governmental agencies,” educating each of these audiences about the central role sustainability will play in the future of the world.

WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL? While sustainability obviously is a noble cause, what’s in it for the average PMP who, to be quite honest, is likely more concerned about meeting payroll every week than being perceived as good stewards of the world’s resources? Mannes contends that embracing sustainability is more than simply smart PR; it can produce real bottom-line benefits for forward-thinking PMPs.

Committing to a company-wide sustainability program will protect your business by serving as a tangible example of your commitment to the community and your company’s role as “protectors of public health and property,” she says. It will help you run your business by “reducing costs, improving productivity and eliminating needless waste,” allowing you to return those cost savings to the bottom line. And it will grow your business by improving client satisfaction and engendering customer loyalty, attracting “like-minded” clients who will support your company’s sustainability efforts.

To illustrate the value of attracting “like-minded” individuals to your business, Mannes cited her own personal experience while visiting a specialty store called The Body Shop at a local mall. When the sales clerk greeted her upon entering the store Mannes said she had no intention of buying anything; she was simply checking out some of the make-up and skin care products on display. “The sales clerk immediately launched into (a description of) their sustainability initiative,” Mannes recalls, pointing out The Body Shop’s corporate commitment to protecting the planet by seeking out renewable resources and sustainable raw ingredients. Admitting that she can buy lipstick “virtually anywhere” Mannes said she is more likely to return to The Body Shop in the future because they share her values.

How is Mannes’ experience relevant to the pest management industry? “I would suggest there are many like-minded potential customers out there who would prefer to work with you if you let them know what you are doing (from a sustainability perspective),” she says.

ADDITIONAL BENEFITS. While the tangible benefits of a comprehensive sustainability effort are readily measurable from a financial perspective, they also offer intangible benefits, according to Mannes. These benefits include, but are not limited to: (1) an enhanced company reputation; (2) improved employee morale; (3) customer good will; and (4) the “value” of being considered a community and industry leader.

“There’s a soft side to the sustainability issue, but it’s no less valuable,” Mannes observes. “If you can successfully incorporate it into your corporate culture, it will pay off for your business.”

In the end, she said, sustainability “will create more profit for your company and more social, economic and environmental prosperity for society.”

WHERE TO BEGIN? Now that you know how a corporate sustainability program can benefit your business in both tangible and intangible ways, how do you get started? Mannes said the first step is to “think creatively” about how to incorporate a “sustainability mindset” into your business and then to engage your staff by soliciting employee suggestions on “what it means to be green.”

In Arrow’s case, the company urged employees to e-mail their ideas to management. The e-mails were collected, along with any anonymous suggestions, and placed in a STEPS binder for further review and discussion. “People want to be heard,” Mannes said, “but they’re not always comfortable offering suggestions at a company meeting or other public setting, so e-mail was another way to capture their ideas.”

To build on the momentum created by the early stages of the sustainability initiative, Arrow also identified “Sustainability Captains” in each of its service centers, key employees who would “take ownership” of the program, thereby ensuring its success. “For any program to succeed it must have its internal champions,” Mannes said, “which is the critical role our sustainability captains play in the process.” 

At the same time, Arrow’s management team began a top-to-bottom evaluation of every facet of the company’s business, from identifying ways to reduce wear and tear on vehicles and conserve fuel to embarking on an aggressive internal recycling effort and developing programs to enhance energy-efficiency throughout  its service center network. “Our employees needed to know we were serious about this effort and we needed their cooperation and commitment if our sustainability efforts were going to be successful,” Mannes said.

BRINGING STEPS TO LIFE. To expedite the process, Arrow Exterminators immediately embarked on a comprehensive communication and education effort to ensure the STEPS program and its goals would become a central part of the company’s corporate culture. “From a technology standpoint,” Mannes said, “we invested heavily in equipment to communicate with all employees via company-wide video calls.” In addition, the STEPS program is featured prominently on the company’s Intranet site and at Arrow University, its online training center, raising the profile of the program even further.

The company also displayed posters, stickers and other educational literature throughout its offices to keep the STEPS program top of mind with employees. For example, STEPS stickers are placed near light switches to remind employees to turn off lights upon leaving a room or at the end of the workday. “Everywhere our employees turned we wanted them to be reminded of the STEPS program,” Mannes said.

Once the company had engaged its internal customers – its employees – Arrow reached out to its external customers – the public and media – to bring the STEPS program to life outside the walls of its 70 service centers. It did so with an integrated marketing program featuring radio, an extensive PR campaign, billboard advertising and a strong interactive component promoting the fact Arrow “Goes Beyond the Call” to provide pest management services that consumers “can feel good about.”

The distinctive STEPS logo and “Beyond the Call” messaging also were placed in all point-of-sale materials, as well as billboards promoting the STEPS program in a variety of public venues, reinforcing the company’s core message: “Family owned and operated since 1964, Arrow Exterminators goes Beyond the Call to protect your family’s health and property while caring for our environment.”

“The STEPS Total Protection System from Arrow Exterminators is a company-wide commitment born out of our culture that is reflected in every step of the way we do business,” Mannes says. In short, what we’re trying to communicate is “never before has there been an approach to pest control that we can all feel so good about.”

Arrow’s approach may be a little ahead of its time, but the effort is already beginning to pay dividends, according to Mannes. “Our approach to the public’s concern for environmental stewardship while solving their pest problem may not be for everyone,” Mannes said. “But for Arrow it is paying dividends in customer acceptance and employees who are proud to provide environmentally responsible services.”

Editor’s note: To learn more about the STEPS Total Protection Program, visit www.arrowexterminators.com or contact Cindy Mannes at cmannes@arrowexterminators.com.

The author is publisher of PCT magazine and can be reached at dmoreland@giemedia.com.