The Winning Pitch: Simple and Understandable

One of the great things about offering both pest management and closed crawlspace services is that you can cross-sell your clients. Nearly two out of three survey respondents (64 percent) who sell both said they have grown a pest control customer into a crawlspace customer. Similarly, 59 percent have grown a crawlspace-only customer into a recurring pest control customer. The potential is there; you just have to know how to sell it.

A big part of that sell is educating the customer. In fact, 64 percent of respondents said a significant amount of education is required to convince customers of the benefits of a closed crawlspace. Sam Makhani of GreenMind Pest Consulting said that more publicity and client education are key.

“Most clients are not aware when they are spending money on repairs or pest control treatment that there is a durable solution: controlling moisture and temperature in the crawlspace. PMPs are responsible for educating their clients on this important subject,” said Makhani. “They need to tell them that crawlspace closing is an important solution for getting rid of unwanted moisture, pests, mold, mildew, foul air and toxic material in the crawlspace — that it keeps houses healthier, safer, cost-effective and more comfortable to live in.”

Advertising can help deliver that message, too. Lucas Geer, technical director, Walker Pest Management, Greenville, S.C., says the firm advertises moisture remediation, which brings in new prospective customers who are actively seeking solutions. “A lot of times it might be someone who just bought a house,” he explained. “The inspector reported high moisture levels in the wood and called for corrective actions for the moisture levels in the crawlspace. We come out to do an inspection and talk to them about the best path forward, usually letting them know that this is what they should ask of the homeowner before you they buy the house.”

OK. So you have a customer in front of you, and you need to help them understand why they need closed crawlspace services. What do you say? Billy Tesh and Jon Statom share their proven approaches, from explaining the science to overcoming price resistance.

Making Sense of the Science

Billy Tesh: The pitch is simple. After an inspection, explain why ventilated crawlspaces don’t work in a hot, humid environment. Tell the homeowner that it’s going to be 85°F with 75% humidity this afternoon, or whatever the case might be, and that elements in the crawlspace are going to be at the point where dewpoints exist. They’ll sweat and collect moisture, and that’s why you should use handheld relative humidity (RH) devices, infrared thermometers, and other devices to calculate the dewpoint. With those, you can verify that the reason that ductwork is condensating is because it’s at or below the dewpoint.

The simplest way to demonstrate this is to take a cold glass of water outside and let the customer watch it start to sweat. It doesn’t even have to be really cold — just cool — and condensation will form on the glass because it’s at or below that dewpoint.

Jon Statom: I explain to homeowners that what we’ve been told all our lives — that you need lots of vents and fresh air in your crawlspace — doesn’t hold true anymore. The air in South Carolina in the summer isn’t what I would call “fresh.” It’s hot and humid. I tell them to think about their crawlspace the same way they think of their house: Would you rather have a house with a well-functioning air conditioning system, or would you rather just open all your doors and windows to let the fresh air in? Your house wouldn’t feel all that fresh in about 10 minutes. When we ventilate crawlspaces, we let that hot, humid air into the crawlspace thinking it’s going to fix something. It doesn’t.

Overcoming Price Resistance

Billy Tesh: The best way to overcome cost resistance is to explain your process. If you just tell someone you’re going to do a closed crawlspace for them and it’s going to cost $18,000, that doesn’t mean much to them, and the sticker price scares them to death in some cases. But when you go line item by line item on what you’re doing in the process, they start to understand the value. Take pictures, have a good contract system in place — the contract should include the explanation of what you found during your inspection with detailed drawings as well as pictures — and explain the results they can expect as well as what services you’ll provide to ensure the ongoing effectiveness of your work.

Jon Statom: A lot of homeowners have told us they can’t bite off $9,000 right off the bat, but they want to do something. What can they do? Well, for $3,000, maybe we seal up those vents, put up the dehumidifier and fix the vapor barrier. Then later on, when you’re ready, we’ll come back and do the rest of it. You haven’t lost any money and you wouldn’t really save any money by doing it all at once; you can break it up. We’ve done that a lot of times.

Converting a Pest Control Customer to a Closed Crawlspace Customer

Jon Statom: A termite customer was experiencing a persistent issue with smokybrown cockroaches, which like to live in dark, damp areas — like crawlspaces. I said, there are things we could do to make your crawlspace drier and reduce your risk of the kind of roach problem you’re having. It would also make it easier to heat and cool your house, and improve the quality of the air you’re breathing. I talked through the 15 to 18 percent energy improvement, about how 40 percent of the air they’re breathing comes through the crawlspace air quality, and then went through the cost analysis — how they can recoup their investment through energy savings while improving their moisture and pest issues. We’re looking at that pest control call turning into an $8,000 sale, plus we know we’re doing what’s right for that customer.