Time Is Money

Structural pest control is a service business. Our customers do not purchase a product. Rather, they purchase the knowledge and experience of the service professional and his time to implement his service efforts.

Estimating the amount of service time required to provide a service for a particular situation or facility is often difficult. It is easy to either underestimate or overestimate the time required and thus price the work incorrectly. Of all pest control work, however, rodent control services may well be the most difficult to estimate. This article will examine the factors affecting the cost of rodent control work and offer recommendations for pricing such services.

ACTIVE INFESTATIONS. The most important factor that affects the cost of rodent services is whether rodents are active in the home or business and the extent of the infestation. A few mice or rats are certainly easier to eliminate than dozens, or, sometimes in the case of mice, hundreds. Also, catching that last rat is often the most frustrating experience a professional will ever experience. For this reason, pricing the service to eliminate an active rodent infestation can be very difficult.

Why are rodents so much more costly in terms of service time? In a nutshell, we are dealing with an animal that has a long history of survival skills. Enticing even one rodent, especially a rat, to interact with and then commit to a rodent control device is often not easy. Now, try 10 rodents or 20 or even more. Each rat or mouse has its own level of cautiousness; one individual will eagerly interact with a device while another would never touch that same device.

The professional’s job is to achieve the goal of getting each individual rodent to commit to a device. Success depends on numerous visits and often considerable effort. It is not uncommon for daily visits to a facility be required for up to two weeks or more. How does one estimate how many visits will be needed? The answer is that there is no easy answer.

Experience plays a major role in making a reasonable estimate of the time required. It is safe to say that in situations involving several rats or a hundred or more mice, daily visits for five to seven days is reasonable. The more severe the infestation, the more time that will need to be invested. The author has been involved in a warehouse mouse infestation where more than 1,000 mice were captured the in first month, and mice were still present. It took an additional several weeks to effectively eliminate the infestation.

The time must be taken up-front to perform a detailed survey of the infested building to determine as best as possible the relative population of rodents present. Dr. Bobby Corrigan has stated his belief that we underestimate population more often than not. He discovered this fact while conducting research for his doctorate degree. A rule of thumb to follow is always decide that you are underestimating the population. In short, err on the side of caution.

During the survey, take note of potential entry points, all apparent rodent runways, and the sites of heaviest activity. The greatest efforts will need to be concentrated on these activity sites. Review records of past rodent control services and sighting logs. Plot all of these factors onto a floor plan of the facility. This graph provides an overview of the “big picture” which permits one to better plan the strategy for that facility.

Depending on the situation, it is best to use many different devices and as many of the devices selected as possible. In food processing and storage facilities, traps will generally be the only devices permitted. Baits may be used in some situations, but only under tightly controlled conditions.

Fewer devices will be needed for rats, but they will need to be checked more often. Mouse infestations may require hundreds of traps and/or bait stations. The more mice, the more devices required. For example, in one office building situation, more than 200 traps were used to catch about two dozen mice over a three-night period.

In pricing the work, the total number of man-hours needed to eliminate the infestation needs to be estimated. This is no easy task. In most cases, it is safe to say that time is more often underestimated. Few companies make any real profit on the initial services where an active infestation is involved. The profit comes later — the company keeps the customer for a number of years because they invested the time up-front to do the job right.

Once the total number of man-hours has been estimated, it is multiplied by the dollars per man-hour rate set by the pest control company. This dollar figure differs from company to company but is usually somewhere in the $60 to $100 per hour range. For example, the total man-hours are estimated to be 15 hours. Multiplied by a $60/hour rate, the total cost is $900. This does not include the cost of the devices themselves; the addition of which will increase the cost of the initial service. Only the devices which will remain permanently for preventive services need to be charged in the overall price.

PREVENTIVE SERVICES. Calculating the cost of the preventive services offered each month is much easier than that for an initial service involving an active infestation. One can easily determine the number of devices required and the number of monthly trips needed for preventive services. Once these two factors are known, the time needed to check and maintain the devices can be determined.

One way to figure out the total service time is to first determine which devices will be used, how many will be used and where they will be placed. A discussion of this task is much too detailed for the purposes of this article and has been covered in other articles published in this magazine. A few key considerations for a warehouse, for example, include:

• Exterior bait stations placed at the fence line (if present) at 50- to 75-foot intervals.

•Closer spacing is used in areas of high risk for rodent activity.

• Exterior bait stations placed along the building foundation at 30- to 50-foot intervals.

• One multiple-catch mouse trap inside on either side of all exterior doorways. For a series of overhead doors, one trap is located between each set of doors.

• Traps or stations distributed at 30-foot intervals along exterior walls throughout the rest of the facility.

Once the total number of devices are known and these have been plotted, walk the entire length of all fences, foundations and walls where devices will be permanently located. Time how long it takes to walk this distance.

Jot down this number. Estimate the number of seconds it will take for a service professional to service each type of device.

Thirty seconds per Ketch-All? Forty-five seconds per exterior bait station? Multiply the seconds needed for each type of device and then add these numbers together. Then, divide by 60 to calculate the number of minutes.

In the example shown above, it should take about 59 minutes to service the devices. Earlier when you walked the distance off, you timed it at 40 minutes. Adding these two figures, it should take about one hour and 40 minutes to service all of the rodent devices on each service. If two services per month are required, this calculates to be 3 hours and 20 minutes of service time each month.

Of course, each company may decide on differing estimates on the time per device, but the above example illustrates the process. For the initial service, the cost of the devices, the cost of securing the devices (e.g. patio blocks, stakes, chains, etc.), and posting signs at each device placement will need to be included.

Pricing rodent work is an inexact science which is greatly improved with experience. In cases of indecision, it is best if several heads are “put together” to analyze the situation and determine how best to solve the customer’s infestation as well as to make a profit for the company.

Stoy A. Hedges is director of technical services for Terminix International, Memphis, Tenn.