Pest prep

Along with keeping customers informed about what products they use and training technicians, LCOs had to deal with a mild winter.

L&L caught up with a few companies to find out how they prepared for warmer weather.

The weather.

The time period from December to February was the warmest on record for the span of those three months, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

For Chris Malcolm, that meant getting some requests earlier than normal.

“We’ve had two people already call about yellow jackets,” says Malcolm, operations manager of Ramey’s Yard Care and Pest Control in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. “We normally start getting calls at the end of March, beginning of April. They’re saying the weather we’re having now (in early March) is our normal April weather.”

Ramey’s Yardcare and Pest Control’s service area doesn’t have a large amount of poisonous pests, but the company does treat for a lot of wasps, yellow jackets and hobo spiders.

In the lead up to the spring season, Malcolm’s company is getting prepared to deal with more calls.

“The last two years we had milder than normal winters,” he says. “In the winter we didn’t get the kill-off we normally get with pests. What we do have are increasing in numbers everywhere.”

David Crenshaw, owner of Crenshaw Termite & Pest Company in Tampa, Florida, says he saw active chinch bugs in lawns up until December.

“We’re already starting to see chinch bug activity,” he says. “We usually start to see them showing up in the end of February, beginning of March.”

He adds that while the chinch bugs are typically present at this time, they’re usually not active. “The cooler months for chinch bugs, they can still be present but you get little damage.”

Crenshaw says he is also expecting to see billbug larvae along the coast, and the weather in Florida has been all over the place, making things unpredictable.

“Last week we were freezing. This week we’re almost in the 80s,” he says. “It’s been a very unusual year.”

This unusual weather means pest control operators will be treating earlier than normal, says Jeff Taylor, manager of Martz Brothers Lawn Care in Kansas City, Kansas. “We’re going to see how it goes and adapt,” he says. “We’re ready for everything and anything.”

In the field.

Your company is probably already gearing up for the pest control season, and it’s important to focus on your technicians just as much as, if not more than, your products.

“When we turn a technician loose, we don’t want someone going out there not knowing what they’re doing,” Crenshaw says. Crenshaw Termite & Pest will hire people who’ve had experience at other companies, but they require an extensive training program before they hand over the keys.

“It’s a minimum of five days in classroom work, then they must ride with a certified pest control operator for at least 10 days, then another four to five in classroom,” he says.

Malcolm says, “We do not require previous experience, but in order to be employed you do have to pass the state exams to be certified and have the license.”

Martz Brothers Lawn Care also requires employees get certified, but it also does in-house training.

“Even though they could be registered techs, we want everybody to pass a test,” Taylor says. Then the company provides training that lasts a couple of weeks.

“We usually let them ride with somebody in the fall to do applications,” he says. “If they can handle seeding, they can handle going on their own.”

The right choices.

After your technicians are ready to go, your next step is to focus on getting the right products for both your company and your customers.

Crenshaw says his company considers price first, but another important factor is the signal word on the label being “caution,” “warning” or “danger.” Those are products you want to use because they include any warnings for customers.

The label is important, Malcolm agrees. He says you need to determine if the product is labeled for use in your area. However, he says a very important factor is your relationship with your suppliers because they can keep you informed on what other people are using for different pests.

“There are only so many different chemicals out there,” he says. “But it’s still the same thing, just different brand names.”

Informed customers.

The topic of safe chemicals is big right now, especially after Montgomery County, Maryland, passed a pesticide ban that will go into effect in 2018.

Because of this, it’s important to make sure you have an open line of communication for customers who may be concerned about what you’re putting on their yards.

Martz Brothers makes sure to inform customers when the job is sold that they don’t over-apply.

If a customer is still concerned, they will provide safety data sheets, although Taylor says that if someone is really worried, they’re not typically the type of person to have treatments put down.

“We reassure them we’ve come a long way in this industry,” Taylor says.

“We used to spray everything, but now we’ve gone into selective stuff where needed. I’ve been in the business for 30 years and seen a big switch since I started.”

Ramey’s Yard Care and Pest Control carries labels for every product on the truck, so if a customer voices concern, the technician is able to show people that it’s labeled for use in this situation, whether it be a daycare, a nursing home or a house with pets.

“I can show them to put them at ease so they know what I’m telling them is true,” Malcolm says.

Crenshaw says a large number of his customers own boxers, which is a breed of dog known for getting cancer.

Because of this, he communicates a lot with local veterinarians, so when customers take their dogs in, they know their pets’ ailments aren’t caused by the chemicals on the lawn.

“We had a vet ask to quit faxing because they never had a company send so much information,” he says.

“We rotate our (products) so we don’t build a resistance on the lawn. We wanted the vet to have everything.”

In regards to homeowners, Crenshaw Termite & Pest doesn’t have pamphlets to hand out, but they provide copies of labels, as well as material safety data sheets to any customer who calls and wants to know what’s been put on their yard.

The company also has a service agreement every customer is required to sign prior to treatment, which is when the products that will be used are discussed, and any concerns are addressed.

“If we do any service for them, they have to sign a service agreement first,” he says.