Category Archives: In my opinion

After more than a quarter century I’ve seen a lot of what goes right and what turns out so wrong in pest control. Myths, distorted facts and truths people just don’t adhere to are rampant by word of mouth alone. Add the world wide web to the mix and in becomes very hard to know what to believe. Here I give you my opinion on a variety of subjects but beware, my view may be not what you expect.

If You Had A Pest Control Genie What Would You Wish For

Posted on April 6, 2012 by The Bug Doctor

We’ve all watched the scene play out, a ship wrecked man in tattered clothes who comes upon a bottle in the sand. Thinking it’s water perhaps or something else, he picks it up, uncorks it and SHAZAAM! Out pops a … Continue reading →

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Urticating Pest Control Accounts

Posted on February 21, 2012 by The Bug Doctor

Who would have thought that the mighty Tarantula would ever need any other defensive mechanism than it’s appearance just to protect itself? I mean besides the sheer size, these things have fangs that are clearly visible and not something I’d … Continue reading →

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Pin Stream Pest Control & Seeing Red

Posted on December 27, 2011 by The Bug Doctor

I’ve never been accused of having a bland imagination. No ones ever said my conclusions or correlations were so obvious that they could see them coming from a mile away. I’m not sure if that’s a real good thing or … Continue reading →

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Why The Best Pest Technicians Are Thigmotropic

Posted on November 15, 2011 by The Bug Doctor

I’m not sure I’d be a good service manager just running behind pest control technicians and grading their work. Big companies like numbers so they may not like my approach. I wouldn’t be an unfair evaluator mind you. I realize … Continue reading →

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The Oz Effect In Pest control

Posted on October 21, 2011 by The Bug Doctor

An intelligence test sometimes shows a man how smart he would have been not to have taken it. Laurence J. Peter I think sometimes we put to much stock into really smart people. We think just because ‘they’ said it, … Continue reading →

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IPM Aka

Posted on October 10, 2011 by The Bug Doctor

In the early days of what we might call “modern pest control”, thoroughness of coverage was the key. The average flea job took an entire gallon of mix (usually Ficam W). Any less and the boss would frown at your … Continue reading →

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Sand Bags, Shell Games And Successful Pest Control Sales

Posted on October 5, 2011 by The Bug Doctor

Pest control sales can be a pretty sweet gig when things are rolling. Nobody questions you about your daily activity, the boss is fairly happy to see you and as long as numbers are adding up in the positive realm … Continue reading →

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Should Terminix Do A Class Action Suit Against Its Employees?

Posted on September 13, 2011 by The Bug Doctor

Since I received this story from a loyal reader I have tried diligently to figure out some in’s and outs so that this article would be fair and unbiased. To be honest, I haven’t found much of anything that supports … Continue reading →

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How Much Pest Control Do You Let Your Customers Do?

Posted on August 31, 2011 by The Bug Doctor

Recently on a trip to the Pacific Northwest I was reminded of a service that I thought had gone by the wayside and I just took for granted that it was now my lifelong task. I pulled into a gas … Continue reading →

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Two Winters Too Cold For a Jacket-Winter # 1

Posted on August 22, 2011 by The Bug Doctor

At one point in my career I came within a whisker of quitting pest control altogether. What started out as such an adventure and my ‘high calling’ had suddenly turned into this free fall of one bad experience after another. … Continue reading →

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The Handyman Effect – I Named It You Solve It

Posted on August 20, 2011 by The Bug Doctor

Jerry, I’ve got my plumber in today and he’s looking up under dishwashing rack and says you need to bait up there. It’s the worst he’s seen in awhile. Can you get out here today? Hey Stu, my electrician said … Continue reading →

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Undercover Pest Control Stings-Have You Ever Been Set Up?

Posted on August 17, 2011 by The Bug Doctor

I’m pretty sure I’m not any more paranoid then the next guy, you know, the one over there who’s been following my every move for the last hour. So I’m sure I just imagined all those times that the customer … Continue reading →

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Why Can’t You Kill The Nit Niche King?

Posted on August 13, 2011 by The Bug Doctor

There is a pest control job that I’m sure no mega pest control operation would ever consider adding to their resume regardless of the profit margin. That would be hand picking nits and lice out of a clients hair.Eeeccck! In … Continue reading →

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Is Your Smart Phone The Dumbest Thing For Your Pest Control Service?

Posted on August 9, 2011 by The Bug Doctor

Does anybody remember just how we managed to get along before there were cell phones? Sifting through the trash on the floor boards of our bug trucks looking for .25 cents to use a pay phone. Planning our stops so … Continue reading →

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Fired By An Absent Mad Man

Posted on August 6, 2011 by The Bug Doctor

I left Baltimore and the drama of the big corporate world behind for grande promises and a tropical paradise. When that went to hell in less than a year I needed to move on. I did about 2 years as … Continue reading →

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