Pest control technicians must be a trusting lot. I can’t think of any other occupation where a homeowner let’s a service person in their home while they’re not present. Not only do they ‘let’ them in, they actually give them a key! I wouldn’t say this is very common with a plumber, appliance repairman or any other job that requires the service persona spend time in the home. Yet for as long as I have done pest control I have always had an abundance of keys. There are some people I’ve serviced for years now who have given us their key and I have never met them. Not Once! I guess I just have a trusting face.
Key accounts are like gold to a pest control route. If it’s raining you don’t get the usual questions, you can make up time or switch accounts around when you’re a bit behind or you can even take a minute to fill up some water jugs and straighten your truck if you let it go a bit. Hardly a day goes bye that I don’t have a key account or two. Some we have keys for, others leave keys in hidden places and even some (more than you’d think) leave the doors unlocked altogether.
Although key accounts are a coveted prize for any route, sometimes the tech can take too much advantage of a good thing. It’s easy to shave corners in unoccupied homes and blow through them like a Tasmanian Devil but I’m here to warn you.
The deadly speed of a key account can kill you. I’ve seen too many clients cancel because they felt as if they weren’t being treated right with their service. How would they know since they’re not there? Oh they know, maybe not always right away but little things add up or the word over the fence from a neighbor and they will terminate your service and you’ll lose this very profitable, mutually beneficial account. What’s worse is they really put their trust in you and now no matter how you beg- it’s unlikely you’ll get it back.
So I put together this little video for you on a few tips in servicing a key account and re-enforcing it’s worth to the homeowner even when they’re not home. If you can add some suggestions, we’d love to hear them.
