Many years ago I had a client who had two major problems. One was a nasty roach problem and the other was, well, me. She was a nice enough lady but she must have felt ashamed to have a bug man. Having the dreaded roach she was set up as a monthly customer but she did not want any of her neighbors to know she had a pest service. I was instructed to park in the alley two lots down and enter the home promptly and quickly and shut the door behind me. Once inside I noticed all the blinds were drawn and she told me under no circumstance was I to spray anything outside where anyone could see me. This went on for a year which was her contract even though I cleaned up her problem in just a few visits. At the end of my service she wrote a nice note to my branch manager but I couldn’t tell if she was more satisfied with my work or the fact that I was so good as sneaking in and out with no one being the wiser.
Then there are the matter of fact clients who seem like that you are a necessary bother. No sneaking around for them, they just want you prompt and in and out once the job is done. These people are more of a minority in numbers but they are significant none the less. I won’t say that they are grouchy or hate to have a bug service but they want their visits short and to the point with very little talk other than job related. Pest sightings are given in a matter of fact style and even though they pretend to not care what you do with the information they’ll watch you to make sure you’ve covered the the areas where the bugs were spotted.
Thankfully these are not the prevailing attitude of pest control professionals in America and indeed most clients are quite the opposite. Almost overwhelmingly people are happy to 
have a true professional come in their homes and provide service. Trust is something that most folks give freely and as long as their technician appears friendly and knowledgeable they are more than eager to have us out. These customers make my job such a joy and I believe they look to my service as an aid to maintain a certain level of comfort and security for their homes.
In all cases I believe the customer is thankful to have the service and I know for me I get an equal amount of referrals from each. The days of willy nilly spray jobs have long since been eliminated and most every company provides a clean effective service which people have come to rely on. Having done service work in many areas of the country this prevailing attitude of wanting professional service is widespread and whether they want to chat or just get the job done doesn’t alter that expectation. For most companies this arrangement works out fine because they too have evolved to a higher level of treatment and are proud of the work they do.
While there are a scant few who fall into other categories they would be the subject of another less flattering article and become the ‘water cooler’ talk for the technicians before they head out on their routes in the morning. Pest control is such a great career and after a few years any good tech has enough stories to tell that he’s always a hit at a party or family get together. I’ve been at this for over 26 years now and only begun to scratch the surface as I write on my blog. I’m still waiting however for the next time I’m asked to park in the alley way but since where I live now there are no alley’s I’ll have to sharpen up my ninja skills.
