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 that even though pest control is a science, it’s not an exact one. I’m aware that pests fool even the best of us and customers who have every reason to be ecstatic about your service so often are not. That when things that should add up, so often don’t, and this really is – just the nature of pest control.

If, and I say IF I were to sit in judgement of any technician across this great land. There’d only be one aspect I could honestly assess. Only one thing that truly matters and one thing that if done to the best of your ability, would make up for lack of technique, gaps in knowledge, provide for THE SAFEST applications and reduce most if not all complaints. To truly understand this, lets look at this from a different view.
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The Unknown Comic Of Bee Work

Posted on November 7, 2011 by The Bug Doctor

I’m not sure why but early in my career I was the one always called out for the biggest, nastiest bee jobs. Maybe it was because I wasn’t afraid of heights or perhaps I was just too stupid to realize the danger involved. In those days protective gear consisted of coveralls and maybe a bandanna but with a little bit of knowledge on how bees work and a few minutes of checking out their flight patterns I was able to conquer some pretty huge nests. I almost always worked alone and I was rarely ever stung. For some reason on this day however, my boss would declare “I’m riding with you” in a boastful pride filled tone as if he was gonna show me how it’s done. I’m pretty sure he regretted that day.
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Posted in Bees and wasps, Tales from the route | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

A Pest Tech in Shining Armor

Posted on October 30, 2011 by The Bug Doctor

Like a scene from an Alfred Hitchcock movie I pushed the door open ever so slowly with the only body part sticking out was my eye. The kitchen was clean and orderly with nothing out of place and no hairy beast pounced out of nowhere to confirm my worst fears. Tim was standing at the back door and I could hear the little old lady now peppering him with endless questions and comments. “What’s he doing in there? Your office said you’d get rid of this thing! When you gonna put some traps out?” Tim never flinched. Semi relieved because I had not seen anything face to face in this small but very bright and light colored kitchen, I took a few quick steps toward the back door. Just then a movement caught my eye and I froze with my hand on the knob. There in the corner behind the only dark appliance (coffee maker) in the kitchen was a pretty good sized norway rat. Both of us were motionless hoping neither one of us saw anything even though our eyes fixated on each other. It took a few minutes and the rat sort of settled back in the shadow of the brewer and thats when I felt I could now open the door.
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Who Got Stuck With This Rat?

Posted on October 28, 2011 by The Bug Doctor

Before the days of cell phones, computers and fancy sophisticated equipment the pest control industry seemed to get along just fine. Still, the trade marched on with every new innovation and some worked while others fell into obscurity. I must say, with just the advent of the simple beeper device our service did speed up quite a bit and bottom lines increased. Companies actually bragged in advertising about this technological advantage as a benefit for hiring them. Ours was one of those companies. Still, however great technology is and becomes for pest control, there are just some tools and techniques we’ll never out grow even though some would view it as out dated or even barbaric. This is one of those examples.
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Handling A HUGE Yellow Jacket Nest

Posted on October 27, 2011 by The Bug Doctor

Not to brag or anything but in almost 27 years of pest control I’ve only been stung by ‘stinging pests’ 6 or 7 times. Of those times 2 were by bees, one by a bald faced hornet (MAN DID THAT HURT) and the rest were yellow jackets. One of those times I was excavating an underground nest at night and flipped 5 or 6 of them onto my back with my shovel and oh yes–I got nailed by all of them, several times. So technically that shoots my count way up but over the years I’ve allowed my pride to rule the day and count that episode as just one. 😉 Not bad for a guy who for the first 20 years of battling wasps and the like, didn’t even own a bee suit.
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A Commercial Sales Strategy You Can’t Live With Or Without

Posted on October 25, 2011 by The Bug Doctor

It was the beginning of a new new month in the dead of winter and my first day as a commercial representative. I sat in my same desk as I always had but today I wore an suit tie. The ‘boys’ were a bit perplexed and were wondering what I was up to, they cracked some lines about me having a date across town or some job interviews. Our sales room was always filled with laughter and it was rare to walk out of there not in a good mood but today was a little different. Since it was the first of the month there were no numbers posted on the board, instead we each stated our goals and had to give a small account of how we thought we’d get there. I had learned the hard way not to over estimate my goals cause the ribbing and jokes were non stop even if you had a winning month. There was definitely a not so subtle competition going on and although we were all a team and good friends, no one passed up a chance to get in a good jab.
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Posted in The Business Of Pest Control | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

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, they surely have considered all the options, weighed the pros and cons and we have no doubt they came up with the right answer or have the keenest insight. It’s human nature I guess. After all, these intelligent folks usually have degrees or accomplishments most of us don’t and this lends to the idea that they are almost beyond reproach. Unfortunately the hefty benefit of doubt we give to these astute people can many times lead us astray of common sense. What’s more we often defend that position we’ve now adopted for our own and actively criticize others who haven’t yielded their own thoughts to this superior mind.
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The Common House Spider

Posted on October 17, 2011 by The Bug Doctor

Common house spiders (Parasteatoda tepidariorum) are also known as American house spider or more commonly as just a ‘house’ spider. While there are many spiders you can find inside a home, many of those may or may not always want to be there. This arachnid actually prefers to live near to or in a humans dwelling. Even though this spider lives in such close proximity, it often comes as a surprise to the homeowner who moves some furniture and finds a well established web complete with eggs sacs and many dead insects strewn about. The common house spider is very comfortable in living with you and me.
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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 lack of efficiency and you were all but guaranteed an unscheduled retreat. Termite work was intense to say the least. Even with chlordane’s villainous reputation of indiscriminate killing power, termites needed only a sliver sized break in the barrier to continue ‘unfazed.’ Homes looked like they were on the wrong end of a machine gun fight because termite treaters could leave no void untouched with their hammer drills. Chemicals were decent and strides were being made but without a complete job, pest control services were often left wanting. Pest control has always needed the clients help.
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Scorpion Killer

Posted on October 7, 2011 by The Bug Doctor

When you think of scorpion facts I believe most people think there are just one, maybe two kinds of scorpions in the world, always located in a desert and that the scorpions sting is absolutely deadly bar none. Actually there are many different species of scorpions in the world (about 2000) and only one group among four – the True Scorpions – are capable of stinging. It’s actually a misconception that all scorpions can kill humans by default with their stings; With so many species of scorpions worldwide, only about 40 are considered dangerous. Stings from these may cause complications that lead to death. Namely; paralysis, convulsions, cardiac irregularities, or breathing difficulties. In the United States, only the Sculptured Bark Scorpion is considered dangerous to humans out of the 50 species found in the country. Species of scorpions are found on every land mass except in Antarctica.
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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 you can just about come and go as you please. Have a day or two of poor performance however and it can seem like you can’t breathe as the pressure from a disgruntled boss closes in from all sides. In my residential sales days there was a guy who had a system of keeping the bosses off his back while enjoying the ‘good life’ almost everyday. Being the struggling new sales weasel I was, my branch manager thought it would be good for me to do a little extended ‘ride along’ to see if I could pick up some pointers. I made it my mission to hang around with him as much as I could and try to figure out what he did and how he did it so maybe, just maybe I could have a little of that good life too. In reality, it didn’t take long to figure out what he was pulling off but the how was gonna take a bit more study. Even with that I kept milking my ‘training’ along with him because the days were so much fun. If this was sales, I wanted in.
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Two Winters Too Cold For a Jacket-Winter # 2

Posted on October 3, 2011 by The Bug Doctor

In an earlier article I wrote about the cold realities of the working world of pest control and two of the worst winters in my career. Actually I delivered #1 and only promised the 2nd. This is that story.

Starting a new job is usually a good thing-fresh beginning, new start and a chance to set things right. With a new job you can reset goals and leave those nagging ol failures behind. This was one of those chances with a couple of guys who had been through the ringer just like me. Surely they understood my plight and having a repeat performance of what I had just come out from under was the last thing anyone of could have expected.
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The Many Aspects Of The Termite Booster Shot

Posted on September 29, 2011 by The Bug Doctor

Booster- a happy sounding word that was no doubt coined to inspire confidence or give a ray of hope when customers were looking for success in the face of failure.

As long as there’s been termite work there has always been the booster. The booster was really just a retreat that in some cases was needed when barriers failed and in others it simply gave value to the annual renewal inspection. People came to believe that every year they were paying to have the job done again & got upset if you didn’t spray. My guess is termite companies somewhat fostered this idea and in the end compromised and instead of doing whole new soil treats, they did a little booster.

In the early days of termite barriers retreats were a way of life and managers and salesman called out on the carpet had to find a way of soothing the angry homeowners while still adding credibility to their service. I’m not sure who coined the term or gave this pacifying treatment its name but I believe it has served the pest control industry well over the years.
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Paper Or Plastic – German Roaches & The Brown Bag Effect

Posted on September 26, 2011 by The Bug Doctor

Those of us who’ve been around for awhile can tell you that the phrase “paper or plastic” was one of the most welcome sayings in pest controls history. At least when it comes to german roaches that is. ‘Recyclable’ brown paper bags were the mainstay of carting groceries for years and these semi durable cartons were hardly ever thrown away once they served their main purpose. Instead, homeowners usually folded these bags up and found the most convenient, ready to use & out of the way places to store them. It was here they’d sit sometimes untouched by human hands for years. You’ll notice I said “untouched”, not uninhabited. Some of the worst roach infestations I’ve ever seen started with the brown bag scenario and exterminators around the world all have similar stories. If we’re lucky, maybe we’ll hear a few.
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Posted in Roaches | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

The Saddest Termite Job I Ever Sold & The Smile Of A Mad Man

Posted on September 21, 2011 by The Bug Doctor

It’s amazing how I could go from a top salesman one month and find myself scraping bottom over the next 30 day stretch. My downward spiral in sales would be unacceptable anywhere else but might have been understandable in this case since I just had the rug pulled out from under my feet by a mad man owner. You can decide for yourself if you care to by following this link. I had zero motivation and each new day was like an adventure in “one who flew over the cuckoo’s nest.” Sales can be a cruel way to make a living and the old saying about salesman is oh so true.

Sales are like shaving; do it everyday or you’re a bum

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Posted in Tales from the route | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments