Each week, Jerry Schappert and Bryan Baird recap some of the most interesting posts from the Pest Cemetery Facebook Group.
If you’re not a member, you can join here: PestCemetery.com
01/23/17
To kick things off, Bryan tells us he’s experiencing an early termite swarm season and has a new addition to his team. His son, Dakota is ready to take a route. These are exciting times for Bryan!
Start up fees are the hosts’ first topic of discussion. In his early business start up days, Bryan typically waived start up fees. He did this to stimulate a more rapid growth in clientele. After some time, Bryan changed his business practices and now charges initial fees for new accounts.
Jerry admits to a rather hefty start up fee, stating the failure to charge such fee isn’t a good way to start off with a customer. “We like to start everyone off the same, that way, there’s no excuse should there be a problem.”
That being said, plenty of business owners do not charge initial start up fees and have experienced phenomenal growth.
Next up, Mark Whorton asks, “ What kind of discounts do you give out if the customer pays for a year in advance?”
Bryan does give a discount and mentions an interesting program called “Season’s Best”.
Jerry hasn’t actively pursued full-year payments, but plans to do so this year. He also shares an easy monthly payment plan he offers his customers.
Glenn Laney and Daniel Dye have brought up the process of using gel baits for clean outs. While monitors and vacuuming are often part of the process, the primary treatment method is baiting.
The guys also mention using Nibor-D in dirty restaurants to help gain control over roaches.
For the last post discussed: Bryan shares a tech’s failed attempt to convince his supervisor in allowing him to bait restaurants instead of applying liquids. Both hosts offer some advice to the technician.
