Growing Your Business Through Better Customer Communication
Customers are the heart and soul of your pest business – and in addition to providing excellent pest treatments and services, good customer communication is vital if you wish to thrive!
An Overview of the Communication Situation
“One of the great opportunities I see for pest management professionals in Australia is better customer communication,” says David Priddy, CEO of Sundew Solutions.
“During my time as a consultant to the industry, I had the opportunity to ‘profile’ pest technicians from across Australia. While I found that 75% were systematic, task orientated and focused (all great points), I also discovered that they were also exhibiting ‘introverted’ behavioral patterns.”
“Basically a large percentage of technicians are excellent on the tools, but when it comes to customer communication or handling objections, they fall apart,” explained David.
“For example, I once worked with a pest control company in Sydney who had a commercial customer ring up and complain about an $850 bill they received. I asked the technician what was on the invoice he had written up. He simply said, ‘pest services.’”
Although the PCO had completed a complex and lengthy site treatment, his lack of communication – both on the invoice and throughout the service – antagonized the customer, who didn’t understand why he should be paying such a large bill for a simple pest job.
Why Good Communication is Crucial
Good communication is essential in keeping your customers informed and happy. A lack of communication can antagonize, frustrate and alienate your customers. It can also show them that you don’t respect or value them enough, since you can’t be bothered to provide them with detailed and accurate information about their pest jobs.
In general, you should be communicating accurate information to your customers
- Every time you inspect their infestation; discuss with them what you have found, how far the problem goes and why it is happening
- Before you begin each pesticide treatment, outlining what you do and what equipment or chemicals you will use to eradicate the infestation
- After you have finished your application, explaining once again what you have done to resolve the pest problem
- When you send your invoice and any paperwork to your customer requesting payment, feedback or any other interaction
Remember to be as detailed in your communications as possible, and provide as much information as you can to your customer at all times – no excuses!
Explaining How Products Work
Just because you are familiar with pesticide products doesn’t mean that your customers will be. One of the best ways to keep your customer communication on track is to explain to them exactly how your selected chemicals will work once they are applied.
Sundew’s ANTagonistPRO liquid concentrate and SAS PRO granular insecticide, for example,bothutilise non-repellent technology, which allows the active ingredient to be carried back to the nest for total colony elimination.
However, it should also be communicated to the customer that ants from neighboring properties will come foraging into the now ‘ant-free’ zone looking for food and other resources.
When this happens, ANTagonistPRO and SAS PRO are designed to work in a more controlled manner after the first 96 hours to allow the active element to be taken back to these remote nests in order to eliminate them as well.
Giving your customer this level of information and detail is vital in ensuring they understand the type of treatment they will be receiving and the outcomes that will eventuate from your service.
David continues: “Customers often don’t understand pesticide technology, so it is important to explain how these smart products work and what type of results they can expect to see. Do this from the start and you’ll have a client for life!”
Have you got your customer communication under control?
For more great communication advice or to find out more about ANTagonistPRO or SAS PRO, contact Agserv!
