Customer expectation versus reality in pest control services

Have you been able to answer this question? Maybe you have had your company for many years, but you have never stopped to answer this question. The interesting and essential thing is that the needs are very variable and will depend on each client. Without a doubt, providing services to private homes is not the same as to industries or government agencies. Each client has their demands, and we

We must satisfy them professionally, especially if our intention is to grow in volume and excellence of service. Years of activity do not imply suitability. The creation of paradigms and master recipes have long been enemies of quality services. There are companies that still use old and obsolete techniques today, losing sight of the fact that there may be alternatives that are more effective and efficient, similar words, but with different meanings. Without a doubt, our customers want us to solve their problem, sometimes no matter what way. That is our great challenge. Our capabilities must rise to the occasion and we have the obligation to propose and use all possible alternatives to

respond to our client. Pests belong to no one and everyone, but when it comes to providing services for their control, they will clearly be our responsibility. At least, that's what customers consider. In the triad of requirements of these organisms to establish and proliferate, there are water, food and shelter or nesting sites. Our clients and we can influence any of them from a proactive and preventive vision. To do this, we must “educate” the people who live or work in the infested area. PROFESSIONALISM must include EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATIONS, where we can clearly express what is the function of who demands the service and what is the role of who provides it. From a homeowner to the quality manager of a recognized multinational in the food industry, they must assume a role that favors environmental modifications that minimize the presence of pests. At all times it must be very clear that SERVICE COMPANIES DO NOT DO MAGIC, NOR DO THEY DEMATERIALIZE PESTS. It is key that we understand that we provide a service and not a product. A product can be good or bad, pretty or ugly, of higher or lower quality, low or high price, generic or brand name, but to be sold it must have been previously chosen by the customer. In these cases, the anxiety to have the product plays an important role in customer satisfaction, which is usually achieved once it has been obtained. A service is not appreciated in advance, and it will be good or

bad if we have complied with the claims of whoever demands it. Our clients

true madness. Among the slowest, but highly effective, marketing strategies

initial of the area that suffers from the presence of pest organisms. You must take a look

PROFESSIONALISM MUST INCLUDE EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATIONS, WHERE WE CAN EXPRESS CLEARLY WHAT IS THE ROLE OF WHO REQUESTS THE SERVICE AND WHICH IS THE ROLE OF WHO PROVIDES IT. They need us to work on their satisfaction, and without a doubt, we must make it clear from the beginning what we offer. What is the scope of our service and the expected results. If we correctly explain what we will do, how we are going to execute it and what is expected to happen, we will be closer to meeting the applicants' expectations. Why do I insist on this point? Because the lack of initial communication with the client, or what is worse, the erroneous information that may be provided will imply that the expected result is established by the client. Then your expectation of control will be 100%. And we all know that in pest population management, the concept of extermination does not exist. In so many years of knowing owners, technicians and operators of service companies, I have been able to compile countless anecdotes or comments, some more relevant than others, and a few to be forgotten. Within the last category, there is the one that remains engraved in my mind… “We never seek to control all the cockroaches, otherwise we will lose our job”… SERIOUS MISTAKE. Without a doubt, that client is going to do without our services as soon as they can. Imagine for a second if we went to the dentist and he only repaired half of a tooth, so we come back for the other half a few weeks later, a

Effective is word of mouth recommendation. If our service is recommended by our clients to other potential users, that speaks of satisfaction and ensures our growth. A well-designed integrated control program uses 80% of the time and resources on preventive aspects, while the remaining 20% ​​is given by corrective actions (physical / chemical) applied to control the pest in question. Like the techniques used in the study of crime scenes, the professional and experienced pest control technician must carry out a precise and exhaustive examination.

criticism of the environment, both of the procedures carried out by people and the quality of the building structure. In this sense, it is important to differentiate between private homes, hotels, gastronomic establishments and industries, fundamentally those dedicated to food production. The number of people, the design and maintenance of buildings, the processes of handling organic matter (raw materials), the cleaning programs and the disposal of waste, vary significantly in these scenarios and therefore the predisposition to suffer from pest infestations. Inspections usually require a greater investment of time when

The number of people and established procedures are greater. For practical purposes, we will consider the food production industry as one of the scenarios that requires the most experience from those who provide services. Firstly, due to the complexity of the environment and secondly due to the demands of the international certifiers (BRC, IFS, FSSC 2200, AIB, etc.) that audit the processes in search of increasing the quality and safety of food. Today, rational and comprehensive pest management companies must mainly acquire the capabilities that allow them to understand the organisms to control. Biology and entomology are basic subjects that the Technical Director or Technical Supervisor must handle and the greater the preparation of the operators in these topics, the better the work they perform will be. Knowledge about pest or beneficial vertebrates and their requirements. It is a priority that the concepts of toxicology and ecotoxicology be well managed in order to know and measure the risks for applicators, people in general and the environment. Safety and personal protection elements (PPE) must always be available and be appropriate to the tasks to be performed. It is very important that the service company and its staff know the ENTIRE spectrum of tools available to control a pest population. There is a great diversity of elements and physical procedures to modify environments or minimize populations. In this sense, it must be clear what physical barriers and implements involve to generate structural tightness. The main companies in the world dedicated to integrated urban pest management (IUPM) have specialists in pest control. Monitoring devices (pheromone traps, UV-A light equipment, etc.) and control or relocation devices themselves (sticky traps, mechanical traps, nets and spikes for bird management, etc.) must be known. The use of inert gases used in order to displace oxygen, generating anoxia. Temperature, which when used correctly, allows pest organisms to be frozen (cryogenics) or dehydrated (heated). The implementation of cleaning programs and the appropriate use of techniques that allow the removal of the greatest amount of organic waste. The interesting thing about

interest in international laboratories, and the current legislation in each country. This last point is essential to carry out our activity within the framework of legality. Current and updated information must be managed regarding products and strategies allowed or prohibited in each area, municipality, region or province and nation. In Latin America in general, legislation tends to be diverse between the different levels of government organization in each country and between countries, to the point that in some the use of some family of insecticides is prohibited, and in others it is not. In the ideal world, hopefully in the not-so-distant future, information is horizontal and we can all operate with the same standards and protocols. Finally, this disparity in terms of the regulation and restrictions of pesticide molecules is given by the dissimilar management of information and the feasibility of implementation based on the reality of each country. Compliance with standards and laws is diluted in those governments where oversight is absent or deficient. When this happens, all that remains is to appeal to the conscience and true ethical professionalism of those who provide pest management services. All pesticides can be toxic, as can pharmaceutical drugs. It is a priority to know the active ingredients and formulations to be used, their persistence in the environment or residuality depending on the substrate, the factors that favor their degradation, the biotransformation byproducts and their possible consequences.

WE SHOULD ALWAYS SEEK TO IMPLEMENT IMPROVEMENTS IN OUR PROCEDURES AND TRAIN SPECIALIZED RESOURCES.

skills in carpentry, masonry, electricity and mechanics. It is enough to refer to one of the main service companies in the world such as RENTOKIL and the visualization of job offers where they are constantly looking for this type of experts. Although it may seem unreal, in many areas they are the ones who can modify an environment or install systems that prevent the access and proliferation of an organism that can

this activity, is that, within a month this note will be outdated due to the existence of new alternatives. This dynamic is promoted worldwide by experts who seek and design new strategies that ensure control and reduction in risks. The supply of chemical control elements is extremely diverse in the world, clearly responding to the industrial capacity of local firms, the business dimension and

in non-target organisms and the environment. A well-used pesticide will not represent a risk to anyone, but it is clearly our obligation to understand what a good application entails. The best pesticide used in the wrong place at the wrong time will not do its job. The best formulations usually fail due to the use of inadequate equipment. The application elements must also be a matter of knowledge. There is equipment for applying high, medium, low or ultra-low volume liquid solutions. There are also those for application of powders or granules. Not all formulations are used with all equipment and vice versa. It is important to choose the appropriate equipment according to the formulation to be used, the surface to be treated (porous or non-porous) or the environment in the case of space applications (hermetic or outdoors), and whether it is a crawling or flying pest. The equipment can be portable or heavy to mount on vehicles. When to choose one or the other will depend on the economic resources and applied knowledge of each company. What we undoubtedly need to know is that there are ideal combinations between formulations + equipment + pest to control. Just because we can try to do it the same does not mean that we are doing the right thing. A practical example, common in vector management, is given by the control of mosquitoes with the exclusive application of adulticides with manual backpacks or motorcycle backpacks. Very common practice in low-income areas. Some will say… “at least something is done”… When it would be advisable to apply larvicides manually or with compression sprayers

prior, also motorcycle backpacks, and the use of adulticides applied by cold fogging or thermal fogging. Without forgetting, of course, the previous preventive aspects in terms of modifying the environment, clearing or eliminating breeding sites, social communication, etc. In recent times, the pandemic and COVID have positioned us as a fundamental piece in public health systems, it is our obligation to also train and specialize in sanitation. In many countries the concept of “disinfection” was not the concern of IUPM companies, but in light of reality many have included this alternative in their offered services. Understanding that the control of pathogenic organisms requires specific training and techniques different from those known for pest control, we must invest resources to achieve the necessary knowledge and training. Finally, we have to be extremely conscious about data collection and processing. Nothing we do will be relevant if it is not written and documented. In addition to streamlining administrative processes, management systems or software for integrated pest management such as IGEO ERP have countless functions that allow you to logistically order and organize services, agendas, routes, clients, reports / graphs / monitoring reports, stocks, etc. It would not make much sense for me to provide a description of the management systems in this note, but I must emphasize that each and every company must have the software that best adapts to its reality and possibilities. We must be proactive in “thinking” our companies towards the future, where we want to be and how we want our clients to recognize us. Finally, we must ensure that they see us as strategic partners, preventing the presence of pests or their indicators, and therefore the non-conformities inherent to the audited industrial processes. It does not matter if today we do not have the experience or structure to provide services to the most demanding clients, but if we prepare for them, we will be able to provide excellent services in the area or segment that concerns us.

We must always seek to implement improvements in our procedures and train specialized resources. We must understand that the IUPM service is not a delivery of pesticides and that our collaborators are not “cockroachers.” If we only try to solve the presence of pests by applying pesticides, we are getting closer and closer to an untrained person, giving rise to the old concept of…”I can do it too”… and which today is common in domestic and gastronomic services, where the owner of the house or premises buys his sprayer, gloves and insecticide assuming that he will be able to take care of the situation. PROFESSIONALISM begins with the image of our company and the operators, the survey and diagnosis prior to the implementation of the population management program, the use of the best available tools and their proper use, and the documented monitoring of our activity. Our ability to communicate and interact with the client before, during and after having obtained the proposed and expected results are key to meeting our client's expectations.