Are there pest management professionals who aren’t interested in increasing revenue while reducing callbacks? It may seem trivial, but many PMPs have not created a more efficient general pest management strategy using mosquito treatment.
“When treating a mosquito, you’ll be treating it under the deck, in the leaves, and in a dark place with little air movement,” said Thomas Powell, eastern technology head of MGK. “The same place could be a great hiding place for hunting spiders, cockroaches, cockroaches, ants eating insect-eating plants under the leaves. Treating mosquitoes at all those rest areas Not only are they getting really good treatment for general pest control.”
When creating common pest control applications, PMPs often create barriers and handle structures, doors, and windows at a height of 2-3 feet. However, incorporating mosquito remedies means treating away from the structure.
“You are not waiting for them to cross the barrier,” Powell said. “You are killing them in the garden.”
And that expanded therapeutic barrier does not only affect mosquitoes.
“The products we use have labels other than mosquitoes,” Powell said. “They work for more than just mosquitoes. They can reduce the pest population of the whole house.”
Manufacturer MGK has succeeded with OneGuard by Brien Binford of Binford Insect Control in Bryan, Texas. OneGuard combines knockdown agents, long lasting insecticides, synergists and IGR in one product with controlled release technology.
“Since mosquitoes have been a constant problem here in central Texas over the months of spring and summer, they have given us another way to increase our revenue,” he said. “OneGuard has a very broad label for combating other insects, making it much easier and more cost effective to use this material as our mainstay.”
Technicians can become ideal mosquito control salespeople if they understand that mosquito control treatments can reduce common pest callbacks. For most techies, callbacks don’t mean you have extra money in your pocket, so avoiding them is the key to a profitable day.
Powell recalled a frustrated technician who was angry at selling mosquito nets on accounts with frequent callbacks. When the technician began to treat the mosquito, he saw the callback cut off with his own eyes, and that was the moment.
Pest management professionals may even combine pest treatments, which may seem very different on the surface. According to Jason Everitt of Rotter Pest Solutions, St. Louis, MO, customers were tired of being “nickel and dim” for treatment. The company’s tick and mosquito programs were so similar that we decided to bundle them. Today, Everitt makes 10 applications per year, with far fewer callbacks.
“By staying on the premises more often and addressing the pressures of small pests early, we will never (and will) disturb those populations,” he said.
