In this so-called ‘age of austerity’, we often look for the best deal we can get for our businesses. Choosing suppliers is an exercise in sourcing the best value, support and sustainability for our company and ultimately to provide the best customer experience possible.
When we think of ‘value’, do we equate that with ‘cheapest’? Is the cheapest available car the best option and best value for the chairman of the board? No, clearly not. It would not be appropriate and commensurate with a professional image. Why do we not always buy the cheapest processed food available from Tesco/Waitrose/Aldi? Because we know that, long term, it may not represent the most nutritious option for us: it could have a long term negative affect on us. In other words, its not worth the money. Do we always go on holiday in a one star hotel or is it worth paying a little bit extra to go and pay for a three/four star? We often find that its worth the extra money: the service, experience and reassurance the service provides more than makes up for the financial outlay.
Well, its exactly the same in pest control. Now, this isn’t supposed to be a post covered in glorious self-promotion for Acclaim. There are a lot of good pest control companies out there who charge a fair price for a good job done. Unfortunatley, like any industry, there are also ‘Cowboys’ and then there are those that compete merely on ‘Price’. Now I’m sure that we all remember that every product is affected by The Marketing Mix‘ Basically, there are four main pillars that determine the marketing of a product:
Product (what it is and what it does),
Price (how much it is and the value/experience/feeling that provides),
Promotion (how it is promoted: bargain basement, premium product, etc).
Place (Where this fits into the market and what market segment will need it)
For a ‘Service’, there are three more:
Person (what was the person like that gave the service? Professional? Unprofessional? Slovenly? Dirty? Neat? Cheerful? Knowledgeable? Did you trust them? Did they fill you with confidence?)
Process (How did they do it? Did they seem to know what they were doing? Did they have the correct tools/equipment? Was it done on time? Were they better/worse than expected?)
Physical Evidence (is the job done? For example, a new door is the result of a double glazing company spending a day fitting a door. In the case of a pest control company, you should have a receipt and a form telling you exactly what was done and do’s and don’ts concerning chemically treated areas.)
So, here comes the main point I wanted to make. If you are paying a pest control company just £30 per quarter for a small pest control contract to cover the infestation of rodents and insects, including unlimited ‘follow-ups’ and ‘call-outs’, you have to question what they’re doing. Put it another way, how hard would you work for £2 per week? I guess that the answer is ‘not very’. Then think about the costs involved: rodenticides, insecticides, application equipment (sprayers and stuff), COSHH assessment, training, insurances (many insurances), vehicles, DIESEL, paperwork, staff wages, method statements, time taken, Health and Safety equipment… the list goes on and on. You have to question whether the pest control company really, really, really has your best interests at heart. Is your business in safe hands? Are you sure that they’re doing a good job no matter how ‘nice’ the technician may appear? How long do they take to do the inspection? Do they debrief you on findings, cleaning routines, areas for improvement, seasonality? Are you being blinded by their sexy marketing? What kind of an image do you want to portray to your customers? What do your suppliers say about you?
The fact is that if a company has found the cheapest suppliers, cut all its costs and is still making no money by doing the job properly, in order to turn a profit, it has to do one of two things: raise prices or cut corners (give a worse service). It was C. S. Lewis that said, ‘when you have eliminated the improbable, whatever is left, no matter how impossible, must be the truth’. So, if your pest controller is not raising prices, there can only be one option left. Logic dictates that they can’t be doing the job properly. We often hear it said that these companies say they can cut costs because they have a lot of customers in one geographical area. Consider what happens when a couple of his nearby contract customers close down: he would have to attend existing customers and make a loss due to revenue lost. It is an unworkable system which is doomed. Surely you want your suppliers to be there when you need them?
Bird netting installation quotations are usually pretty near a similar price: equipment, installation and manpower are normally set at industry standards. On the other hand, pest control contracts can vary wildly in price as some companies compete by quietly cutting service.
At Acclaim, we give tailored solutions because we understand our customers and we understand pests. We know that each new premises is different from the last and pest control is not a mathematical equation. A bakery with its potential for rodents, insects and stored product pests offers a very different challenge to an engineering company of the same size. Clearly one has a greater risk of infestation. The effects and results of infestation would have wildly different ramifications for both premises. When considering a pest control company, always ask yourself what you’re getting and whether the price seems fair to you and to them. If it seems too good to be true, alarm bells should be ringing in your head. Remember: that £30 per quarter can be money down the drain…if you’d have paid a little more, it’d be money well spent. Pay cheap, pay twice. Cheap does not mean better or even ‘as good as’. And remember: if you do get a serious infestation, the cost could be a lot, lot higher and its normally not just financial.
