Latest / The Home Service Heartbeat Podcast / You Don't Choose Pest Control, It Chooses You | Guillaume Bergeron of Frontline Pest Control

Transcript

You Don't Choose Pest Control, It Chooses You | Guillaume Bergeron of Frontline Pest Control · The Home Service Heartbeat Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_02: Hello everyone and welcome to this episode of the Home Service Heartbeat Podcast.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm Joe Cressera, and today I'm excited to be joined by Guy Bergeron from the Frontline Pest Control Company in the DC area.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_02: Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, and he's even got a little spot up there in Nashville, Tennessee.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_02: They are committed to a green and environmentally friendly practice.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_02: And they try to provide exceptional pest control service at affordable rates.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_02: Ghee, thank you so much for joining us today.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_02: We're thrilled to have you on the show.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, happy to join you, Joe.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_02: How did I do on that intro?
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_02: Is that okay?
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: I think we're good.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_02: I appreciate it.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_02: Gee, can you share uh how you got started in this uh service industry and what led you to your leadership role here at Frontline Pest Control?
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so there's a common joke, at least in pest control, that you don't choose pest control, it chooses you.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: And that's kind of what happened with me.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: I uh the short version is I was desperate.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: I was in graduate school in Pittsburgh.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: I did my undergrad uh at BYU in Utah and was doing graduate studies in Pittsburgh.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_01: I was recently married and first one on the way, and I needed to figure out how to how to support our growing family.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_01: And um so I I started actually doing uh door-to-door sales with Frontline while I was in graduate school.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: The sole purpose was just to cover my bases and uh to do that um in a job that um presented a high ceiling, which door-to-door sales uh did.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: So initially it was a means to an end.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_01: When I graduated, um, was offered a job from the owners of the company to help run operations.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: And um, so I decided to take that.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um again, fresh out of graduate school, I thought this would be a good, good experience.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: And uh yeah, it's kind of evolved from there.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: I fell in love with um kind of this uh merge of white-collar, blue-collar work and uh and the people that I work with.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's it's evolved to my current role um as the CEO of the company.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: So um that was back in 2011.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: So it's been 15 years now, and uh we're we're uh we're rolling.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: So it's been been a fun ride.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think it's like um it's definitely an interesting business because I think uh I don't think a lot, I don't think a lot of people really get a good insight at as to what is involved.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_02: That's what we're gonna do today.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_02: We're gonna unpack this so that uh the consumers of your business, the people who use you, your loyal clients and the new cloud people yet to be a client can just learn a little bit more about it and uh get get an idea what it uh who they're hiring and uh what's involved with this.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_02: So what's your biggest challenge that you know that probably most clients don't know that you know the pest control company faces when you're trying to grow and establish the same quality?
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_02: And how do you overcome some of those challenges, Arky?
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's a great question.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_01: So I I think um I mean there are a lot of challenges that are just fundamental to running a service-based business.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: We're 100% residential, so that's where we really zero in on.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: We're not focused on commercial work, and then you know, we have to define what our scope of service will be.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, what I like to phrase that out is what are we not just willing to say yes to, but what are we going to say no to?
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: And so early on, um, when the business was smaller, you know, you're trying to take whatever revenue opportunities present themselves.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: So we we did have to mature a little bit in that regard and decide what are we going to say no to?
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: Because candidly, these might just be things we're not the best provider for, and to be fair to customers.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_01: We don't want to just say yes and grab the money, but maybe we're not the best provider to take care of, you know, say wildlife.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: So we don't we don't do wildlife, we don't take care of raccoons or squirrels.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, and that that presents some challenges because we'll have customers who really have a serious wildlife issue, and we're not we're not your people.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: We're not going to be the ones to take care of that.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: So um simplifying the scope of service really allowed us to clearly define who our ideal customers are, which makes it easier for us to market that properly and then execute operationally to support whatever that scope is, rather than say yes and we'll figure it out along the way, which um you know we've learned from our earlier years as a growing business to not do that.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, what I found is that one of the secondary benefits to that is it creates more clarity within the organization.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: Again, the customers don't see that, but it creates more clarity from sales to customer service to field work.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: And now we have a better sense of really who we are rather than um guessing uh a little bit along the way.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_01: So so that's a that that was an initial challenge.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: And then, you know, one of the great things about any market is that the market will help dictate what the price for something like this should be.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_01: So we're certainly not the cheapest option out there, but we're not the most expensive either.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: But we're gonna we're gonna make sure that our quality of service matches the price that we're offering.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: And uh we're able to do that because we are more specialized and more focused on our scope of service rather than, you know, as you say, being a jack of all trades and a master of none.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_01: So we we know who we are and what we're good at, and that's what we're gonna lean in on uh to provide high value service to clients who want to engage us.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's really great.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, honestly, the only way to maintain uh quality while you're in a growth pace, like it sounds like with the multiple states that you're in, uh you know, there's plenty of people who are in pest control be like, man, that's that's a lot to uh that's a lot to bite off.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_02: He's choosing hard to hard to go who do what I got.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_02: How could you get all that uh different locations and different places you're traveling to?
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_02: The traffic in the DC area is not the uh it's it's uh it's famous.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_02: It's like people think people always say LA where I'm from is the worst, but I would uh not uh I would say no.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_02: I say definitely that area you're in is the worst in the country, I would say, for the traffic of any yeah.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the yeah, so I mean that so this area they call it the DMB, it's the D District, Maryland, Virginia area.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: So right around the 495.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's pretty brutal.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so to another challenge, the actual logistics of getting to our customers routing and routing density.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, our philosophy is to have our technicians live within the areas that they service to reduce drive time.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: That's a win for our technicians, but it's also a win for our customers because we're closer, um, which makes us more accessible and our response time can be faster.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: And from my perspective, a win for the customer and a win for our technicians is a win for the business.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: Just less windshield time reduces risk on the road, um, less wear and tear on vehicles, fuel economy, all of these things help us have a leaner operation so that we can not just take care of our employees, but also offer a high quality service at a rate that's still going to be affordable for customers.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: So that um the the analogy I like to use, um I've got a large family of young kids, is uh I want to create what I call trick-or-treating routes, where we're I like to service door to door to door, right?
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_01: And so as a kid, right, you want to maximize your your candy intake, right?
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_01: Your score on Halloween night.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: You want those those tight communities, and you just go door to door to door.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: And um so we we try to build our routes in a way um in some neighborhoods it feels that way, and others we're still working on increasing that density, but density is what helps us win, and uh it helps us make it a win for our customers too, because um of the efficiencies we gain there to make it more affordable for them.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_02: So that's cool.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_02: Well, you know, uh it sounds like a great strategy to make sure that you're uh narrowing it down to make sure you can do a higher quality at the niche business that you're uh seeking to do.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_02: So, what kind of service strategies have been crucial for growing?
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_02: So the basic best, I guess the best way I could ask that is if I was a customer, just say is uh how does it work at Frontline?
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_02: Like what can I expect?
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and what are some of the strategies that have been the most successful uh to helping you grow?
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_02: And and how does that and tell us how the client, what kind of experience would they expect from that strategy?
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_02: Go ahead and tell us that a little bit.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, from the customer perspective, it'll be a little bit from a different angle than than ours.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: But um, so a customer first be introduced to us probably in one of three ways.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, they'll talk with one of our reps on their doorstep.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we do have uh sales reps that go door to door.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um in our industry, sometimes that presents some negative connotations and maybe previous bad experiences by homeowners.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_01: I have people who knock on my door and some are great and some aren't.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_01: And so we're we're sensitive to that.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: But we've been we've been knocking doors for over 20 years and we we try to really dial in what that approach looks like.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: That helps with the that density strategy that I was talking about.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: Because if I can work in a neighborhood that has a hundred homes, let's say, and we can get, you know, we service 12 to 14 homes in one day, but if if 12 of them can be in one neighborhood, then our technicians' availability to those customers is really high.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: So so first interaction will be that way.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, second will be through any digital marketing means.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, your Google ads, social media ads, um, things like that.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, we have really um great online presence with reviews and things.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: So people, you know, shop the traditional online way and look at reviews of what people say about this company.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: Uh the introduction of AI is making this a little bit interesting with how AI, you know, the AI overviews of the results um rank, I guess, companies.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: And that's a kind of a new environment we're navigating.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_01: And then um the third is it probably a referral, or are you just seeing our vehicle constantly in your neighborhood or on the road in the greater DMB area?
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, we have over 120, 130 vehicles on the road, and we've been in those markets since 2008.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_01: So um, so we're playing the long game in our markets, and we want to be that regional presence that people recognize and they know and they've seen.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: So um, if you've been living in that area for the last 15 years, you may very well likely have spoken to us on your doorstep, seen our ads online, or you've seen our vehicles around.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_01: And those are kind of the introductory uh ways that customers will start that conversation.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, like any relationship, we can't just uh hit a home run on the first date.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: We have to show up over and over again.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_01: So it can't just be uh, you know, high expectations um, you know, from the beginning.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_01: We have to meet those expectations.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_01: So sound operational practices on the back end, clear communication on when we're coming.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if something wrong happened, which it does, we run a business run by human beings and mistakes will happen.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: You mentioned traffic earlier, people get sick, accidents happen.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, well, we want to communicate clearly and help customers um understand that we're gonna, you know, we're the type of people that'll make it right if something like that does happen.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, thankfully, the way that we set things up is to reduce those instances, but when they do, we want to be quick to catch you, which, you know, any relationship that you and I have, you know, the most most important one for me would be with my wife and my children.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not perfect in those areas as well, but high communication um leads to quick forgiveness and built trust.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_01: So that's really what it boils down to for us is build trust with uh with homeowners um and and ensure that we can continue to execute into the future.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_02: So when you uh somebody calls you for pest control, usually I I am a consumer of pest control myself, uh off the record to tell you that.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_02: So I have uh I I know we are we always call like, oh my god, I think I saw this kind of a I got an ant problem, or I got a uh this kind of a problem, or I got uh I think I saw the what do you call this bug?
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, what do you call it?
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_02: Like I took a picture of it.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_02: What do you what do you what is that thing?
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_02: And so we we got the one thing we see.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_02: We think that's the problem.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, but um when you when you come into my home when the the first time we meet and things like that, um what's the uh tell us a little bit about that experience?
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_02: Is that uh there's an analysis, or you just are oh, let me, I can get rid of that one bug, or here I just uh is it tell me tell me what's the trying to take care of the big problem or the small one, or tell me what exactly uh that looks like from uh what would I expect when uh you come over to visit for the first time?
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it it it'll vary depending on the need.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: Some issues are way more acute than others.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we're talking about situations where there's a serious rodent infestation or cockroach infestation or serious hornet's nest, just uh wreaking havoc under the deck or whatever to uh you know, people who want to be proactive and preventative about it.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, uh different people have different pest tolerance levels, right?
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_01: Some people see one bug and freak out, and some people see 20 and they think, uh, no big deal.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_01: And so um, so we are in the business of managing expectations, and those expectations will vary wildly from one client to the next.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_02: That's interesting.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't think I didn't think about that.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_02: That's that's a good point there.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_02: The people expectation there too, right?
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_02: So that's interesting.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_01: So for example, if someone calls in, you know, they've got a serious cockroach issue, they're likely German cockroaches in our markets, and um, and they want them gone day after we service, as the sales representative or the individual talking, or the technician there doing that first service, we need to help, you know, our feelings and opinions don't matter relative to reality.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: And so we need to help them under, we understand German cockroaches, they're not going to disappear, most likely, after one visit.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, they, you know, they reproduce very quickly, likely the ones we see.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: There's probably, you know, 10x that the ones you don't see.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_01: And we want to make sure that we address the root cause and not just put a band aid on it.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: So um, the temptation sometimes is to tell the customer what they want to hear because it makes them feel better and it brings that stress down, and then boom, you you got a commitment from them with their wallet to pay you to come do this, right?
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_01: So there's a balance of um, you know, setting proper expectations that you can be confident that we'll address it, but managing perhaps a timeline or exactly how this is going to happen.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, depending on, you know, there's a generational component to this too, that's been an evolution in our industry, is back in the day, we could cake the place with all sorts of products, um, but we can't do that anymore because dogs will grow two tails, or you know, there's some more environmental factors at play, or you know, we're regulated by, you know, the Department of Agriculture, and um products we use have to be um, you know, in line with all of those regulations and how we apply them.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_01: So sometimes it's it's not so much a it is a less is more approach.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes it's environmental factors of hey, here's some pointers on how you can trim your bushes to prevent pests from bridging to your home, or you know, your your yard is way overwatered, and that's leading to some um, you know, some mosquito breeding problems that you're dealing with, or you live in the woods, therefore ticks are going to be a problem and spiders are always going to be around.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_01: So our job is just to make sure that they're not getting inside, but you're probably still gonna see them outside.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_01: So again, um it I think uh customers who interact with us, they they should feel like we're trying to educate but manage their expectation um along the way.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then the reality is there, it's it's a maintenance type thing.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um there's no silver bullet.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I can't wave a wand and make bugs disappear forever.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_01: And our our products, because they're heavily regulated, they have to be um, you know, they they're basically no longer effective, usually after 90 days.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_01: So we try to come out once a quarter and keep a barrier up to keep bugs away.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_01: But um so people have different philosophies and ideas and opinions on that.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_01: That's fine.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but our we we know pest control, we know the best methods to to keep them away on an ongoing basis.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: And so if you have an acute problem, we'll come get rid of that, but we'll also make sure that we don't allow it to become an acute problem again.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if you just want to be proactive and prevent, um, that's our our bread and butter, and that's what we do for the majority of our customers once we resolve their their big issue.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_02: Is there is there a key moment, uh Ghee, where you can tell us about when you so when did you start this business, Ghee?
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_02: How long ago was it?
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: So our our company was founded in 2003, but in our current markets in 2008.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_01: So Yeah, I'd say 2008, yeah.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_02: It still has a long it's a long time to do this.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_02: Uh tell me about um a time when you first started out there back in the old back in the old days, back in 2008, which of course for people like me, that seemed like just yesterday.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_02: But uh but uh but tell us about a time when you realize that you know it's a time when every business knows like this is not working, it's you know, yeah, this this business isn't working, or on the other side, like you you it sounds like you have experienced uh in a great degree.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_02: I I think we're onto something.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_02: This is actually uh gonna work out.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_02: Was there some moment of client feedback or some kind of moment you can remember where?
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_02: I think I think we're onto something here.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_02: I think this is going to be something that's going to uh really be a sustainable thing that's really creating value for people.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_02: Can you give us a story about something that was an old-time client who maybe told you on the right bat somewhere?
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think um so maybe uh an example of both, and maybe not specific client interaction, but I think pretty quickly we we realize that people will buy this.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: Like this, there's not a concern about whether or not there's a demand for this type of service.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um so that that was exciting and and still is.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, this is still continuing uh to this day where we feel like we still have a lot of runway within our current markets and you know, potential expansion and growth.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_01: But um yeah, we so the question was how will we systematize our business to capitalize on the market opportunity to make this a smooth experience for for employees and and um and also our customers?
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I alluded to it a little bit earlier, but it was kind of just realizing what to say no to.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, because you know, you sign up a customer's like, oh, I have a dental office, why don't you come service that?
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_01: Or I own three gas stations, can you service those?
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, my sister lives in an apartment complex, you know, in in in Washington, DC.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_01: Can you come do that?
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, what about wildlife or bed bugs or other things?
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: We in the beginning, we were kind of just yes men.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_01: We wanted to just say yes to everything.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_01: And part of that was just the desire to grow the business and not lose business.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_01: And I think just turning that, I don't know, that business maturation corner, if you will, of understanding that we don't need to say yes to everything.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_01: And that's actually a a good thing.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we don't need to be all things to all clients.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so that that was a good turning point, and then that allowed us to simplify the operation and to really lean in on our strengths and focus on uh on the operation behind that.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_01: So um, and then that kind of kept feeding the first opportunity of people will still buy this and let's just keep leaning in on that.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_01: And customers have a good experience or easy to refer to their neighbors or family, and it just kind of keeps building that way.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_02: That's great.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_02: Uh tell us about um if I was going to be a consumer of your business, how would I know that I would be like kind of fit the avatar?
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_02: You know, there's you know, obviously, uh like Starbucks looks for coffee drinkers.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_02: Uh right.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_02: How would you how would you know that uh like yeah, the kind of person I am and the kind of uh situation I I have?
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_02: What what what's what would be uh to know I'm a good fit uh to work with your company?
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_01: So what kind of really dialed in homeowner?
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um that's it if you're a homeowner.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_01: We we don't do commercial, no multi-unit buildings, um, and just uh residential pest control.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_01: We do mosquito and tick control and also termite control.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_01: So um whether it's a town home or a single family home, we'll service those.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we draw the line up multi-unit.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_01: So if it's it's an apartment, you know, if we're if we're living vertically, that's not our expertise.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: There's commercial providers that um can it they are just gonna do a better job and offer more quality service.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, if you own a home in the greater Washington, DC area, you're you fit the bill.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_01: And um, if you want a pest free environment for your home and family, um we're looking for for that type of of client.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_02: And then what kind of quality when it when it comes to the employees, I do see uh in your reviews there's quite a few mention of your uh amazing employees.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_02: We have Danford and Michael and just other people who work for the company.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_02: It's like uh it seems like your uh people are good at uh creating that relationship.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_02: Jason and it's just like a who's who or Alex and Arlin.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I'm just you can tell them you're in oh 'em they're in the podcast now and then maybe they'll listen to you.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe they'll listen to you.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_02: You never know.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they're all great.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, the one it's your strategy to find good people like that.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_02: Uh what would you say that is?
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_01: One of the hardest things is is that to find the right people.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_01: They're not hard to identify once once they're in and you get to know them.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_01: But um early in my career, I I felt like sometimes interviewing was a bit of a game of roulette, like you just don't know.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um anyone can show well in an interview, maybe even through the first two days of training.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_01: And so um, again, back to expectation management, making it clear who we are.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_01: And so we have very clear ideals that we look for.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_01: We're looking for people that are humble.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_01: That's the first attribute that we look for.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_01: People that are hungry and people that are smart.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: And I'll define smart.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_01: It's not um necessarily uh it's not book smarts necessarily, but just high social IQ, know how to respond, know how to read the room, understand the situation, have a good degree of empathy.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_01: And and so uh, but but the humility is going to be the first one.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_01: So we try to identify that early on in the process and um and assess from there.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um but it back to the client relationship.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_01: My my customers are our employees.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_01: I don't, I'm not customer facing our customers, don't care who I am.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_01: They don't um they don't care who the CEO is or whatever.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_01: Uh they care who's coming to their home.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_01: And so my customers are our employees and uh all the leadership throughout our business.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_01: We try to have that approach of take care of your people.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, org charts often start with the entry-level uh roles.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_01: I like to say underneath that, the bottom of our org chart is actually the customers.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_01: And so if if those people are going to be interfacing with the customers, we really need to have a strong degree of support um and connection with those people because they're the ones that they're the face of the company to the customer, they're the owner of the company, they're the ones that are going to take care of their issue.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: So um so we we do try to um, and it's ambitious, I think.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um we try to straddle that line of being efficient, but making sure that our people are seen and known.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, for for as large as we are, we you know, we know people and try to understand their situation and help them grow and understand what their goals are, and again, manage expectations properly.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_01: What sometimes that means we have to say no, and say this probably isn't what you're actually looking for, and it's not not fitting properly.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like a big jigsaw puzzle, just trying to, you know, we understand our corner pieces and our edges, and we're just trying to fit all the middle pieces properly so that we can build a nice cohesive team because otherwise, you know, we we potentially dilute.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I always tell people when we hire um with each person you hire, you dilute your culture proportionate to the number of people you hire.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_01: And so we have to have a very strong onboarding, acculturation kind of process, and that doesn't happen overnight, just like any relationship.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_01: So we're willing to go all the way in and we invite people to come all the way in with us, but that's challenging.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_01: People come from different backgrounds and situations and degrees of trust with their employer and things like that.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_01: And I understand that.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_01: And uh sadly, people have had bad experiences with their previous employers, and so they come in with a bit of a wall or a little bit guarded.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_01: But if if we can break that down, then that just exudes the customer.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_01: They feel that instantly.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_01: They'll ask our technicians, is this your business?
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_01: And to me, that's a compliment if they get that question asked to them because it shows that they they have a high degree of care for what they're doing.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_02: So the training is uh uh interesting because I don't think I've I've never met anybody who said that uh, yeah, you know, I'd like to go to school for pest control.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_02: No, I've never I've never heard me say, like, hey, you know what, I'm going to school for pest control right now.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_02: But uh honestly, honestly, it has to be uh a very detailed and meticulous business because I do know that controlling the pests in my structures and the finding the residential structures I've had has not been always the easiest thing to do.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_02: But once we did have a real professional, it was it did manage it.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_02: We eventually got chickens, and that seemed like it really helped a lot, honestly.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_02: So but uh I wouldn't recommend everybody get chickens to control all their pest, but uh yeah, yeah, but it did help.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_02: I would say it didn't kill it all the way, but it did help.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we lived out in uh the wine country in California, so it was like you never know what's gonna crawl on our front door.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_02: So um but tell us about uh uh how much education does it take?
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_02: Uh like if I was if I had my son or my daughter go to work for you, um how much education would they get to be a professional like you guys obviously are?
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so there this can be all colors of the rainbow.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_01: You know, our our employees span the spectrum there in terms of maybe didn't even graduate high school or have a high school degree to people with collegiate degrees.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, there are formal, you know, you you have what we call board certified entomologists.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_01: These are, you know, these are your bug pros, they know all the the details.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_01: But what what we've learned is we develop a good system, the right products, the right application methods.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_01: So it's really knowing what products and where to apply them and for what issues.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_01: And so when you know that equation, um there's not a lot of formal education that's needed.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_01: Depending on the state that you're in, there's going to be um different requirements for licensing.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, each state requires some type of applicator's license.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're going to apply pesticides around a residence, you have to have an applicator's license.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_01: Oftentimes you have to be working underneath someone's business or commercial license to do that.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so we we follow all of that um very closely.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um and then we encourage people to go pursue more licenses.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_01: And what's cool is that it's their license, their name's on it.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_01: It's not Frontline's license.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_01: And so for whatever reason they move on, that license can stay with them and they can take continuum education credits and classes, which we do.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, Frontline will provide that for employees.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then if you want to make it even a bigger thing, you can go get other certifications um that are recognized throughout the industry uh in terms of um, you know, your your ability or knowledge rather of how to take care of pests.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_01: But the very entry-level point, we can teach it actually pretty quickly.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, we call it pest control, you alluded to it.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes we're trying to control the uncontrollable, which is nature, but there are ways to do it in a in an effective way.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um but what's harder to train on is character.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_01: And so we try to hire off character, the pest control we can teach.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um that's not something that's difficult to grasp.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but again, you got to be humble, hungry, and smart to be able to come in and fit really well with what we're doing.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_01: So so yeah, if if if if your son or daughter came, I think we can get them up to speed pretty quickly.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_01: But um, it's also one of those things where every home is different, every situation's different.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_01: And once you feel like you've seen it all, boom, something happens.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_01: I've been in this for 15 years, and there'll be a situation that comes like, wow, this is actually a very unique circumstance, and we need to go in and address it.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, maybe a little bit differently.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_01: But in terms of formal education, not a lot required to enter, but if you want to grow within the industry, there's certainly educational and training opportunities to professionalize your um your skills a little bit more.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, because you're handling uh volatile chemicals and the biological friendly chemicals that you're trying.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's a lot it seems like it's uh definitely uh I think the I think when you mentioned several times like the boundaries of this business, uh to keep certain things uh I mean, honestly, it's funny because the pet I didn't think about the pest control business is a boundary business.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_02: It's like we're trying to create this boundary between us and the pests, but but then naturally the company itself has to have you know, hey, we only can let good people in here.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, not not not people who are not gonna be, you know, be able to serve customers and uh so tell us about the leadership strategy to keep things on track.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, uh, is it kind of like we train you and it's probably much your idea, we trust that you're gonna do things and only uh lose that trust once we uh see the performance, or tell us about the level of uh the kind of leadership strategy you would say you have?
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_02: Is it more of a hands-off or uh you guys have a lot of fun over there?
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_01: Tell us about uh what it's a combination of both.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, um not to oversimplify it, but to me it's no different than any relationship you and I would would find valuable, right?
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_01: Whether it's a best friend or spouse or child or anything like that.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_01: So any relationship has to be founded on a high degree of trust.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_01: I'm naturally just a high trust individual.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_01: And so you have my trust the moment we meet.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, even if that trust is violated, I think it can be repaired.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_01: But obviously, to the degree to which it's violated, we have to repair on the other end.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, there are some zero tolerance things where we just can't we just can't tolerate this.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_01: Is a highly unsupervised type job.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, a high degree of integrity and um high character, like I said earlier, is gonna matter a great deal.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um so yeah, what once we start with that trust foundation, it becomes very easy for us to have what I would call healthy conflict.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, I think artificial harmony is sometimes dangerous to a relationship.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um what I mean by that is underneath the surface, there's some things that bug us or that we don't like, but to keep the peace, we don't say anything, and then eventually, you know, things boil over.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_01: So I think we facilitate that um healthy conflict by hiding a high degree of trust.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_01: And then once we can get through those misunderstandings or maybe differences of opinions, or even just clearing things up, our commitment level goes up.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_01: And when our commitment level goes up, then we have a high degree of accountability for what we do, and then that impacts the outcome.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_01: So um, so to your question about leadership strategy, it really starts with you know, some people um, and this is uh, you know, you're probably familiar with James Clear and the atomic habits, but he kind of teaches identity-based habits.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_01: And I like to think of it as identity-based leadership, where rather than focusing on just the outcomes, you know, that's what we often do.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I want whether it's to lose weight or to make X amount of revenue or sales or whatever.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, what do I now have to do to attain those outcomes?
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_01: And if I now do those things, I will be right uh more fit or a better salesman or whatever.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_01: We we try to really follow the principle being identity-centered first.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so who are we trying to become?
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_01: And then let that identity um, you know, reveal naturally what you will now do to become that person.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_01: Then the outcomes become kind of a natural fruit of that seed that you're you're planting, right?
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_01: And and going.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_01: So, um, which is hard.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, again, that's why I can't train character.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_01: I believe people can change.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_01: I don't want to be misunderstood with that, but if if people come in with that high degree of character, it's much easier to help shape identity that way, and then the outcomes kind of work out in our favor.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so we we try to do that certainly from top to bottom, you know, starting with me all the way down, but also making sure that when new employees come in, they can have a high degree of impact on day one with their customers and try to be the type of father, husband, employee, friend, son, whatever that looks like that you want to become.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that translates directly into their work.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, people talk about separating work and life.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_01: I just I don't know how you do that, honestly.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_01: I think uh on on a schedule, I know how to do that, but in terms of who you are, I think work is part of life.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's just I mean, we work we work in America, at least if our Americans, we work far more than we actually spend our time living life, you know.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_00: Whatever we have eight hours, you know, it's a third of the day if you're sleeping for the other third, then the other third is it's so like I don't spend I don't spend eight hours with my with one of one of my kids.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_02: You got eight, six, you got six children, and it's hard to you don't you don't spend eight hours with any one of those.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_02: Every now and then you go camping or something like that, but you know, routinely it's like you spend more time with your work.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I I get that.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_02: And I think the the boundaries part of it does create the trust, right?
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_02: It's like the uh you know the fact that they that your employees trust that yeah, they're not gonna get us into something that isn't gonna fit our I'm not gonna send me something I've I'm gonna be outside my um outside my my my my weight or whatever you want to call it there, right?
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna be fit fit the picture here.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that's part of it there, the character from both directions.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_02: Like you're not gonna send me a wild goose chase.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I'm not gonna uh do something that's gonna make scratch his head either.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_02: So I think it's uh a collaborative effort.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_02: I think leadership is like that, it's a collaboration.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_02: And I think the the rituals, because uh, this is a very ritualistic business.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_02: It's like just like you know, I would say the rituals of like you know, taking a shower, combing your hair, brushing your teeth, making your bed.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and then for you guys, it's like okay, now go do pest control.
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_02: That's even more of that uh ritualistic behavior.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_02: Some businesses are like you never know what you're gonna get into, but this business, uh, you kind of got a good idea of what you're gonna get into.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_02: And that part I want to I want to shift the shift the focus a little bit away from that, uh, because uh move on to uh the process versus the people.
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_02: Um, is it uh because I remember I worked at a job one time uh in the in in heating and air conditioning, it was a union job, and they're like, hey, don't talk to anybody.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_02: It wasn't a residential thing, and like you know, literally said the only thing you'll get fired for here is if you talk to the customer.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_02: We don't want you talking to the customer.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_02: Like uh I guess they are instead of training me how to communicate, they're like, Don't don't say anything because we don't we don't we don't want you to screw up these the because it was a pretty nice area, like the uh Lake Forest, Illinois, where I grew up, and it was like don't talk, don't talk to anybody, okay?
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, I'm I'm an outgoing person, so I had a hard time.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_02: So then customers would talk to me, and I just talked to them and say, Hey, what do we tell you about?
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_02: They even warned me, like, so tell me about you guys.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_02: Like, was that about I mean, the route and the efficiency is an important element of uh staying uh being able to make a profit to stay in business so you can serve the customer, but there's also the people element of it, and it sounds just like in the reviews that it sounds like uh like you're not just gonna put your head down and just not uh interact with people.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_02: How important is it, the relationship with the client and your and your coworkers who are on the front line there?
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's it's a great question.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_01: So purely from a numerical standpoint, right?
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_01: At a minimum, we will service for our pest control customers, it'll be different on mosquito and termite, but a minimum of four times a year, once a season, we're showing up to do your regular maintenance, right?
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_01: Just to maintain that protection around your home.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um what are the odds that customers are home?
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_01: Generally speaking, our customers will be home, I don't know, maybe 30% of the time.
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, since COVID, you know, the increase of work from home um has gone up.
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_01: So it's interesting during COVID, we actually learned quite a bit about this because way more people were home.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_01: And so interactions, the interactions went up.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, uh maybe to your your experience earlier, depending on how good you are interacting, then the customer satisfaction went up.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_01: If you're bad at interacting, maybe it went down.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_01: It was like, hey, reaction.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_02: That's right, that's right, that's right.
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and so there was maybe earlier on this attitude of we hope customers aren't home, because then we could just, you know, put some music in, do our job around the house, and then move on.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and we would still do a fantastic job.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um the approach that that I try to encourage our employees is hey, they're not all going to be home.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_01: So when they're not home, do a bang up job.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_01: You know, if you want to listen to your book or to some music while you're going and you know, pay attention to what you're doing, we're okay with that.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um if they are home, like that might be the only interaction you have that year with that customer.
• 38:41
  SPEAKER_01: And so we have to be ready for those interactions and welcome them and be eager to have them.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_01: And um let's face it, we're entering people's most intimate parts of their lives, which is their private residence.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_01: We're going in their in their basement, in their bedrooms, in their bathrooms, in their kitchens, in their living rooms, in their garage, everywhere.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_02: It can be very it can be very embarrassing too, to like to oh yeah, you know, to to say, and nobody ever wants to say, I think we got roaches here.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_02: Like, right, like so you don't want to control that.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_01: It has to be some tact and help them understand, hey, this had you know, uh, you know, you your your your million-dollar homes, your mansions, the White House, you know, these beautiful dwelling, they need pest control.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_01: They have pests, right?
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_01: So anyway, so um, to your point, the the interactions, um, the the people are always going to be the focal point.
• 39:37
  SPEAKER_01: Uh because if we can have great process tools, technologies, cool vehicles, cool ads, whatever.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_01: But at the end of the day, if the individual showing up um is not able to interact and connect with the homeowner, pest let's pest control is really easy to turn off.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_01: It's not contractually a hard thing to turn off.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_01: It's just not.
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_01: And so, and it's not a hard thing to turn on either, right?
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's a phone call, or is nowadays it could just be a message in and boom, I got a scheduled appointment tomorrow or the day after.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_01: So um we don't require the the way I like to tell our employees like the the best type of service experience our customers have is when they don't notice us, actually.
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_01: We came, we left, they didn't really feel our presence, we didn't interfere with their day, we didn't tie them down or make them feel like they had to babysit us while we were on site.
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_01: That's the ideal situation.
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but also when they have a problem that we can show up and like, oh boom, oh, there you are.
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I'm glad you're there and um and addressing this in the right way.
• 40:43
  SPEAKER_01: So it's finding that right balance, you know, and again, just statistically speaking, most customers won't be home on any given day.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_01: So on those days, make sure you're giving a top-level service because nobody's watching.
• 40:55
  SPEAKER_01: That's where characters revealed, right?
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah, exactly.
• 40:58
  SPEAKER_02: That's just totally a character.
• 41:00
  SPEAKER_01: And let your work, but uh, you know, you highlighted some of those reviews, like uh those are coming with the interactions and they know their names, they had a good interaction, it was explained properly, the expectation was managed properly, and you know, if there's a problem, we'll come back.
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we don't don't feel like you have to handle this on your own.
• 41:17
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes pests can be really persistent and the pressure can be higher because of environmental factors or a big rainfall or a spike in temperature or whatever.
• 41:26
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of things that are going on.
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so we we got you.
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_01: We'll we'll come take care of it and uh we'll we're gonna handle it in that way.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_01: But um, so it's a balance of communicating when it's needed, but when there's no interaction, making sure that we're executing in the way so that there's no need for interaction if it's not an acute problem.
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_01: So we have to train the skill though.
• 41:50
  SPEAKER_01: We we need people that can interact.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_01: We can't have people that aren't good at that because there it's going to be needed every day.
• 41:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_02: Tell us about uh the future of your kind of service business.
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_02: What are some of the what will pest control look like?
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I can imagine with technology and stuff like that, and the way that cameras and stuff are, uh, the detection of uh the need for your services and things like that.
• 42:17
  SPEAKER_02: What do you what do we what can the consumer look forward to uh of both detection and uh you know to make sure that the I guess the quality control before we just would only see our viewpoint, but now you know you can see things in a home 24-7 when you're not there.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_02: What what do you think of the future of pest control looks like?
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and how will technology play a part in the future here?
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_01: So our industry as a whole is growing.
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, bugs um have been around uh since the beginning of time.
• 42:47
  SPEAKER_01: So I we're we're in an industry where the need is always going to be there.
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_01: So there's not a concern about the need, and the the market for pest control is going is growing year over year.
• 42:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um we're experiencing that as a business with the industries as well.
• 43:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um from a customer experience standpoint, they'll they'll feel maybe some of those technological benefits.
• 43:09
  SPEAKER_01: So we're we're you know, we attach photos to service invoices, and um, you know, we've talked about video documentation and again trying to tell a story.
• 43:19
  SPEAKER_01: This is what we saw, this is how we handled it, and uh technology helps enhance the ability to build that story.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, from uh, you know, again, in an age of AI, um there are ways in which, to me, AI is a tool right now, and we need to just figure out how to leverage it properly and use it appropriately for what our need is, no different than you know, our trucks are a tool to get to our customers.
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, could our vehicles become self-driving in the next five years?
• 43:50
  SPEAKER_01: Sure, self-driving vehicles already exist.
• 43:52
  SPEAKER_01: Could that be part of how our fleet is managed?
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, that could be part of it.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, at the end of the day, at least within um the next decade, and uh I have a hard time envisioning humanoids or robots spraying houses.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_01: I just don't see that.
• 44:10
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's just we can talk about pesticides on my residential property.
• 44:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's not to say that humans can't make a mistake, but you want to make sure that that's that's regulated properly.
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_01: But um, I still think that human touch point is gonna be huge.
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_01: And so I still think we're gonna be very people-centric.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, whatever technological advancements come up, and they've come up, you know, we we monitor all of our vehicles.
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_01: They have dashboards, uh, inward facing, outward facing.
• 44:35
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we monitor every moment of the day where our technicians are.
• 44:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um and uh I think customers should feel good about that.
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_01: We know exactly when they started the vehicle, when they arrived on site.
• 44:45
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we ask them to take photos when they're on site to make sure that we document properly to help build that story.
• 44:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um the reality is customers, there's nothing we really leave behind that customers know we were there, other than you know, a service completion bag with a you know a card in it, because the it's an invisible type job we're doing.
• 45:11
  SPEAKER_01: We're applying products that aren't designed to be visible.
• 45:15
  SPEAKER_01: And so showing as much as we can to the customer that we're doing what they contracted us to do matters a lot.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_01: And technology does help us with that.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I still think, at least from the customer experience side, the human connection and reliability on the individual technicians going to be a big part of what we're doing.
• 45:34
  SPEAKER_02: So let's go ahead and wrap it up here.
• 45:37
  SPEAKER_02: Let's go ahead and say, uh Gee, let's say uh, where can listeners connect with you or learn more about uh partnering with you or working for your company?
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_02: How can they what's the best way to get a hold of you guys?
• 45:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean you you can look us up online, frontline pest control, uh, frontlinepest.com.
• 45:52
  SPEAKER_01: But if you just search frontline pest control, you'll find us pretty quickly.
• 45:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, we're on you know social media and uh you know LinkedIn, Instagram, um, all of those.
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, hope hopefully they can find us, uh, share vehicles out there and talk to us on their doorstep.
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_01: But uh a quick search, they should be able to find us pretty quickly.
• 46:13
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you, Gee.
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_02: Well, that was another great conversation with my friend Guy Bergeron from Frontline Pest Control.
• 46:23
  SPEAKER_02: Ghee, I really appreciate you coming on the show and sharing all of your wisdom.
• 46:26
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 46:27
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, thanks, Joe.
• 46:29
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and thank you everyone for sticking with us until the end.
• 46:31
  SPEAKER_02: If you gained value from today's episode, we'd love for you to leave a rating or review wherever you listen to podcasts.
• 46:37
  SPEAKER_02: And if you know somebody in the service industry or anyone is looking to scale their career or business, send this episode their way and take one insight from today's uh show and put it into action and let us know how it goes.
• 46:49
  SPEAKER_02: We'd love to hear about your progress.
• 46:51
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks again for joining us, and we'll see you on the next episode of the Home Service Harpy Podcast.
• 46:58
  SPEAKER_02: Goodbye, everyone.