Pest Management Professional, February 2013
austins agenda Austin M Frishman Ph D t Technical Consultant What makes a pest difficult to control If youre waiting until the pest is well entrenched youve waited too long T here are many reasons why control of pest infestations can be difficult If you review the variables and determine which one relates to your specific case youll have a better understanding of how to correct the situation With that in mind lets review some possibilities 1 Your pest doesnt fit into the cookie cutter pest management program you do regularly If your technicians cannot recognize this youll have more frequent callbacks extra expenses and eventually lost customers and revenue 2 The pest was misidentified For example you are trying to control house flies and you have cluster flies Bring a specimen back to the office to identify it properly 3 There is no pest The client has insect phobia or delusory parasitosis Do not treat until you find a pest 4 Its a new invading species and natural predators and parasites arent yet present In this situation populations explode because no one has developed a control program Be careful what your contracts cover at no additional cost Consider excluding invasive pests 5 Legitimate behavior and or chemical resistance exist for the products youre using Ask for help from your distributor and the manufacturer of the product in question 6 The situation is short term and involves an extreme change of weather Storms droughts temperature extremes etc are just temporary situations but you must make your customers aware of how weather events can cause a pest influx and what youll do to minimize the impact 7 Clutter and lack of cooperation favor the pest Document this in your paperwork and communicate the need for change to the client In many cases nothing will change If you point out the need to charge for additional service that might motivate the customer to act 8 More service is needed but you miscalculated The quicker you correct the situation the better off youll be Otherwise youll suffer by increasing your chances of developing a bad reputation 9 You need a night shift The pest might be active only at night even though you work 9 to 5 Alternatively it might be that youre servicing the account at night but some areas are accessible only during the day 10 There are no monitors in place for early detection If youre waiting until the pest is well entrenched youve waited too long 11 Your technicians are suffering mental fatigue Theyre burned out and might even feel like the customer deserves the pests see No 7 Once you identify the reason for your problem account take the appropriate action to correct the situation PMP Contact Frishman an industry consultant since 1967 and president of AMF Pest Management Services at mypmp@ northcoastmedia net 64 February 2013 Pest Management Professional www mypmp net
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