Pest Management Professional, November 2009

focused on getting even better than we had been in the past The training didnt just focus on one aspect of the business although Sawyer is proud to say he added three associate certified entomologists ACEs to his staff over the past year on the technical side He has also helped employees earn college credits paid for business classes for his office staff and hosted other training for the entire team We looked at every job and found areas where the people in those positions could improve their performance Sawyer says Then we encouraged them to look for training courses that would help them Most of them took us up on that offer Its paid off because it increased their desire to succeed which helps all of us succeed he adds While the number of calls to his office from marginal cash customers dropped off his team learned how to work internal leads more aggressively Sawyer says his team learned to land more referrals hold on to customers that were considering cancellation and mining their existing customer base to find new revenue sources It wasnt easy Sawyer says but its the kind of work you need to do in this kind of economy If there was a silver lining to the dismal economic situation it was a new crop of people looking for work who normally wouldnt have considered a career in pest management Because of Sawyers reputation in the area for stability the company capitalized on this new economic reality He took advantage of the ailing economy to seek out additional team members from some of the other suffering industries in the area One such hire was a comptroller the state of your industry Focus on 2010 When Micron Systems the areas largest employer cut its workforce nearly in half from 11000 workers to around 5500 Sawyer received a call from one of his former employees who has moved on to Micron The employee was looking to get out of that company and sought Sawyers Sawyer says his team learned to land more referrals hold on to customers that were considering cancellation and mining their existing customer base to find new revenue sources advice on what he thought he should do Sawyers response Come back here Hed worked for us for seven or eight years and was a good employee Sawyer says So when he was looking for work I thought Why not take him back He moved right back into his old office and is once again an asset for us One thing he didnt cut in 2009 was advertising It doesnt do a service business any good to go into hiding even when times are tough Sawyer says The company invested in advertising in a host of different sources from the Internet to radio to Yellow Pages despite the skyrocketing costs per lead My sense is that you have to stay visible in the community during this time because when your area recovers you want them to think of you when they need pest management Sawyer says I know so many of my peers in this industry cut back on their advertising spending during times like this but thats the wrong decision He believes his company will finish the year strong and is projecting the same 4 or 5 percent growth for 2010 He will follow the same strategy he did this year and feels it will pay off in the future While he believes the national economy will continue to improve Sawyer doesnt believe his company will reap the benefits until the middle or end of 2010 He is looking forward to the day when the nonstop drumbeat of bad economic news is silenced People in Boise are being particularly cautious with their money but he believes that once the overall economy improves and they hear good news that will start to change Sawyer believes the improvement may not happen until the fourth quarter which will miss his window of opportunity to have a significant affect on his business But hes ready to make the most of it when it does happen Our main times when we make most of our money are in the second and third quarters of the year so the recovery may miss us in 2010 Sawyer says But well continue to position ourselves so that when it does reach us well be ready to capitalize PMP You can reach Andoraka at 216 706 3735 or fandorka@ questex com www mypmp net NOVEMBER 2009 PEST MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONAL s5