Pest Management Professional, September 2013
2013TERMITEMANAGEMENT ROUNDTABLE treatment and the responsibilities of the company and the consumer can be problematic GP Bodies of water wells cisterns and streams can pose problems Before agreeing to treat every tech should investigate these to be proactive Also edible vegetation should be identified especially before using systemic termiticides Finished basements can prove challenging and be a treatment headache They force PMPs to get creative with treatments DW Of the most common variety moisture caused by slab leaks shower pan leaks and bath traps and high soil grades represent potential problems No matter how well versed and knowledgeable we consider ourselves two heads are better than one and four eyes see twice as far Thats why I always seek others opinions and ideas I asked my termite techs for their opinions because theyre our frontline defense to all of this and they must succeed for all of us to succeed When I asked the newest member of our termite team what he thought might hinder his ability to close a sale on a termite treatment he cited the misconceptions of customers about termites and treatments Id agree with that and add the distrust of people who fear us because of false or biased information that amounts to nothing more than pointing a finger at our industry and the chemicals we use as being so called destructive forces of our environment This great untruth might be the biggest obstacle we face We need communication and education to help inform those people whove been misinformed about the benefits civilization has received from science and its development and implementation of pesticides and termiticides Organic and synthetic products have made an immense difference for the better in our health and well being and in the protection of our property In our industry its not the products that harm people its the misapplication of them by untrained and unknowledgeable users Thats what needs to be addressed and a solution needs to come quickly before our next generation loses all the resources they have to protect themselves against termites PMP WHAT ARE THE INDUSTRYS TOP TERMITE MANAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES PB Theres always the opportunity to be the best service provider available to customers in your area of operation Market opportunities continue to exist in termite protection related to real estate transactions pre construction treatment and post construction treatments DW Integrated pest management IPM presents many opportunities Also monitoring services can add revenue and increase the value of existing services Finally more areas that previously had only subterranean termite issues are seeing Formosan termite colonies moving in TR12 September 2013 Pest Management Professional www mypmp net Photo courtesy of and copyrighted by Gene White pmimages@ earthlink net
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