You may not know it until you read my latest article, but I do have a humorous side. You can find the article, “I Could Kick Myself,” in the June digital issue of Pest Management Professional Magazine, page 20.
Kicking oneself seems like a pretty awkward thing to do, but in business, it happens all the time. Any pest control owner…. any company owner or manager who says they haven’t made the same or similar mistakes to the ones I describe in lying! That’s right, an out and out lie!
The good news is that although you’ll probably make the same mistakes again, in perhaps a slightly altered scenario, you can start to right your ship with some simple and unemotional planning. And beware of fast sale techniques that will put you under fast.
Please do return to my blog after reading the article and share your comments.
Hearts Consulting Group 
I try to visit your blog at least weekly, good information. Thanks for blogging
Great Article. I am guilty as charged for spending on unnecessary advertising. Sometimes that unnecessary advertising even pays off but not in the majority of the instances unfortunately.
I have streamlined all my marketing efforts nowadays and are tracking where my ‘calls’ are coming from. This article does raise a very important issue since the smaller you are as a Pest Control Company, the more you need to spend on marketing on a percentage basis.
Hi Pete,
Oh God! Those unnecessary advertising contracts! I’m glad you are tracking your calls. Be careful. It is a comeback argument the advertisers love to make to prove their advertising works. Calls don’t necessarily mean good leads. Also, it’s great to have the statistics from calls, but not if it means getting into yearly contracts.
One of the things that has really outraged me about print yellow page contracts is that they all carry extended-life clauses. Basically, if the yellow page advertiser doesn’t have a book ready next year, they can force you to keep paying for your outdated yellowpage book for several more months. If the advertisement didn’t perform well, it certainly will be a flop in the 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th month. If you went into a book that was an 18 month commitment, you could be stuck paying for 2 years.
This is what happened to me in 2008, when customers shifted to the internet before calling pest control companies. Thankfully, I had a good internet strategy, but those print advertisements were an enormous drag on the budget.
Learning how to market using newer technologies is a steep learning curve, but the good news is that you don’t need to go into contracts. You can get in and out of a marketing campaign in the click of a mouse.
Thanks for responding to my article. I appreciate the feedback and the exchange of good will.
Regards,
Gerry
Thank you for listening. My third grade teacher said that “If Gerald stopped talking, he might learn something.” She never said anything about writing too much!
… Funny but the yellowpages are still pushing their contracts EVEN ONLINE! I tried Yellowpages.com, year contract, Superpages.com sales guy LIED about it being a year contract, told me it was strictly pay-per-click cancel anytime… And yes I am kicking myself for not reading the contract, but shame on Superpages.com for making me pay for something they misrepresented.
Thanks for sharing Gerry.
Superpages operates their business like Terminix, roping customers in with a market-hyped image, only to hang them from the nearest oak tree should they feel they are not getting a fair deal. Every business loves monthly repeat revenue, but it shouldn’t come with a negative net for the companies that keep Superpages in business. If Superpages can’t create a win-win situation, lets all boot them off the stage!
Beware of any contract with more than a 30 day cancellation clause. If the agreement is front-loaded with setup fees, fight even harder to eliminate all cancellation fees.
Readers should remember that the BBB exists just for such occasions.