Pest Control and Bug Exterminator Blog

The bedbug epidemic is damaging many businesses.  Hotels, apartments, and other residential rentals are the more obvious victims to this spreading problem.  But they are not the only ones. Airplanes and movie theaters have been listed before, but this is a new one.  A retail clothing store gets hit and bad enough to close up shop for the 4th of July.  But this wasn’t just any retail clothing store, this was Hollister of New York, NY. And a few days later Abercrombie & Fitch closed for bed bugs as well.

How does this happen and what next?

Up until about 2 years ago the bedbug problem in the US was pretty much extinct.  Quoting the Illinois Department of Health’s website the bedbug “remains an occasional invader with infestations arising in homes and swank hotels as well as apartment buildings and homeless shelters.” Not only is this information  outdated, but it incorrectly reinforces the idea that bedbugs are associated with a lack of care on the establishments part.  It does correctly say that hosts have no idea that they are even catering to these blood suckers. “The bed bug’s adaptation to humans is so complete that its bite is rarely felt until well after the bug leaves its victim.” Thus controlling this epidemic is extremely difficult because by the time the problem is realized it’s a full blown infestation. And hosts will unknowingly carry them from hotel to home, from home to the retail store, from the retail store to the movie theater. Bed bugs will infest any location frequented by humans.

Fortunately getting rid of bedbugs in sheets and linens isn’t too difficult. The pest control company in New York assisting Hollister wants to assure people that the clothes will be fine.

“Bedbug expert Timothy Wong, the technical director of M&M Environmental who worked with Moving Right Along to help treat Hollister’s merchandise and is intimately familiar with the case, says that the clothes are fine after undergoing fumigation in an off-site warehouse — that process is foolproof (and smellproof — you’d never know the clothes had been treated, Wong says)”

http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2010/07/is_hollisters_bedbug_problem_r.html

But the problem could be far from over.  If the bedbugs hit both Hollister and Abercrombie and Fitch then the pests could be coming from a warehouse.  Plus, it’s going to be difficult for the stores to regain the millions lost while the problem is being solved.

http://www.idph.state.il.us/envhealth/pcbedbugs.htm

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/07/03/2010-07-03_bedbugs_shutter_2nd_store_seaports_abercrombie__fitch_infested.html

http://mmbuzz.mandmenvironmental.com/2010/07/bed-bugs-shut-down-new-york-retail.html

Pest Control Technology Magazine gave the owner of Bulwark a quick interview about what makes Bulwark Exterminating’s company so different.  Here is what they reported:

Bulwark Exterminating, Mesa, Ariz.
At 10 years old, Bulwark Exterminating
is built differently than most firms. More
than half of employees’ compensation is
determined through statistical analyzes,
said President Adam Seever. They typically
make 30 percent more than the industry
average, according to Seever, due to
higher productivity and the company only
promotes from within, giving them “lots of
reasons to stick around.” Employees must
feel financially and emotionally respected
or they can’t respect your customers, explained
Seever. The company has 250
employees at 11 offices in seven states,
including five programmers to manage its proprietary software.
http://pct.texterity.com/pct/201001/?pg=41&pm=2&u1=friend#pg41

Why by the numbers?

Many companies look to accountants to manage by the numbers, these companies often fail. But  Bulwark’s numbers are not found on a typical accountants balance sheet.  Bulwark tracks all kinds of numbers that most never think to track. And with 10 years of tracking Bulwark can see trends.  So Bulwark takes these numbers, puts a real monetary value on the impact of these numbers and then reworks the system. For example, how much more productivity could a company gain if customer call backs drop by down by 10%?  That value is calculated, monetized and then redistributed to those individuals within the company that make it happen.  The bottom line is the company runs more efficiently, more productively, and those individual’s that make it happen are rewarded for their efforts.

What’s beautiful about this system is that everyone wins.  “Yeah, Right… that’s just too cliche.” True, it is hard to believe in systems that promise to benefit everyone. But back to customer call backs… If the tech does the job correctly and takes a little more time upfront, to save time on the back end, (time=$$$) then the client, the tech, and the company all benefit.  The tech gets a bonus for having a lower call back number.  The customer is happier that the problem is being solved and that they don’t have to call us back.  The company saves time, which equates to dollars. Plus, the tech, the customer, Bulwark’s office staff, Bulwark’s managers, and the rest of the tech’s team are all happier.  Not a bad system… if it works. Don’t worry works. Proven by the same numbers that we meticulously track.

And it’s truly numbers that everyone can hit.  Many theorize that you should just play your team with your All-Star performers.  “Manage your producers and showcase them.” The most common analogy following this line of thought is that professional sports teams rely on only their superstars to make it happen. Well, pest control is far from a fantasy football team, and frankly, Bulwark has always believed that everyone on the team should play.  So Bulwark doesn’t develop a matrix to benefit a few top performers. The owner will focus on what is going to make the biggest impact on all of Bulwark’s players.  It’s a win-win-win-win-win… get the point?

Find ways to incentivize performance. And better yet, find ways to improve so everyone wins!