Fred, 58 years old, runs a pest control company. A few months ago, he hired his first employee, Mat. Mat had no previous pest control experience, so Fred spent two months training him before letting him service clients on his own.

“I’ve had many compliments from clients about [Mat]… Since I hired him, I’ve been able to answer calls as they come in, go do estimates in person and grow the business. I wasn’t able to do that before. Also, I’m about to make my second hire, someone with lots of experience…[But then I received the messages in the screenshot above]… I understand that I probably did do a better job, but that’s a very high standard. Did [Mat] do a bad job, or just not as good as me? I don’t want to lose the client, but I also don’t want them dictating how I run my business. It’s a $95 bi-monthly residential [job, which is underpriced] because they’ve been a client for a couple of years, big property. Is it just growing pains? Should I just let them go?”

Fred

Here’s what advice other pest control business owners had for Fred:

1. Don’t let clients choose which employee services them

“At some point you’ll have to make you doing it not an option. Some customers may not go with it, but your customer base will change as the business does.”

Braiden

“I’ve encountered this. Sometimes you have to trim the edges of the plant in order for it to grow properly. If they absolutely won’t do your service unless you’re on the property, you may consider replacing their account.”

Brandon

“This happens to me a lot since last year I stopped doing regular visits. People will ask for me. My first question is “Did (employee name) do something wrong”? The answer is always no, the employee didn’t do anything wrong. Then I explain to the customer that the coolest part of being a business owner is that you’re able to hire hard-working people and create a team to solve complex problems. I then tell the customer that I am part of that team still, but I have taken on a new role. 9/10 customers will stay on board after that explanation. The ones that stop service you didn’t want anyway.

The important thing to remember is this never ends. We only have two full-time technicians. I we have a few customers that only want my most experience technician. Customers will complain that they prefer employee number one or employee number two. I give them the same response. We’re all part of the same team and we all can solve complex problems.”

Jeff

“Yep, growing pains, every person that grows gets this and when you hire your next guy some of your customers will ask that only your first hire do there service.
Congratulation on the growth!! There are some great suggestions already made. Best of luck as for move forward.”

Caleb

2. Use a phone survey to check if your tech has picked up a bad habit

Mate, this happens to every pest business as they grow…

There are a couple potential things that may have happened, and how you deal with this will vary accordingly.

Every single employee I have ever hired, no matter how much training I have personally given them; when they are on their own, their personality, their mannerisms, their personal comfortability around certain tasks come into play and they develop their own habits and ways of doing things… And I do mean every employee.

All it takes is one customer asking him to do something that you do not do on your regular service and your employee wanting to impress thinks – I can do that – so they do it and the customer is over the moon – and your employee gets a dopamine rush with their appreciation and so when they go to the next job… guess what… they do it there too and before you even know it’s happening they are doing something that you never wanted or taught them to do. That’s all it takes.

Don’t just assume your customer can pinpoint exactly what they didn’t like about the service. If they feel more comfortable with you – there is a reason and you just have to work it out. Don’t ever assume your employee hasn’t picked up a bad habit.

Maybe it was a once off issue – Maybe your employee was stressed or had a fight with his girlfriend or was running late or maybe he nearly got in an accident on the way to the job and when the customer answered the door – he wasn’t smiling. Maybe he didn’t engage or ask the questions this one time, and that is what made them feel less comfortable with him compared to you.

Maybe the employee got a phone call and someone doing work for your customer whilst on their phone is a pet peeve of theirs.

Or maybe they feel entitled and believe they deserve you as the business owner only… that’s a whole other issue.

Here is what I would do…

Phone the client and say this …

“Hi _____. How are you today?

I would like to ask for your permission to help me, would you be willing to help me?

Great, I am just doing a follow up and would like to run through a few things with you…

When ____ arrived did he park the vehicle in a convenient location that was of no inconvenience for you?

When he arrived did he introduce himself with a smile?

Did he explain what he was there to do and confirm with you about your specific issues and needs?

Did he then do the job in a professional manner?

Did he leave the site as he found it, closing any gate that was closed upon arrival, ensure that the tap was turned off?

Did he advise you that he was done with the job?

Did he remain professional at all times?

Did he drive away in a courteous manner?

(Word all questions in the positive)

If they answered yes to all questions – pause for several seconds – and come back with… I’m confused, why were you unsatisfied with my new manager? (Lift up your employee to a high status)

You might just get the real answer.

If they answered “no” to any of your questions – say this:

“Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention. You have helped me to know exactly what to work on in our training and I appreciate that so very much and I promise you that next time he will certainly not do that again.

Can I ask one last favour – would you please contact me next time and let me know how he did? You are such a valuable customer and your sacrifice of time and insight is helping our company to grow and provide the very best of service, and I really appreciate that. Now with inflation our prices are going up, but because you are now one of my advisory clients that’s helping to perfect our business I’m going to keep you at the same discounted rate”

Another tip – always refer to your staff as the manager… never a “new employee” or “trainee”…

They are a manager of their own jobs after all.

This builds credibility as well.

On a final note / it is so awesome when you do an audit ride along with a staff member after awhile and just observe and a customer assumes that you are the trainee – best internal giggle ever!

Danny

3. If one client voices dissatisfaction, other clients may be silently dissatisfied

They’re telling you the issue. “You did a better job”. Call them and ask for specifics on where your tech fell short in their eyes. Thank them for the feedback as your goal is to train your team to replace you (or better).

If one customer is having a subpar experience, others might be as well. Now.. if they are requesting you because you’re their favorite. They’ll need to get over that. Jeff Bezos doesn’t deliver my Amazon packages and Bill Gates doesn’t install my Windows updates.

John

So one client out of how many asked for you personally? Do you make follow up calls or site checks to verify his work? I believe in the trust but verify method. I would call or meet with the client and ask how your technician isn’t doing the same level service in their eyes.

Tom

4. Help forge a new trusted relationship between the client and the new tech

“My husband explains to them that he hand picks and hand trains each one of our employees and trusts their service. And that he is not available for standard services on a regular basis, but would be happy to come out as he can. We’ve lost a couple people over the years but nothing I’m too worried about.”

Jerika

Sometimes it takes a “formal handoff” where you go with your new hire to the concerned client’s house and walk them through how well he is doing the job. It builds confidence. I’ve had to do this with my home inspection company when I got out of the field. One or two supervisory ride alongs (without any tools) was sufficient for the clients to be comfortable with the new hire. Be sure to elaborate any experience, and let the new hire talk! He needs to be able to communicate and build confidence that he knows what he’s doing, or he won’t be successful.

Philippe

Go and do the service with your tech, even if just a couple times, to help the customer feel more comfortable moving forward.

Ryan

In my opinion this is most likely a relational issue.

One way I’ve had success overcoming this is to send out new tech letters or emails introducing the new person. This speeds up the process and starts the connection process.

Also, going with the tech a few times often helps (sounds like you probably did that)… the tech letter was a game-changer for us…

In many cases, the customer isn’t buying pest control, they are buying relationship that does a pest control service. If you understand this, then all you have to do is provide a platform for the relational transfer and the process becomes much simpler.

Alger

5. Have your customers sign longer term service contracts in advance of hiring new techs

If you’re not going to run the route anymore, tell them that. Ask them what he needs to do better to keep them happy and send him back out.

I’d also recommend (if you haven’t already) to get your customers to sign a contract or service agreement with an early cancellation penalty next time you plan on switching/adding techs. That way they are locked in regardless who comes.

I told my customers that I no longer have a truck as I’m transitioning from technician to manager. I lost maybe 5 customers total.

Eddie