“Enough with the Specials…just give me a price!”

I have said the same thing to our own suppliers…just give me a flat price and I’ll do the rest to manage my business.

But…

To be honest having an occasional special sale on products does serve several purposes, and which is why you see it so pre-dominant in so many different businesses. Grocery chains hold at least one a week…if not more often. Your major pharmacy/drug stores always have a special, and many run frequent buyer programs. The big box stores advertise everyday low prices, but still run the weekend special to get you through the door.

For us at Gardex it serves many purposes and at times makes a good business tool for everyone. We can purchase and sell based on offers from the suppliers, warehouse capacity, seasonal promotions, competitive price positioning, slow moving stock depletion and numerous other facets.

With doubling our warehouse capacity, Gardex was able to consolidate all our stock in our 3 major branches, thus saving money on renting space. This allowed for better buying power and with the larger quantities we can now afford to pass on price savings on the more important products. The ones you use everyday.

I personally know you can’t find a better offering of Pest Control products inside Canada, with more options of products to choose from and on hand inventory.

So why continue with the specials?

When we can, we pass on the savings, and in turn hopefully you as a customer will benefit. Plus with the added space our planning is greatly improved to meet your needs.

But we can’t offer the Service we are known for without turning stock and making a profit. And in order to continue with this we use the Specials as another tool.

Seems like the monthly Specials are going to stay…at least until a new tool is invented!

may 15 Mythic

BASF has a great product with chlorfenapyr, branded as Phantom in the US with a broad indoor/outdoor use for general pests and termites.  Very good all around product from talking to colleagues and PMP’s  in the States.

So what did we end up with in Canada?

Let’s see….

Outdoor use only

Minimum dosage rates

Termites, spiders, ants and the occasional invader

Not really too bad, but not what was hoped for.  It certainly would have been great to see some alternative chemistry in the places where we have most of our insect pressure…indoors.

Now a bit of the bad news…

BASF is a huge company, and scheduling their products for production takes time and resources. Since this registration was received later and only for the outdoor market, the timing is all wrong for launching this year as it wouldn’t be available in time to take advantage of the full season.

Now the other bad news…

With only a limited application area, season and pests, is the market large enough to even warrant producing?  Or do they wait a few more years to get the indoor registration, if it ever comes?

For those few of you in the termite business this is really bad news.

For those of us looking for alternative chemistry it’s more bad news.

The disparity of registrations, chemistry and uses continues to grow between the Canadian PMP market and the US.

There something I’m not getting…might be fodder for a rant????

This is in regards to my previous posts on having DeltaGard registered for the use of controlling all tick species, with the label allowing treatment of ticks that are known vector agents of Lyme disease.

This new product allows you as a Pest Control professional to expand your operation by offering a preventative treatment in and around the yard for ticks. Many ticks are considered a nuisance pest, much like the bed bug, and chemical control an option at this point. Vegetative management should always play a role.

But when it comes to controlling the tick specie that is the vector for Lyme disease, isn’t it better to take preventative measures by eliminating or reducing the population in areas known to have this insect? And where known cases have been prevalent?

I borrowed the following off a few known and trusted websites:

The first map shows areas of reported human cases in Eastern Canada only.

The second is areas where the threat to pets (that do contract Lyme disease) is located and the severity.

Is this building or capitalizing on a problem that doesn’t exist, or relying on “scare tactics” solely for the sake of increasing business?

In this case I don’t think so.

First off the problem does exist, and secondly prevention is much cheaper than cure.

As a home owner and dog owner, I would feel 100 times more comfortable if I knew that I had contracted out the service of a PMP to reduce my possible exposure to Lyme disease.

This is no different than the municipalities using IGR’s and BT’s to help reduce mosquitoes and prevent West Nile.

So I would think a good PMP should add this to their regular service. It does provide a new revenue stream, but it does serve your customer.

But use your professional ethics, utilizing IPM, monitoring etc. and charge a fair and reasonable price.

But not anymore. At least on treating ticks.

What I am referring to is the labeling on several products we have, where the exact species of tick was listed, preventing use of these products on species of ticks not listed.

There wasn’t a good label, until now, that would allow for treatment of the species of ticks that transmits Lyme disease for example. As you may know, control of Blacklegged ticks is critical when it comes to Lyme disease prevention. (This species has sometimes been improperly called the Deer tick, as that is one of the animals this tick infests.)

But we’ve never had a product that specifically listed Blacklegged (or deer) ticks on the label. Or even better, just a generalized use of the word “tick”.

But with the registration of DELTAGARD from Bayer, the label has been approved with simply “ticks” listed as one of the insects controlled. So this means every and all species of ticks. This gives you the opportunity to spray for any species that may be presenting a problem.

Most labels specifically mentioned Brown Dog ticks only, so that was all that could be legally treated. So the approved label on DELTAGARD is a step in the right direction. (Plus the area of use is very good, allowing application to public parks, residential settings and other key areas where the likelihood of infestation and exposure is higher.)

This brings us to the same point on other products, and the requirement to submit tests and trials on each and every insect listed on the label.

QUANTUM was just launched with nearly all ant species except Carpenter ants. Will it control this species? Or is a separate trial required to be submitted?

DEMAND has German Cockroaches on the label….

Does that mean it will only control German and not Oriental, American, Brown-Banded or Wood roaches? Or does it mean that the individual trials weren’t submitted?

I would hope in the future data on one species could simply be extrapolated to cover other insects in that same Genus (I remember a bit of taxonomy)…or is that too easy?

I was chatting with a good customer and found out the rates charged for some services, with guarantees, has fallen to an all time low.

I have to question whether my customers are giving away experience, qualification, training etc by not charging for your true worth.

Case in point:

I got an estimate for different plumbers for some work here, and not surprisingly they all came in relatively the same as far as the charge for labor.

$90.00 an hour plus or minus $5.00.

Call any electrician and ask the same…you’ll find them about in the same neighborhood.

Is the training, licensing, insurance and other business inputs that much different for a PCO?

Vehicles, labor, equipment, advertising, time…not much difference from a PCO to Joe the Plumber.

So why do we see prices down to $9 or $10 a unit, or full house bed bug jobs at $200???

If we do the math, it just doesn’t add up, unless the performed service is less than stellar.

At $9 you would essentially have to do 10 apartments an hour to reach the $90 an hour labor rate.

That’s 6 minutes a unit.

Talk about speed pest control.

If a 3 bedroom house takes 2 hours to inspect, steam, vacuum, spray, set out monitors etc the minimum labor rate is $180 bucks. Then input costs, and pro-rated expenses would nearly double that.

And did you calculate the 10 minutes to answer the call and make the sale? 30 minutes to drive there? Maybe another re-book? There’s another hour or $90.00

Of course you need to charge what is reasonable, fair and what the market will bear.

But don’t sell yourself short.

Food for thought.

Gardex was there is force this year, with Sarah and Nigel manning the booth along with Karen and yours truly.

We also had some great support from Dave and Claude from B&G demo’ing the latest spraying equipment innovations.  Thanks guys!

Timing:  the only drawback here was being downtown at 4:30 on a Friday night.  Traffic is horrendous. Maybe run this from a Tuesday to a Thursday and be done with it.

Guest Speakers:  this was the biggest improvement over past years, with a wider variety, topics and interests outside the normal group of local “experts” re-hashing the same subjects.  I sat through several of the talks, which is unusual since I know everything, and found them really well put together.

The PMRA and MOE attended and spoke on various issues and it was good to see them take an interest.  We are in essence in the same industry, so hopefully more of a sense of cooperation will continue to develop.

Exhibitors:  good group overall, with a nice assortment of the suppliers supporting our business in Canada.

Venue:  the hotel was very nice, held at the Westin Harbour Castle (don’t know where the heck the “Castle” comes from) and for a downtown Toronto hotel was easy to get to.  The hotel’s staff was very accommodating, food services very good (and plenty available for all attendees)

But expensive, which is what you would expect for downtown Toronto.  $40.00 for valet parking???  Wow.

My biggest concern was where was everybody?????   There were several companies from across Canada that normally attend that weren’t there, plus the local attendance was spotty.  With the number of companies working the GTA, I would have thought to see at least another 40 or so represented.

Money?  Time?  Both?  The year we’re having?  Think it was a little bit of everything.

But it begs the question, is the numbers that attend important, or is the information provided important?

Yes, the PMRA requirements do play a part.  We’ve all argued about a roach in Buffalo being no different than a roach in Toronto.  Or certain data being re-generated.  But it’s a requirement of doing business in Canada.  Strike one.

But there is a secondary factor…our market is too small for some suppliers to invest in.  Simple.  If I have $100.00 to invest, the smallest ROI for that is probably the Canadian Pest Control Industry.  The Canadian canola market probably consumes $200,000,000 in pesticide revenues…why spend the money for a roach bait that may be $250,000?  Notice the zeroes???

So suppliers can meet the requirements, but the requirements are sometimes questionable, and expensive.  Strike two.

Lastly, do we as an industry really make our needs, wants and voices heard?  Curious how many sent a comment in on the boric acid review process?  Or have taken an active role in community education?  Or joined an association?  (more on the value of that later)

How about showing more support to new products and ideas?  Might be a way to enourage some new suppliers.

But the end result is the same…we don’t have the wealth of tools available to our counter-parts in the US.  Maybe we have to change our offering?  Partial control of a problem?  No guarantees?

“Sorry Ma’am, I only have the tools to kill 85% of your bed bugs today”

But does this now mean less revenue?  So you only charge 85%???

Strike three?

First we hear about the PMRA re-evaluation of boric acid based insecticides, one of the back bones of our industry (but they forgot to ban the laundry detergent…DOH!).

Now the leading rodenticide supplier is launching a domestic registered rodenticide bait, in the required tamper resistant station of course, with the active ingredient bromethalin.  The last I checked it is a metabolic poison, with no antidote.

I repeat…no antidote.  We have it in our market for licensed pest control operator (you know the guys who take the exams) as Fastrack, but hey, I WON”T SELL IT!

Did I miss something in this logic?

Let’s ban a relatively small volume pesticide use by licensed applicators even though it’s sold over the counter as a detergent…but register something without an antidote and sell it direct to the homeowner.

Okay, so it’s in a tamper resistant bait station, and at a reduced rate….but is that really an acceptable justification.  How many 3 year old kids given enough time and a toy hammer can get into anything?  Or a 100 pound German Shepherd?

Why take the risk when there are other actives available?

I am really disappointed in both the PMRA and the supplier for going down this road.  It’s not good for the Industry or for the consumer.

I know the supplier’s reason:     $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$    but what’s up with the ministry???

What happens when you no longer have a boric acid dust for use on bed bugs?  For use in all the little hiding places under the base boards, head boards, box springs, electrical boxes?

You might think nothing, because you have a ton of other options right?  What choices or options do you have left for treatment?

Permethrin…lambda cyhalothrin…pyrethrin…resmethrin.

Notice something similar in all those products?  Four different generations of pyrethroids.  Isn’t it a concern when applying the same chemistry over and over and over and over again?  Or did I misinterpret all the issues surrounding resistance management?  Hasn’t this been taught since when 1970? If there isn’t an issue with resistant management, why is it mandatory we classify and print on the label the need to rotate classes?

There’s one rule that you need to rotate chemistry, but then another that bans your options.  Hmmm

So what’s the net effect?  Without the proper tools, used in the right combinations, you won’t control the population.  That’s simple enough.  The bed bug infestation won’t come under control, and will continue to spread.

If you use the same tool over and over again, trying your best to rid Canada of this menace, you really run a major risk of creating a resistant strain.

Partial control, resistant strains, re-treats, and more money out of people’s pockets who can’t afford it.

This is being done to protect the workers applying the product.  Trained professionals who do this daily using the proper equipment, and placement techniques.  Putting on respirators with GMA P100 cartridges and pulling on a pair of nitrile gloves.

So were these tests and trials on the product conducted in real life situations?  Did they consider the total pounds of product used in Canada?  Or are they modeling based on some ones assumptions?  Don’t know.

Yeah yeah…I missed diatomaceous earth…which is a good product but not and end all.  Oh, and glue boards, also a big winner.

PRVD2012-03 Acide Borique-fra

PRVD2012-03 Boric Acid-eng

This could be a big negative hit in the fight against bed bugs as this is one of the best dusts to use.  What will we have left in our arsenal of products?  Very little.

We can always monitor…just can’t kill ‘em!

Maybe next we’ll find out their an endangered species!