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When you sign up to attend a conference, you expect to leave knowing more than when you arrived. That’s certainly the case with tech conferences because many pest management companies are not yet taking advantage of the new products and services currently available. And I don’t mean those geared specifically to pest management.
The event I just attended — PesTech3.0, the National Pest Management Association‘s meeting on how to best leverage the technology you use for your pest management company – provided countless tips on how to use social media, call centers, texting and smartphones to improve your day-to-day business practices. Here are a few of my takeaways from this conference:
1. Learn from someone else’s mistakes. Don’t be an early adopter. Instead, wait until someone else has tried and tweaked the technology you want to employ. At PesTech, one speaker critiqued a couple of pest management social media sites, but fortunately, he had nothing but praise for their efforts (he liked the consistent posts, variety of content, direct links to the websites and high number of photos and videos).
2. Try something new. Technology can be used to boost your business in more ways than you can imagine. More than one speaker at PesTech recommended using video (that illustrates tips and tricks or highlights your company and staff) to attract customers to your website. Many speakers and attendees shared how they take advantage of social media (well, why not snap and post a photo of your tech with a satisfied customer, along with a glowing testimonial).
3. Pay attention. Technology isn’t infallible. Computers can be hacked and data can be breeched, so listen when someone shares their cautionary tale. One PesTech speaker explained how it happened to him, detailed how it affected his business, and advised taking steps to prevent it from happening to them. There’s a reason the cyber insurance industry is growing, unfortunately.
4. Change is good. Technology is constantly evolving. It’s now possible to use smartphones and GPS to track your techs and their vehicles. The exhibitors at PesTech showcased products and services that let pest management professionals work smarter. So what’s next? Perhaps an app that makes it easier for customers to schedule and pay for services, said one speaker hopefully.
5. Implement practices that work for others. Attend any conference and chances are good you will hear many ideas that have not have occurred to you. One PesTech speaker shared how his company uses an app to keep track of the sales leads techs gather from existing customers. Many attendees shared how they solved the problem of negative Yelp reviews (one solution was to call the writer, offer to fix the problem, and request a new review). The best part is, these are all ideas for the taking.
Technology is constantly evolving. If you want to boost your business by leveraging the latest developments, consider attending the next technology conference. Whether sponsored by an association or offered by a vendor or distributor, you will leave with newly found knowledge.
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