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Client Education Can Make a Difference
25 Apr, 2008 By: Mark Sheperdigian Direct To You: Bed Bug BusinessBy way of introduction, for those of you who don't know me, I'm the vice president of technical services — and one of three senior entomologists — for Rose Pest Solutions, Troy, Mich. Surprisingly, our firm's encounters with bed bugs goes back only to 2001. While the great bed bug resurgence hit the US in the late '90s, it did not get to our door for several years.
In 2002, we had 12 jobs, but by 2007, we had 154. The bed bugs show no sign of flagging, and we expect 2008 to be a banner year. However, for all the growth, we are still far behind the seething cauldrons of bed bug activity such as New York and Las Vegas.
It is one thing to hear everybody talking about how to deal with bud bugs, but until you walk into a home or an apartment and lift up your first mattress, you won't really know what to do. Eliminating bed bugs may be simple, but it is not easy. We adopted vacuums as a standard and are currently working with steam, but all the tools must be brought into play to achieve consistent good results. From the list of materials available, we chose those materials with which we were most familiar.
The first obstacle to bed bug control becomes apparent in application. Since baiting technology of the '90s for German cockroaches replaced the crack and crevice treatments of the '80s, our newer people are not crack-and-crevice oriented — they are bait placement-oriented. We also had to reread a lot of labels and recover some old ground about what may be treated and how. If you are timid about pesticide application, you will have difficulty with bed bug work.
Case in Point
Our most frustrating account came in 2004 when we took on a children's camp. One of the cabins had thousands of bed bugs, living primarily in wooden bunk beds. The camp was as conscientious as a client could be, and committed to keep the cabin out of service until the bed bugs were gone.
The initial treatment consisted of deltamethrin injected into cracks and crevices, silica aerogel dusted into wall voids, and spot treatments with another deltamethrin product. The initial service resulted in thousands of dead bed bugs, but weekly inspections and retreatment revealed a startling repeating scenario. Each week hundreds of dead bed bugs and dozens of live ones were found in the cabin. We tried different materials, different approaches and deeper applications — but always encountered the same result.
The program dragged on for months, and frankly strained our relationship with the client. The lack of experience throughout the industry left us with little support; we have brilliant friends, but they had few ideas. We kept our end of the bargain and returned as often as necessary until we finally came up bed bug-free…about a year later.
While we have never seen a program drag out that far since, we have seen the pattern. The initial treatment results in a drastic reduction, or even an absence of bugs and bites for weeks thereafter. At some point in the future, though, a bite or a sighting occurs. A thorough inspection turns up one or two live nymphs and maybe some dead ones. This can repeated several times before we achieve a mutually agreeable state of elimination. Of course, there is debate over the "recurring" bed bugs: Are they in fact survivors of the original infestation, or are they re-introductions?
They key is to properly communicate with the client and manage the expectations on the front end rather than trying to furiously bail out from a sinking client relation-ship. Once people have some idea what to expect and what to think when they see a bed bug after the initial treatment, they are a great deal more understanding about it. Clearly, communication is one of our greatest tools in achieving success in bed bug control.
In spite of the challenge presented by bed bugs and several difficult accounts, we currently have no accounts with ongoing problems. I attribute this more to the conscientious nature of our crew than to any inherent susceptibility in the constitution of the bug. The products produced for bed bug control change daily, and new protocols are emerging as we speak. Month by month and year by year, we change and improve in our efforts against the bed bug. It will be important to ensure that we change faster than they.
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