Good salespeople tell it straight. They don’t need to fake it to close a sale. A reliable industry truism is “the pests sell themselves.” The salesperson needs only be timely, presentable, knowledgeable, price accordingly and make a personal connection with the prospect. Inflicting unfounded fears on the customer; distorting the problem to impress, for bravado or to win the sale, demonstrates poor skill and is at worst, unethical.

Yet, when it comes to bees, so many technicians want to label them "killer" bees. Recently, I watched a YouTube video of a pest management professional (PMP), who described a docile colony of bees he was about to exterminate as killer bees. The PMP failed to even wear a full bee suit. A domestic cat would have been more dangerous than these bees.

Now we have an epidemic of bed bugs and it'll be tempting to label a bad rash as acase of the “killer bed bugs.” There will be those who sell improperly diagnosed and ill-conceived bed bug jobs. Pity the PMP who becomes embroiled in a liability claim when the next company comes in with a good inspector, able to diagnose the problem correctly.

Customer-reported bites are often something other than bed bugs. A good inspector may identify mites, lice, suspected parasitosis, symptoms of old age or a combination of issues. Medical and environmental specialists may be required to help assess the situation. We have much to learn about parasites — how they affect us physically and mentally.

Great opportunity exists, whatever the inspection reveals, for the highly skilled technician able to make a thorough assessment, without resorting to easy reliance on fear tactics.

You can reach Weitz, management/technology consultant and PMP with Hearts Pest Management, through his Web site at www.heartspm.com.