The customer is king

The customer is king (or queen). So why not ask each customer for the keys to his (or her) kingdom? Why not ask each what you can do to win rave reviews and more referrals?

Fortunately, the Pest Management Professional Alliance (PPMA) already has completed much of your homework, with the recent release of its 2013 Pest Control Usage & Attitudes Survey. More than 1,000 consumers, each with an annual household income of $60,000 or more — a sample size representing the nation’s age, gender and geography mix — shared the  keys to regularly winning more recommendations. Simply read these consumers’ suggestions displayed above, and strive to deliver on each expectation in 2014 and beyond.

Pest management professionals (PMPs) have held the keys to the kingdom all along. Regularly reaping rave reviews and more referrals is all about performing business basics better — one day, one client, one step at a time. pmp

You can reach Whitford at mwhitford@northcoastmedia.net or 216-706-3766.

PPMA: One Voice — Powerful & Proactive

Established in 1997, the Professional Pest Management Alliance (PPMA) is the consumer education arm of the National Pest Management Association (NPMA).

PPMA’s goals are to:

• Increase awareness among consumers of the value of professional pest management services;
• Protect the industry’s reputation; and
• Increase the size of professional pest management’s consumer and commercial markets.

Thanks in large part to the PPMA, consumers no longer hear about the pest management industry from critics alone. They
hear pest management professionals’ (PMPs’) sides of stories day after day, too.

PPMA’s investment in public relations, just shy of $2 million annually, has yielded countless positive stories about professional pest management across all media platforms. PPMA’s proactive, unified industry voice educates consumers daily about the value of the industry and PMPs’ ability to protect health, safety and property.

PPMA has compiled a 50-page executive summary of the results of its 2013 Pest Control Usage & Attitudes Survey. The results reveal consumers’ top pest concerns and problems, do-it-yourself trends, and perceived pros and cons regarding hiring PMPs, to name just a few of the report’s dozens of must-read sections.

For more information about joining the Professional Pest Management Alliance and obtaining the results of PPMA’s 2013 Pest Control Usage & Attitudes Survey, please visit npmapestworld.org/ppma and contact Missy Henriksen, PPMA Executive Director, at mhenriksen@pestworld.org