Listen to this content
In pest management, there’s a dangerous middle ground that doesn’t get talked about enough: the space between poor service and excellent service. It’s what I call “good enough” pest control.
It’s not sloppy. It’s not negligent. But it’s also not solving the real problem. And, over time, it’s costing our industry more than we realize.
“Good enough” pest control is easy to spot in the field. It’s a technician treating baseboards out of routine. It’s a follow-up completed without a true inspection. It’s by-the-book bait placements that don’t align with actual activity.
Nothing is technically wrong. But nothing is truly targeted, either. Because the technician is on autopilot, there is an increased risk of callbacks and recurring issues, which can lead to customers beginning to lose confidence in the service. This is because customers don’t evaluate pest control the way we do. They don’t see product selection, dilution rates or treatment strategies.
They see one thing: results.
You can follow every label instruction and apply every product correctly, but if the issue persists, the customer perceives failure.
How we got here, and how to get out
This issue rarely stems from a lack of effort. In most cases, it is the result of operational pressure and routine that push service toward “good enough.”
Common contributors include tight scheduling, treating visible activity rather than identifying root causes, over-reliance on standard service patterns and lack of structured feedback from callbacks.
Take a hard look at how you’ve trained your technicians vs. what is expected of them in the field. At meetings, you may instruct them to take the time needed to investigate each account and get to the bottom of what’s causing a pest infestation. But in reality, are you scheduling enough time per stop to make that happen? Are you doing random audits of their notes for different accounts to see how detailed they are at each stop, or is there a blank space in the notes section again and again?
Callbacks are the canary in the coal mine
Callbacks are not just part of the job; they are feedback from the field. In an industry built on solving problems, the ability to learn from callbacks may be one of the most valuable skills of all.
When a callback occurs, do you automatically assume the technician failed in some way, or do you accompany them to the account to figure out what is really going on? In most cases, callbacks fall into three categories:
- Biological: The infestation was heavier than expected or still within its reproductive cycle.
- Chemical: Product selection, environmental conditions or degradation reduced effectiveness.
- Service: Missed areas, improper placement or lack of thorough inspection (“good enough” pest control).
When companies begin categorizing callbacks this way, patterns quickly emerge. If callbacks are frequently tied to service gaps, provide additional training or inspection protocols. If they’re tied to product performance, make adjustments in material selection or application strategy. Then use those patterns to guide your next steps.
When technicians understand why a callback occurred, they gain confidence in their ability to solve similar issues in the future. This shifts the mindset from reactive to proactive — one of the most important transitions in technician growth. Regardless of the callback category, the goal is to move from “good enough” toward “best efforts.”
