Bug Off Pest Control Center recently hosted our latest Business Leadership Workshop: Building Wealth for Life presented by Dan Gordon, Managing Partner and Founder of PCO Bookkeepers.
Ultimately, the goal of a pest control operation, and frankly, any business, is to grow the bottom line while maximizing the value of the business. Dan Gordon shared with us that in maximizing the value of the business we create a great place to work, our staff see’s increased salaries and benefits, we’ve created job security and do business in a socially responsible manner.
To accomplish our goal we must first understand the make up of our business and how to grow the bottom line. Dan instilled in us the idea that in order to manage anything you had to be able to measure it. That’s the key to understanding where you are, where you want to be, and how to get there.
Measuring Quality Service:
The first measurement Dan recommends is Quality Service. He defines this as “The customer’s perception that the Pest Management firm’s performance meets or exceeds his or her expectations in addition to solving the customer’s problem.”
Some important measurement elements are: understanding the customers’ expectations, designing services to meet customers’ needs, setting service standards, and measure and improve performance.
Some indicators of quality service in the field are:
- Technician is on time
- The problem is resolved with the appropriate treatment
- The technician is courteous
- Call backs are minimal
Measuring Customer Retention:
Customer Retention is obviously an important measurement. Two measurements of retention are first year retention and second year and beyond retention. First year retention demonstrates the customer’s willingness to continue their pest control program beyond solving the initial problem. Second year and beyond retention refers to the client who continues to use your services beyond the first year. These are the costumers who know they need pest control management and are willing to make the investment.
A benchmark to measure costumer retention is your advertising spend. According to Dan “As long as advertising as a percentage of revenues is falling then we are experiencing positive customer retention. This is why for smaller companies they don’t understand why the bigger companies report to the industry surveys that they spend about 6% of revenues on advertising. “
Measuring Accounts Receivable:
PCO’s need to be sure their receivables are current. By maintaining accounts within your terms you are increasing the value of your business. By having clients pay upfront, for instance, you reduce your days in accounts receivable (DSAR) and bring your credit lines down, you won’t worry about late fee’s to vendors, and you can cash your own paycheck when you need to.
Measure the quality of sales performance:
It’s not just about the numbers when it comes to sales. It’s about conversions and yields.
Some of the important points to measure are:
- Number of leads
- Closing percentages
- Follow up actions including dates
- Commissions earned by sales people
- Base pay of sales people
With all these measurements you will be able to perform more efficiently and drive more to your bottom line. Dan provided us with a wealth of information at the workshop. If you have any questions or want to reach out to Dan you can email him at dan@pcobookkeepers.com or visit the PCOBookkeepers website.
Please look for our next post from our business leadership workshop: Pricing for Profit, a follow up to Dan Gordon’s presentation.
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