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I ran across a new logo today after reading about Green Servers on Blog Pest Control.com
It’s your handy dandy Green Certified Website logo: www.co2stats.com. And you can buy it now added it to your site and they will monitor how many visitors you get and determine the carbon impact of your website. But wait, it gets better, Just by adding this logo to your site you will get visitors to Trust you more, stay longer, and link back to. WOW! What a magically little logo! And you don’t even have to be green! Just add the logo and watch the Green Cash Flow in.
BUT WAIT IT GET’S BETTER! For each affiliate website that signs up after clicking through on your magical Green Website Logo you will get a commission. So what we are really saying when we say Green is $GREEN$.
And Buy now and we will throw in your FREE EMEPROR’S NEW CLOTHES!!!
THAT’S RIGHT
FREE EMPOROR”S NEW CLOTHES WITH EVERY GREEN LOGO PURCHASE!
….Sorry got a little carried away.
I will just finish up with one of my favorite quotes from Troop Beverly Hills. “Patches, we don’t need no stinking patches.”
What separates you from the competition? This question is the key to any marketing strategy and often the key to success for any business. Although some may venture through life never asking this question, enjoying success, and never giving any thought to the multiple variables that make them successful. Again, what separates you from the pack, answered or not is a key element to business survival. It may be your location, it may be your name, it may be your excellent service, but for whatever reason, your customers have a choice and they choose you. Knowing why they choose you can be huge!For those that leave this question unanswered and are still successful, you most likely could amplify that success by answering and exploiting your differences.
One example for Bulwark has been their ability to focus and conquer a very difficult pest, scorpions. Constant and successful scorpion control does not come by mere luck. Bulwark’s owner took the time to research, test, and evaluate different scorpion control methods and ideas. After success and failure, a real scorpion solution was found. Bulwark, as a modest and small family pest control company, at that time this solution was discovered, didn’t do much to expound upon this success. However, the customers that realized the magnitude of effective scorpion control spoke out and communicated this to their friends. Now, after hearing the voices of thousands of happy scorpion free customers, Bulwark doesn’t just get noticed for scorpion control, no its better then a mere pat on the back, they get recommendations from other pest control companies. They get referred to by local Home Depot representatives as the scorpion specialists.
Now, the goal of a good marketing team is to magnify and amplify those voices and that service. Today, its hard not to find Bulwark if you search for scorpions in the areas they serve… or if you search for just scorpion control period.
Just a few tips on choosing a pest control name.
1- Stay away from town or city names. Town or city names are not trademarkable. Ask any trademark lawyer. You may have the name for 20 years and a guy comes along and sets up shop across the street, calls himself St. George Pest Control, and you can’t do a thing about it. Plus it gets a little hairy in the marketing area as well.
2- Stay away from “kill, killer, slayer” or other like terms. These names may sound great to you and you may think that they convey what your goal is, but studies show that such negative words can be deterrents.
3- Stay away from using specific pests in your name. If you named your company the Mouse Control Guy, then you could be limiting yourself to targeting just mice.
This is soley from my experience and my degree in marketing. In the end, a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet. Meaning, if you provide a great service then no matter what you call your company, people will still come off of your refferals.
Dear Aamco Transmission,
I had my transmission worked on by your company about 2 years ago. One of the reasons I chose your service was because of the lifetime warranty that was promised. I find out now that it was a “lifetime transmission service”, not a warranty and that there is no existing warranty on the work performed. Apparently it was 12k or 12 months. The transmission that you replaced or rebuilt hasn’t hit 20k yet and is shot. The branch I went to said I got a smoking deal, that if I want they will match that price. Is it really a smoking deal if its now broken? Is there any way you can help resolve this?
Dear Customer, We spoke to the AAMCO franchise in Mesa concerning your van. They tell us that your original service was done for essentially a wholesale price and that they are willing to come down even slightly from that amount with a longer warranty this time. We suggest that you contact Zack at the AAMCO center and consider that offer carefully since it appears to be extremely reasonable. AAMCO Customer Relations.
I am aware that Zack mentioned it was a wholesale price. I would have preferred to pay the extra $500 to have it done right the first time. Thanks for your feedback. I am sorry but I don’t feel it fair to sell me something that doesn’t work so that you can sell it to me again later…
My Take -
Zack’s proposal was about $1600. Last time they “fixed the transmission” it was a little over that price. I was assured last time that the work done would last and that since the engine was still good that no other major repairs would be needed on the van. Zack even said “Well you’d hope it would last more then 20k”. Yes, I am kicking myself for letting him give it back to me when it was still shifting hard, with the excuse that the computer would adjust. Basically it sounds like I got ripped off. I am sorry that it was the former owner but the name is the same. Unfortunately since this is a branded company you will live and die by the name your brand carries. Don’t believe me, then read J.D. Powers- Satisfaction.
I know this sucks all the way around, because it was probably just one guy that screwed up, but I feel that I am getting the short end of the stick here and I don’t feel that the resolution offered was fair.
So how does this relate to Pest Control?
First, I have to say, I have a little more respect for Orkin and Terminix.
But more importantly, Pest Control Prices! Charging a customer less and doing a lesser job is bad business.
I was probablly undersold. The guy fixing my transmission probably went with the cheapest possible solution. Results we “okay” to start but it was not a long term fix to my problem. Ultimately I, the customer, feel like I got ripped off. Now I tell 5 people about it… or 5,000 depending on who reads my blog. The net effect is that you do more damage to your company by offering a cheap service for a low price.
… oh, and 3rd don’t advertise something that may be easily misinturpetted, like “Lifetime Transmission Service.”
Read more on Pest Control Prices.
I decided to up my SEO knowledge so I meet up with some local SEO people.
As I sat in the room I was instantly awe struck by a woman and man as they walked in. This husband gently lead guided his wife into the room. She was wearing sunglasses and carrying a walking stick under her arm. At closer examination the husband was also carrying a walking stick although he was not using it. It was apparent that she is blind and he is visually impaired.
What could I make of this? A blind SEO team? As I sat I watched with wonder how he searched the internet. As the group meet up progressed and the group was asked to review some sites, I was able to personally witness how she, a completely blind individual surfed the internet. What an amazing perspective! I listened to her computer speaking to her as she browsed the page. It was a totally and completely new view on SEO, optimizing a site to be accessible for the blind. And here they were, an expert SEO team, certified by the search engine academy, ready to give their feedback on SEO and usability from their totally unique and different view.
I was inspired today and applaud that SEO team.
What are the benefits of a family pest control over a big corporate run pest control?
What are the disadvantages?
Is there a happy medium?
One of Bulwark’s customers put it best for us… “Small enough to care, but big enough to do it right.”
But even beyond that is what Gerry touched on in a recent post. A family business may have some flaws… what you may be shooting for instead is a business family. Drawing from my experience with other family owned companies in the past, specifically a restaurant I worked for, it was almost hard to leave them because the owner and other employees had developed a real concern about each other. I have even had one family company ask to keep me on for about 10 to 15 hours a week in the evenings, and I felt like I needed to stay to help them out. The pay wasn’t great but it wasn’t about the pay. It was about the family.
So does your family pest control company fall into the pitfalls of family members getting away with murder and ultimately ostracize the non-family employees? Or does your franchise run a tight ship were every sailor on board would risk life and limb for another?
Franchise, privately owned, or corporate…
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