When you least expect it--expect it

Well here we are at the beginning of springtime. Sporatic termite swarms are occurring all over the country. As I was sitting in my den watching a bit of the race in Martinsville this past Sunday afternoon, I received a call from an old friend and business associate. He was frantic and he tells me that there are thousands of these little ant looking things with wings crawling all over his upstairs bedroom. I thought that it might be a little cool for swarmers. He said "What do I do Calvin?" I told him to open the window and let them out so somebody else can get termites too. Then I gave him the names of a couple of PMP's in his area to call. (my customers of course).
The point of all of this is that one doesn't know when things are going to happen in this business. Scientists and experts tell us a lot about what to look for and what to expect with pest activity. But as they say, when you least expect it-- expect it. We need pests because that's just the business that we are in. It seems that we are always being pleasantly surprised or disappointed. So, what are we to do?
We prepare, we learn, we take care of our customers, we take care of our employees, we market as aggressively as possible and we honor our obligations. In other words, we do everything possible to make people want to be our customer when they need us.

Get yourself ready! I know the economy is slow and for many of you business is bad. There is nothing worse than losing a job to someone else because your hoses are busting all over the place.

This week I ran across a guy who let that happen to him. Fortunately, I had what he needed to get going. Of course, if I hadn't ,it would have been my fault, (yeah right).

I'm telling you, within 10 days, a bunch of you will find yourselves in a pickle. That might seem odd given the fact that I'm sitting here in Atlanta on March 1 watching the snow fall. A week or so from now we'll have springtime temps. Orkin and Terminix will start their massive advertising and things will start happening. Check all of your equipment now.

Are you ready?

Do you want to spend $700 or $200 on your pump?

A customer called yesterday interested in purchasing a diaphram pump because he wanted more pressure than he was getting with his roller pump. When I ask him what he was doing with the rig, he said pretreats and post treats for termites.



I was trying to figure out why he wanted that pump, so I said, "Did you know that you can knock a fat kid off a poured foundation wall at 30 paces with that kind pressure?" Why do you need pressure rather than good volume? He scratched his head, dropped his jaw, and looked at me. I also asked if he enjoyed fixing and repairing his rig and pumps? Again he stared at me.



What I was trying to explain to him was that, in my opinion, the only reason to purchase a diaphram or piston pump for termite work is long term economy. Six to eight hundred dollars is fine to pay for a pump, but the only way to see the economy in that is if it out lasts a roller pump by four or five times. Also you must be willing and able to repair the pump.



PMP's are good at killing or controlling bugs, but at the same time most of us are lacking in the mechanical arts. Therefore, many PMP's are switching back to using standard roller pumps. They are simple to use and easy to install; you wear them out and throw them away.



You can call ole Calvin anytime with questions, or to talk over what you are thinking about purchasing. I'm going to be honest with you every time, even if it means I sell you a $200 pump instead of the $700 one you were prepared to purchase.





Call Me at (800) 251-4931 or visit our website, http://www.stephensonequip.com/

Twice this fall I ran into an interesting situation after helping a customer install a new pump.

These customers had come in with their poor performing, won't prime, low pressure rigs. We did our usual troubleshooting and arrived at the some conclusion. That is there pump was warn out. So I assisted and advised in the installation of a new pump. We tested out our work and everything was working great. Or so we thought.

The next day I get a call from both of these guys. They were upset. They had just spent a couple of hundred dollars and in one day their new pump had quit working. I sat their for a minute scratching my head and wondering how this could be? Then it came to me like a bright light from the heavens.

Both of these guys had an older rig and both had been using chemicals that left a residue in the tank. When the new pump was installed, it had significantly more suction than the old pump. It actually sucked the solids right off the bottom of the tank.

So I told the customers to check their line strainer. They said that was crazy because it was just cleaned out the day before. I said humor me and take the bowl off of your strainers. They did and to their amazement the line strainer was completely clogged. They cleaned it out and were right back in business.

How bout them apples?

I'm Actually Blogging

It was about 10 years ago that I had my first email address. I was given a laptop, and I had to start communicating in a way that seemed about as un-natural to me as wearing a skirt to work. I had to go through a routine to prep myself to use this new fangled thing that, to this day, my daughter and everyone who worked with me at the time enjoys ribbing me about. I’ll admit that I have some envy of several friends and associates I have with secretaries, or staff willing to compensate for their ignorance, reluctance, or indifference to business technology. A good old friend of mine uses email to communicate, sort of. When he wants to email me, he writes a note on a scratch pad and somehow his secretary copies it into an email to send. I wish I could do that, but I wouldn’t get away with it in my office.

I’ve reluctantly tried to adapt to all the new technology that keeps whizzing by since my first introduction to all this new way of business communication. Now, I’m going to blog. I don’t know what blog stands for. I’ve tried to figure out, if it’s an acronym, what it could possibly represent. I won’t go into what I’ve tried to figure. Regardless if I ever ascertain what blog stands for, I do understand that it’s a way that I can connect with all you technologically savvy Pest Management Professionals.

Every day I help folks in the Pest Management industry solve problems with the tools and equipment they have to have to serve their customers. Sometimes I help by standing at the tailgate of the service truck, troubleshoot a problem, and teach them how to fix it. Other times, I’m diagnosing a problem over the phone by determining what “that thing-a-ma-jig”, and “the other whatcha-callit” is doing. I’ve been helping people like this all my working life, and I enjoy it. There’s only one problem. There’s only one of me, and a limited number of hours to work in the day. When I know someone needs me, I’ll stay after 5 and talk over a problem with a customer in Guam, Saipan, or California. Other times, I’ll get here extra early to meet someone who has an early morning Pre-Treat to get them straightened out.

I’ve been trying to figure out how I can help the rest of you, which answers the question “Why am I blogging?” I’m going to take the situations, problems, and questions that I get on a daily basis at Stephenson Equipment Company and tell you about them on my blog. Common questions, suggestions I make, new products I find, and anything else that comes to mind. I hope you will start using this blog to help you in your business, ask me questions and send me suggestions.

I’ve convinced myself, now I’ll have to convince you. The technology and the way I’m talking to you may be new and savvy. However, the conversation is still going to be my way, old fashion: honest, helpful, with your needs in mind. I look forward to talking to you.

Call Me at (800) 251-4931 or visit our website at www.stephensonequip.com