Chris Cagienard, managing director of Pest Solutions and president of BPCA, shares his opinion on what needs to change to ensure a bright future for the UK’s professional pest control industry
After 25 years in the industry, I have seen so much change. As a business owner, one of the most significant changes over the last 10 years has been ever-rising costs.
Everything costs more, and it only continues to get worse. In the last 10 years, the cost of a new van has doubled. In just the last year, our fleet insurance has risen by 80% after adjustment for the increase in the size of our fleet, and other costs are rising in the same way.
In my time in the industry, I have seen wages almost triple. Like many in the industry, at Pest Solutions we look after our team, striving to progress our wages and benefits despite increasing costs. The great people in our industry deserve to be looked after.
The upcoming changes to tax and national insurance will bring further cost increases. However, one glaring cost has not risen in the same way: the cost that customers pay for the benefit of a pest professional’s services – this is alarming and concerning.
In our business, we make sure to stand our ground and charge the right price for our professional services, which allow us to underpin the resources necessary to deliver a sustainable service.
However, some in our industry still seem willing to cut their own throats when it comes to unsustainably low pricing. This is even more pronounced with the state of some of the large multi-site tenders that we are asked to quote for. We are left with no option but to walk away, as the burden of some of these contracts could easily bankrupt a small business.
In my opinion, some of these tender specifications are unethical, with pricing that ends up being loss-making and not even enough to underpin a living wage hourly rate for the resources required to service the contract.
We need to stop the stupidity: we need to say no to unethical procurement that undermines the professionalism of the pest control industry, however, many are still willing to undertake this work making a mockery of us all.
Let’s start saying no to unsustainably low pricing – don’t undersell yourself.
Charge the right price for the value of your professionalism, allowing you to reinvest in your people and your business.
Reforming the quality of service
I know that I am not alone in seeing the knock-on effect of the previously mentioned unsustainable pricing. It shows most significantly in terrible service.
This has never been as bad as it is now. It is the norm to find failing service and customers not ever receiving the number of service visits they are paying for. This is not surprising; something has got to give when prices are low.
We also see it in well-priced contracts, as low pricing and ridiculous specification burdens impact resources allocated to well-priced work.
Although it makes it easy to win business from competitors when you find shocking service and missed visits, it also makes me despair as this is the state of our industry. There is a reason that auditors make a beeline for the pest control records as they find it as easy as we do to find failings.
We are not perfect, but we strive to keep our standards high. We are only as good as our best person on their worst day. Building a business culture where you value professionalism is the only way to win this battle.