How to start & Build a Pest control company with mark porter from porters pest control!

How so say you were to give any anyone star in like a business,

a pest control, any voice to like growing or trying or put

yourself out there, what would you, what would you say to them?

What would be a good idea? That don't don't sell your soul.

What we offer is a specialised service.

If you don't have, if you can't believe in yourself that what

you're going to do is going to make a difference, then now is

the client going to believe in that?

We you'd be stunned how many projects we walk away from

because at the end of the day, people are paying for my

expertise and know how, not my time.

It's amazing how many people ask how much would you charge for

this? It's not about that.

It's about what that value is worth.

And I that I think people out there need to really research

into what is what is value and what is value worth to someone.

Value is more than money. It's not what you're willing to

pay is what that what, what is it valued to you out.

So if, if anyone's a bit sort of twisted by that, I think at the

end, if you can't convince your client that what you're offering

is going to be the best value for them, then that's where

these struggles are going to start.

If you're selling value without selling value, then you're going

to be on your merry way. That's great advice because I've

obviously trying to expand more to get more commercial and I've

got to offer the value and do it the proper way because I

scenario you've got to learn to be honest, it really is.

And I think you just need to keep your ears and your eyes

open. I mean, I've, I'm, I've always

been known as being quite vocal. And you know, that's why I'm one

of the admin moderators on the British pest control group as

well. But at the same time, I'm never

afraid to say, hey, guys, like, can I have some advice on this?

And I think don't be don't be frightened to ask questions

because it's better to ask 10 questions and to than to not ask

and get something badly wrong because you can fall quicker

than you build in this industry and get a really bad name for

yourself. So, you know, make friends, get

to know who your local. I've got I'm surrounded by

competitors, but most of them I get on with.

We don't, we don't interfere with each other.

We all know what our we all know what our selling points are and

I don't slag off my local competition with the exception

of maybe a couple, but that's, you know, that's due due to the

fact that they just don't like what we do because we're we're

doing all right. But on the whole, I've got a

I've got a lot of the respect from our competitors and we help

a lot of them out where we can as well.

So I think it's don't make yourself an enemy by by those

around you because at the end of the day, it's better to be like

than loathed. Exactly that.

I mean, I have, I know all the I know pretty much all of the pest

controllers in my area and we get an all right if we see each

other out on the road be. Yeah, you wave.

Pull over by sometimes, sometimes.

Pull over and have a chat sometimes.

Yeah, exactly. And I think that's how it should

be. You know, there's enough work

out there for everyone. And I think, like I said, I

think it's just it's creating an image of yourself for yourself.

Oh, I've definitely done that in recent times.

Yeah, and. That's.

And that's what's important. So yeah, that's, that's the only

advice I can give really is just, you know, you've got to

have faith in what you're doing and you've got to believe in

what you're doing. Because at the end of the day,

if you're, if you're going in really cheap, you know that

that's not believing in yourself.

That's, that's you. You're disbelieving in yourself.

You've got to be able to. I've had people that fall over

with us, some of the prices that we charge our clients.

But at the end of the day, we get the results.

And a lot of the time, if it's getting the results, then it's

worth it's money well spent for our clients.

Oh, it definitely is. But sadly a lot of what gets me

is when like I've done work really, they show you around,

they're fine. And a couple of businesses I've

tried to get, obviously I'm not saying a name, but they have a

national and I thought we offered more value in that one

then and then they didn't. What gets me is they never

actually give you feedback or anything if you get nothing.

Unless you get it. Yeah, but it's never going to

change, is it? Well, it's not, I mean, I'm not,

I'm not, I'm not going to preach to you.

I mean, you're, you're doing all right.

You're building. So I'm not preaching to you how

to do it. But I think that's where the,

the real, the, the, the selling techniques really evolves around

what their needs are. Really understanding that the

client needs. Because I've been around people

where they go on site. Yeah, we can do these metal

boxes. Yeah, we can do this.

Yeah, we can. Whereas it's a case of what your

concerns. What, what is it you're looking

for? What do you need?

Do you want someone that's purely dedicated to your site or

do you want it 2 free? I've won massive contracts

because the one problem that that facilities managers got is

he's fed up of someone different every time turning up at his

site and he's getting pulled away.

So I've won a contract before purely on the basis of saying so

if I gave you one dedicated technician and we've won in

reserve that knew your site inside out, he said I'd give you

the contract. So again.

That's going back. That's going back to rather than

turning up on the site and doing anything.

What, what's your biggest problem?

What, what your, what are you looking for?

What do, what do you need from a service provider?

And that client was a, a huge customer.

What, what is now a huge customer because he couldn't

believe that my opening question was what are you looking for?

What, what do you want? What do you want?

And he actually said, he said, he said, I want someone that can

turn up every month that knows where the site is, that knows

where the boxes are. I said, what if I gave you two

people? I'll give you 1 dedicated tech

and I'll bring in another one in reserve on the same day that we

set up. So God forbid anything happens,

they'll know the site. That's great.

I'll be honest, that's great advice for myself.

I'm going to try that next time. So again.

I'll I'll try that I. Will it's, it's, it's just, it's

just trying to sound like you say, if you don't get feedback

at times, I'm not saying you on a personal level, but sometimes

it might be because we've not asked the right questions.

It might be that we've gone in and trying to do XY and Z,

whereas what they've wanted us to establish is what their needs

actually are. We might.

We might want someone that's able to come at weekends.

We might want someone that comes with me.

We ain't asking those questions specifically.

What are you looking for? What?

What is going to? What is going to make me Max

maximum appeal to you? OK.

It gets food for four, doesn't it?

It does. It definitely does.

It is. It is food for four.

And I've been there, I've been there where I've gone in and I

and I've walked away and I'm thinking, Ouch, like I've really

overdone that because I'm telling them how good, you know,

not as much how good we are, but we can do this and we do that.

But over, over recent years, you know, my opening, my opening

questions have been, look what you, what, what do you need?

What, what is it that you're looking for?

What, what's making you want to change?

What aren't, what aren't you getting what, what you needed or

what's being failed and what you agreed.

And people will open up and tell you that because we're all quick

to sort of want to open up and say what's making us unhappy at

times, especially as a, as a potential client.

Well, they turn up at 3:00 in the afternoon or, well, you

know, I normally get John, but I've not been having John turn

up. So by listening to those needs

and homing in on those needs, you're able to give clear and

precise answers to those problems straight away that

they've, you know, you're at the forefront of their mindset.

Yeah, no thanks. That's, that's really good.

That's really good advice. Because we've got one site where

they, they, they'd love us to turn up at like 9:30 because the

basically the guard, guard people work on the gardens and

that they have to meet at 9:30 and that's when they turn up.

And he says because they're not bothered, they're not bothered

way in the month, but as long as I turn up in time for their

meeting. Exactly.

And that's what you said. That's what you said, he said.

I want someone to turn up half, half 9 roughly when they're

having the tea break, basically. And that's what I do every time

with that one. I do.

So, yeah, I think, I think, I think really that's it.

It's, it's just understanding and, and doing a bit of research

on your customers, you know, doing, you ain't got to go too

crazy, but just going in and sort of saying, oh, I see, you

know, you've recently opened up a new branch in Bayswater.

How's that going? You know, just taking a general

interest in that brand and knowing a little bit about them,

doing a little bit of research sometimes.

Sometimes it's really good. Even when I've done cold calling

before, I've managed to bypass the receptionist because I'm

saying is, is John in this morning?

Oh, is he expecting you? I said, well, he said for me to

pop in. You know, you blog it a little

bit, but you're bypassing someone who would otherwise show

you the door because you've got a name.

Yeah, Linkedin's quite powerful as well.

You can get names off there usually.

Oh, I've, I've, I've, I've, I mean, I, I don't use LinkedIn as

as nowhere near as much as I do my social other socials, But I

tell you this, I've managed to find out who's who through

LinkedIn and I've, I've managed to breakdown doors that would

otherwise have been firmly shut in my face because you're I'm

going direct to these people. That's.

That's that's also, I do feel. I do feel Linkedin's become very

Facebooky unfortunately, but at the same time it is there is a

good tool to find out who's who it within the organisations.

It's true because it has. It has made LinkedIn bigger by

being more Facebook because I post my gym pictures and all

sorts on there. Yeah, but people like people

like it. But you are right, it has

changed. It's changed, but I think it's

made LinkedIn bigger because it's not just a job site or

where you get business. It's a little bit more than

that. But I spent too much time on it.

I really do. That's the problem.

Yeah, but, but again, I think you get, you reap what you sow

if you put the hours in and you put the research in.

I mean, we, I'm not afraid to say who, you know, we, we've

recently acquired a relationship with the Marriott Hotel Group.

You know, we're, we're now doing 2 of their hotels.

You know, they're, they're, they're an international brand.

So we, we, by no means are we going to be managing hundreds of

site up and down the country, but we're now an established

service provider where we're in two key parts of London, Canary

Wharf and in Mayfair, where we're really starting to make an

impact. And we're tidying those sites

up. And we've got the GMs now that

are going to, they're going to be networking for me.

That's, that's really good because see, I didn't think

you'd be able. I thought brands like that would

literally just say no, we'll have one company that covers the

entire country. So that's that's different.

Times are changing, Sean. I think a lot of these companies

now are starting to see, and it's the word that I used

earlier, where is the value lying?

And a lot of our, a lot of our smaller companies, these bigger

organisations are seeing what, what we're able to offer.

And it's it what's starting as a ripple is start is is starting

to cause a bit of a stir now, you know, because I think people

are seeing the value of local companies.

That's it's, it's good to hear that.

It's because obviously you, you know more than you have more

relationships for these kind of bigger brands and and they can

see the value in more of a smaller family business that

they can probably be relied on more than calling out another

say big company who probably won't come till next day.

Well, it's, you know, again, it's, and it's asking the

questions, you know, in certain instances I've had we've, we've

won a big restaurant trade because we was able to go in

2:00 in the morning until 7:00 the next morning.

And we had that window where we had six of us proofing through

the night. We had everything.

We had all the chairs taken out, was able to RIP out all the

expanding foam that the previous company put in.

And we was using metal plates and mouse stops.

So it's being able to adapt to the, to the needs of that

business. We're not disrupting that

business. We're working through the night,

we're charging accordingly. But it, you know, it's a, it's

been like a chameleon. You've got you've got to adapt

and understand what those clients problems are.

Yeah, it's I'll tell you, it's been really I I have been

talking to you because them questions I've never asked

before and I'm still. Learning like you say, you know,

I really hope that people aren't looking and thinking.

He's very cock sure of himself. It's not.

I'm very confident in what I do. But like I say, it's you're

forever learning and I'm always, I'm the no one is a bigger

critic of myself than myself. You know, I push myself all the

time and you know, we are doing really well.

But I still, I still scrutinise my month.

Every month. I at the end, last day of the

month, I get home and I'm like, right, what more could we have

done? Why haven't we done this?

Why haven't we got that, You know, and it comes down to

having that drive and hunger and a mentor, like I said, that

always cheques in on me. Yeah.

It's really good to hear that even every year I mentor, so it

is good to hear.

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