[View Point] What a bootmaker can teach us about providing value

Bootmaker Pablo Jass. Photo courtesy of Jennifer June, dimlights.comWhat does it take to get your hands on a pair of custom boots from bootmaker Pablo Jass? Well, let’s start with the destination. You’re going to have to take a trip to the small Central Texas town of Lampasas — about 70 miles from the closest major metropolitan area (Austin). You’ll then enter Pablo’s workshop, which can best be described as a shack, complete with a tin roof, rickety windows and hole-filled screens (forget about air conditioning). Your first visit will probably be time-consuming, as Pablo will take multiple measurements and sketch out your foot for the hand-carved last he will use to make your boot. After choosing your design you will be on your way. Oh yeah, it will probably take 12 to 18 months before you get your boots.

So why would anyone go through such trouble? Jeff Tucker, president of Entomology Associates, Houston, Texas, explains, “When you go to pull them on it’s like putting your hand in the softest leather glove you’ve ever felt in your life. They fit perfect. They’re durable. They last.” As part of his presentation for this year’s BASF Skill Development Seminar, Tucker used Jass as an example of someone who delivers value. “If Pablo were to say that’s $3,000 for the boots, I would write him a check for $3,000. It can take 18 months to get them, but you will wait for Pablo. I could care less how long it takes or how much they cost. I want my boots from Pablo. I don’t want anybody else’s boots.” And others do, too. Jass receives orders from across the globe (including Milan, Italy) and his customers includes famous actors such as Robert Duvall.

Tucker challenged his audience of owner/operators and service technicians to build that type of value into their businesses/routes. “That’s the kind of business you want. When you approach a customer and say, ‘Yes indeed, my inspection found termites,’ you want customers who say, ‘I don’t care what it costs — take care of it. Because I know I’ll get value from you.’”

Tucker added, “That’s the power of value. Everybody and anybody can do that. It’s not a secret. It’s just a decision you have to make. Is that how you want to run your business?”

How can pest management professionals build value into services they provide to their customers? Very simply, Tucker said, consider what customers want and fulfill those expectations: Quality and performance (no bugs); customer service (no missed appointments); highly trained and knowledgeable service technicians; a company that stands behind its service performance; trustworthy and thorough; and a sensitivity to the customer’s environment.

An easy trap that pest control operators fall into is selling on price, not value. When this happens, your company defines and sells value in sellers’ terms and you must pay for it with a bigger discount. Conversely, selling on value is a proactive approach. Tucker quoted Tom Reilly, author of the book “Value-Added Selling,” who wrote: “Value-added selling is proactive: it’s everything you do before price becomes an issue. It’s all the value you build in on the front end so that price is less of an issue on the back end. You can’t wait for the buyer to raise a price objection and then decide to practice some value-added selling on the buyer.”

In recent years, the cost of video cameras has gone down while the technology used to upload videos to websites has improved. The result is that many pest control operators have added pretty cool videos to their sites. If you are interested in having your videos posted on PCTOnline, e-mail me at bharbison@giemedia.com. Speaking of video, PCT has been shooting video at various industry events, including last month’s NPMA Legislative Day. Check out these videos at www.pctonline.com/Content.aspx.
 

The author is Internet editor and managing editor of PCT magazine.