[Company Profile] Welcome to the family

Pest control companies offer green pest control services for any number of reasons. Some pest control operators genuinely view green services as their contribution to protecting and preserving the environment, while others simply are looking to cash in on the latest marketing craze. Most probably fall somewhere in-between these two extremes. For William (Will) Houtchens, president and CEO of Corona, Calif.-based Team Too Termite & Pest Control, the reason is more personal.

"I was born with bronchial asthma, so my dad was always on a quest to find pest control services and products that didn’t cause me to have asthma attacks," he said. "That’s been our quest to this day."

This interest in embracing different "green" products and services has been a major catalyst in the company’s efforts to "promote conservation and awareness towards environmental concerns."

In February 2007, Will and son Bryan Houtchens, vice president and COO, put together a plan to achieve a "green" standard for Team Too. The company’s objective was to "reduce environmental impact for the benefit of all employees, customers and future generations." Some of the changes that have been implemented the past three years include:

New service equipment. The service equipment on each truck was replaced; each truck that previously had a gasoline-powered sprayer was replaced with a no-emissions, no-noise, electric-powered sprayer. The battery on the car provides the power without having to run while the sprayer is operating; in turn the equipment runs silent and produces no emissions. The batteries are charged, while the technicians report to each appointment. The overall change in the service vehicles alone from gasoline-powered equipment and fuel-guzzling trucks greatly reduces the footprint on the environment. To put it in dollars and cents, Team Too’s 30 service routes are using 5 less gallons of fuel per week, for a savings of 150 gallons of fuel per week. Bryan Houtchens said that an unanticipated benefit is that clients (especially sensitive accounts) like the fact that the electric-powered sprayers make far less noise than the gasoline-powered sprayers.

Fuel-savings measures. Team Too instituted a comprehensive vehicle program that began by changing the complete fleet of service vehicles from older Chevrolet S-10s and heavy-duty models to new fuel-efficient Chevrolet Colorados. In addition to the change in vehicle type and equipment, Team Too worked with a GM-authorized, engine-tuning and development company to create and install a 65 MPH "governor" and electronic fuel control that does not allow for "hard starts" or the quick acceleration from dead stops which creates a substantial use of gasoline. The electronic timing changes and speed governing have increased the fuel mileage on each vehicle by 15 percent or 2.25 miles per gallon. The combination of the vehicle switch and installation of governors has led to substantial savings. From June 2008 to June 2009, Team Too routes in its Inland Empire and Orange County operations saved $10,000 in fuel while its termite division saved $12,000 in fuel. The company’s San Diego operation – its smallest service territory – saved $6,000. Team Too’s Los Angeles operation added two routes but its fuel costs only increased $2,000; similarly the Northern California operation added two routes and its costs only increased $5,000.

Corporate call center changes. At the corporate call center and operation management offices, the directive was to reduce power consumption, water usage, and use of paper whenever possible.

"We looked at everything from the vehicles we were driving, to the paper we were buying, to the lights in the ceiling," said Bryan Houtchens.

These and other company-wide initiatives have helped Team Too achieve the distinction of being certified by three important "green" third-party oversight agencies: QualityPro Green, EcoWise and GreenShield certifications.

"These certifications are important because we want to show our customers our commitment to the quality service that we provide," Houtchens added.

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Smart Growth

While the past 10 years have been a time of aggressive growth for Team Too Termite & Pest Control, the immediate future focuses on "smart growth," including several initiatives aimed at reducing costs in response to the current economic environment.

"We are cautious in how we are growing," said Bryan Houtchens, vice president and COO of Team Too. "We are trying to learn from challenges our family incurred during the early 1990s recession. We went back and looked at some of the mistakes we made then and discussed how we could avoid them, or what we could do better this time." Cost-savings measures have included:

BRANCH OFFICE REEVALUATION. The advent of Team Too’s Corporate Call Center has helped the company reduce overhead. For example, Team Too previously had a San Diego office from which both service technicians and customer service representatives worked. Once Team Too centralized its call center – thereby reducing office staff and eliminating the need for service technicians to have a central location from which to work – the branch was relocated to a new office that offered lower rent ($400 per month cheaper). The new site also had secure indoor parking. Similarly, Team Too renegotiated its San Jose office, thereby reducing costs from $2,100 per month to $1,350 per month. Team Too retained its Los Angeles office but was able to renegotiate its rent down by $300 per month.

PHONE CHANGES. Team Too previously had a contract with Sprint in which it paid the telecommunications company $6,000 per month for cellular phone and landline service. Houtchens was able to negotiate this cost down to $3,200 per month while at the same time equipping all Team Too field staff with BlackBerrys. "This has provided us with an integrated messaging system between the office and the field," Houtchens said. "So let’s say one of our technicians needs a security code [to access a home or building] he can IM back to the office and get that code sent to him instantly. Or, if he is having trouble identifying a pest he can take a photo and send it back to the office."

REROUTING. One of the toughest – if not the toughest – decisions that an owner/operator has to make is laying people off. Every year, Team Too reevaluates its routes to improve efficiencies. Anticipating forthcoming economic challenges, Team Too took this practice a step further and totally restructured its routes. Under the previous routing structure, Team Too was in need of three additional routes to accommodate growth. After the re-routing it was determined that the three routes were not needed. "What this meant was that we did not have to lay off any field staff," Houtchens said. Similarly, Team Too’s original plan was to institute rolling furloughs for its field staff in order to save 120 man hours per week (from mid-June until the end of July). As one might expect the plan was unpopular among the Team Too field staff, so Bryan and Will decided to re-route again. In so doing they were able to redistribute work and find enough cost savings that made the furloughs unnecessary. (Will Houtchens "made good" with the few workers who were furloughed the first week.)

CLEAR MARKETING MESSAGE. Houtchens said one of Team Too’s goals throughout the recession has been to stress the importance to consumers of hiring a professional. All of the company’s sales professionals are being trained to spread this message, even going so far as telling prospective clients that "even if you don’t use us, use a professional."

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TEAM TOO’S HISTORY. Team Too’s green pest initiatives are the most recent chapter in the colorful history of the company, whose story is intertwined with Pasadena, Calif.-based Dewey Pest Control. Bill Houtchens — father of Will and grandfather of Bryan — began working for Dewey in the 1950s. Bill was branch manager for Dewey’s Orange County operations.

"When Dewey was opening up operations in Orange County, we had a teardrop trailer on the side of our house and that was the office," Will Houtchens recalled. "The Dewey family has been great mentors to us."

In 1978, Bill Houtchens, with the encouragement of son Will, struck out on his own, founding Oranco Pest Control. "I always felt I had an idea of how I wanted to run a pest control company – to run it differently from the way I saw companies being run at the time," Will Houtchens said.

Specifically, Will Houtchens wanted to offer more customized service offerings. He also wanted to lead a pest control company with a heavy emphasis on customer service – the importance of which he learned from his father, as well as mentors Ed Norman, Gene Young, Ron Pelham and the Dewey family.

The two-man operation of Bill and Will Houtchens grew largely by word of mouth. "Seventy-three percent of our new business came from referrals, and the only way you get referrals is standing behind what you say you are going to do."

In the early-1980s the company had grown to 15 employees, adding 1-2 new routes per year. More growth came in the mid-to-late 1980s as the company began offering additional services such as lawn and weed control, hydro-seeding, and agricultural pest control, and changed its name to Oranco Services to reflect this transformation. By the late 1980s, Oranco Services serviced the entire Orange County, San Diego County, and Los Angeles area.

UPS AND DOWNS. In 1991, Bill Houtchens retired and split Oranco Services into two separate companies, selling the pest control operation (renamed Green Earth Environmental Services) to Will and Bryan Houtchens and the termite operation (Team Termite & Pest Control) to his son-in-law. In 1996, Will and Bryan Houtchens re-formed the company after purchasing Team Termite & Pest Control. The company decided to name the company Team Too Termite & Pest Control. The goal of the new name was to cause people to ask what does the "Too" mean?

The post-merger days were challenging, Bryan Houtchens recalled, but — as in the company’s early days — business began to pick up thanks to quality customer service and word-of-mouth referrals. "I remember we did a $3,000 termite job and we spent four days on that job to make sure it was done right. That one customer then opened the doors for maybe 100 more. It really took off like wildfire after that."

From 1998 to 2000 the company added six routes and added six service technicians. "I can remember Sylvia (Kenmuir) from Target Specialty Products giving a training session with six people in the room, and then the next year she came back and we had about 20 people in the room," Bryan Houtchens recalled.

Additional growth came in December 2001, when Team Too made its first major acquisition — San Diego-based New Solutions Environmental Pest Management — which became the company’s first branch office.

WELCOME TO THE FAMILY. Today Team Too has 45 employees and services not only Southern California, but Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. In many respects Team Too has flown under the radar…and that’s the way the company likes it.

"I’ve had [acquaintances] say, ‘Well, I’ve never heard of Team Too,’ and that’s perfect," said Bryan Houtchens. "I’ve never wanted to be the guy in front of the camera. We’re proud of what we have. We don’t feel the need to publicize it."

Instead, Houtchens prefers to share the spotlight with employees, whether it’s the men and women in the field providing standout service, or customer service reps deftly dealing with customers on the phone. "We share everything with our employees, including the spotlight," Bryan Houtchens said. "If someone wants to use the conference room (with a big-screen, flat screen TV) for a Super Bowl party, ‘Sure, do it.’ If someone needs to use one of our pick-up trucks to help move, ‘Sure, take it.’"

Upon entering the Team Too corporate office visitors are greeted with company motto "Welcome to the Family," which Team Too refers to as its employees and customers.

Team Too Termite Manager Chad Powell, who has been with the company six years, says the slogan is not just a gimmick.

"The way that they took me…you really feel like you are part of their family. Brian will joke around with me like brothers do, and Will treats me like a son. I have a wife and three kids, so I really enjoy the family aspect of it."

Just one example of Team Too’s "family focus" is its 2009 corporate sponsorship of an auto race at Orange Show Speedway in San Bernardino, Calif. Sure, the sponsorship helped promote the company’s name throughout the community, but perhaps of greater importance was the opportunity for Team Too employees and their families to get together for a company outing.

Team Too also is a family in the literal since. Will’s wife, Lynne, handles finances and Bryan’s wife, Melissa, is director of human resources. Another of Will’s sons, Jacob Houtchens, is fleet operations manager.

Lynne Houtchens says being a part of a family business has its challenges and its rewards.

"Just like at home you have financial challenges, and sometimes I am the one who has to put the damper on the ‘pie in the sky’ ideas when looking at things from a financial point of view," says Lynne Houtchens. "Then you also have challenges such as stress and personalities and competition – all those things come into play with a family business. But on the flip side, you get a daily interaction with your children and get to observe their strengths and skills and that is very gratifying. And although sometimes we want to take different paths to our end goals, we all focus on the same type of end goals."

Bryan Houtchens has another way of explaining Team Too’s family/business dynamics. "It’s just like the TV Show ‘American Choppers,’" he said, referring to the reality show that became popular for chronicling the drama that takes place at Orange County Choppers, a family-run custom motorcycle manufacturer. Much of the drama on that show characterizes the feuds between father and son. "We do have our moments, however, our moments are due to us both wanting success for the company versus success for us as individuals, and we have not been torn apart by that desire," Bryan added. "We both keep the focus on what we need to be the best at what we do, not for us as a family or individuals, but for the entire Team Too Termite & Pest Control family of employees and customers. When we do argue, we both get our points out, then find the middle ground that is best for all of us, neither of us have backed down or walked away from what we know can only be a success if we are all on the same page."

As Team Too enters its next chapter, Houtchens remains optimistic that the operational changes Team Too has implemented — combined with its green efforts — have positioned the company for future success. "I see great potential for growth in the residential sector, but not the traditional demographic of age 35 to 50 with $1 million homes. I think it will come from the age 21 to 35 market – families just getting into their homes and not wanting to repeat the mistakes [of their parents] and looking for preventive maintenance solutions."

The author is Internet editor and managing editor of PCT magazine and can be reached via e-mail at bharbison@giemedia.com.