Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC

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Pricing

Many wildlife control operators (WCO) wonder how to set up their pricing schedule. It’s a difficult task because there are so many variables in a service business. How do you know where to set your pricing? Plus, to be frank, most people who get into wildlife control did it

Stephen M. Vantassel when he owned Wildlife Removal Service, Inc. in Springfield, MA.
Stephen M. Vantassel when he owned Wildlife Removal Service, Inc. in Springfield, MA. in 1998.

because they like working outside and with wildlife, not staring at a spread sheet. Some WCOs just call the competition and just copy or mimic the pricing of the competition. Copying is one way to do it but the problem is your costs may be much higher than theirs. If so, then you have essentially destined yourself to be underbidding yourself and putting your financial stability at risk. I think there is a better way.

So here are a few tips to help you establish your pricing.
Step 1. Determine what you need/want to make on an hourly basis. Whatever the number is, double it to cover costs of taxes, insurance, and other employment costs. If you want $25/hour you should charge at a rate of $50.

Step 2. Determine how long it takes you to do set up a standard squirrel removal job. Time yourself, as soon as you park in your own driveway and go through the steps of inspecting the house (yours) and setting up the traps. Go through the motions in an honest way. Stop the clock when you have finished with the client (spouse or friend) and put the ladder and equipment back and you get behind the wheel.

Step 3. Determine your home range. Keep in mind that you need to be paid for windshield time. I suggest your prime service area is 30 minutes from your home-base. That means add an hour to a service call because you have to be paid to drive too and from the job site. Add the miles too by converting the miles into dollars using the Federal government’s business mileage deduction number. In 2018, that number is 0.545/mile.

Step 4. Phone time. Customers take time on the phone. Add that in to your initial service.

Step 5. If you want to be thorough, calculate how much your business card, paperwork will cost per client.

Step 6. Add up all the time, multiply it by your service rate and then add the expenses of mileage and materials. That is what you should be charging for your initial visit to the job.

Certainly, there is more to say here but the above material gets you started. For info on the role of depreciation see Depreciation

Stephen M. Vantassel, CWCP, is the owner of Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. He helps people restore their balance with nature through publishing, training, consulting, and the internet. He has published numerous articles in trade and academic publications along with several books (http://kingsdivinity.academia.edu/StephenMVantassel). He is a sought after speaker and trainer. Copyright All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC.

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Company Brochure

Does your wildlife control company provide customers with a company brochure? If it doesn’t, I think it should. Company brochures are an inexpensive form of advertising for your customers. Company brochures, when they are well done, show your company is professional and not just someone who decided to start “trapping.”  When I ran Wildlife Removal Service, Inc. in Springfield, MA, I created my own company brochure. It consisted of three 8 1/2 x 11 inch sheets of paper stapled together with a copy of my business card. It covered a variety of topics. One reason why I loved that brochure was that many customers would read it while I was inspecting their house and thereby would not be bothering me.

Stephen M. Vantassel when he owned Wildlife Removal Service, Inc. in Springfield, MA.
Stephen M. Vantassel when he owned Wildlife Removal Service, Inc. in Springfield, MA. in 1998.

What should your brochure contain? I suggest the following elements:

  • Company Name, address, contact information, including e-mail, phone, and website. If you have a Facebook page or other social media accounts, include them too.
  • Brief history of the company. Don’t write the great American novel. Just provide a little information about your company. Personalize it. The goal is to help bond the company with your client. It’s here that you want to highlight the owners and/or the technicians. I understand spotlighting technicians can be tricky as you don’t know how long they will be with your company. But many wildlife control companies are run by owner-operators so take the opportunity to highlight the owner(s), you. Do you help with little league? Have interesting, non-controversial hobbies? Include them.
  • List services your company provides. Here is where the brochure becomes a sales brochure. Be sure to use excellent photos. Show customers before and after images and warn them about potential problems that are common in your area and how your company helps resolve those problems.
  • Highlight important wildlife laws. This suggestion may be a bit controversial. But I think it should be added to your company brochures. I included laws because a lot of my customers didn’t know that Massachusetts regulations prohibited the translocation of wildlife. Yet, despite this fact, I encountered many clients who told me that the “other” wildlife control company promised they could release the problem animal elsewhere. My response was well if they said that they were either lying to you or breaking the regulation. I didn’t ask them to take my word for it. Rather I provided them with a copy of the state regulations for them to read on their own.

Why not give this business idea a try. See if it helps you grow a stronger business.

Stephen M. Vantassel, CWCP, is the owner of Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. He helps people restore their balance with nature through publishing, training, consulting, and the internet. He has published numerous articles in trade and academic publications along with several books (http://kingsdivinity.academia.edu/StephenMVantassel). He is a sought after speaker and trainer. Copyright All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC.

 

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Why WCOs Should Be Regulated

WCO regulations?

Wildlife control operators (WCOs) are individuals that charge a fee to resolve problems customers have with vertebrate (i.e. a spine or backbone) animals. In this regard, WCOs are very much like pest control operators (PCOs), who help clients with insects (animals that lack a backbone) such as cockroaches and bedbugs. You may know that PCOs are regulated but are their any WCO regulations?

Stephen M. Vantassel at the 25th Wildlife Society Conference in Cleveland, OH explaining how wildlife agency neglect of wildlife control operators harms wildlife and consumers.
Stephen M. Vantassel at the 25th Wildlife Society Conference in Cleveland, OH explaining how wildlife agency neglect of wildlife control operators harms wildlife and consumers.

What most people don’t realize is that in many states, WCOs have few regulations and in some instances virtually none. In other words, the WCO you hire may not have any official training in wildlife control and may not even  have a business license. This is one reason why I believe, WCOs should be regulated. But there are also other reasons.

I recently gave a talk at the 25th Annual Conference of the Wildlife Society in Cleveland, OH (Oct 11, 2018). There I explained that state wildlife agencies that ignore regulating WCOs are not fulfilling their responsibilities to follow the North American Model of Wildlife Management. Wildlife control operators handle thousands if not tens of thousands of animals every year. Where are all those animals going? Are they being translocated, relocated, dispatched? If moved, what are the environmental impacts of moving those animals to new locations? If the animals are being dispatched, are there guidelines for dispatching and disposal of carcasses?  I recognize that the animals typically being controlled are not in danger of becoming extinct. But there should be some oversight given the volume of wildlife being handled on an annual basis.

Unfortunately, many WCOs oppose regulation. They mistakenly think that regulation is automatically bad. In fact, regulation means the government has an interest in protecting your work. The solution to bad regulation is not no regulation but good regulation. But that is a topic for another blog.

Stephen M. Vantassel, CWCP, is the owner of Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. He helps people restore their balance with nature through publishing, training, consulting, and the internet. He has published numerous articles in trade and academic publications along with several books (http://kingsdivinity.academia.edu/StephenMVantassel). He is a sought after speaker and trainer. Copyright All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC.

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Customer Service Policy

What is your company’s customer service policy? You know, what policies do you have in place for handling difficult clients? I understand that some out there suggest the policy should be “The customer is always right.” Well, as well-meaning as that perspective is, I think it is absolutely naïve. Perhaps that customer service policy works for other businesses, but it certainly doesn’t work in the field of wildlife control.

Is this your company’s service policy? Should it be?
Is this your company’s service policy? Should it be?

Even if you haven’t thought of writing down your customer service policy, you should think about some standard principles that guide your business practices. For instance, how often should you adapt your wildlife control practices to the specific convenience needs of the client? Some clients, are, shall we say, “high maintenance.” These clients are always asking for time changes, additional work (that they aren’t wanting to pay for), extra time to pay, etc. etc. Some clients are all nice at the beginning but begin to “turn” when the job is nearing completion and the bill is imminent. They are happy at first then out of the blue begin to find problems with the quality of work or the pricing or the alignment of the stars. The excuses vary but they are always the same, they cost you time, money, and of course your piece of mind.

So let me ask you, “What is your company’s customer service policy?”  If you don’t have one, or you haven’t thought about it because all your customers have been great, then let me say there is no better time than the present to create one. A customer service policy will help you be consistent with all of your customers (note I didn’t say identical, I said consistent) and it will help you know when you need to fire that troublesome client.

Stephen M. Vantassel, CWCP, is the owner of Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. He helps people restore their balance with nature through publishing, training, consulting, and the internet. He has published numerous articles in trade and academic publications along with several books (http://kingsdivinity.academia.edu/StephenMVantassel). He is a sought after speaker and trainer. Copyright All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC.

 

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WCO Job Requirements

WCO employee on the phone.
WCO employee on the phone.

So your business is expanding and you are thinking of adding a new WCO (wildlife control operator) to your staff. Congratulations. To truly make money in a service industry you need to either raise prices, add labor, or both. But what makes a good WCO? In other words, what are the WCO job requirements or skills needed to make an outstanding WCO?

You have to be careful. Hiring the wrong person can cost you dearly. But, hiring the right person can make you a lot of money, help someone else, and bring peace of mind to yourself, your employee and your customers. So what should you look for? Here are some key WCO Job Requirements that I think you should have.

  • Physically fit. This is a big one. WCO work is grueling when it is done right. Your worker needs to be strong, healthy, and able to handle uncomfortable environmental conditions.
  • Personable. WCO work is a service business. Employees need to be able to converse with customers in a professional manner.
  • Handy. WCO work requires hands-on skills. Anyone can learn trapping. The hard part is finding someone with ability to do handy-man type repairs.
  • Reliable. WCO is a loner job. You simply can’t be there with your employee all the time. If you can’t trust him/her. Then don’t hire that person.

If you need advice on how to screen workers, why not give us a call?

Stephen M. Vantassel, CWCP, is the owner of Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. He helps people restore their balance with nature through publishing, training, consulting, and the internet. He has published numerous articles in trade and academic publications along with several books (http://kingsdivinity.academia.edu/StephenMVantassel). He is a sought after speaker and trainer. Copyright All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC.