When and if I consider something is over the top according to normal protocol guidelines that is not practically necessary, I bill extra for what I consider inconvienence details/time vested that must be carried out. We do this alot with high protocol businesses or companies as needed.

I play along for a one time request but the next time around I remember and learn and we will bill what I deem "Above and Beyond the Call of Duty" pay. I am sure most established businesses will bill for such detail attention and rightly should. My days are long enough without doing what I deem extra work. Some may have this extra time to fiddle on their PC's and smart phones and take photos etc. If you do, you most likely arent busy enough.

It will show them that you can follow their requests but it will cause additional fees due to the time scheduling for someone to route and handle the calls according their needs.

I have several accounts that request daily updates. Most are corporate, but a few residential clients in upper-end areas as well. I send status reports by e-mail each night.... never take time out of the daytime schedule. On many I even e-mail pics of animals caught, damages discovered, and before/after pics of repairs.

They know the e-mails will be in their inbox in the morning, and they love to see what happened the day before. I don't look at it as a bother, as these are always higher-end accounts, and this constant communication often leads to more work as they refer me to their friends or other business accounts.

I've even sent pics to clients during mole jobs. Caught 9 moles the first check at a new job (3-acre lawn, looks like they cut with a scissors). Lined them up on their landscaping timbers and took a pic. They were super excited when they opened their e-mail the next day and were able to see the results of the first day of trapping. I picked up 3 new mole jobs from those folks telling others about my results and communication.

The most common e-mail reports are done during large bat exclusion jobs. Might be every 2 or 3 days, but at least they are aware of the progress and how things are going.

Along with what Ron just said about picking up new jobs. ( This is probably a complete reverse of the topic ) I am very proud of one of our technicians today.

He had a customer in a subdivision that we service for voles and other rodents. He noticed that all her neighbors had damage and she didn't. He gave her a bunch of our cards and told her if she gets 5 of her neighbors to take our program, hers is free. She was excited about doing it.

Whether he lands those jobs or not, I think we have one tech that has really figured out the program. Instead of customers running the job, we've got customers promoting the job. ( He just told me this and I had to pass it on )

It sounds like they are responding to complaints of the residents with how the previous company acted. This could be a great selling tool for other gated communities once you work out some of the bugs. I'd see if you could email a daily report instead of calling. That way, there is no debate over if you called or not and the numbers recorded.

If they are open to it, then I'd setup a standard "report" that would have me filling in slots and then emailing it. Once they get comfortable with the reports and gain trust in what you do, then I'd see if they were open to changing it to a weekly report. Also, as this looks like more work to produce than just a phone call, it allows for an small administration fee.

You have such a way with words Eric,

Quote.

This looks like more work to produce than just a phone call, it allows for an small administration fee.

I'm actually all for phoning the customer daily as long as you invoice with something more foolproof(i.e., paper or e-mailed invoices). As others have said, once they get used to the idea that you are actually providing the service professionally, the need to hear from you every day will be less important to them.
Look at it as an opportunity to excel (and prove it on their terms!) with very little effort on your part. Get a good Bluetooth earpiece ($40 or so) and call 'em when you leave the job. I am a firm believer in keeping customers updated, and the easiest way you can relate to customers (we're not talking about billing here, just keeping them informed) is to talk to them.

Excellent tips Bob, Ron, Eric and Dave!

Thanks for sharing! Should thank Nate for the post additionally!

Make the trap tampering fee higher than the animal removal fee.

You must have read my contract.

If they want to move your traps or bait them with something "better" then why did they need to call you in the first place?

No, no, no... Once my traps are set and in place, I don't want anyone to touch them till I get back. Anytime they ask about helping me or what they should do, I tell them straight up, the fewer hands on the job, the better. I can normally convince them that our quarry will more likely be spooked off the trap if it's tampered with or even visited too much.

What I hate is when they try to solve the problem themselves and only call you as a last resort. At that point the critters are trap shy and people wise and harder to catch. And have their handy man follow me around? NO! If they want that, I'm charging and "instructor" fee.

I did head one off this past week. A guy called me to give them a price on a beaver job. They had a creek running along the back property line of a Church and the beaver had dammed it and flooded the Church yard. I gave him a price and he said they would get back to me after they checked with this other fellow down the road. It was at that point I warned him, "That's fine and I understand, BUT... If you hire this guy and he can't solve the problem then my price DOUBLES." He made one phone call and I had the job within 5 minutes.

And why does every body want to kill my bats?!
I checked a bat job Thursday and the old lady that lived there was proud to tell me, "We killed one!" I thought she was having a heart attack when I told her that they are Federally protected.

Again, I have to say.... "The more I learn about people, the better I like critters!"

Eric that is exactly what I did yesterday.

I stopped in the office and explained to her that busy season is coming and remembering to call as I leave will present challenges if I am already on the phone with other customers and that a nightly email would be better for everyone.

Explained to her that I am already sitting at the computer returning countless other emails so the chances of forgetting are much less.

Thanks Paul. With age comes wisdom..........usually. :0)

--Eddie

Further questions on this subject: how do you know/prove tampering? Do you employ some kind of lie detector that shows when trap's been reset? How do you handle somebody who is trying to learn your methods and cut you out of the picture?

Most trappers know the condition / position of the trap, lure/bait missing,feces hair etc., and any ground disturbance that is noted that has changed from the prior visit.I can tell if an animal has been released, caught or the cage tampered with 99% of the time. The sign is there if you pay attention on your visits.

Hard to fool an old observant trapper not saying it cant be done by a seasoned individual but not likely by a run of the muck consumer.

I know after a day or two with no calls from the customer reporting a catch that I will make a call or do what we call a courtesy call.You get a feel for things after a while that you know you should have caught the first day or so. So that means either you really didnt catch anything, the animal is caught and they didnt call or it was caught and they took care of it without reporting.

"How do you handle somebody who is trying to learn your methods and cut you out of the picture?"

Let them. We are talking about trapping so if the want to pay my service call to learn how I would set a groundhog trap so be it. While we will take the "just catch the critter" jobs in all honesty they are not of great interest to me and we tend to move them along by pre-qualifying our customers.

Now if it was a bat exclusion or other repair I would steer them to another training source besides hiring me to do the work and watch. All of our customers get a solution, with materials listed to provide that solution and if they follow my report they can proof their own home if they are willing. Personally I believe all customers deserve a solution to prevent wildlife entry into their home. That solution does not mean I have to perform the work (we want to) but I will never tell a customer only I or a WCO can perform any such work (in most cases).

The one exception is on my written report I will write - "Install stainless steel chimney cap(s) to prevent wildlife entry and limit water intrusion etc etc." I will not write down cap size on their copy.

What Bob J said times two. I'll bet even you couldn't mess with my cages that I wouldn't be aware of it.

Charging per animal will bring out the worst in some folks, who will try to clear the catch so they don't have to pay.

I haven't done a study on this ( probably because I am not a college with a government grant ) but it occurs to me that those customers that I really get involved with and are the most likely to move my cage to what they think is a better position, are also the quickest ones to pay the bill.

I normally run across two types of customers: The first one is scared to death of any type organism and he is absolutely my favorite.

The second one is the guy who does everything and he doesn't understand why he can't catch them himself. He will be the first to compliment you on solving his problem, but will never call you again. Fortunately his wife will; several times!

P.S. I would love to charge by the job instead of the animal, but you guys don't live in Wisconsin! " I only have one squirrel and you guys are going to charge me $429 ?" "No way." 23 squirrels later: "Boy, I wish I would have paid by the job!"

I just tell them, it doesn't look like you need me to do anything you got it under control, call me if you need me, start to walk away, I can't remember any one letting me go, But I have left on a couple!