Excellence at Any Size

GRIFFIN VOLTMANN, Certification Program Manager, QualityPro

Our industry is highly diverse—not only in the broad spectrum of employees, but in the equally broad diversity of businesses. Pest-management companies are everywhere and include sole operators who service their immediate community, multistate family-owned companies, publicly traded global operations and all points in between. As the industry’s credentialing arm, we celebrate and aim to empower companies of any size—those that seek to grow their business just as much as those who find their narrow niche and fill it well. We believe in excellence at any size and that putting in good, early work to have all pieces in place is important for building a foundation for professionalism and continuous sustained growth. 

Growing in Infrastructure 

A business can only grow as big as its strong bones allow. Ensuring that rigorous internal systems are in place in the early stages can save a lot of work as a business expands. QualityPro companies in particular benefit from a full suite of resources developed by subject-matter experts to ensure a company’s internal practices are in line not just with the law but with industry best practices. We require accredited companies (and encourage nonaccredited companies as well) to maintain high standards regarding hiring, workplace behavior, employee interactions with customers and workplace safety to ensure companies can continue to safely grow and flourish. 

No business can function without well-trained, professional employees, and our industry is no different. We’re fond of saying that ours is one of the last industries where customers welcome a technician into their homes, and so it behooves us to make sure that technician is the most qualified, most trained and most professional possible. When recruiting new hires, we encourage companies to really dig into their work history and workplace skills to make sure each new hire is willing and able to maintain the company’s high standards. The considerations necessary when hiring your first employee are just as important when hiring the twentieth—quality always. 

We recommend that new hires pass through a company’s training program within their first six months after being hired. For those companies currently without training resources, we recommend NPMA’s New Hire Training, and we require companies pursuing or maintaining QualityPro accreditation to maintain at least that level of formalized training—it’s that important. Ensuring that all service and sales personnel are not only highly but uniformly trained ensures continuity and uniformity of experience for customers. A customer who knows what to expect is more likely to become repeat business, and a company can only benefit from a highly and uniformly trained workforce. All these training resources can be found at npmatraining.org. 

Growing in Contracts 

Just as a company cannot grow without a workforce, it also cannot grow without work. Winning bids and securing contracts is a matter of demonstrating clear points of distinction against other companies. We recommend taking the time to become QualityPro accredited and using that credential to demonstrate your commitment to excellence. Accredited companies are provided with customized bid letters and recognition at the consumer search site qualitypro.org. QualityPro accreditation, and our further service certifications, are already being written into government bids, and QualityPro companies enjoy the prestige that comes with being some of the best of the best in the industry. 

Employees of QualityPro companies are an excellent source of both prestige and company pride. Each employee will have received an individual certification for completing their QualityPro training (and any additional service certification training), and companies should be prepared to advertise their employees’ accomplishments. Over 120,000 credentials have been earned by professionals in our industry. All can be found, downloaded and displayed with pride from npmaqualitypro.org/certificate. Encourage employees to share these career milestones via LinkedIn and internally with company celebrations. Making sure that potential customers are aware of the skill and professionalism of the technician servicing their account may not only secure their business, but this also demonstrates a commitment to the personal success of your employees, ensuring retention. 

Some companies are perfectly happy with the business that they have, and QualityPro resources are there to help them maintain and thrive. For other businesses, we stand with them every step of the way as they grow and adapt to suit new markets. Our resources, guidelines and industry best practices provide structure and guidance at every stage of growth. If you’re interested in seeing what QualityPro can do for your company as it expands, learn more at npmaqualitypro.org.  

QualityPro is administered by the Foundation for Professional Pest Management, an independent organization that has been developing good business practices and standards since 2004. Designed specifically for pest management companies in the U.S. and Canada, we are proud to certify over 500 of the best companies in the pest management industry. QualityPro is endorsed by the National Pest Management Association (NPMA). For more information, contact us at QualityPro@pestworld.org.