The Importance of Pest Management in Commercial Spaces

Episode 83

In the world of commercial cleaning and facilities maintenance, pest management (aka exterminating) often sits on the borderline between necessary and overlooked services. In this podcast we highlight this crucial aspect of facility management. Commercial property owners, cleaning company owners, and even customers often underestimate the invisible threats posed by pests.

What Customers Don’t Understand About Cleaning & Pest Management

As commercial cleaning professionals AND business owners, we hold a unique role in this situation. That is simply knowing where our responsibility ends and Pest management begins. Proper cleaning is often directed by the pest management company as a deterrent. There is however a place where our role ends and Pest Management begins. It’s not until an actual infestation occurs that the value of proactive cleaning and pest prevention becomes evident. This blog post delves into the intricacies of pest management and why it should be a priority for anyone responsible for maintaining a commercial space.

Where IS the Line?

Many customers don’t associate cleaning with pest control. But as Dara explains, addressing organic materials in drains and other hidden spots is a form of cleaning that directly impacts pest management. The enzyme cleaners used to break down these materials help prevent the breeding grounds for critters. This method, while not pest management per se, is a preventive measure that can minimize the risk of infestations by making the environment less hospitable to pests.

What YOU need to know about Pest Management

The identification of different types of flies, like fruit flies or phorid flies, can indicate underlying issues such as rotting organic matter or even a cracked sewer line. These pests serve as biological indicators of potential problems within the infrastructure of a building. Recognizing these signs early allows for timely interventions, preventing minor issues from escalating into costly repairs or severe infestations.If you want to increase your knowledge about these, it’s a good step. And you may find it helps you to communicate effectively with your customer. By understanding the warning signs of a potential pest problem, you safeguard your reputation and your customer’s property.

If you’re not sure where to go from here, contact me. Developing an understanding of issues that touch our commercial cleaning services increases your value to your company and your customer. I work with cleaning company owners every week to help their businesses grow.

 

This Week’s Podcast transcript can be found below.

 

[00:00:08.03] – Ray

Joel? (Yes, Ray.) It’s a dirty world.

 

[00:00:10.14] – Joel

It is. Somebody’s got to clean it.

 

[00:00:11.20] – Ray

We were talking about bugs, critters, and everything that crawls and creeps. (Yes.) Where that line is, again. We have Dara with us again. Dara, thank you for joining us. There is a service that’s right on that edge of… It’ll manage pests, but it’s really intended to?

 

[00:00:31.24] – Joel

Be a cleaning solution to prevent pests from entering your facility.

 

[00:00:37.04] – Ray

Okay, so explain that. Again, this is for our listeners, the cleaning company owner. They might not have the experience that they really need to tackle a job. What is the problem and what are you doing about it as the cleaning professional?

 

[00:00:50.27] Joel

As the cleaning professional, there’s a lot of floor drains or there’s even drains in restrooms, in food service areas that get pulled off. You end up with a lot organic material that goes down these drains. If you’ve ever popped off a floor drain cover and stick your finger down inside it.

 

01: 07 Ray

Yeah, I’m not likely to do that.

 

01:09 Joel

It’s like a nice sludgy mix of whatever.

 

[00:01:12.25] Ray

Dark chocolate fudge?

 

[00:01:14.14] – Joel

Yeah, It’s about the right color. Exactly. It’s a gooey and sticky, and it’s the perfect environment for all kinds of critters to want to feast and feed and- And breed.

 

[00:01:25.12] Ray

Yeah.

 

[00:01:26.07] Joel

We have a service that actually treats it because it’s organic material drill, and it’s using an enzyme cleaner, and they have to be used properly.

 

[00:01:33.02] Ray

Okay, now, wait a minute. You’re not allowed to do pest management.

 

[00:01:35.09] Joel

It’s not pest management. I’m attacking the organic materials to remove it. I’m cleaning.

 

[00:01:39.29] Ray

Okay, so you’re well within your bounds at that point.

 

[00:01:44.00] Joel

Correct, because we’re trying to remove the item. It would be like a banana peel. (Okay.) We’re trying to remove the banana pill, which happens to be the sludge that’s in a floor drain.

 

[00:01:53.20] Ray

Okay, so at that point, it is still technically cleaning.

 

[00:01:56.26] Joel

Yes.

 

[00:01:57.17] Ray

There’s a charge for that service, whatever that charge is. Again, we’re talking to our small cleaning company owner or a team inside of a larger facility here.

 

[00:02:07.07] Joel

Or even the customer itself, because a lot of customers look as, “Oh, it’s just a waste of money because it gets treated, and I really don’t see it because it’s below the surface. I can’t see it. How do I know you’re really doing it?”

 

[00:02:17.18] Ray

So, it’s a waste of money.

 

02:18 Joel

It’s a waste of money.

 

02:20 Ray

It’s a waste of money until…

 

02:22 Joel

Until it’s not. Because now you have an infestation of drain flies, fruit flies, maybe even millipedes and centipedes that’ll carry you away.

 

[00:02:32.25] Ray

Dara, it has been my experience that customers often don’t see the value in a service until their hair is on fire.

 

[00:02:39.29] Dara

Yeah. Our team over at Lady Bugs, All Pest Solutions, we are trying to educate people on why it’s so much better to prevent and treat preventatively than it is to treat infestations. To circle back to Joel’s example here. At Pest Control, we’re trying to get directly to the banana. We are trying to find by using the identification of what we’re finding, whether it’s a fruit fly, a phorid fly, whatever it might be, we understand what it is we’re looking for and what the sources could be. For example a phorid fly. It comes from something that’s either dead and rotting. It could be a bird in the rafters. That could be mice or rats that are behind walls. It could be wildlife that’s trapped somewhere that you don’t know other than its area.

 

[00:03:29.09] Ray

So that’s the secondary problem.

 

[00:03:30.16] Dara

It is. But the science behind the fly identification, or in another instance, they’re also known as crypt flies because they are attracted to dead and rotting things. But it also is a sign that there’s a problem with the sewer line. For what Joel was explaining, that when you take a cap off, if phorid flies come out of there, it likely means that the sewer line is cracked somewhere and that there’s a problem that you can’t see. The only identifying factor that you have are these flies with no other source.

 

[00:04:05.02] Ray

It seems to me, too, that in the course of you performing your professional pest management service, you’re uncovering a potentially, hugely expensive problem. We might be in the beginning stages, but other remediation, if this were not found, could be massive.

 

[00:04:22.24] Dara

It could be. The science behind what it is that you’re seeing in pests. Fruit flies could be dirty It could be something rotting. Phorid flies could be something dead is rotting or something from the sewer is a problem. (Okay.) Understanding where rodents are going to be attracted to your pantry and their travel patterns and what to put out to capture them. That’s all the science behind what we do. And part of the reason that our technicians are so highly trained is to be able to provide these inspections and give fantastic advice and guidance to business owners.

 

[00:05:01.04] Ray

One of the things that we had touched on briefly just before we got started was the importance of exterior treatments, especially in the warmer months. But really any time of year, the importance of those treatments and how they can keep an owner’s staff and the business open. Could you elaborate on that just a little bit, please?

 

[00:05:21.11] Dara

Yes. When the temperatures break, it’s the appropriate time to start treating the exterior of the properties. We have a very intricate plan for treatments of the exterior so that it prevents nesting of insects. So that your employees don’t come in one day, and there’s six nests at the front entrance so they can’t get in.

 

[00:05:42.21] Ray

And in particular, something stinging.

 

[00:05:44.13] – Dara

Something that It’s stinging. Something someone might be allergic to, something someone has a fear of.

 

[00:05:50.17] – Ray

So, the cost of the service pales by comparison to an entire staff’s lost workday. (Correct.) Workdays. Mm-hmm.

 

[00:05:59.12] – Dara

Plus lost revenue. Absolutely. And it’s much easier to treat it preventatively so that nests don’t occur rather than you get the call that there are six nests and our guys have to go with ladders and start suiting up and do multiple treatments. You can never predict when and where a nest is going to happen or an infestation. But if you treat it appropriately and prevent, the likelihood of you having a problem is minimal.

 

[00:06:30.01] – Ray

Joel, I think we’re back to talking about value again.

 

06: 33 Joel

Without a doubt.

 

[00:06:33.11] Dara

It’s a full circle, isn’t it?

 

[00:06:34.16] Ray

It is for our cleaning company owners and really for anyone owning a commercial property, operating a business, operating a business with staff. Contact Joel, contact Dara, and stay safe. Thanks, folks.

 

[00:06:47.21] Dara

Bye for now.

 

[00:06:48.19] Joel

Thank you. You’re welcome.