I can answer this one easily – everyone!
But I have worked for companies where that was certainly not the case. My first job in sales was for a well-known national pest control company that seemed to put shareholders at the top of the pile. Certainly they were more important than anyone in the company, but I would also say they were more important to management than the customers!
That’s not to say, we salespeople weren’t incentivised – we were. Glitzy sales ‘conferences’ at five-star venues certainly made you feel great, especially when you were one of the top salespeople and you got to revel in the glory. It was addictive, but I soon began to realise that it was actually a bit hollow. The glitzy events were not truly driven by the need to reward us, but by the fact it kept us focused on meeting very demanding sales targets. In turn, these did not exist for the benefit of all employees but because the company was more focused on its shareholders than on good customer service. The shareholders would only receive their rewards if more and more services were sold.
Ultimately, the thirst for glory that came from achieving sales targets meant customers and the realities of solving their problems became less important than just selling a service. Solutions were sold that the customer didn’t necessarily need and so the quality of the overall service began to suffer. Perhaps it hasn’t hurt them, but I would say it left a bad taste in my mouth and it certainly meant that when I joined Cleankill I knew exactly what I wanted from the company and how we could achieve it.
Incentivise everyone
In a pest control company, and if I think it applies to any company, it is very strange to only place emphasis on the sales teams. Yes, they are important and should be valued because they are the ones at the coalface of bringing in business. However, the whole lifecycle of a job involves a lot more than just sales.
The admin team is the first point of contact and they make sure the customer gets to speak to the right people, the surveyors and technicians go to the right property at the agreed time and, crucially, they send out the invoices. And without the technicians who carry out the work in the field, the services the surveyors sell would never get done.
Running a business is about making sure everyone feels valued because for a business to be successful and retain customers, they need to be valued. If, for example, your admin staff don’t feel valued they won’t do a good job and so one cog wheel of your business operation won’t work properly. This will have knock-on implications.
In Cleankill, our approach since day one has been to share financial and non-financial rewards with staff across all levels of the business. Rewards can include team-building events, team lunches or hampers at Christmas.
Obviously, a one-size fits all approach isn’t really practical in terms of how the incentives are administered because the roles are different. In terms of salespeople, their incentives are largely financial, with no cap on commission, but there are occasional nights away in nice hotels to enable bonding and allow the sharing of best practice.
Admin staff’s incentives are linked to the service teams’ quality of service targets. This encourages better teamwork and incentivises the admin team to ensure correct customer information is taken and communicated.
The targets set for our service teams relate to performance, but there are also fun little ways we can keep an eye on quality while incentivising the technicians. A good example is Wiff-Waff. This involves the directors and team leaders placing blue table tennis balls randomly in external bait boxes. Since every rodent bait box should be checked regularly to clear any dead rodents, they should all be found. When a ball is found, the technician receives a cash bonus. It’s a simple thing but it ensures technicians are doing their jobs properly and we get the chance to reward their dedication.
Neil Parker’s technician team
A great example of how our policy of incentivising everyone has real benefits is Neil’s technician team – comprising Neil, John King, Dan Cooper, Chris Summers, Paul Cook and Josh Bates. They achieved an amazing result in their end-of-year state of service appraisal, coming from a trailing position earlier in the year to an excellent result at the year end. This was despite them being one person down in August 2022.
In recognition of this brilliant turn around, they won a team incentive and the whole team enjoyed an afternoon at Axeperience – an indoor axe throwing centre located near Tower Hill in London.
An individual sport, axe throwing proved to be a tricky skill, although Neil, Chris, Paul and Dan somehow made it look easy. Paul was our eventual winner and he then faced a ‘throw off’ against the winner of our neighbouring team. I’m pleased to report, he was victorious once again! Well done!
Incentives can be fun
Everybody likes financial rewards but sometimes it is more valuable for the company and the individual if the reward is non-financial. In the case of axe throwing, the team had a great time and, because pest control can be a solitary job, they had a rare chance to hang out with their colleagues while taking out their frustrations on some pieces of wood.