This month the board have been very busy bee’s we have welcomed two new members to our board Fiona Sheppard and Sophi-Rose Green both of these ladies have been involved in our industry for a number of years and bring with them experience, enthusiasm and fresh ideas. Welcome aboard ladies!
The Escape Room event in VIC and the ServiceM8 seminar were successfully held with many participants in both events, We have also put together some more opportunities for networking and growth. With two in person events coming up on the Gold Coast, QLD and Perth, WA and an online seminar on Marketing and Google check out the details for these events in the upcoming events section or on our Facebook page.
Our board are also very excited to have begun work on our joint project with AEPMA to create a career in pest management website, the aim of this website is to create a centralized resource outlining job opportunities in the industry, training providers, career paths and more. As we all face a skills shortage it is essential that our industry unites and provides strong career progression to attract new candidates.
We have also announced the upcoming AGM will be held on Thursday 8th December at 7:30pm AEST If you are interested in getting involved, please reach out to us at info@awpma.org.au.
Membership renewals will be sent out on 24th October as they are due on the 1st November. If you are interested in joining the AWPMA please check out our membership options https://awpma. org.au/become-a-member/.
This month we held our first VIC Ladies gathering, thank you to Sundew Solutions for sponsoring this event. The goal of these get togethers is to provide intimate environments where women and men can network, collaborate and talk all things pest.
Our group of 7 attended the Trapt Bar and escape rooms in Melbourne City with Sundew Solution’s representative David Priddy. After a rocky start with an accident on the freeway we all arrived at the Trapt Escape Rooms eager for the challenge. The escape room theme was the Wayward Wizard, we broke into two teams with fierce rivalry and claims that we would be the first team to escape. The competition was fierce with many well-seasoned escape room attendees in both teams. Some of the puzzles in the room had both teams stumped for some time, but the All-Girls team of Tara, Emma and
Abby claimed the bragging rights of escaping first! Well Done, Girls!
Once we had successfully escaped and the other team had been saved by the escape room staff, we found a great meal and drinks at a Melbourne local Pub. We can report the Parmas were fantastic and the cider and wine went down well. Over our meal we were able to engage in pest conversation and examining topics we all find interesting like: Who is the best training provider to use? What do you do when? How do you deal with possums? Many of us feel the seasons have turned and we are starting to find our phones are now ringing again! Bring on Summer!
If you are keen to attend one of our gatherings, we do have a number of them scheduled over the coming months in different states. We would encourage you to keep an eye out on our Facebook Page for more information on these events.
Tell us a bit about why you decided to start Sundew Solutions?
I decided to start Sundew because I could see an opportunity to be a local leading research and development pesticide supplier. I had a choice of two business models – 1) simply import copy products from China (generic business model), or 2) build my own formulation, research & development team and create uniquely innovative formulations. I chose business model 2. This was infinitely harder. I wanted to deliver products that were designed, developed, researched and tested here in Australia, for Australian conditions, to meet Australian pest management professionals needs. Every single one of our products has a unique story. Every product was designed from the ground up by our team.
What do you find to be the most rewarding in your business?
There are so many answers to this question. I love it when pest management professionals come up and shake my hand to thank us for doing what we are doing. On the other hand every day we receive texts from valued friends of Sundew showing photos of our products in their vehicles and how proud they are to support us. We receive calls weekly from pest managers saying “I’ve realised I’ve got 4 of your products in my vehicle, and I’ve never had an issue with any of them. What other products do you have that I can use?” However, the biggest kick comes from customers asking us to invent new products that don’t exist – we research and develop them, and then have them approved by the AVPMA to provide to our valued customers. An excellent example of this
is our Sundew EnsnarePRO 50 g/L indoxacarb suspension concentrate. Our reseller partners and pest management professionals from across Australia asked us if we could invent a water based suspension concentrate of indoxacarb. The market had been told it wasn’t possible to make such a formulation. We were very proud when we were able to launch EnsnarePRO suspension concentrate – an Australian first! I’m proud that Sundew is a 100% Australian family owned business. These are the things I find very gratifying.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years’ time?
I absolutely love what I do. We have over 20 years’ worth of projects in the pipeline
and dozens of submissions in with the APVMA presently. In 10 years’ time I see myself leading a much larger team into a number of diverse, but associated market segments both locally and internationally.
I could write a very big book on this subject. In the beginning the challenge was that no one had heard of the company name ‘Sundew’ or our product brands. I knew that to develop a sustainable business brand, the early adopters that tried our products had to be able to experience that they were unique, innovative and best-inclass. Sundew has a number of number 1 selling products in the professional market and our continued market growth year on year demonstrates we are giving the market what they need.
What is the piece of advice you would like to offer to pest control businesses?
Tenacity – be persistent, be determined, push on when others give up.
What do you look for in a Sales Rep for your business?
The qualities I look for in a representative of Sundew are honesty, integrity, loyalty, organised, committed, customer centric, team player, follow through, and goal focused. I like my representatives to be able to take the initiative when they see opportunities. In actual fact, one of the simple things I do in job interviews is to screw up a piece of paper and leave it on the floor on the way into the interview. Whether a prospect walks over the piece of paper or picks it up gives me an idea of how that person thinks.
1Tip 1: On the internals go the opposite direction to which you carry your rega, eg if you hold rega in left hand & sprayer in your right then the direction that places your rega furthest from the wall e.g. anticlockwise. This avoids damaging customers’ walls & denting your equipment.
2Tip 2: Turn on all vent fans in the home e.g. bathrooms when dusting roof voids, this will suspend dust in the roof void & let it settle before coming out of vents.
3Tip 3: Always do a walk around the property whilst talking to the customer, this allows you to identify risks, hazards & pest issues and to select the correct products, equipment & procedures for that particular site in a timely and safe manner. It also builds trust & relationships with your customers.
4Tip 4: Try to use a selective softer dialogue with customers, e.g. product instead of chemical. Use the term treatment instead of spray etc. Be respectful that although you may kill spiders & roaches etc & it’s part of our daily job, we can become desensitized to our customers phobias etc. some are petrified of the smallest insect. We need to respect that we have been called for a reason.
5Tip 5: When making small talk with clients tread very lightly & avoid any topics of religion & or politics, as people feel very passionate about these topics. I tend to roll with the customers’ view & nod my head, even though I may disagree. (Trump! All my customers had an opinion) Professionalism & safety is paramount.
Tip 6: When entering and exploring a roof void space ensure you maintain 3 points of contact at all times, this allows you to test if a timber can be load bearing before transferring your full weight across.
Women, Men, Technicians, Admin, Trainees!
Thank you to our sponsor Ensystex for your support!
Location: Top Golf - Gold Coast
Time: 2pm start, please arrive 15 minutes earlier.
RSVP - places are limited, please RSVP via the following link. https://forms.office.com/r/BFZGkY5pru.
Want to know more about Top Golf? https://topgolf.com.au/
Event Top Golf Day SEO & Marketing Seminar
Ladies Event AWPMA AGM
Date 29th October 2022
Location Cnr. Roadshow Way and Entertainment Drive Gold Coast, QLD, 4210
November 2022
November 2022 8th December 2022 Time 2.00pm
via Zoom
Towers, Crystal Club Private Dining Room.
7.30pm
via Zoom
This month we held our first online seminar on the popular topic of ServiceM8 with Fiona from Tradies Rescue. Thank you, Fiona, for kindly donating your time to this event. The purpose of these online seminars is to allow all individuals in the pest industry to upskill and explore different topics outside of their day-to-day role in the pest management industry.
This event was very well attended by both males and females from the industry. Fiona showed off some forms she had built in the past for the pest control industry which were very impressive, many of the participants had lots of questions regarding forms and how to leverage these effectively for their businesses. We hope to organize another seminar on this topic in detail in the coming months.
Fiona was also able to show off the new features that came to ServiceM8 recently in their update, there was huge improvements to the reoccurring job feature which makes scheduling rodent maintenance visits and termite station checkups very easy and consistent.
The board hopes to hold more online seminar events on different topics each month if you have a suggestion of a topic you may like please reach out to us at info@awpma.org.au.
The BASF Team have developed a seminar for pest controllers that are looking to expand and diversify their businesses into commercial pest control. Attendees are presented information on BASF products, upselling techniques and how to increase the profitability of their business by using some of our labour and costsaving solutions.
These sessions provide great learning and networking opportunities for pest controllers and lots of positive feedback has been received. Attendees have raved about the value they obtained from the seminars and
have commented on the “very professional presentation” and “informative and well put together training session”. It seems that many pest controllers look forward to further BASF training sessions, feeling motivated and positive about their future in the industry after the seminar.
Follow our Facebook page and keep an eye out on your inbox for details and an opportunity to register for upcoming events and seminars!
At BASF, we recognise that continued development, training and information are an integral part of the success of the pest control industry. We are pleased to support our customers on this journey by offering product training, presented by our expert team.
feeling motivated and positive about their future in the industry
Complete all BASF training courses: Termidor HE, Trelona ATBS, Selontra Soft Bait and Seclira Insecticide to become a BASF Certified Pest Manager!
This new initiative is a way of instilling an extra level of confidence for home owners, knowing that their pest controller is an expert in administering and installing the products that protect their homes.
We are excited that the introduction of this initiative aligns with the launch of our Learning and Resources Hub where training will be even easier and can be completed at any time. At this stage we are offering training for Trelona on this platform and will be adding the other courses shortly. To sign up for a Face-to-Face or Webinar training session, fill out the Product Training Registration Form.
We look forward to seeing you at one (or more!) of our training sessions or events!
n
Seclira
