Great customer service gives companies confidence too

Tracy Hibbett of Hibbetts Pest Control in Brisbane isn’t just a big fan of BASF products like Termidor HE because they do a great job. She values them even more highly than she otherwise would because they come with such strong technical support.

Tracy and her husband Brian switched to pest control twenty years ago from jobs in the corporate sector. It’s a long time since they left that world behind, but their experience there is still reflected in their enthusiasm for innovation and their constant ambition to keep improving the way they operate. And trying new approaches is always easier when you know someone’s got your back.

“We didn’t have the background in the industry or the chance to work for another pest control company and learn the ropes. We quickly found out which companies would support us. BASF has been there from the start.”

When Termidor was first introduced way back in 2002, that back-up gave Tracy and Brian the assurance they needed to go out on a limb. “When we first started using Termidor SC we thought it was hellishly expensive and a lot of our competitors weren’t using it. I thought ‘this is gold’, but I had to work really hard to sell the product.”

Things have changed so much since then that the transition from Termidor SC to the more advanced HE formulation has been very smooth. “We made sure we got onboard with Termidor HE pretty much straight away,” Tracy says. In many cases they now only quote on the superior formulation. “We call the shots on what we offer. If our clients won’t accept our recommendation for Termidor HE, we won’t do the job.”

Tracy says many homeowners know what they’re looking for before they get in touch.

“I don’t have to instill confidence in the customers that we’re doing the right thing anymore. The pendulum has swung to them asking me ‘will I use this product?’ They’ve already done a lot of research online at three o’clock in the morning and they ring us at seven. We say the only chemical we’ll use is Termidor and they say ‘Great, we’ve already seen that online’. I think it certainly gives us an edge over competitors who aren’t using it.”

Tracy gives a lot of credit to BASF marketing, but of course there are now many thousands of satisfied Termidor customers who tell their friends what worked for them.

The Hibbetts’ customers may be among the most satisfied, because they take such a meticulous approach, using the flexibility Termidor HE offers to its full potential.

“We do a lot of homes that have beautiful tiles. That’s the big thing for us with HE: the wider drill spacings allow us to drill in the grout lines using really fine 6-millimetre drill bits. It’s the aesthetic edge  – we’ve done some beautiful work. It takes longer to do a job like that (with the 6 mm pilot holes), but if it was my home, I’d want it done like that too. There’s no other product that can let you do that with the confidence that the product’s still going to work.”

The Hibbetts team also appreciates the way Termidor HE helps them avoid gaps in the protection that awkward fittings and other obstacles can sometimes cause. “It’s a game-changer,” says Tracy. “The polymer in the HE makes all the difference for getting around hot water tanks and things like that.”

And what happens when they come across a really tricky situation and aren’t certain how to handle it? That brings Tracy back to her appreciation of expert back-up: “One of the reasons BASF’s my favourite brand is that it’s supported by technical reps on the ground,” she says. “That’s a massive benefit for me as a business owner. They’ll always pick up my call or call me straight back. I’ve even asked them to come out and have a look at someone else’s failed treatment to see if we could go in over the top. They were happy to use it as a test site – and the Termidor worked!”

Satisfied customers are what the pest control industry is all about. In the Hibbetts’ case, they keep adding to the number of homeowners on the list of happy Termidor HE customers who have great confidence in the treatment they’ve received. Tracy and Brian put themselves in that category too.