Bird control can be a highly profitable service for pest control professionals.
But there's one problem we see over and over:
PMPs are underbidding bird jobs, and then wondering why they're not making money or why customers aren't saying yes.
In our latest podcast, we broke down what goes into building a better bird-control bid and, more importantly, how to present that bid so the customer understands the value.
Here are 7 steps to help you bid bird jobs more effectively and land more of them.
Before you think about what to charge, figure out what you're actually dealing with.
Ask:
You don't always need an exact bird count.
A customer may not know whether they're dealing with 47 birds or 53 birds. What matters is getting a reasonable range.
Ten birds and 1,000 birds are two completely different jobs.
The estimated bird population helps determine your materials, tray placement and the amount of labor required.
One of the easiest ways to lose money on a bird job is to only calculate the obvious labor and materials.
Think beyond the treatment itself.
Your bid may need to account for:
The podcast recommends building bids around a repeatable process and company hourly rate, rather than simply guessing what a job should cost.
For a standard job discussed in the episode, the example used 18 total man hours: survey/setup, pre-baiting and live-bait service.
Your actual labor requirements will depend on the job.
The important part is this:
Know your numbers before you give the customer a number.
A customer may call you because birds are getting inside their building.
That doesn't necessarily mean the inside of the building is where the problem starts.
Look at the larger bird population surrounding the facility. Birds may be using the exterior of the building and then entering through loading docks, doors, roof areas or other openings.
That's why your inspection should answer a simple question:
Where are the birds coming from, and where are they going?
Understanding that movement helps you determine where pressure is highest and where treatment should be focused.
Don't hand a customer a confusing list of services and expect them to understand what they're buying.
Instead, break the job into phases.
For example:
Phase 0 - Survey & Setup
Identify the problem, determine bird activity, establish treatment areas and prepare the site.
Phase 1 - Pre-Bait
Introduce the pre-bait and establish feeding patterns.
Phase 2 - Live Bait
Move into the active treatment phase according to the plan and label requirements.
The exact phases can vary depending on the job, but the concept is important.
A phased proposal tells the customer:
"Here's what we're doing, here's why we're doing it, and here's what happens next."
That clarity creates value.
Here's one of the biggest lessons from the podcast:
The person you give the proposal to may not be the person who approves the purchase.
You might be talking to a facility manager who then has to take your proposal to someone else.
That means you aren't always going to be in the room when the final decision is made.
Your proposal needs to explain the job without you standing there.
Show:
A professional proposal becomes your salesperson when you're not there.
As the podcast puts it, the bid has to show the customer what's actually happening so they can assign value to it.
This one is easy to overlook.
If your proposal makes the job sound like:
"We'll put some bait out and the birds will be gone."
The customer may wonder why they're paying thousands of dollars.
That doesn't mean you should make the job sound unnecessarily complicated.
Instead, show the expertise that you're bringing to the table.
You're absorbing the difficult parts for the customer.
You're determining bird pressure, selecting treatment locations, planning service visits, accounting for materials and labor, and managing the process.
Make the customer's experience simple, not the professional work invisible.
That's a major difference.
Finally, don't automatically assume a customer won't spend money on bird control.
The podcast challenges that belief by pointing out that facilities routinely spend thousands, and sometimes much more, on things like door repairs, lighting, flooring and other facility expenses. Bird-control projects can fall into similar price ranges.
The issue isn't always that the customer doesn't want to spend the money.
Sometimes, they don't yet see why the job is worth the price.
That's why your price, proposal and treatment plan have to work together.
If your bid is $20,000 but the customer sees a vague description of what looks like a simple service, they're going to question the price.
If the same $20,000 proposal clearly explains the problem, the treatment strategy, the phases, the labor, the materials and the expected process, the customer has something concrete to evaluate.
Price needs to be supported by value.
Winning more bird jobs isn't necessarily about being the cheapest bidder.
It's about becoming the professional who can clearly explain:
Here's the problem.
Here's why it's happening.
Here's what needs to be done.
Here's how we're going to do it.
And here's what it will take to get it done.
That's what turns a bird-control bid from a number on a page into a professional solution.
And when your proposal can communicate that value even when you're not in the room, you give yourself a much better opportunity to close the job.
Don't just bid the bird problem. Build a plan the customer can understand.