Apparently we live in a region of the country where termites are particularly fierce.
And the fact that I am just now realizing this after 30 years in So Cal is somewhat embarrassing.
Nonetheless, it is time to consider getting the house tented before I come home one day and find sawdust where there was once hardwood flooring.
The thing is we need to leave the house for 3 days, put the pets in dog care/cat care/bird care, and make sure the house is emptied of anything that would later be eaten or touched so as not to die from termite gas.
All of this sounds like one overwhelming pain in the butt.
Being a buy locally, think globally kind of guy, I decided to give a local company a call rather than call the national exterminator services.
So I called and scheduled my Termite Terry complimentary “57 Point Inspection.”
Upon arrival the representative from Termite Terry, whose name I don’t recall, gave me a full education in termites, their destructive ways, and his master plan to eradicate them from my home.
After completion of his 57th Point, the rep did something that struck me.
He pulled out his sales war book and showed me photographs he had taken of all the bad tenting jobs his competitors had done. This included jobs where tents ended up blowing in the wind, or where tents had been placed so loosely on the home that all the termite-killing gas leaked out.
Clearly he has a future as a member of the Hollywood paparazzi.
He also spent as much time selling me on the benefits of using his company for the wood repair after the tenting as he did selling the tenting job itself.
Being a good consumer, and knowing absolutely nothing about termite control, I knew getting another estimate was the right thing to do – and this time I called Terminex.
Larko (yes, Larko, who’s from Peru and likes to drink Pisco) showed up for his inspection. Both the Mrs. and I were immediately struck by his knowledge, professionalism and matter of fact confidence.
During his pitch Larko:
- stayed myopically focused on his expertise – eliminating termites;
- answered each question with a certainty borne out of his experience and his conviction;
- made the process seems far less onerous than I had imagined and feared;
- never took a jab at a competitor; and
- deftly navigated the price discussion to a comfortable win-win.
And the clincher?
After building all that rapport and trust, he assured us that he’d be at the house to supervise the entire process.
You know I inked the deal with Larko, who happened to work for Terminex.
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