Can we talk about Marvin for a minute? I like lizards, they are cool little animals that tend to eat a lot of pests like cockroaches and flies. Like spiders, they are natural pest control. When they get inside, that’s not cool.
First, it is cool that someone saw something, and someone said something. So many times when there is a pest issue, people at the site notice, but no one says anything to someone who could do something about it. The whole “see something, say something” sounds kitschy, but it is entirely accurate. One person is not responsible for pest control, every person at a site is responsible because everyone has eyes. Imagine if housekeeping staff didn’t report when they saw bed bugs in a room: “hey, not my job, I don’t sleep here.” Or if a pasta plant employee didn’t report the rat running through the flour: “I don’t even like pasta, I don’t care.” Or if a restaurant chef didn’t say anything about the cockroaches they were seeing behind the oven: “I can’t do anything about it so why should I say anything?”. Educating everyone on what to look for, and most importantly what to do when they see something can mean the difference between a small issue the customers don’t see and a huge issue that hits social media and profit margins.
Second, it’s cool that someone followed up and asked for more info. The more accurate information and the more information that can be gathered as soon as a pest problem is noticed, the better and faster it can be treated. Why wait until those cockroaches are spread throughout the restaurant instead of getting a little bait to them when they are just behind the icemaker? Why wait until a customer is in a room and the bed bugs have likely spread to neighboring rooms? Not only does the cost of treatment go up, the public exposure goes up and reviews go down. Having a process in place to get this information will help the situation greatly.
Third, knowing the pest means a professional can target the areas they are most likely to be in and the food sources they are most likely to utilize. I can tell you that lizards do not like coffee. However, they do like cockroaches that enjoy the warm, wet areas with leftover crumbs behind large coffee makers. Employees at any site don’t need to know (and shouldn’t be expected to know!) the exact species of pest that they saw. They can be given training on what to look for, which pests are common at their site, and can take pictures to help out the professional when they get called in.
So Marvin is a great example*. Someone saw something (Marvin) and said something (albeit on social -media). Someone followed up (great job 7-Eleven!) to get more info (“where exactly was Marin?”). Very likely, the pest control company was called in to have a look at the area (coffee station). How does your plan look compared to this? Contact us to find out more!
*I found this post absolutely funny and I’m rooting for Marvin to make it out safely!
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