PMP Industry Insiders

Trent and Amanda Ragar, owners of Natural State Pest & Lawn in Lowell, Ark., join Dan and Donnie to discuss their efforts to build a great workplace, including programs they use and activities they do to foster employee engagement. Natural State was recently named to PCT's 2024 Best Places to Work rankings in the medium employer category.   Guest:  Trent & Amanda Ragar, Owners, Natural Sta...

On this episode, Sheri Spencer Bachman shares her journey from second-generation PMP to founding her consulting firm, Pest Control Business Coach. She discusses best practices for developing salespeople, including training, role playing, tracking and more.   Guests: Sheri Spencer Bachman, Owner, Pest Control Business Coach   Hosts:  Dan Gordon,  PCO Bookkeepers & M&A Specialists Donnie She...

Pest control industry veteran Raymond Kidwell, Director of Business Development at Voice for Pest, joins the podcast to discuss AI's potential to enhance customer service and call center operations in the pest and lawn industries. He explores the benefits of AI-powered phone systems, such as call monitoring and scoring, and he addresses the limitations at this stage in the game.    Guest: Raymond...

On this episode, Certus Pest CEO Dave Bradford joins Dan and Donnie. He shares insights on the importance of employee and customer retention, data visibility and long-term value creation. They also cover growth opportunities for Certus and the company's unique approach to evaluating branch performance. Guest: Dave Bradford, CEO, Certus Pest   Hosts:  Dan Gordon,  PCO Bookkeepers & M&A Spec...

James Szojka, co-founder of Yard Dawgs in Calgary, Alberta, joins Dan and Donnie to share his experiences and strategies for using social media ads to market his lawn care company, emphasizing the importance of tracking lead sources and continuously testing and optimizing ads. He covers the difference between ads on Facebook and Instagram compared with Google, how to approach lawn care vs. pest co...

As a pest or lawn business owner, it can be exciting to get your first call from a private equity firm. But it also raises many questions. Why are they contacting you now? How should you handle the call? Should you even take it? On this episode, Dan and Donnie answer these questions and other things to consider about partnering with private equity.   Hosts:  Dan Gordon,  PCO Bookkeepers & M&am...

On this episode, Dan and Donnie explore the impact of AI-powered search engines on pest and lawn businesses. They discuss the shift from optimizing for search engines to focusing on user intent, emphasizing the importance of natural language processing and conversational AI integration.   Hosts:  Dan Gordon,  PCO Bookkeepers & M&A Specialists Donnie Shelton,  Triangle Home Services

On this episode, Dan and Donnie dive into Donnie's efforts to boil down team members' effectiveness to a single metric. Inspired by his experience as a pilot, Donnie shares how he is evaluating critical results to communicate clearly and ensure quality and excellence at Triangle Home Services.  Hosts:  Dan Gordon,  PCO Bookkeepers & M&A Specialists Donnie Shelton,  Triangle Home Services  

Description: On this episode, Dan and Donnie share eight factors that can help you create a sustainable, thriving pest or lawn business and achieve a healthy bottom line. Dan details a list of useful operational ratios and gives an accountant's view on them, while Donnie gives an operator's perspective.    Hosts:  Dan Gordon,  PCO Bookkeepers & M&A Specialists Donnie Shelton,  Triangle Hom...

On this episode, Dan and Donnie review GPT-4o — OpenAI's latest artificial intelligence model. They cover how the algorithm is different from previous models, why that matters and how you can use it in your pest or lawn business. Donnie also demonstrates how to use it for data analysis, so be sure to check out the video version of this episode at  youtube.com/@pmpindustryinsiders .   Hosts:  Dan G...

Coalmarch's Christin Nein joins the podcast to share her expertise on the always important topic of generating customer reviews. She covers why reviews matter, how to generate more reviews, how to make sure you get the right reviews and what to do if you get a negative review.   Guest: Christin Nein, Sr. Director, Product Development, Coalmarch by Workwave   Hosts:  Dan Gordon,  PCO Bookkeepers &a...

David Billingsly, president and founder of The Billingsly Group, gives the inside scoop about what he's hearing as the facilitator of the PMP Industry Insiders Peer Groups, including insights on the economy, pricing, routing and AI. David also discusses how the groups are going so far and goals for the future.   Guest: David Billingsly, President & Founder, The Billingsly Group   Hosts:  Dan G...

On this episode, Dan and Donnie welcome Dr. Cassie Krejci Ph. D., Head of Science & Innovation, North America, for Rentokil Initial — better known as the Bug Doc. She updates us on Rentokil's new North American Innovation Center, details her six points of customer innovation and shares four ways she leverages social media to raise the profile of the pest control industry.    Guest: Dr. Cassie...

On this episode, Dan and Donnie break down Google's new AI-powered tool, formerly known as Google SGE. They cover why the search giant is rolling it out, how it works and what you need to know about it to market your pest control or lawn care company more effectively. Hosts:  Dan Gordon,  PCO Bookkeepers & M&A Specialists Donnie Shelton,  Triangle Home Services

HR expert Jean Seawright is back to discuss the latest federal regulations that affect employers, including pest control and lawn care companies. Tune in to hear what you need to know about three new rules that pertain to independent contractors, overtime pay and noncompete agreements.   Guest: Jean Seawright, President, Seawright & Associates   Hosts:  Dan Gordon,  PCO Bookkeepers & M&amp...

JD Darr, Director of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs for the National Pest Management Association, joins Dan and Donnie on this episode to share the legislative and regulatory issues on NPMA members’ minds. He also covers the importance of using your voice to influence public policy and what you can expect when you attend a Legislative Day event.  Guests: JD Darr, Director, Legislative and Regu...

Distracted driving is on the rise, driving up auto insurance claims and increasing exposure for pest control companies. PestSure's Director of Safety Linda Midyett joins Dan and Donnie to discuss the problem and the most important things PMPs can do to fix it and control costs.    Guests: Linda Midyett, Director of Safety, PestSure   Hosts:  Dan Gordon,  PCO Bookkeepers & M&A Specialists D...

On the heels of tax season, Dan Gordon & Donnie Shelton review common questions pest control company owners have about optimizing their taxes. They discuss filing extensions, avoiding penalties, tracking expenses and claiming tax credits, among other FAQs.   Hosts:  Dan Gordon,  PCO Bookkeepers & M&A Specialists Donnie Shelton,  Triangle Home Services  

Join Dan and Donnie as they welcome Rentokil's John Myers and Brad Paulsen to the podcast. John shares the leadership lessons he's learned during Rentokil's period of explosive growth, Brad discusses the firm's The Right Way 2 Growth Plan, plus they cover the Terminix integration, M&A prospects, and much more.    Guests: John Myers, CEO of U.S. Pest Control, & Brad Paulsen, CEO of North Am...

On this episode, Dan and Donnie welcome back Andrew Bray, senior vice president of government relations & membership for the National Association of Landscape Professionals, to discuss top-of-mind issues on the lawn care side of the business. They cover the Farm Bill's significance, state preemption of local pesticide laws, election year scenarios, overtime pay and other regulatory concerns.  ...

Join Dan and Donnie for an energizing episode with best-selling author Patrick Lencioni, the mastermind behind "The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team" and "The Advantage." They dive into the dysfunctions, three three essential traits of exceptional team players and how to get more out of meetings. Patrick also shares details about his latest book and concept, "The 6 Types of Working Genius."    Guest: Patr...

On this episode, Dan and Donnie review some of their recent predictions about the economy and whether or not they were correct. They also cover economic positives and negatives, trends to consider in the near term, and tips for pest and lawn companies.    Hosts:  Dan Gordon,  PCO Bookkeepers & M&A Specialists Donnie Shelton,  Triangle Home Services

Jim Fredericks, Ph. D. is back on the podcast to share the latest Professional Pest Management Alliance initiatives and what's coming down the pike. They cover large-scale projects, media coverage, the benefits of investing in PPMA and other ways the organization is growing and protecting the industry.   Guest: Jim Fredericks, Ph. D., Senior VP of Public Affairs of NPMA and Executive Director of P...

In this episode, Margaret Garcia, president of Grit PPO, joins Dan and Donnie to share her expertise in pest control customer service. She covers how to take control of a phone call, the importance of tone, words to avoid, what to say instead, why call scripts work and more.    Guest: Margaret Garcia, President, Grit PPO   Hosts:  Dan Gordon,  PCO Bookkeepers & M&A Specialists Donnie Shelt...

Hawx Pest Control Co-founder Matt Mehr walks Dan and Donnie through how he and his partners have built a nine-figure enterprise from scratch. He discusses how his door-to-door business has evolved using data and proprietary technology, what it's like to get a private equity infusion and key metrics they're focusing on to continue to scale up.   Guest: Matt Mehr, Co-founder, Hawx Pest Control   Hos...