Terminix International is a division of Service Master Co., USA. The company is in the business of pest control.

The challenge facing Terminix offices around the country was to improve customer retention by reducing the number of cancellations and ‘allowances’ for business. Allowances largely account for times that Terminix does not service an account, such as when a family is out of town and does not have the house sprayed one month. Improved customer retention means increased business, which Terminix believes is achieved by delivering strong customer service.

Terminix vice president of marketing, Clayton Spitz, says the company has had a strong commitment to customer service for a long time. However, Terminix started a programme in 1994, called Customers for Life, focusing on customer retention. Terminix decided to take its efforts to a higher level by developing an internal marketing programme for employees. The programme was designed to help employees become more customer oriented. It was developed and launched with the aid of the consultants, GS America.

According to Scott Vogel, director of promotional marketing for GS America, giving advice to Terminix: ‘What's key in this programme is trying to motivate technicians. Technicians are your best sales people.’

The promotion got under way on 18 January in 370 Terminix branches around the country. ‘Kick-off kits’ with streamers and balloons were sent to each branch, along with collateral pieces. In-house and collateral pieces included humour and primary designs to communicate ideas for the promotion.

Vogel said: ‘We want to keep it simple, so you can walk by it and get a message.’

As part of the internal marketing programme, branches were divided into categories by their percentages of cancellation. Posters were designed to display cancellation and allowance percentages, and highlight the targeted improvements that were set by managers at each Terminix branch. At the end of each quarter year, amounts were to be tallied and winning branches named.

The promotion was prize-driven, with each employee at a winning branch receiving such items as gym bags, coolers and pocket knives. Employees at the winning branches were then to be entered in sweepstakes at the end of the year for larger prizes like vehicles and cruises. Even though service technicians and managers were the primary targets for the promotion, all employees at branches were included in the competition for prizes. Spitz pointed out that the reason for this was simple:

‘All of this is a team effort.. . It's all pulling together, and it's everybody's responsibility to save a customer. Customer retention is a team concept’.

Terminix executives wanted to sponsor a promotion that would involve all employees. They wanted to put together something where everybody in the operation is rewarded when a branch is successful. This meant designing a promotion where literally everybody in the company could win.

Additionally, since the promotion was to run over such a long period, it was necessary to make sure that the campaign did not lose momentum. Therefore, it was decided that GS America should conduct telemarketing surveys throughout the year. As Vogel said:

‘A year is a long time, and I think keeping in touch each quarter.. . will give us the pulse of what's happening. All this pomp and circumstance is nice, but it's not effective if it doesn't sell results.’

Terminix will evaluate GS America at the end of each quarter to be sure the promotion remains effective.

Source: Hollis, K. (1995). Terminix uses internal marketing to better business. Memphis Business Journal, 16 (40), 6 February, 13.