- May 15, 2019
- Posted by: Dan Gordon
- Category: Accounting Advice

The business owner’s motivation is easy to define. Increased business success and profitability equals more cash in the owner’s pocket! Yet, employee motivation… that’s a little more difficult to create. First, develop a clearly defined incentive program that is fair and enticing. It also doesn’t hurt to build a healthy level of competition among your pest control company’s employees.
You can offer your salespeople and your technicians a commission for sales. But there are ways other than cash that can be used to incentivize and motivate your workforce. Try creating different incentive plans for everyone from CSRs to sales people to technicians. There are ways to encourage everyone in your business.
Build team spirit and make it FUN!
Set a goal and encourage the company work together towards it. If the team achieves the goal, then they can win a pizza party or a dinner at a fancy restaurant. The celebration will contribute to office morale and camaraderie.
Create healthy competition with contests
There are some great ways to run contests and competitions in your office. For example, develop a point system. When an employee captures a testimonial from a customer, they earn points. When an employee up-sells a customer, he or she gets points. When a technician hits all his or her stops on time, that technician gets points. When CSRs solve a customer’s problem, that employee gets a point. Keeping their truck clean, getting leads for salespeople, wearing uniforms… You can assign a point value for every desirable behavior you want to encourage. Then employees can accumulate points that can be used to order prizes from a catalog.
Here’s another twist to this contest involving a deck of cards. Instead of points, hand out a playing card for a job well done. At the end of the day, the person with the best poker hand gets the prize. It drives people to compete and creates a fun atmosphere around the office.
Remember recognition as a motivator
Recognition is another method for pest control business owners to motivate employees. Put up a sales leader board so everyone can see how well others are doing. Distribute a regular newsletter or make social media posts highlighting compliments, big milestones and accomplishments. Give out company awards for MVP, most improved, best department and so on.
Remember, there are many ways to motivate employees, and it’s not only about money. It’s also about recognizing accomplishments and generating pride.