Building your Client Service A-Team

Client service representatives are often the first—and sometimes only—voice that clients associate with your business. By developing star CSRs, you’ll drive your business forward and create more satisfied clients. 

Linda Formichelli

You’d think that for a pest management company, offering effective pest management would be the No. 1 factor in building a loyal client base.

Surprise! Last year, 43% of consumers stopped buying from a brand due to poor customer service—more than those who left because of service quality, according to Salesforce’s “State of the Connected Consumer” report. Client service representatives (CSRs) do so much more than answer phones. Investing in a high-performing CSR team is about increasing and keeping clients, supporting field technicians, and ensuring smooth operations. We spoke with four industry insiders on how they built their A-teams—and how you can, too.

KNOW WHAT MAKES GREAT CSRS

What makes a star CSR? It’s not pest management experience, knowledge of the products, or scheduling skill.

It’s empathy. “Pest control can be traumatic for people,” says Anthony Abhaypal, director of client services at Abell Pest Control in Toronto. “Your home is your castle, and something has entered your home that scares you,” or clients may be embarrassed because they think a pest infestation reflects on their cleanliness.

That’s why the CSR who knows how to reassure the client will do better than the down-to-business CSR who knows the company’s products inside and out. “A good CSR can turn a client around pretty quick by smiling over the phone and listening to their needs,” says Mickey Thomas, senior vice president of customer care and inside sales at Arrow Exterminators in Atlanta.

HIRE RIGHT

The importance of empathy over technical ability means hiring managers should prioritize strong interpersonal skills. “I can train the hard skills,” says Kimberly Blaiss, vice president of operations at Modern Exterminating Co. in South Carolina. “We look for a culture of people whose values align with our company values and who want to be here every day.”

So, how do you attract those personable CSRs? Job boards, social media, and job fairs all work, but the best method may be personal referrals, because like attracts like. Two key ways to bring in referrals are:

1. Be a Great Place to Work

“I don’t do a lot of recruiting,” says Blaiss. “Usually, people are coming to work here because they know somebody who’s working here who loves their job, and they also want to love their job.”
Being a great place to work might include:

• Incentivizing good habits. At Abell Pest Control, managers get 3,000 “Pest Perks” to hand out per month. Employees can trade these in for prizes. Managers are expected to have no Pest Perks left at the end of each month.
  
• Offering a clear career path. “Career pathing has been huge for us,” says Thomas. “If you come in as an admin, you can take a career path to office manager or service center manager. We also let employees cross-train in different roles.”
  
• Not micromanaging. “CSRs need to feel empowered to make decisions,” says Lucas Charles, director of partner acquisition at Thomas Pest Services in upstate New York. CSRs should know when they’re able to set up an urgent service or offer credits, or that they can demand respectful treatment from an angry customer—all without asking for permission.

Fostering a positive workplace does more than decrease turnover in your star CSR team—it helps CSRs do their best work, leading to happier customers and clients.

2. RUN A REFERRAL PROGRAM

Referral bonuses can help even the best workplaces attract top-tier CSRs. At Thomas Pest Services, “If you bring someone in, you get $750 after 30 days that they’ve been on board and another $750 after their first 90 days,” says Charles.

TRAIN FOR SUCCESS

You’ve hired CSRs with star potential. The next step is to provide structured onboarding to ensure they not only understand your processes and products but can also handle anything a client might throw at them on a call.

BE THOROUGH

The companies we talked to offer trainings that include cross-training in other departments, ride-alongs for field experience, one-on-one sessions with managers, and training checklists. All this training is ongoing, so CSRs can stay fresh on their skills or learn new ones. For example, Arrow Exterminators offers a six-week Rock Star Training Academy for new hires. CSRs earn their state license and QualityPro certification, which require extensive background screening. “We also have a training checklist where the CSR signs off either that they understand a process or that they need more training,” says Thomas. “This clarity helps new hires gain confidence and feel supported, and our thoroughness builds trust in clients.”

BE A RIVER

Abell Pest Control’s CSR training includes role playing to help new hires understand how to succeed in different client-interaction scenarios. Since this can be nerve-racking, Abhaypal always offers new trainees this piece of advice: “A call looks like a river. The river has a bunch of rocks in it, and those are your hard skills. Your soft skills are the water, and that water flows around the rocks. Your soft skills are always going to be very dynamic, because people are different. Pests will always be pests, but people will always be a little bit different.”

TEACH TO CSRS’ STYLES

Different people have different learning styles. Thomas says the best way to know is to ask CSRs: Do you prefer hands-on training, reading, or videos? For companies that want a more formal method, a personality test can give managers clues as to the best way to approach training. For example, Abhaypal gives new hires a DiSC test, which scores employees on the traits of dominance, influence, steadiness, and conscientiousness.

LET CSRS TRY ON NEW SHOES

All the companies we talked to have new hires go on ride-alongs with inspectors, salespeople, and technicians. “The CSRs are learning the types of product we use,” says Thomas. “They’re learning the fundamentals of what our technical teams do, and they’re also getting on-the-job training.”

By hiring for personality, fostering a positive workplace, and focusing on training, pest management companies can build a CSR team that supports technicians, makes the office run more smoothly, and strengthens client relationships. The CSR is the first link in this chain of your company’s success. Says Abhaypal, “It’s called client service, so you take care of the client before the service.” 

The Impossible Client Playbook: Strategies for Challenging Situations

Even the best CSRs encounter difficult client interactions. Here’s how top pest control companies handle common challenges:

“WHY DID I RECEIVE A BILL AFTER I ALREADY PAID?”

Arrow Exterminators tackles this by training CSRs extensively on billing policies: “We make sure they can explain why a bill was sent, even if a payment was made the day before,” says Mickey Thomas. Offering auto-payment options also reduces confusion.

“WHY DIDN’T MY TECHNICIAN SHOW UP?”

Clients sometimes forget appointments or misunderstand scheduling details. “We confirm every appointment and keep windows to only one hour,” Thomas says. If a tech is running late, proactive communication prevents frustration.

“WHY DO I STILL HAVE ANTS?”

Ensure the client has been complying with any plans you’ve made, suggests Anthony Abhaypal of Abell Pest Control. Also, says Thomas, “Understanding the biology of the pests we treat helps CSRs explain treatment timelines to customers, which reduces unnecessary callbacks.”

“MY RENTAL IS INFESTED!”

This can be tricky because the tenant is upset and wants a solution now, but the pest control company needs to deal with the landlord. Lucas Charles at Thomas Pest Services recommends explaining to the tenant that the problem took time to develop and will take time to solve—and that a technician will be out as soon as possible for an inspection. In the meantime, reach out to the landlord. No matter who is paying, collect from the landlord and let them handle reimbursement on their end.

“WHY DIDN’T MY TECHNICIAN DO THE INSIDE?”

Explain why exterior treatments are more effective at keeping pests from coming inside in the first place. Says Thomas, “We protect your home on the outside to keep the bugs out, and we also offer free callbacks if an interior treatment is needed.”

“&$^#*#(@^%!”

When a client gets aggressive and the CSR can’t help the person calm down, the CSR should be empowered to either hang up or escalate to management. The manager can then decide whether this is a client worth keeping. Says Kimberly Blaiss of Modern Exterminating Co., “We prioritize staff safety and company values over retaining difficult customers.”