Ask the Expert: Navigating Regulatory Compliance
Robbie Hobbs, Chief Product Officer, WorkWave
Q: Pest management professionals (PMPs) frequently face significant concerns regarding regulatory compliance and liability. How is WorkWave advancing its intelligent operating platform to help customers navigate industry-specific regulations around topics like integrated pest management (IPM) and the security of customer data?
A: Compliance is a nonnegotiable aspect of the pest control industry. From chemical usage reporting to data privacy laws, PMPs have to navigate a complex and evolving regulatory landscape. PestPac by WorkWave is designed to be a powerful, unified tool in this effort, with features built to simplify compliance and mitigate risk.
PMPs are all familiar with the regulatory forms they need to submit to maintain chemical compliance, especially when it comes to IPM. Tracking chemical applications, along with how they’re used as part of a larger strategy, can be demanding, especially when paper forms are involved. Streamlining that process with digital forms builds everything into a technician’s service process and ensures critical compliance forms are always filled out and submitted.
Financial compliance is another critical area for PMPs. Integrated payment processing solutions that are payment card industry (PCI) compliant ensure that every credit card transaction is handled according to the industry’s highest security standards. This secure environment protects your business and your customers from financial fraud.
Q: WorkWave is committed to developing an intelligent operating platform that harnesses the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and data. For the typical PMP owner-operator, what are the practical implications of this, and which AI-native workflows will deliver the most substantial benefits in terms of operational efficiency and growth?
A: WorkWave’s philosophy is that AI should be intuitive and indispensable. Pairing that technology with pest control industry expertise allows PMPs to solve problems better, faster, and cheaper than we could before. Instead of bolting on confusing AI features, we build AI-native workflows directly into our platform. This means the intelligence works for you behind the scenes, without requiring a steep learning curve.
For a PMP, this translates to smarter, more efficient operations. By using AI to analyze data for improved performance at virtually every step, users can identify patterns in pest activity across specific neighborhoods or seasons and launch targeted marketing campaigns in areas where customers are most likely to sign up. WorkWave’s proprietary algorithm provides true route optimization to save time, fuel, and vehicle wear and tear when servicing customers.
By freeing up their teams to focus on high-value activities, PMPs simultaneously create a more efficient environment and build strong employee satisfaction.
Q: How does WorkWave ensure that its platform remains intuitive and purpose-built for the distinct workflows of the pest control industry while simultaneously integrating financial tools that immediately enhance a PMP’s cash flow and improve the customer experience?
A: Pest control today is a recurring service, but it wasn’t always. PestPac has been critical in moving end consumers to subscription contracts with monthly billing arrangements, even when service is provided at different frequencies. Building the product to make it easier to run a subscription-based pest control business model is also a huge reason why M&A is so common for PestPac customers. Our customers are better at running these types of business models, for which investors pay a premium. We’re constantly thinking like that as we evolve our product. Our payments product includes tokenization and Account Updater functionality, which prevents involuntary churn and keeps subscriptions active. Our data product helps our customers identify which of their clients are highly likely to move to auto-pay arrangements.
That all comes from working directly with PMPs to dive into their day-to-day processes and create a platform that feels natural and logical to use. Seeing a gap in payment integration, we’ve created a suite of tools that allows PMPs to get paid faster with less effort, improve financial security for their clients, and even close on sales they wouldn’t otherwise.
Disconnected billing and invoicing processes are a major drain on time and resources. A customer portal where clients can view their service history, pay invoices, and request new services at their convenience, along with a suite of other accepted payment options, keeps clients more satisfied and your cash flowing. Autopay and Account Updater make the process even smoother.
By focusing resources where customer needs are greatest and ensuring technology is put to work in the right places, PMPs have the potential to deliver service that satisfies clients in ways that simply weren’t attainable in the past and drive their businesses to new heights with data-driven insight.
