In this feature we ask a professional pest manager to share the journey they’ve taken within the pest control industry. For this issue we spoke with Jamie Pierce from Dandenong Pest Control about the evolution of her family business over the past 37 years.
Jamie Pierce (pictured above, centre) has grown up in the pest control industry. Her parents George and Denise Knol (pictured above) have owned and operated Dandenong Pest Control since 1989, which is based in the growing little town of Beaconsfield, Victoria. Today, she is the office manager of the business, having started out in the industry when she was in high school.
Ms Pierce would come into the office during school holidays and after school to help with filing and odd jobs. From the very beginning she wanted to work the telephones, so she and her dad would do pretend calls: he would be the customer and she had to answer all of his questions. When he thought she was confident enough to handle a wide variety of scenarios, she was allowed to take on real calls.
One of her fondest memories from when she was younger is when her dad recorded the company’s Christmas break message on the answering machine. Apparently it was always hilarious – he’d try to be serious, but someone in the office would start laughing – which would break everyone else into fits of laughter. He ended up recording the message many times and the memory of it brings a smile to her face to this day.
Ms Pierce started to help in the management of the business in about 2015. She started slowly, but over the years her parents felt confident to increasingly step back. Today, they drop in every Friday and bring the coffees.
When she started at DPC the company only had two techs – her dad and Gary Ashford – and mum Denise in the office. Now the company employs six technicians (including one female, much to Ms Pierce’s delight) plus three admin staff. Together, the team service a mix of residential and commercial clients, with work including comprehensive termite treatments and inspections. They service all the areas throughout the Casey and Cardinia Shires and as far as the northern and western suburbs of Melbourne.
Ms Pierce tells us that one of the main challenges she faced when taking over the management of the business was learning to trust her own judgement. She leaned on her parents quite a lot in the early days for advice and reassurance – especially when navigating situations that she hadn’t encountered previously. With her nature of being a “people pleaser” she found it quite difficult to be firm when it was required, so their guidance helped her significantly. Managing some male technicians, particularly in the early days, was quite challenging, but this helped her to grow in confidence, set clearer boundaries and develop a stronger leadership style.
So much has changed in our industry since she started. “We’ve moved from using organochlorines to much safer products,” she said. “Pre-construction spraying has evolved too. I remember having to write ‘chlorpyrifos’ on every certificate, whereas now everything is digital and physical barriers are being used. Chemicals that once acted as barriers are complemented by a huge selection of targeted products, including non-repellent options like Termidor.
“Internal baiting for termites wasn’t even a thing back then, I even remember our technicians putting phone books in the ground to attract termites before in-ground stations were available. Now, we use advanced tools like the Termidor HE machine for efficient and precise treatment.
“Our approach to bees has also changed dramatically. We no longer automatically remove or kill them; instead, we educate our customers on the importance of bees to the environment and encourage monitoring of the nest for a couple of days to see if the colony moves on. When needed, we recommend local beekeepers to safely relocate the bees, balancing pest control with environmental responsibility.”
The way the team complete admin work is another massive change Ms Pierce has seen over the years. “Back in the day when we would receive a phone call, we would write the details into a carbon book, then we would write it neatly into a diary that had columns for each technician. At the end of the day we would transfer all the information to job sheets for each technician.
“After the techs had finished their day, they would hand their job sheet into the office and we would then transfer all the information into the computer. We would quadruple handle everything! Today we use a system where we can enter the enquiry straight into the computer and now I wonder how we ever had the time to do all of that manual handling.
“It’s amazing to see how far the industry has come. It’s exciting to keep learning and adopting the latest methods to serve our customers safely and effectively.”
When asked about her plans for the future, Ms Pierce says that she is exploring opportunities to grow her team, potentially bringing on an extra staff member to help expand her commercial client base. She is also very excited to be taking some of the staff to the FAOPMA Conference in New Zealand later this year which, she believes, will provide valuable insights and networking opportunities to help their business.
annual staff party
Ms Pierce shares that DPC have been loyal customers of Agserv since at least 2014. She says that when their orders are delivered, it’s always a great opportunity to learn about what’s new in the industry and to get answers to some of her more technical questions.
When asked what advice she would give to someone looking to take over the running of a family business, she offered the following: “Respect the experience of those who came before you, but don’t be afraid to make thoughtful changes. Experience, a sense of humour, attention to detail, and a genuine passion for the industry are all key.
“Sharing the same values as my parents has made it easy to continue their legacy and build on what mum and dad created over the years. Delivering exceptional customer service remains our top priority, and we are proud of the results, approaching 1000 five-star reviews across multiple platforms, a loyal base of repeat clients, and the many word-of-mouth referrals that keep our business thriving.”
