09/30/2024

Maryland PMP Businesses Enjoyed the First MSPCA Business Building Blocks & Connections

Building Businesses by Expanding Training Opportunities

MSPCA's first Business Building Blocks & Connections was a great success! With sponsorship from Target-Specialty Products, BASF and Corteva, we brought 40 people together to learn, grow and connect!

Built for your Operations Team
The MSPCA developed this event to help PMPs grow their businesses. Designed for owners, managers, sales teams, service representatives, and team members who are integral in the operation of a pest management company, the BBB & C was presented to build on individual’s existing skills to equip them with the knowledge needed to really amp up their performance.

Business Building Blocks
Three sessions were presented that provided attendees with new and effective ways to sharpen sales, elevate customer service, and increase employee engagement.

Nema Semnani with Precision Sales Consulting shared that when selling to the modern buyer, the rules have changed. What seems like a problem closing is actually a problem in qualifying your customers. He shared tips on learning to qualify stringently and diffuse obstacles in advance, to be a more effective seller.

Interestingly, Denise O’Neill with The Alternative Board also identified elements of modern customers that have changed. The Twenties decade has generated clients that are more demanding and less tolerant of service they consider below average. Inflation has also made clients more focused on price. Sha shared a customer service journey map as a tool to explore new ways to surprise and delight our customers creating an experience that is a magnet for attracting new customers and retaining the current client base.

Joleen Matthews with American Pest and Samantha Forrest with Corteva, and President of MSPCA teamed up to share innovative ways to keep employees motivated and engaged, all while fostering a positive and productive work culture. Technology plays a big part in meeting your team where they are, and where they are willing to communicate. In this session employee engagement is fostered through different messaging and gaming apps.

Connections
Education is a collaborative experience – after all, nobody learns in a vacuum. Social connections offer us an opportunity to share and learn from each other. So, we built some social time into the Business Building Blocks & Connections event.  Morning refreshments during registration allowed for old friends and new colleagues to connect. One of the best parts of being involved in a trade association is the benefit you gain through the connections you make with other professionals who understand the challenges you face. A leisurely lunch was shared by conferees who discussed the mornings sessions and visited about current challenges.

This is the first of what MSPCA plans to be an ongoing series of in-person and virtual learning opportunities that will provide business owners and their teams with information, training, and networking opportunities - all designed to help PMPs grow their businesses.