PCOC - Summer 2016 - 9


This may shock you, but we operate
as a team at my company, and we track
everything we can think of. We make scoreboards available for our team, including
our financial performance, balance sheets,
P&L statements, cash flow statements, tax
status, and all sorts of business reports.
We announce our loan balance for what
we owe on our vehicles and how much our
monthly payments are. If we borrow money,
we explain why it was borrowed, how much
it was, and the amount of payments. We
made a large tax payment on April 18 this
year, and I told the team how much profit we
made for the year and how much we were
paying for state and federal income taxes.
We shared our predictions for how much
profit we were planning to generate for the
quarter and for the end of 2016.
Sharing numbers and telling the business
story behind the numbers can help keep a
team engaged in what you are doing and why.
There are no employees at our company.
Instead, we have 45 teammates.
Part 1: Measuring the
Performance of Field Staff
Below is a breakdown of our typical measurements for individual technicians, which
are reviewed weekly with each teammate.
The performance per week is totaled through
the end of the quarter. We review the individual's pay and bonus level quarterly in a
one-on-one session.
*	 The	number	of	stops	-	no	matter	how	
many services were done at the stop. If you
arrived to a property and did something,
that is a stop
*	 Total	production,	dollar	value	of	the	work	
completed for the week
*	 Average	hours	at	the	job	(We	use	a	handheld computer to clock in to start a service
or at the arrival at the property, and we
clock out right before we drive off. This
step catches people who hurry too much
and can be compared to the Garmin statistics to check the honesty of the reporting.)
*	 The	miles	per	stop,	which	displays	the	
efficiency	of	routing	(the	total	mileage	for	
the week divided by the number of stops;
all miles on the vehicle count)
*	 The	 dollars	 generated	 per	 mile	 driven	
(shows	us	the	efficiency	of	routing;	reflects	
pricing adequacy)
*	 Route	cancellations,	regardless	of	reason	
(We	measure	the	number	and	the	dollars	
of recurring revenue lost. Technicians are

allowed to try to save or win back the lost
customers.)
*	 Hours	of	vacation	or	other	time	off	during	
the work week
*	 Autopay	added	(when	a	customer	starts	
allowing us to take out the fees automatically from a checking account or set up
recurring payments on a credit card)
*	 Paperless	billing	setups	(billing	customers	
via email instead of snail mail)
*	 Recurring	 revenue	 sales	 made	 (we	
add the annual value of the recurring
service fees)
*	 New	 customer	 sales	 (new	 names	 and	
addresses added)
*	 Upgrades	 and	 upsells	 to	 existing	 customers	(added	new	services	to	current	
customers)
Weekly, the whole team is advised about
what is necessary in order to meet the
monthly and quarterly goals for production
and growth of our recurring revenue. Team
members are shown how they are doing compared to their weekly, monthly and quarterly
contribution to the company goals.
What Overall Company-Wide Numbers
Should the Company Measure Weekly?
For our company numbers, we maintain
a target and compare the results at our regularly scheduled weekly leadership team
meeting. All of the numbers reflected in this
list are company-wide.
*	 Growth	in	recurring	revenue	(new	after	
loss and gain)
*	 Total	recurring	revenue	as	of	this	period
*	 Total	of	work	produced
*	 New	sales	total
*	 New	sales	acquired	and	implemented	this	
week	(initial	treatments	performed;	other	
work completed that was a new sale)
*	 Receipts	 (we	 deposited	 this	 money	 in	
the bank)
What are Some Financial
Measurements You Should
Highlight with the Team?
Remember	that	the	purpose	of	a	business,	
to a great degree, is to generate cash flow.
*	 Review	 your	 profit	 &	 loss	 statement	
monthly for the month just ended and
compare to the same month last year.
Make sure your numbers are improving.
*	 Review	your	profit	&	loss	statement	for	
the running 12 months ending last month.
Compare to the same time period last year.
Make sure the numbers are improving.
www.pcoc.org / Summer 2016

9

*	 Run	a	Statement	of	Cash	Flow	for	the	
month and for the 12 months ending last
month, and compare both to the same
period a year ago. Make sure the trend is
upward for the good numbers.
*	 Revenue	 average	 per	 employee	 (total	
money deposited for the period divided
by the total number of full-time equivalent
people at the company). We do this based
on a running 12-month period.
*	 Revenue	average	per	field	asset	(total	
techs or people in service vehicles
compared to the money they generated
in production).
*	 Measure	working	capital:	How	fast	do	
you	pay	your	bills?	How	much	money	
do your customers owe you? On average,
how long does it take for you to get paid?
How	much	cash	do	you	have	in	reserve,	
just	in	case?	How	fast	do	you	turn	your	
inventory? It can be detrimental to your
company if you have too much product
on your shelves and you cannot make
payroll payments.
*	 Return	on	investment	is	important.	Why	
the owner has all his or her wealth tied
up in this business is based on the return
on that investment. Make sure that the
shareholders	(owners)	are	happy	with	the	
money the company generates.
*	 Make	 sure	 your	 retained	 earnings	 are	
growing.
If any of your measurements are not what
you want them to be, begin working on them.
Make a plan and involve others. Get advice.
Get help.
We find that the aforementioned numbers
generally matter for pest management professionals. Of course, these change based on
individual circumstances and what interval
you are dealing with. Imagine how differently you would view measures if you
were a one-man operator compared to a
100-branch company.
Jeff Annis is a trainer
at Camp BugStopper,
which performs training
that is designed to help
great pest management
professionals become
great business people.
For more information, go to www.facebook.
com/Campbugstopper, www.campbugstopper.com; sign up for blog posts by emailing
bugbiz@bugstopper.com or call or text Anis
at 706-373-9157.
http://www.facebook http://www.campbugstopper.com http://www.pcoc.org
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of PCOC - Summer 2016
