JP McHale Pest Management of Southampton – equipped with the latest in innovative technology and specializing in eliminating pests through biological and environmentally sensitive methods – has experienced rapid growth over the past year, with several high-profile acquisitions and a continued dedication to evolving their cutting-edge tech in a bid to eliminate their customers’ pest problems.
Founded more than 50 years ago, JP McHale is a family business operated by Jim McHale, Jr., with service areas all throughout Nassau and Suffolk counties, as well as several satellite offices in towns such as Cutchogue and Oakdale.
McHale prides himself on offering a comprehensive range of services using the very latest in technology to handle any sort of pest-related issue you may be encountering, and it is that dedication to the continued evolution of his company that has contributed greatly to its rapid recent expansion, he said.
JP McHale Pest Management owner Jim McHale, Jr.
“Over the past year we partnered up with several firms and eventually integrated them into our network,” he said. “What that does is makes us more efficient, increases our route density, and lowers our costs, and we pass that savings on to our customers. It enables us to be more efficient and to deliver better service with a faster response.”
McHale noted that the process of partnering with new companies and adding them into their own network is a "soft” one, so as to keep the experience from being a jarring one for their pre-existing customers.
“There's a reason why these businesses have been around for as long as they have, and we get great talents out of these acquisitions in many cases, so we want the customers to stay and we want the employees to stay,” he said. “We do a co-branding thing at first and fly below the radar a little bit, and then let the customers know after we've been servicing them for the past six months or so. Then we ask them how everything is, and they're always very pleased with the service. We try to make things as 'soft' as possible for the transition.”
Over the course of the past year, McHale has had five acquisitions; in addition, they potentially have another three in the works as of press time.
However, the company’s acquisitions have gone hand-in-hand with the organic expansion of the base business itself, which McHale said has been driven in-part by an increase in local pest populations due to the mild winters that Long Island has been experiencing the last several years.
“This warm winter we just had has enabled ticks that normally would have perished to survive and thrive. Our tick numbers and instances of tick bites are elevated this year, so our tick business lately has been exceptional,” he said. “With the economy the way it is these days, a lot of people are staying home and they're investing in their yards, so we’ve been getting a lot of calls to come in and take care of any tick problems they may have so they can enjoy their summer.”
JP McHale's reliance on technology has also continued to evolve and advance over the past year, giving them a serious leg up over the competition. Their patented SMART System is a digital remote monitoring surveillance program that the company installs in their clients’ homes that immediately notifies their office if it detects any pest activity. The company then calls the customer – as opposed to the other way around – and then heads on over to the house to preemptively take care of any infestations before they can take root.
“We've had some really good upgrades to our SMART System reporting component, which shows the value to the client. We've really streamlined our reporting to make them more user friendly for the clients, and we send them out quarterly so the customer can see the value they're getting and how many catches we've made for them,” he said. “We're no longer putting up bait and checking traps, we're now being proactive and our guys are focusing on where the avenues of entry are and intercepting early stages of infestation and getting ahead of the problem. That's true integrated pest management.”
JP McHale is also at the forefront of the industry when it comes to the environmental impact that pesticides can normally have, adopting the use of many "green” products to ensure that they're not polluting the environment when ridding a household of any pest issues they may have.
“We utilize a lot of plant-based products that are more environmentally sustainable. We use formulations that don't drift or runoff into wetlands or ponds,” McHale said. “We're very cognizant of some of the hazards associated with pesticide applications, so we use a lot of eco-friendly products and we strategically time their use for when the insects are most vulnerable, based on their life cycle. We also make sure the weather is appropriate when we do the application itself as well.”
McHale noted that he’s been keeping an eye on artificial intelligence – or AI – which has been making big headlines as of late, and he already has a potential vision in place for this emerging form of tech to assist with his already exemplary customer service.
“I think AI could potentially really help us a lot with customer service. Our biggest challenge is answering the phones in our call center, and I'm anxious to see how AI can assist us in being more responsive and more helpful to the clients,” he said. "I don't know exactly where it's going, but I know there's a lot of chatter about it in my industry, and I want to really be at the forefront of the technology when it does come into play.”
However, McHale noted that no matter what, keeping the human part of the connection he has with his clients will always remain vitally important to his company.
“This is still always going to be a relationship business, that's what I learned from my dad. It’s all about the people,” he said. “If you can't kill the rodents and the bugs, you shouldn't be in this business. But you should always show up on time, wipe your feet, leave the place nicer than you found it, and always call people back immediately. It's about the client experience, anything we can do to make it easier to do business with us, we're going to do it.”
Utilizing a combination of top-notch customer service, the latest technology, and an unquenchable urge to grow and remain at the forefront of the industry, McHale said that he is proud of the growth that JP McHale Pest Management has experienced in over the last year, and looks forward to remaining the top company in the industry on Long Island for years to come.
“One thing I can say is that this is a very simple business, but it's not an easy business. There are a lot of moving parts and a lot of people involved,” he said. “It's a grind, but in the end, it's all about helping the customer, and that's what the most important thing is to us.”
To find out more about JP McHale Pest Management, please call 833-270-1976 or visit https://nopests.com.