You sell it, we help your customers use it
By Skatek · · 3 min read
A new product only sells through if the technicians who buy it know how to use it. Otherwise the questions come back to your sales team, and the next order doesn't. When you carry ExHale, we take on that part with you: help when your customers need it, training and guides, Skatek Hub for instructions, and support at trade fairs.
Why is bed bug monitoring harder to sell than a treatment product?
Technicians already know how to use a treatment product. Monitoring asks them to change how a job runs. In a survey of French pest control companies, 96% relied on detailed visual inspection, only 27% used traps to confirm an infestation, and 63% waited for the client to call back after treatment rather than checking themselves (Jourdain et al. 2016).
There is no shortage of tools. A 2021 review counted almost 40 bed bug detection and monitoring products, but found that cost, size, complexity and a lack of independent testing kept most of them out of wide professional use (Crawley and Borden 2021). So a monitoring product has to arrive with someone who can explain it.
What do your customers need before they order?
Pest control companies ask the same few things:
- Where does it fit in the job? ExHale is used before treatment, to find out whether bed bugs are present and where, and after treatment, to check the result.
- How do I set it up? The dispenser runs on a schedule the technician sets: hour, minute and day of the week.
- What do I tell the client? That the room is being monitored, and what the follow-up visit will show.
- What is it, exactly? A monitoring tool, not a treatment. The aerosol imitates a breathing person through CO₂ and kairomones and contains no pesticides.
What we do for our distributors
| You need | What we do |
|---|---|
| Answers for your customers | We are on hand for you and your team when a question goes beyond the basics |
| Trained technicians | We help with training and guides, so your customers set ExHale up correctly from the first job |
| Fewer support calls | Skatek Hub gives technicians step by step setup, tips and answers to common questions |
| Demand in your market | When a pest control company in your country contacts us, we put them in touch with you |
| Visibility | We take part in trade fairs and events, and help you build the product in your market |
| A product you can put your name to | Consistent, quality-assured products, every order |
Training is where most of the work is. In the same French survey, 56% of pest control companies said they wanted specific bed bug training (Jourdain et al. 2016). We would rather help train your customers' technicians than leave them to guess.
Why does Skatek Hub matter to a distributor?
Skatek Hub is a web tool where technicians save each bed bug job, add photos and follow-up visits, and send the client a PDF report. It works with or without ExHale, and it holds the ExHale setup instructions.
For you, that means fewer basic questions reaching your desk. For your customers, it supports the way good bed bug work is meant to run. The BPCA Code of Best Practice asks for at least two visits and a report after every visit, and allows a monitoring programme when a survey finds no evidence (BPCA).
Is there room in the market for monitoring?
Trade press this year described detection becoming as important as treatment, with growing interest in digital proof of absence (PPC Online). The aerosol is a consumable, used up before and after treatment on each job the technician monitors. We'd rather publish the numbers than ask you to trust the label, so we don't make claims we haven't measured.
FAQ
Can pest control companies also buy directly from Skatek?
Pest control companies can order through a distributor or contact us. When they contact us from a country where we have a distributor, we put them in touch with you.
Is ExHale a treatment?
No. ExHale is a monitoring tool. It contains no pesticides and is used before and after the treatment itself.
What does it take to become a distributor?
Start with a conversation. Tell us which markets you cover and who your customers are, and we'll take it from there.
If you sell to pest control companies and want to add bed bug monitoring, send us a distributor enquiry or read how ExHale works.