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Pursuant to the Africanized Honeybee Certification Renewal authorized by the PCOC Board of Directors, all persons and companies who completed their required update are now the only persons/companies listed on the PCOC website and are the only persons/companies legally able to perform Africanized Honeybee control work.

PCOC is now offering new Africanized Honeybee Certification classes for all those persons who wish to become certified. The schedule is as follows:

Sacramento - October 26, 2011, Chatsworth - December 13, 2011, Montebello - December 14, 2011, Temecula - December 15, 2011

All of these classes will be limited seating (60 persons only) and registration will be guaranteed only for the first 60 persons for each class and no walk-ins will be allowed. Each class approved for 6 hours CE for Branch II Technical and Certified Applicator hours. Each class is also approved for 2 hours Rules & Regulations and 4 hours other for DPR QAL & QAC licensees.

Registration forms will be sent in the mail shortly and registration information will be on the PCOC website at http://www.pcoc.org/. Cost will be $150.00 for all PCOC members and their employees and $175.00 for non-members. Lunch is included in the registration fee. You will also be able to receive a reduced rate for each hotel the night before each class. Mention PCOC when you register at each location.

See below for complete information regarding the Africanized Honeybee Certification Program as approved by the PCOC Board of Directors.

Africanized Honeybee Certification Renewal

Attention: All PCOs Certified To Control Africanized Honeybees

The Board of Directors of the Pest Control Operators of California has approved a program for the renewal of the Africanized Honeybee Certification program/course.

Effective immediately all persons who have previously completed the AHB course must comply with the following conditions:

(1) All certified licensees must perform a check in with PCOC to update their status, ie: Employer, mailing address and license status with either or both the SPCB and DPR. This check in process will be done through the PCOC website online and will begin May 1, 2010 and must be completed by June 30, 2011. Anyone who does not complete the check in process will be dropped from the AHB database maintained by PCOC. Staff will have the flexibility to accommodate licensees who fail to check in during this time period because of extenuating circumstances such as active duty overseas or other similar situations.

(2) After the initial check in, certified licensees will be sent an email annually to the email address they have established in the system (the licensee will be able to go online at any time and update their profile and contact information, including their email address) reminding them to check in to confirm their contact information and status as an active (or inactive) certified licensee.

(3) Thereafter every six (6) years certified licensees would be required to retake the full certification course.

(4) Thereafter every three (3) years (in between the six year renewal) every certified licensee will be required to take an one (1) hour online class on the PCOC website. The AHB subcommittee will create and post a 1-hour class annually, which will be available to all AHB certified Licensees to take each year. Some classes will focus on updates on a particular nuance of AHB management; other classes may focus on updates on the AHB movement, stinging incidents, new technologies and other timely issues.

(5) AHB Licensees who last took the full AHB Certification course prior to 2009 will have to take the full AHB Certification class by the end of 2014. This allows a full four years to accommodate these licensees to get into the system of retaking the full AHB Certification course every six (6) years.

AHB Certified Licensees who last took the full AHB Certification course in 2009 or later will have to take the full AHB Certification class within six (6) years of when they last completed the class.

1) Employees are having a bad day and their bad mood carries over in conversations with their customers. (Everyone has bad days, but customer service employees need to keep theirs to themselves.)

2) Not returning phone calls or voicemail messages, despite listing your phone numbers on your website and/or in ads and directories. (Call customers back as soon as you can, or have calls returned on your behalf.)

3) Employees put callers on hold without asking them first, as a courtesy. (Ask customers politely if you can put them on hold: very few will complain or say "No!")

4) Employees put callers on speakerphone without asking them first if it is okay. (Again: ask first, as a courtesy.)

5) Employees eat, drink or chew gum while talking to customers on the phone. (A telephone mouthpiece is like a microphone; noises can be easily picked up. Employees need to eat their meals away from the phone.)

6) You have call waiting on your business lines, and employees frequently interrupt existing calls to take new calls. (One interruption in a call might be excusable; beyond that, you are crossing the "rude" threshold. Do your best to be prepared with enough staff for peak calling times.)

7) Employees forget to use the words, "please" "thank you", and "you're welcome". (Please use these words generously.)

8) Employees hold side conversations with friends or each other while talking to customers on the phone, or they make personal calls on cell phones. (Don't do either of these.)

9) Employees provide a lot of words grounded in company or industry jargon that many customers don't understand.

10) Employees request that customers call them back when the employees aren't busy. (Customers should never be told to call back. Request the customers number instead and call them back in a timely manner.)

11) Employees rush through calls forcing customers off the phone at the earliest opportunity. (Politely suggest that you've got the information you need and that you need to move onto other calls.)

12) Employees obnoxiously bellow, "What's this in reference to?" effectively humbling customers and belittling their requests. (Screen techniques can be used with a little more warmth and finesse.)

Pest Control Operators of California
www.pcoc.org

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