Skeptical About Trustmark? Our thoughts going through the process..
By Adelle & Damien Lane, DJL Pest Solutions Ltd
“Could you write a piece on your experience with TrustMark and the approval process?” I’m not sure we are the right people to do that as we were rather sceptical ourselves.
The application process itself was relatively straightforward: provide a small amount of information to the NPTA, wait for an email and then follow a link to submit six documents for review. That’s it, easy enough.
Why were we sceptical?
For a number of reasons: what was expected of us? How would it benefit us? Was there a baseline for approval or would a treatment report written in purple crayon be accepted too?
There is a baseline, there has to be. TrustMark isn’t just another badge to stick on your website, it is a government-endorsed quality scheme designed to give customers confidence that they’re dealing with a competent and professional business. One of the challenges faced by all trades – not just pest control – is inconsistency. Excellent operators sit alongside those that cut corners, and to the average customer there’s often little to distinguish between them. The TrustMark standard aims to reduce that gap by setting expectations around technical competence, customer care and business practices.
Benefits for a business
For a business there are benefits to being registered. It is not a sales tool or something designed to double your turnover, it is a recognised mark of quality that customers can check and understand, it encourages a more structured approach to documentation and processes and it gives a framework to measure yourself against. It’s not just about proving you’re already doing things well, it’s about consistency.
Support From the NPTA’s Technical Team
Waiting for a response after submitting the paperwork does bring back those feelings of sitting in Year 8 English, knowing you put everything into that project and waiting for it to be returned covered in red pen squiggles and question marks. Fortunately, the technical team are not Mrs Smith armed with her red pen. They aren’t looking for perfection; they’re looking for evidence of good practice and a willingness to meet the standard. If you have the right foundations and are open to strengthening them, you’re already most of the way there.
If something needs improvement, they’ll tell you. But more importantly, they’ll tell you how to improve it. The process is less about catching people out and more about raising the bar across the board.
There is, of course, the fear of scrutiny and rejection. Nobody enjoys having their work picked apart, even constructively. But the assessment is confidential and intended to support rather than exclude. As an industry, we talk a lot about professionalism and high standards. This is one way of actually moving in that direction. Many people grumble about the amount of paperwork required compared to the “good old days,” but perhaps those days didn’t always serve customers particularly well. Clear and strong documentation and consistent processes aren’t just box-ticking exercises they’re part of demonstrating that you take the work seriously. Every now and again the possibility of licensing is brought up, and whether that comes to pass or not, schemes like TrustMark nudge businesses in the right direction. Having robust systems in place now is unlikely to be a wasted effort later. If it helps separate professional operators from the cowboys, and prepares the industry for whatever comes next, it’s hard to argue against.
As for the outcome, we were pleased with how our application was received. It confirmed that the systems and processes we had in place were on the right track, which is ultimately what most businesses want to know. The real value, though, isn’t in a score or a certificate, it’s in the reassurance that what you’re doing stands up to external scrutiny and meets a recognised standard.
