PestBossPro Blog — Running a Pest Control Business

Adding Mosquito, Rodent and Termite Programs to a Pest Control Business

Most small pest companies start with general pest: an initial service, then a quarterly perimeter treatment. It is a solid base. But the same customer who pays for quarterly service may also want their yard sprayed for mosquitoes in summer, bait stations along the garage in fall and a termite inspection before they sell the house. Each of those is another reason to stop at an address you already drive past.

Programs Smooth the Seasons

As covered in Seasonality in a Pest Control Business: Planning the Busy Months and the Slow Ones, add-on programs help even out a lopsided year. Mosquito work peaks in the warm months. Rodent work often picks up as the weather cools. Inspections follow the housing market. Together with general pest, they spread revenue across more of the calendar.

They also raise the value of every account. A customer with two programs is worth more than one with one, and they cost you no more to find.

Check Your Qualifications First

Different kinds of pest work can fall under different license or certification categories, depending on your state. Mosquito, rodent, termite and WDI work may each have their own requirements. This article doesn't give licensing advice. Before you sell a new program, check with your state's lead agency for pesticide regulation about what you and your technicians need, and read the label of every product you plan to use for it. The label is the law.

Mosquito Programs

Mosquito service is usually sold as a season: a set number of barrier treatments through the warm months. That makes it a good fit for a package plan. In PestBossPro, package plans handle multi-visit programs like a mosquito season, and prepayments let customers pay for the season up front.

Price mosquito work off the yard, not the house. PestBossPro stores mosquito (yard) square feet on each property, measured from the satellite map, so a large wooded lot gets a price that fits the work. Build a mosquito barrier mix with rates per gallon, and the tech app uses it to work out what to load for the day's stops. A starting price might read “$79 mosquito spray” per visit; your own will depend on your costs and yard sizes.

Rodent Bait-Station Programs

Rodent programs are often monthly or every other month, with the technician checking and servicing bait stations at each visit. They fit residential customers with garages and crawl spaces, and they fit commercial accounts like restaurants, where regular service is expected.

Set the program up as a recurring plan by minimum days between visits, 30 for monthly or 60 for bi-monthly. Accounts come due on the Waiting List like any other recurring work. Use service notes on the address to record station locations so any technician can find them. If the bait products are ones you track, the application record is kept when the technician completes the visit.

Termite and WDI Inspections

Termite and wood-destroying insect inspections are often tied to real estate deals, which makes them less seasonal than most pest work. They can also lead to treatment work and to a new general pest customer who has just bought the house.

Add the inspection to your service list with its price. Customers or real estate agents can request it through your website form, which lands in Form Responses. Photos taken in the tech app stay with the job. The requirements for inspection reports vary by state, so check your lead agency for what your reports must include.

Selling Programs to Customers You Already Have

The easiest program sale is to a customer who already trusts you. A few ways to offer add-ons without being pushy:

• Text or email your quarterly customers before mosquito season with a simple offer.
• Have technicians note signs of rodents or mosquito breeding spots on the job, so the office can follow up.
• Include programs on every new estimate. PestBossPro estimates can include an initial service, a quarterly plan, mosquito and a rodent program from your service list, priced off the property.
• Let customers sign up for services and see pricing in the customer app, covered in The Customer App: Letting Pest Control Business Customers Book, Pay and Watch the Route.

Add One Program at a Time

Each new program means new products, new equipment and new skills. Add one, run it for a season, learn what it really costs, then add the next. A program done well brings referrals; a program done badly brings callbacks. To see how package plans, recurring plans and property measurements fit together, visit the PestBossPro pest control business software page.