PestBossPro Blog — Scheduling & Routes

You're Stop 12 of 20: Showing Customers Their Place on the Pest Control Route

Every pest control office knows the call: “Hi, I got the reminder that you're coming today. Any idea when?” Multiply that by a few trucks and a busy summer, and the office spends a good part of the morning answering the same question. A customer who can see their own place on the route does not need to call.

One Step Past the Text

The texts covered in On-the-Way and Arrived Texts on a Pest Control Route tell customers at key moments that the tech is coming or has arrived. The customer app fills in the hours between those moments.

What the Customer Sees

On service day, the PestBossPro customer app shows the customer today's route and their place on it. Something like: “You're stop 12 of 20 — the tech is 5 stops away.” As the tech completes stops, the number counts down.

That is all most customers want. They do not need to see the tech's exact location or the other customers' addresses. They want to know roughly how long they have before the truck pulls up, so they can plan the dog, the gate, the kids and their own morning.

Why Stop Count Works

A stop count is honest in a way an exact time is not. Pest stops vary. A quarterly perimeter might be quick, an interior service much longer, and a call-back somewhere in between. Promising “10:42am” sets you up to be wrong. “Five stops away” is always right, and customers quickly learn what five stops means on your routes.

It also works whether the route was auto-routed Closest First, Furthest First or set by hand. The customer's place follows the order on the board.

The count also respects privacy. Other customers on the route are not named or shown, so nobody learns who their neighbors use for pest control or when those neighbors are away from home. The customer sees their own place in line and nothing more, which is exactly what they need to plan the morning.

Fewer Calls, Better Mornings

The main benefit is in the office. Every customer who checks the app instead of calling is a call nobody has to answer. In a small office, that is the difference between the owner spending the morning on the phone and spending it on the Waiting List.

There is a customer benefit too. Many people feel stuck at home on service day. A customer who can see the tech is still eight stops away can run an errand without worrying about missing the visit.

For interior services, the count matters even more. A customer who has to be home can watch the number drop and be at the door when the tech pulls up, instead of waiting by the window all morning. That turns a stop that might have ended in a “nobody home” skip into a completed visit, which saves the office a reschedule and saves the tech a second trip.

Keeping the Count Accurate

The count is only as accurate as the route order. A few habits keep it honest:

• Set the order on the board. Auto-route, then adjust by hand. That order is what the customer sees.
• Techs follow the order. Small swaps between neighbors are fine. Big changes should go through the office.
• Techs use Start, Skip and Complete. The count moves as stops are completed. A tech who works without the app freezes the count.
• Update the board when things change. If a call-back is added or a stop moves, change it on the board so the app reflects it.

Setting the order by hand is covered in Setting Route Order by Hand When the Pest Control Tech Knows the Area Better.

More Than the Route

Customers who open the app for their route position can also do other things there:

• Request service, such as a call-back between visits.
• Sign up for services and see pricing, like adding a mosquito program.
• Update the card on file.
• See invoices and pay.
• Rate the service and refer a friend.
• Set alert preferences: night before, when they are next, when the tech arrives.

Service day is when customers are thinking about you the most. Putting these options in the same place as the route position makes the most of it.

Telling Customers About It

The feature only helps if customers know it is there. Mention it at sign-up, have techs mention it at the door, and bring it up whenever a customer calls to ask when the truck is coming. A short line like “Check the app tomorrow to see where you are on the route” goes a long way.

To see how the customer app fits with routes, texts and the tech app, visit the PestBossPro pest control scheduling software page.