PestBossPro Blog — Scheduling & Routes

On-the-Way and Arrived Texts on a Pest Control Route

A customer who knows the pest tech is coming lets the dog in, opens the side gate and moves the kids' toys off the patio. A customer who does not know opens the door to a stranger with a sprayer and wonders why nobody told them. Automatic texts are the cheapest way to turn the second customer into the first.

Texts Make Windows Work

The previous guide, Arrival Windows in Pest Control Scheduling: What to Promise and How to Keep It, argued that most stops need a day and good communication more than a tight window. On-the-way and arrived texts are that communication.

How the Texts Go Out

In PestBossPro, the tech app sends on-the-way and arrived texts automatically as the tech works the route. The tech does not type anything. They work their stops in order, and the texts follow.

Customers choose which alerts they want:

• Night before — a reminder that service is tomorrow.
• When they're next — a heads-up that the tech is headed their way.
• When the tech arrives — so they know the visit has started.

Some customers want all three. Some want none. Letting them choose means the people who want updates get them, and the people who do not are not annoyed by them.

What the Texts Solve

• Pets. The most common access problem for a pest tech is a dog in the yard. A heads-up gives the customer time to bring it in.
• Gates. Locked gates turn a full perimeter into half of one. A customer who knows you are coming can open it.
• Interior access. For interior services, the on-the-way text tells the customer to be at the door.
• Kids and outdoor plans. Parents who know the yard is about to be treated can keep the kids inside until treated areas are dry.
• “Did you come today?” calls. The arrived text confirms the visit happened, which heads off calls from customers who were not home.

The texts help the tech as much as the customer. A tech who pulls up to a house where the gate is already open and the dog is already inside finishes the stop faster and moves on to the next one. Across a full route, those saved minutes add up to a day that ends on time instead of an hour late. Fewer surprised homeowners at the door also means fewer awkward conversations about what is being sprayed and why.

After the Visit

The texts are part of a larger communication flow. After the tech taps Complete, the customer gets the post-treatment instruction email automatically, such as keeping kids and pets off treated areas until dry. The invoice is created and a card on file can be charged. If the customer has questions, two-way texting brings their reply to the office.

That makes the whole visit visible to the customer, from “we're coming tomorrow” to “here's what we did.” For recurring customers who are rarely home during service, that is often the only contact they have with you between visits.

Route Order Matters

The texts follow the route. If the order on the board matches what the tech actually drives, the “when they're next” alert goes out at the right time. If the tech skips around the list, customers get alerts at the wrong time.

That is a good reason to set route order carefully on the board and to ask techs to follow it, with small swaps as needed. Big changes should go through the office so the alerts stay accurate. The customer app takes this a step further with a live place in line, covered in You're Stop 12 of 20: Showing Customers Their Place on the Pest Control Route.

Text Allowance

Texts are counted against your plan's monthly text allowance: 500 segments on Start, 1,000 on Pro and 2,000 on Crew, counting both sent and received. Automatic texts are short, so they fit well within most allowances, but it is worth knowing which alerts your customers have turned on. Texting is available for customers in the US and Canada.

Setting It Up

When you set up customers, set their alert preferences. Many companies turn on night-before and arrived texts by default and let customers change them. For new customers, ask during sign-up which alerts they want. It takes a few seconds and starts the relationship on the right foot.

Remind techs that the texts depend on them using the app: working their stops in order and tapping Start and Complete. A tech who forgets to use the app silences the texts.

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