PestBossPro Blog — Quarterly Plans & Recurring Service

When a Plan Customer Moves: Keeping the Recurring Pest Account Going

“We're moving” is one of the most common reasons a plan customer cancels, and it is one of the few cancellations that can often be turned into two customers instead of zero. If the new home is in your service area, the customer can keep their plan. And the house they are leaving is about to get a new owner who has never heard of you.

Moves in Context

What each visit includes, covered in Interior or Exterior? Deciding What a Quarterly Pest Visit Includes, can change when the customer changes houses. A new home means new measurements, possibly a new price and a fresh look at what the plan should cover. This article walks through the move step by step.

Ask Where They Are Going

When a customer says they are moving, the first question is simple: “Where to?” If the answer is across the country, wish them well, record the cancellation reason as “moved” and close the account cleanly. If the answer is across town, you have a chance to keep them.

Many customers do not think to ask whether their pest company can follow them. Offering it makes the decision easy: same company, same technician if possible, same card on file, no new sign-up.

One Client, Many Addresses

In PestBossPro, a client can have many addresses. A moving customer stays the same client, with their contact details, card on file and history intact. You simply add the new address. That keeps everything in one place: the old address's service history, the new address's plan and every invoice in between.

The steps:

1. Add the new address to the existing client.
2. Measure the new home from the satellite map: home square feet, perimeter linear feet and, if they have mosquito service, the yard square feet.
3. Price the plan for the new home off those measurements. A bigger house may mean a higher quarterly price. Tell the customer before the first visit.
4. Put the recurring service on the new address and remove it from the old one.
5. Schedule a first visit at the new home.

Treat the First Visit Like an Initial

A new house comes with its own pests and its own entry points. Many companies treat the first visit at the new address like an initial service: a full inspection, interior and exterior, and a note of everything the next technician needs to know. Whether you charge the initial price or the regular plan price is your call. Charging only the plan price is a simple way to say thanks for staying.

The technician should add access notes to the new address on that first visit: gate codes, dogs, where the water spigot is, anything unusual. From then on, those notes show on the phone every visit.

After that first visit is completed, the plan comes due on its own at the new address, as covered in Setting Up Quarterly Pest Control on a 90-Day Schedule.

Don't Forget the Old House

The house your customer is leaving has a pest history you know better than anyone. The new owner will move in without that knowledge. A friendly note to the new owner can turn the old address into a new plan customer:

• Ask your departing customer if they would mention you to the buyer.
• Leave a door hanger after the move, introducing your company and offering to continue service.
• If the house had termite work, the buyer may want to know about the yearly inspection history.

Do not share the old customer's personal details with the new owner. The pest history of the house, in general terms, is fine to mention. The previous owner's name, payment details or contact information are not.

If the new owner signs up, create them as a new client at the same address. Their plan, card and history are their own.

Moves With Several Services

Customers with more than a quarterly plan need each service moved. A mosquito package depends on the new yard, which may be bigger or smaller. A rodent station program may not be needed at the new home, or may need different stations. A termite inspection is tied to the old house and its treatment history, so it usually does not move. Go through each one with the customer and adjust prices for the new property.

Prepayments and Moves

If the customer prepaid a mosquito season and moves mid-season, the prepayment can usually follow them to the new address, since they are the same client. Adjust if the new yard prices differently, and tell the customer what changed. See Prepaying a Mosquito Package Plan: How Program Prepayments Work.

Keep the Customer, Win the House

A move does not have to end a plan. Keep the customer by adding their new address and pricing it fairly, and try to win the old house from its new owner. For how moves fit with cancellations, renewals and the rest of recurring service, see the recurring pest control software overview.