PestBossPro Blog — Quarterly Plans & Recurring Service

Yearly Termite Inspection Renewals: Keeping Every Termite Customer on the Calendar

Termite customers are some of the most valuable a pest company has. The treatment is a large ticket, and the yearly inspection that follows can bring in steady renewal revenue for years. The catch is that a yearly visit is easy to forget. Nobody remembers the house they treated eleven months ago, and a renewal that never gets sent is money that walks away.

Renewals Are Recurring Service

Rodent programs, covered in Rodent Bait-Station Programs: Recurring Service for Stations and Monitoring, come due every month or two. Termite inspections come due once a year, but the idea is exactly the same.

In PestBossPro, set up a termite inspection as a recurring service with 365 days between visits. When the technician completes the inspection, the account drops off the Waiting List and comes back as due a year later. No separate reminder list, no sticky note on the owner's monitor.

Setting Up the Service

Most companies have a few termite-related services. A typical setup:

• Termite treatment. One-time, priced off the home's perimeter linear feet or by the job.
• Yearly termite inspection. Recurring, 365 days between visits. Example: $125 per year.
• WDI inspection. One-time, often for a home sale.

After a treatment, put the yearly inspection on the address. The first inspection comes due a year after the last completed visit, which keeps the renewal on its own schedule without anyone adding a date.

What your renewal includes, such as a warranty or a re-treatment if activity is found, is a business decision. Write it down clearly, put it on your estimates and sign-up forms, and make sure it matches what your state allows. This is an area where a conversation with your state's lead agency or an advisor is worth having.

Routing Yearly Stops

Yearly inspections are spread thin across the map, because they come due one at a time over the year. That makes them a good fit for routes that are already going nearby. When you circle an area on the Waiting List, due termite inspections inside the circle come along with the quarterly and mosquito stops.

For a customer who is also on a quarterly plan, try to line up the inspection with a quarterly visit. One stop, two services, and the customer sees you once instead of twice.

Telling the Customer It Is Coming

A yearly visit can surprise a customer who forgot about it. A text or email a couple of weeks before the inspection reminds them what it is and why it matters. On the day, night-before and arrived texts let them know when the technician is coming, which matters if anyone needs to be home to open the garage or the crawlspace.

Renewal billing works like any other service. With a card on file, the invoice is created and the card can be charged when the technician completes the inspection. Customers without a card on file get the invoice and can pay online.

Recording the Inspection

Inspection notes matter more with termites than almost anywhere else. If there is ever a dispute about activity, the record of what was inspected and found is what you have. Have the technician note the areas inspected, any signs of activity and any conducive conditions such as wood-to-soil contact or moisture. Take photos with the tech app. Past notes show on the next technician's phone next year.

If a treatment is applied during a renewal visit, record what was applied at completion so the chemical application record has the products, rates, area treated and site. Check your state's rules for what termite records you need to keep and for how long.

When a Renewal Lapses

Some customers will say no to a renewal. Find out why and record it with a tag or custom field. Common reasons are a home sale, price or a belief that the house is fine now. A customer who sold the house is a lead for the new owner, and a short note to the buyer about the existing inspection history can win them as a customer. Cancellation reasons are covered in more depth in Pest Plan Cancellations: Recording the Reason and Learning From It.

A Year Is a Long Time to Remember

The value of putting termite inspections on a 365-day recurring service is simple: the software remembers so nobody has to. Every termite customer comes back on the Waiting List when they are due, every renewal gets routed and billed, and none fall through the cracks. For how termite renewals fit with the rest of your recurring work, see the recurring pest control software overview.