The pest control industry is growing by leaps and bounds as the years roll by. Large amounts of revenue are being generated every year by pest control companies. What used to be small companies with just one-two workers showing up at houses are now leveraging digital marketing tactics to get pest control clients to grow into large companies with many employees.
Pest control is a necessity that people will never not require. As long as there pests, pest control is always going to be an important service. Houses, offices, hotels, restaurants. You name it. They’re going to need pest control to show up to help them out every now and then. So this is an industry that is growing and will continue to grow.
Now let’s say that your pest control firm is doing reasonably well. You have a good set of clients and maybe contracts with some of them that ensure you work on a regular, consistent basis. That’s good news for you and your pest control company. What you need to think about is how to retain those clients. How will you ensure you don’t lose them to other companies?
Client retention is a crucial part of your business. There are so many pest control companies out there getting found online.
Why should your clients stick with you? Give them good reasons to do so. Apart from being a steady income source, having long term clients looks good for the company. You have ready recommendations if you’re ever looking to pick up a new or high profile project.
Let’s look at some of the ways that you can retain clients for your pest control business:
Clear Communication Helps Retains Pest Control Clients
Maintain an open and healthy line of communication with your clients. Be regular with your communication, as well. Send them emails, send them text messages, update them about any new services you’re offering, any discounts you have, etc.
Make sure to do this so that your name sticks in their minds. They shouldn’t forget about you the next time they need pest control services. It’s as easy as a Google search to find another company.
So you have to be there in their minds when they think of pest control. While maintaining this communication with your customers, remember to know where to draw the line as well. People today aren’t very happy about multiple emails, calls, and texts. Keep it light, and keep it within limits.
Offer Multiple Ways To Pay For Pest Control Services
This is something that could really help out your customers, giving you a few brownie points as well. Don’t be rigid with your payment terms. If you are dealing with customers that you can trust, then offer them a few options when it comes to payment.
The medium you receive the payment in, for example. Give them the options of paying by card or even online.
Another way is to maybe let them phase out payments. If it’s a big amount, offer them the chance to make the payment in multiple installments. This could help them out if they’re in a tight spot to make the entire payment at one go. This helps you build goodwill. What you have to do is make the client feel comfortable. If you’re making them comfortable, they’re going to come back to you.
Go Above and Beyond
This one is obvious, but sometimes we get so caught up in running out business that the quality of service slips. It’s wise to take a step back every so often and honestly look at the quality of pest control services you provide.
Have your getting to your appointments a little later?
Is your market demanding green pest control options that you don’t provide?
Are your technicians making a good first impression?
The best thing you can do to keep your clients coming back is to provide them with exemplary service. If you give them exactly what they want, they’re going to come back to you. If you don’t give them a reason to leave, they wont.
Don’t cut corners on when servicing your clients’ properties. Don’t take any half measures. It may be tempting to find ways to trim expenses, but in the long run it will cost you more in lost business.
Make sure that the work you do is work that makes you proud. Customers speak amongst themselves, so doing an average job could be detrimental for you.
Are your competitors doing an average job?
Word of mouth is all it takes for people to start avoiding your company altogether. A few bad reviews is enough to destroy your reputation online Make sure that all your employees take their job very seriously and are good at it, too.
When you give them good work, they will choose you the next time they need a job done. Good quality work will lead to a good reputation. A good reputation will not only help you maintain the clients you already have but bring in new ones too.
Provide loyalty perks to clients
Another thing you can consider doing is providing your loyal clients with perks of some sort. This could be in any form. Coupons, discounts, a free job as a thank you. Anything. That’s totally up to you. Once you examine your business and analyze it carefully, you’ll be able to come up with some ideas. Think about how you can repay your loyal clients for their faith.
Think about how you can make them loyal.
When they stick with you, not choosing another company, there’s definitely something that they like about you. While trying to analyze what that is so, you can continue doing it, try to give them a little gift. These kinds of gestures can go a long way in pleasing a customer. If you offer them even something small like a tiny discount for their loyalty, they’ll be encouraged to stay that way longer.
Have a good base of employees
Hire right. Often times your employees are the first impression your company makes on a new customer. So you need to pick the right people to work for you because they represent you and your company. Choose people who are skilled at the job but personable enough to leave your customers with a smile on their face.
Try to find skilled pest control technicians who enjoy their job. Those are the employees who take pride in their work. Having a group of pleasant employees is a great advantage to have. If they are pleased with your clients and can strike up a little bit of a conversation here and there, your client will be pleased.
This would ultimately lead to them coming back to you. It basically has good customer service.
We never go back to places where the employees were rude or disinterested. On the contrary, we look forward to going back to places where employees were pleasant, well informed, and polite. Make sure your employees are showing your company in the right light.
It’s Cheaper To Keep Those Clients Instead Of Getting New Ones.
These are just a few of the simple things that you could do to increase your client retention rates. Always remember that it’s almost five times more expensive to get a new customer than it is to retain the customers you already have.
Be a company that your clients can trust. Do work that makes them come back to you and recommend you to their friends and family. After all, you have to remember that a market is a cutthroat place. There are so many companies in every single field today. People are struggling to keep their heads above the water.
It’s all up to you to make sure that you stand out. When your customers have a requirement for a pest control job, your company should be the first name that pops up in their head.
