Selling Long-Term Success

With year-round pest pressure and an emphasis on ants in Palm Beach County, Fla., initial calls to oust ants are a natural segue into a general home protection program at Hulett Environmental Services.

One-time ant calls certainly do happen, and when those inquiries are transitioned to a quarterly perimeter visit, Hulett will service the interior if additional problems arise.

Forty-nine percent of PCT survey respondents said ant control services contribute significantly to their overall operations, and 57% expect ant revenues to increase this year.

As for converting new ant services to recurring contracts, 87% reported success “at least sometimes,” while 46% said customers sign on most of the time.

How are PMPs turning these warm leads into recurring accounts? Here are a few strategies that work.

Prevent, Correct or Both?

Integrated Pest Management in Richmond, Texas, differentiates between corrective nuisance ant treatments and its preventive program. For those who want to keep ants away but do not yet have a problem, prevention perimeter treatments addressing the foundation, weep holes, window areas, door frames and interior hot spots involve using a granular nonrepellent and baits.

Corrective treatments for nuisance ants are a separate service with a six-month retreatment promise. “It’s a one-off application but if a new colony forms within six months, the re-treat is half price,” said GM Jeff McQueen.

Not Included

Some ants require more extensive treatment, so Certus Pest, based in Tampa, excludes species including carpenter, Pharaoh and fire ants from its general pest agreement. In Florida, exterior fire ant work calls for specific licensing, COO David Joles told PCT. Carpenter ants are wood-damaging and present a greater liability. Pharoah ants are notorious for budding. Other ants like white-footed, ghost and odorous house ants fall under the company’s basic agreement.

What’s in Store

Integrated Pest Management has a DIY retail store on site with unrestricted-use products similar to what a consumer can find on Amazon. The “pest control shop” is not unusual in the Richmond/Sugar Land, Texas, area, McQueen said. “We found out a long time ago, there is a percentage of people who will at least attempt to do it themselves first, and we are here to answer questions and steer them in the right direction,” he said.

Is the company setting itself up to lose business or interfere with a professional ant treatment?

McQueen and those with retail departments don’t see it that way. Conversations with customers in stores help convert them to general pest programs, or at least a nuisance ant treatment. “They can buy products if they want to do it that way, and the store gives them an opportunity to interview and learn from us,” he said.

Let It Go

Many of Ben Chapman’s ant calls are one-and-done, but they’re repeat customers who will call Houston’s Beneli Pest Control the following year for the same service. Others ask about general pest control while he’s treating the ant problem. But Chapman usually doesn’t bring up the program unless asked. “If the person truly wants your regular service, they will mention it while you’re there — I don’t like to be pushy and I feel like my work will speak for itself,” he said.