3 Ways to Increase Your Revenue by 24%

Increasing Revenue in Pest Control

Revenue growth is something that is constantly on business owners’ minds. Pest control owners are no different.

Whether you are looking to grow your fleet, expand your territories, or just improve your company’s performance, finding additional ways to generate revenue growth is going to get you there.

This guide will walk you through three actionable methods to grow your revenue by 24% or more.

1. Cut your customer attrition in half

The average pest control company has a monthly attrition rate of 1.8%. This translates to the average Pest Control company losing 22% of its revenue every year.

22%!!!

Think of your Pest Control company like a leaky bucket of water. There are only 2 ways to increase the amount of water in that bucket; either add more water at the top or slow down the leak at the bottom.

The general rule of thumb is that it’s 7 times more expensive to add a new customer than it is to keep an existing customer. In other words, it’s less expensive and easier to fix the leak at the bottom of the bucket than it is to add more water.

Most pest control owners focus more energy and money on gaining new customers than on keeping existing customers. Both are important, but often there are easier gains to be made on the customer retention side of the equation.

It can be helpful to think of advertising as a tax paid by the unremarkable. Shifting your focus to improving the customer experience is the best practice for disruptive marketing.

One of Briostack’s largest subscribers was able to cut their annual attrition rate from 19% to 9%.

Here’s how they did it:

Providing a texting option for customer support:

More and more, people think of phone calls as an annoyance. The modern customer would much rather be able to text your company than have to call for support. When your customers have to call you instead of being able to text you, they become less loyal to your brand.

Providing your customers this kind of flexibility is an easy way to increase customer retention. 

Automating the customer journey:

Many pest control companies don’t text or email their customers welcome documentation, re-service follow-ups, surveys, review requests, up-sell promotions, or “we want you back” discounts after a customer has canceled.

Setting up automated messaging at these critical moments in the customer journey is another easy way to improve your customer experience and increase retention. 

Providing welcome videos:

Research has shown that one of the leading causes of customer attrition is unmet expectations. One of the biggest things this customer did to cut their attrition rate from 19% to 9%, was to focus on setting and meeting expectations with their customers.

They invested in whiteboard videos that were 60-90 seconds long and walked through what customers can expect in working with their company. As a part of all initial services, technicians would hand the customer their tablet and have the customer watch these short intro videos.

Then, the customer would initial and sign a digital “Confirmation Form” that they saw the video and understand all the key concepts relating to their new service.

This might sound expensive, but if this would help cut your customer attrition in half, how much would that be worth to you?

Remember, it’s 7 times more expensive to add a new customer than it is to keep an existing customer. Focus on fixing that leaky bucket.

2. Move All Billing to a Monthly Model

The most innovative pest control companies are moving to a monthly, subscription-based billing model. Shifting to this model has been the most effective method we have seen for improving retention.

The reasons are easy to understand. When your customers are paying monthly and you are servicing every 2 to 3 months, you have effectively separated servicing from payments. This removes all financial benefit for your customers to ever refuse or skip service. Because most Pest Control companies only fulfill about 89% of all scheduled services, this change equates to an 11% increase in top-line revenue. 

In addition to the top-line benefits, this model also increases your stickiness with customers. For the average GPC customer, this billing method means there is a monthly charge on the credit card statement somewhere around $39 instead of a $117 quarterly charge.

Research shows that customers are much more willing to cut or question 3-digit expenses than they are 2-digit expenses. This means your smaller monthly pest control charges are much more likely to fly under the radar than the bigger quarterly or annual pest control expenses.

Monthly billing also smooths out cash-flow, makes it easier to increase your rates, and makes it easier to bundle your services. It removes the urgency around servicing your regulars when there is extended bad weather, and it gives you more flexibility to keep up with the variability of re-services and initial services without jeopardizing your income.

3. Focus More on Referrals 

A brand is no longer what we tell customers it is. It has become what customers tell each other it is. Consumers are becoming savvier and they rely more than ever before on peer reviews. This trend is making it more important for companies to focus on and better manage the entire customer journey.

Customer service is truly becoming the best new form of disruptive marketing. In other words, the happier your customers, the faster you’ll be able to grow your company. 

However, most companies don’t have a well thought out referral program. Research has shown that 83% of customers are willing to provide a referral after a positive experience, but only 29% do. The reason for the disparity is that most companies don’t ask for referrals.

It’s really that simple. You have to ask for the referral! How often do you currently ask your customers for referrals? If this isn’t a regular occurrence, then focusing on this will give you an easy way to turn your customers into evangelists, and help you grow your company.

Something Else to Think About

“It’s our job to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better. If you’re competitor-focused, you have to wait until there is a competitor doing something. Being customer-focused allows you to be more pioneering.”

– Jeff Bezos (Founder & CEO of Amazon)

If you are looking to grow and improve your revenue, look no further than your own customer experience. This journey is full of low hanging fruit that will take your company to the next level. Shift your focus to the leaky bucket and you will see immediate gains in your company’s performance.

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