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Pest control companies can increase profitability by reducing customer churn through the use of marketing automation and AI.
One of the easiest ways to increase a pest control company’s profits is by reducing customer cancellations. I’ve been involved in the pest control marketing and advertising game for over 20 years, and as part of my discovery process with any pest control business owner, I will always ask what their customer retention rate is for their pest control services. Over the years I’ve been told numbers as low at 60% retention and as high as 90%+ retention. In most cases I’ve found for recurring residential pest control services, quality pest control companies typically retain 75% or greater of their customer base, and I would say that unless you’re retaining 85% or better of your customer base, you have room for significant improvements.
Increase Customer Retention to Increase Profits
A study completed by Kemp Anderson Consulting found that customer retention in the pest control industry has a staggering effect on the company’s bottom line. Increasing retention a mere 2% has the same effect on the profitability of a company as reducing expenses by 10%.
The same article explains that pest control operators should strive for retention rates between 82% and 87% for residential and 94% for commercial.
How Retaining Your Pest Control Customers Affects Your Bottom Line
Marketing Cost Savings: Some studies suggest that it’s up to seven times less expensive to retain a current customer than to find a new one. Marketing costs are often a significant expense when it comes to running a pest control company, so focusing on retention should be a simple but effective way to reduce expenses.
- Marketing Automation Tip: Implementing marketing automation with your advertising efforts can increase lead engagement by 20% or more, and help close up to 30% more leads than traditional marketing efforts.
Customer Lifetime Value: With increased retention comes increased customer lifetime billing. Happier recurring pest control customers stay longer, buy more services, and thus bill longer over the long term.
- Marketing Automation Tip: Implementing an AI-powered marketing automation workflow can identify service issues quickly, allowing your customer service team to remedy issues quickly, leading to more satisfied customers who stay longer and are more engaged with your services. Turn a negative customer experience into an opportunity to show them that your company cares, reinforcing your brand’s commitment to exceptional customer service, regardless of the circumstances.
Increased Satisfaction = More Spending: Customers who buy more than one service often stay longer as their services are perceived as a “bundled” offering, a better value. Pest control customers who purchase multiple services are often those who prioritize convenience, comprehensive protection, cost-effectiveness, peace of mind, and long-term solutions for their pest management needs.
- Marketing Automation Tip: Offer “bundled” pest control packages to your one-service customers. Consider offering a bundled monthly price when a customer expresses interest in other services, such as rodent or mosquito services. Multiple services equal greater perceived value and customer satisfaction, all for one low monthly or quarterly price.
Increased Net Profits: As covered earlier in this article, modest increases in customer retention have a direct impact on a pest control company’s bottom line. A modest 5% increase in customer retention can have the same effect as slashing expenses up to 25%, who wouldn’t get excited about that?
- Marketing Automation Tip: Implement marketing automation to remind pest control customers of your guarantees, the seasonal proactive measures you’re taking on their property, and review requests after every service to identify issues quickly.
Stronger Revenue Streams and Predictable Income: A stable customer base can provide a pest control company with predictable and consistent revenue forecasts, making it easier to manage the seasonality aspect of these businesses.
- Marketing Automation Tip: Implement automated personalized service reminders, encourage feedback from your customers, and communicate services performed on every visit.
Upsell and Cross-Sell Opportunities: Loyalty in pest control businesses is paramount to reducing customer churn. Loyal customers are more receptive to additional services and premium add-ons, leading to increased revenue per customer.
- Marketing Automation Tip: Offering seasonal add-ons such as mosquito services, termite protection, or lawn care using marketing automation has been proven to increase current customer sales and lead to longer-term satisfied customers.
Brand Advocates and Promoters: Happy customers can become your pest control company’s best promoters. Referrals and word-of-mouth recommendations can become a lead-generation channel itself.
- Marketing Automation Tip: Implement an automated customer loyalty and referral program. Reward customers with discounted service when they refer friends and family, and offer discounted services or trial offers to current customers that you don’t offer anywhere else.
Implementing Marketing Automation into Your Pest Control Business
City Ranked has developed a marketing automation platform augmented with AI for the pest control industry. Our platform, called Skout, has been proven to increase lead engagement on average by over 20% and closed sales by over 30%. Our platform has specifically been designed to focus your sales team’s efforts on prospects that are ready to close, leading to predictable and repeatable sales processes that generate new pest control leads on an automated basis. Imagine having a system that does automated outbound lead engagement and only sends your sales teams leads that have expressed an interest in your services.
Our pest control marketing system connects with the pest control industry’s biggest CRM’s, and automatically pushes qualified leads into these systems as soon as the prospect has indicated they’re interested in purchasing your services. Gone are the days of leads not being entered into your CRM, Skout does that automatically for you, and Skout will engage with these prospects until they have indicated they are sales-ready.
Interested in how City Ranked and our Skout platform can accelerate your pest control company’s profits? Reach out now and schedule a no-obligation demo of what our agency can do for your business.
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