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Working in the pest control industry gets competitive, just like any other business. Companies must do everything in their power to stay on top. This starts with good customer service. At the very least, you need to show up on time and do a top notch job. This means treating the customer's home exactly to their needs.
Of course, doing a good job is only half the battle. Knowing the customer's first name and remembering any details from the last time you were there will make the customer feel like the company actually cares about them. This earns you repeat business and word-of-mouth referrals. To get to this point, you need outstanding documentation. Keeping accurate customer and history records will help you succeed in the pest control industry.
Accurate Documentation
Good records can show you your most popular products and services. This helps you track the aspects of your company you should devote the most marketing effort to, and gives you a basis for keeping certain inventory items stocked. In short, good records helps you provide better service to new and returning customers. (Keeping accurate and up to date records will also make filing taxes easier and more efficient, especially if you opt to do it yourself.)
Common Pest Control Reports
What do your records need to track? Here are two common items for pest control reporting:
• Pesticide Applied - Typically this includes the target pest, the site of the application, and types and amounts of products used. For interior sites, add special notes specific enough for future techs to know beyond a shadow of a doubt the area serviced. For exterior sites, information on wind speed and direction may also be required.Â
• Termite Treatment Reports - Some states require specific documentation for termite treatments. In many respects, this report is analogous to the pesticide usage report. However, these reports typically require documentation on termite activity, damage, and treatment.
Documentation
Most states require that pest control businesses keep records for a minimum of two years. Most commonly, this means holding onto written reports, but a wealth of other information can also prove useful, such as images, videotapes, wet readings, etc.
Documentation plays a significant role within the operation of a pest control business. Keeping accurate records is a must in this industry for everyone involved, including customers. Failure to accurately record chemical applications may put you in violation of state rules, and, in a worst-case scenario, the FIFRA. A technician might inaccurately record the quantity of a chemical applied (e.g., 1% rather than the labelled 0.01%), or the application to an unspecified treatment site. This can lead to fines and a potential loss of certification and license.
Requirements vary from state to state, but good record always depend on technicians doing a thorough job when creating the service ticket. The service ticket creates a business' history of service, and includes pest activity, product applied, time and date of service, which technician was at the site, and any visual attachments (photos, videos) added. That probably sounds like a lot to keep track of. Fortunately, there's a way to do it.
Keeping Digital Records with Pest Control Software
These days, you'll find apps for almost any need, and that includes pest control. Pest control software like Smart Service makes it easy to store documents and service reports online (as well as on a local computer). In Smart Service, such records can be protected and only accessed by authorized users. This makes it easy to share records with your customers, at their request.
You can take things a step further with a good, online backup system. Since most businesses fail after a data loss, it makes sense to establish some kind of fallback option. Keeping everything on a single computer leaves you vulnerable to a fire, flood, robbery, or technical failure. Going digital and augmenting your electronic records with regular backups lets your company bounce back from any unexpected disaster.
What’s stopping your business?
What’s stopping your business from keeping up to date documents to reaping all these benefits? If you're ready to take your pest control business to the next level, request a free Smart Service demo today.
