How to set up quarterly pest control service plans

Sell a quarterly pest control plan as a written agreement for four scheduled treatments a year: say what each one covers, whether call-backs between visits are free, what isn’t covered, the price and how it’s paid. Price it from your cost per treatment (time, drive, product, overhead) plus the cost of call-backs and your margin, with a higher price on the first visit if it takes longer. Then book all four visits the day the customer signs, so the plan runs itself.

What goes in the plan?

One page the customer can read before they sign:

• Visits: four a year for a quarterly plan, and roughly when.
• Scope: interior, exterior or both, and which pests are covered. Name the exclusions (termites, bed bugs, wildlife) if you treat those separately.
• Call-backs: whether a visit between treatments is free if the pests come back, and how soon you’ll come.
• What the customer does: access to the yard, pets inside, a heads-up before you arrive.
• Price and payment: per visit, or yearly up front.
• Term and cancellation: how long it runs, whether it renews, and how either side ends it.

How do you price it?

Work from one treatment:

1. Time per visit, on site and driving, at your loaded hourly cost.
2. Product: what a typical treatment uses.
3. Overhead per hour: a year of insurance, licensing, vehicle and software, divided by billed hours.
4. Call-backs: if a free call-back happens on, say, one visit in five, add a fifth of a visit’s cost to each treatment. Use your own records for the ratio.

Then price = cost ÷ (1 − margin). If your first treatment takes longer than the follow-ups, price it higher.

What about licensing?

Check it before you sell. Under federal law, anyone who applies or supervises the use of restricted use pesticides must be certified, and state pesticide regulatory agencies issue those certifications. Your state may also license pest control businesses or applicators separately. Your state’s pesticide agency is the place to confirm what you need. This is general information, not legal advice.

How do you schedule a year of treatments?

Book all four at signing. In FieldFlow, make the plan a repeating job that repeats every 3 months on the weekday you want, ending after four visits for a one-year plan, or with no end date if it renews. Assign the tech, and each visit can have its own tech if someone else covers a week.

• A customer needs a different week: move that one visit, or that visit and the ones after it.
• A call-back: add it as a visit on the same job, so it sits with the plan’s history, at no charge if your plan says so.
• Products used: note them on the job, so they’re there next quarter.
• Reminders: with appointment reminders switched on, the customer gets an email 24 hours before and about an hour before each visit.

If the plan is billed per visit, give the job an invoice template and each completed treatment drafts its own invoice for you to check and send with a pay link. If it’s paid yearly, send one invoice at signing and skip the template.

The short version

Write the visits, scope, call-back rule and price on one page, price from your cost per treatment plus call-backs and margin, check your state’s licensing, and book all four visits at signing. FieldFlow schedules the year, the techs and the invoices at $19/month for the whole business, with a 90-day free trial. See the pest control page.

Questions owners ask

What should a quarterly pest control plan include?

The number of scheduled treatments (four for a quarterly plan), what each covers (interior, exterior, which pests), whether call-backs between visits are free, what isn't covered, the price and when it's paid, and how the customer cancels.

How do I price a pest control service plan?

From what each treatment costs you: time on site and driving, product, and overhead, plus the expected cost of free call-backs, plus your margin. If the first treatment takes longer, price it higher than the follow-ups.

Do I need a license to sell pest control plans?

Federal law requires certification for anyone who applies or supervises the use of restricted use pesticides, and state pesticide agencies certify applicators. Your state may also license pest control businesses or applicators separately. Check your state's pesticide regulatory agency before you sell a plan.

Should call-backs between treatments be free?

That's your choice, and either works if it's written down. A free call-back makes the plan easier to sell and keeps customers on it; just price the expected call-backs into the plan.