Adopting, Adapting and All-In

Then came the most important part of his search. “I sat down with some senior technicians and office staff, and we did full product demos — we really learned the ins and outs,” he says. “I took the feedback from our guys in the field and staff behind the scenes and weighed everyone’s opinion.” Two of the technicians were in their 50s, and one was a younger employee who recently came on board. They and office personnel test-drove the software’s features and usability. “I wanted to get a generational perspective and thoughts from the office staff and how it would work for them,” he says, noting that they evaluated how the workflow would improve operations and how simple it was to navigate and learn. “Our employees are our No. 1 asset, which is why we really got them involved. I didn’t want this to be, ‘Here is my decision, and I’m going to force this down your throat whether you like it or not.’”

Upon selecting a software system, Pilbeam continued this approach throughout the onboarding process and training.

Five years later, Pilbeam says the software saves his company time, frees up technicians to focus on pest management rather than in-field paperwork, and operations are better organized overall.

His experience echoes what respondents to PCT’s annual State of the Technology Market survey said when asked to name the primary benefit of their current software program. Twenty-six percent identified “saves time and money,” while 17 percent cited “improved productivity” and 16 percent said “job scheduling ability.”

The business software market for route-based businesses like pest control has expanded exponentially during the last decade, and so have the features they offer.

Sixty-six percent of survey respondents said software has played an essential role in their companies’ success.

From reducing liability to enhancing communication, you can do as much (or little) as you want with today’s robust platforms. The only thing you can’t do is ignore technology. Jason Woodbury, president of Infinite Pest Solutions in Fort Myers, Fla., sums it up: “Use software to your advantage.”

Tech Support

Like Pilbeam, Ken Koscicki also shopped tradeshows to find the software his Orlando, Fla.-based company, Kerin Solutions, is using today. He was sick of the slow tech support from his previous provider. “It would take them three days to call back, or not at all,” Koscicki says. “I knew there would be representatives at a local tradeshow, and when I met the owners who had come from a route-based business and scheduled a demo, I found it was simple to use and they get back to me within minutes or a couple of hours. Support was my priority.”

Pilbeam relies on a dedicated account manager who is available for support and checks in quarterly. “We talk about the changes they are rolling out, problems we run in to and they get our feedback. And they take it seriously.” (See story above.)

His employees learned the system through hands-on, guided learning tools. “They would go into the program, put in an appointment and it walks them through the steps with pop-up instructions,” Pilbeam says.

So Many Features

After 42 years of growth for The Bug Master, based in Austin, Texas, Keld Ewart has grown the business to three offices and software needs have evolved along the way. The latest technology move was shifting to a platform that allows for setting up branches — an important nuance that his previous software lacked.

“A lot of them treat branches as sets of customers and that is not how businesses actually look at branches,” explains Ewart, who’s president of the firm.

Also, expansion has multiplied administrative requirements and internal documents, everything from vehicle insurance records to forms. “We have a fleet of 85 trucks, so just getting the correct insurance cards available to the right people can be complex, so sharing files company-wide has been really powerful,” Ewart says of the company’s shared drive system.

Reporting technology gives customers who require auditing data what they need without extra work. And in the field, service details can be annotated by voice. “Our technicians can speak into the phone rather than typing, and once they post a service order, the invoice is automatically emailed to the customer on file,” Ewart explains. “All of these automated administrative tasks are powerful time-savers that streamline our business and reduce user errors.”

Rather than tying up office staff with mundane tasks, Jason Woodbury, Infinite Pest Solutions, says his software’s automation features for invoicing and billing, in particular, free up time for other business development activities. “We can schedule a whole month of services in a couple of hours,” he says. “I worked for my brother’s company before starting my own, and all my sister did all day every day was scheduling.”

Woodbury adds, “The software allows technicians to be technicians and not schedulers.”

Before adopting their current system, Woodbury says his company was using seven different software systems for different tasks. “We had to simplify,” he says.

That said, “There isn’t one solution for everything we need.”

Even today with a comprehensive pest management software platform in place, Infinite Pest uses tools including a separate communications app to communicate with customers, a dash cam for vehicle cameras, SEMrush for optimizing SEO and online search, and payroll software.

Woodbury could use his main software program for text/voice communications. But the separate communication tool is less expensive. For a monthly fee, the company can send unlimited texts vs. being charged per text, inbound and outbound.

It’s important to start with the end game in mind, advises Ewart, The Bug Master.

“Software is cool — and a feature can sound good, but do you actually need that thing?” he asks. “That has been a big lesson for us. Knowing what you want to achieve is important, then find the right tool rather than finding a tool and making it fit.”

Consider how you will use the software today and into the future.

Doug Foster found the system Burt’s Termite & Pest Control uses in 2006. As the program has evolved, he has adopted the newly introduced tools. One of those is time-in/time-out. “When we arrive on site, we take a photo of the house and we record pictures throughout the inspection — evidence of wood-destroying insects or conducive conditions for termites that should be rectified,” says the president of the Columbus, Ind.-based business.

With the feature, if a customer claims the Ring doorbell didn’t detect a technician on site, Foster can prove otherwise with the time recording and images.

Routing is often a software priority — and even a reason to upgrade. Of PCT readers surveyed, 39 percent said route optimization, job scheduling and managing missed stops more effectively were top of mind when choosing a platform.

Foster says, “Because we service multiple counties, there is a mapping feature that shows where technicians are so if there is a service request, we can say, ‘We are going to be 15 minutes from your property on Tuesday, so we can fit you into the schedule.’”

Aaron Garza of Lone Star Pest Management in McKinney, Texas, says his software’s routing tool will allow him to expand his service area. Currently, he keeps the radius at a tight 30-minute drive from the office. Once he hires other employees — he is owner/operator — he can easily create a new route.

A Place for Old School

Recent conversations with two customers have Brent Boles reconsidering whether technology — particularly customer communications — should take the place of a personal phone call. The co-owner of Green Pest Solutions in Topeka, Kan., says 80 percent of invoicing is paperless; clients can log in to a portal for account details and the company also implemented a call routing program. “I have heard from two major customers that technology does not replace communication,” he says.

One of those is a tech-savvy executive in his 30s, bucking the idea that a desire for a human on the other end of the line is old school.

“The majority of customers still want a point of contact they can call, text or email and get answers, so this idea that everything is available online doesn’t satisfy all customers, residential or commercial,” Boles says. “They don’t always want to go online and dig through a portal. They want old-fashioned customer service.”

Ultimately, customers want it all.

And 38 percent of survey respondents identified improving customer experience as a driver for adopting or upgrading software.

But even paperless, tech-enabled firms like Blasingame Pest Management in Griffin, Ga., hang on to some analog ways — like the trusty index cards. Despite decades of operating and leveraging all the features of a robust software system, Bill Blasingame’s triple backup plan is a paper “cloud.”

“We have a work card for every customer we service, and we have done this since 1981,” he says. “Everyone laughs about my work cards, but a couple of times it was a life saver — once when we switched software. And what if the power goes out, the software company closes its doors? We wouldn’t miss a beat.”