Ants Marching – a Steady Beat

When calls come in for ant treatments, service requests develop into general pest control contracts 90 percent of the time at Gecko Pest Control in Marshall and Longview, Texas. It’s a better deal for clients and the company.

“We price our one-times much higher because if we give a competitive price and have to go out to do a re-service, that’s gasoline, labor and time,” says Daren Horton, president. Gecko Pest wants customers who realize that treating ants — or any pest — is not a one-and-done scenario. Sure, they’ll perform a single service. But the company lets customers know the cost is comparable to a yearlong maintenance contract.

“When we get them on a service agreement and make them happy customers, they stay with us,” Horton says.

Ant calls can expand a pest control operation’s account roster. Brian Fausey says about 10 percent of people who contact American Pest Control in Martinsburg, W.Va., for only ants agree to a contract upon making the appointment. The other 90 percent eventually convert to long-term customers. “While taking care of the problem, you educate them that maintaining a quarterly service prevents the problem from happening again.”

Ants are an “in.”

Forty-eight percent of respondents to PCT’s annual State of the Ant Control Market survey said ant service calls lead to recurring business most of the time. Six percent get a maintenance contract out of ant calls all the time.

For the most part, ant business is steady or growing. Customer requests for ant service is the same as it was last year for nearly half of survey respondents (49 percent), with 44 percent indicating ant business has increased.

“About 40 to 50 percent of our work is ants and we are usually on a property for other reasons, as well,” says Hunter Bowman, pest service manager, Ace Exterminating, Joelton, Tenn.

Ant pressure is on the rise, especially fire ants that are taking a liking to his region’s now warmer climate. Odorous house ants are also more prevalent. “We noticed with the fluctuating weather where it will be freezing and they will get inside and harbor, and then it will warm up,” Bowman adds. “They are adapting to this.”

Tracking Seasonality and Profitability

While only about 7 percent of revenue, ant control is profitable and expanding at Gecko Pest. Sixty-three percent of that is controlling fire ants, mainly for area school districts and college campuses. The annual treatment is “very effective,” Horton says, “and it’s a very good revenue source.”

“The reason why is because we do very few callbacks and we do regular pest control for those properties, so most of the time we can do the treatment while we are on the property,” he continues.

Occasionally, the company returns for follow-up fire ant treatments if a mound pops up, but that’s not the norm. Horton estimates that callbacks are less than 3 percent.

Across the country, PMPs are performing more ant business. More than half (56 percent) said ant control has become a more significant portion of the business in the past five years. And 61 percent expect an increase in ant revenue in 2023. The busiest times of year are spring (31 percent) and early summer (37 percent). But this is highly regional. Spring brings the most pressure in the Midwest, with early summer a hot time for ants in the Northeast. Respondents in the South see an uptick in spring and early summer, but the service mostly is year-round. Fall and winter are quiet in the West, with late summer presenting the most ant cases.

Weather is a driving factor. And in New Hampshire after a dry year, Noah Startup said Pest-End in Plaistow fielded fewer ant calls. Generally, ants consume about 15 percent of his business with a few key species: carpenter, pavement and Pharaoh.

But the good news is, the work is definitely profitable, he says. “Carpenter ants are the most profitable because when you are dealing with a wood-destroying insect that can do significant damage to a person’s property, it’s usually a pretty easy sell.”

Stoy Hedges