State of the Flea Control Market, Sponsored by Zoëcon, A Steady Flow of Business Opportunities

Offering flea service allows PMPs to hang onto customers who need the service and can help attract new customers as well.

While flea control services may not represent a large percentage of overall sales for most pest management companies — PMPs tell us it represents, on average, 4.6 percent of their revenues — it’s good, steady business that gives you another way to delight your established customers or to get a foot in the door with new ones. It’s a service nearly all PMPs provide.

“Flea work can be time-consuming, but it’s no more difficult than general pest work,” says Kevin Mills of Mills Pest Management in Burbank, Calif. “We choose to do it because we don’t want to give customers any reason to go to another company. If we’re servicing for another pest and they say, ‘We have a flea problem,’ I want to be able to help them with that.”

Wade Wilson of Turner Pest Control says it’s important to remember the public’s health, too. “Our top priority is taking care of the health concerns of our customers and communities,” he says. “Fleas can pose a threat to kids and pets, especially in the form of secondary bacterial infections; we want to help protect them from any adverse effects.”

Most PMPs — 90 percent — expect the percentage of revenue they generate from fleas to hold steady or increase in 2020. Any revenue hikes are likely to be the result of increased volume rather than increased prices, as the average cost of a residential flea service is just $3 higher than last year: $198 in 2020 versus $195 in 2019.