Stick Around

Satisfied customers generally stayed with their termite service providers for the long term. The average retention rate was 77.8 percent over a five-year period, found the 2024 PCT State of the Termite Control Market survey.

As well, many of these customers were a good source of additional revenue. People take termites “very seriously” in south central Kentucky, said Jimmy Blankenship, Guarantee Pest Control. Once they see the quality of work his technicians provide, he said, they trust them to protect the home from other pests. “They use us for everything.”

Team Pest USA takes a structured approach to converting termite customers. “That’s a whole program. We go in with the termite control and the first opportunity we get to meet with them we propose other services,” said Alan Harlan.

Redd Pest Solutions, likewise, leverages termite control to sell other services. “All of our inspectors are trained to offer everything the customer needs and nothing they don’t,” said Kolby Krohn.

In the PCT survey, on average, 33 percent of PMPs said half or more of their termite customers later purchased pest control services from them.

Some PMPs said it was easier to convert general pest customers to more expensive termite services.

“Pest control is a low-dollar issue, and then since they trust you, they’re a little more likely to trust you with the high-dollar repair or the high-dollar [termite] fumigation,” said Israel Alvarez, Insight Pest Management. His company uses fumigation to control drywood termites. About a third of his clients use multiple services.

Service visits for pest control occur more frequently, and that helps to build relationships with customers. “Once they’re with us on a regular basis and we tell them they have a termite problem, then it’s a much easier sell,” said Charlie McMahon, McMahon Exterminating.

Last year, the typical (median) price for a standard post-construction termite treatment job was $1,080. For a regular pre-construction termite treatment job, the typical price was $665.

Most PMPs — 64 percent — expected their termite service pricing to increase somewhat in 2024.

Some Swarming

Termite swarms were nothing to get excited about in 2023. In fact, most PMPs reported average (51 percent) or below average (38 percent) swarm seasons, found the 2024 PCT State of the Termite Control Mat survey.

Ron Henderson, Country Boy Pest Control, was disappointed with the swarms that occurred in central Florida. “It’s crazy. Nothing what I expected. Nothing,” he said. Years ago, swarms were a given. “There’s definitely been some changes to the way it used to be,” he said.

Conducive weather (rain, heat and humidity) typically supports termite swarming, but 45 percent said weather had no impact on termite demand last year, and 19 percent said it had a negative impact.

A record-setting drought negatively affected termite swarms in Mississippi. “I believe that played a factor in the reoccurrence of swarms,” said Kolby Krohn, Redd Pest Solutions. The company still received calls for termite control service, just not as many as in past years.

The drought even made it difficult to get bait systems in the ground. “When we’re having to install these bait stations and we haven’t had rain in two months, the ground is as hard as asphalt. We tore up a lot of drills and augers this year just trying to treat a house,” said Hank Griffith, the company’s regional termite manager.

For 21 percent of PMPs, weather had a positive impact on demand for termite control services. Wet weather in Southern California contributed to “a lot of termites [in 2023],” recalled Israel Alvarez, Insight Pest Management. Last fall, drywood termite swarms were “pretty intense. Definitely, termite leads were up,” he said.

Warmer weather in greater Atlanta may have helped termite swarms, said Alan Harlan, Team Pest USA. “I think overall it was a pretty good swarm season, but I don’t know if it was any better or any worse than recent previous years.”

According to the PCT survey, 42 percent of PMPs said the volume of termite-related service calls at their location remained constant in 2023 compared to the year before, while 33 percent said calls increased somewhat or significantly.

Full Combo

Most pest control companies used both baits and liquid termiticides in their termite control programs, reported 60 percent of PMPs in the 2024 PCT State of the Termite Control Market survey.

Liquid termiticide was the primary treatment approach at 47 percent of locations, including at Guarantee Pest Control, which only performs full, conventional liquid termiticide treatments.

“We don’t do partials. We don’t do spot treats. We sell Cadillac treatments with full damage replacement warranties and most of our competition is doing perimeter treatments now,” said Jimmy Blankenship.

The company relies on a brand name termiticide to protect structures. “We could get a whole lot more business if we used the cheap chemical, and we definitely would make more money on treatments if we used cheaper products, but we’d be doing callbacks in four, five years and we prefer to have lifelong customers,” he said.

ProShield Termite & Pest Control has used bait systems to control Formosan and Eastern subterranean termites since it was founded. It places in-ground stations around a property to protect the structure and uses above-ground stations to control active termite infestations.

The company offers damage replacement contracts to about 70 percent of its termite customers but not to those with active Formosan termite infestations or older homes that previously had termites and potentially have hidden or undisclosed termite damage.

According to the PCT survey, 31 percent of pest control company locations offered termite damage warranties.

ProShield declines to provide post- construction termite treatment at homes with spray foam insulation.

“We don’t do homes with spray foam insulation in the attic or in the walls. Right now, we do not cover those homes at all,” explained Michael Hayes.

Team Pest USA works with homeowners to remove spray foam insulation. “We make recommendations and propose to remove that or at least modify that. We’re cutting it to remove it to provide us visibility as far as our annual inspections go,” said Alan Harlan.

Spray foam insulation was sometimes encountered by 46 percent of PMPs during termite inspections. The average callback rate for termite control services was 1.9 percent.