PestRoutes offers COVID-19 response

Patrick McKittrick

Our PestRoutes team noticed how many emails we were getting from all over, and recognized our customers were likely getting them, too. They’re getting all kinds of advice on how to communicate and manage their business during the COVID-19 pandemic. We wanted to take the opportunity to highlight the resources that our customers already have available to them from the PestRoutes platform.

PROTECTING YOUR FIELD STAFF AND CUSTOMERS

• Payment processing. Avoid touching cash and checks by driving your customers to set up Autopay. Every PestRoutes account includes a free Customer Portal where your customers can sign up for Autopay and update credit card information. In addition, all invoices and service notifications can be personalized with links to the Customer Portal with placeholders.
• Automated communication. Avoid printing in the field and leaving paper behind for customers by taking advantage of automated service notifications and invoices. By using our Trigger Rules and placeholders, you can personalize the electronic delivery of important information to customers (thank-you notes, referral requests, upsell specials, etc.). Trigger Rules can be customized for when these communications will be sent, how often, and through which communication channel (email, SMS text, voice messaging, and USPS first-class mail).

PROTECTING YOUR REVENUE AND MARKET SHARE

• In-app messaging to promote the value of pest control. Use bulk email, SMS text, voice messaging, and USPS first-class mail to your advantage to prevent cancellations. For example, San Francisco, Calif., has deemed pest control an “essential service” during this period of “shelter-in-place.” PestRoutes’ platform messaging can be used to educate the safety that pest management provides during these times. In addition, the Customers Report provides filters you can customize and personalize with education and messaging by specific subscription types, appointment statuses, customer flags, and more.
• Dashboard and reporting. Monitoring your business performance through your dashboard and reporting options are the best way to make informed decisions for your business. Take advantage of the actionable insights available at your fingertips to monitor where you’re seeing the most cancellations, and begin retargeting them.

DIGITAL MARKETING

Grow your digital marketing presence when door-to-door sales efforts become challenging. If you’re not already working with our sister company, Lobster Marketing Group, they’re a great resource to advise on your digital marketing efforts. Together, PestRoutes and Lobster Marketing Group provide two exclusive offerings:

• Local SEO with Buy Pest Control Online. When enabled, it allows your company the ability to schedule and sell services directly from your Google My Business listing through the appointment link. Those service details are then automatically added into the PestRoutes application.
• Lobster Compass marketing portal. The portal provides real-time visibility into critical marketing and business growth metrics and is exclusively integrated with PestRoutes software. It displays brand value; performance by marketing channel; number of leads by source; lead close rates; new, recurring and one-time sales tied to marketing initiatives; true return on marketing spend; and insights on where to invest for further growth.