Market research for the past five years has shown that the pest control industry has experienced steady revenue growth. Of course, this is good news to pest control agencies, but as a business owner in this sector, it’s important to be mindful that the competition will only get tighter. In other words, you must ensure that you are continually improving the way you do business in order to generate more sales.
Your quotation strategy forms a large part of how you operate and it is this pricing aspect that many companies can struggle with.
If you are looking to improve the way you quote for, and as a result, win more jobs, here are some tips to help you out:
- Create and use a template for your quotations
Due to the increasing demand for pest control services in recent years, it’s reasonable to expect that you will be dealing with a higher volume of requests for work than ever before. It is incredibly important that you evaluate the way in which you respond to these requests for work by adopting best practice to increase your chances of winning the business. Using a template for your quotes will really help with this.
A good template should contain the following information:
- Company name
- Logo
- Address
- Quantities
- Contact info
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Make sure to display these so they are easy to read and written so they are easy to understand. You may find it useful to use this free pest control invoice template if you are looking for inspiration or want to freshen up your existing one.
- Refrain from offering a one-size-fits-all pricing
One of the most common mistakes service agencies make is to set fixed pricing for all service types. Granted, it’s the most convenient pricing method, and it won’t overwhelm your clients, but it’s typically not the best methodology, financially speaking. For one, every pest control job is likely to vary in some capacity, so offering a one-size-fits-all pricing model may only lead you to cutting margins and reducing profitability.
In that regard, here’s what you should consider when setting your price:
- Size of the building or site: Naturally, you’d want to charge higher for jobs that require you to cover the greater surface area. For example, you shouldn’t charge the same fee for a pest control job in the basement as you would in a building with several stories. Perhaps the best approach would be to take the square footage of the area and go from there.
- Type of pests you’ll deal with: Certain pests are ‘more expensive’ to deal with than other types of insects. Smokey Brown roaches, for example, may cost more money to exterminate.
- Length of the pest control project: Finally, you’d want to consider the time it will take to accomplish the job. Can you deal with the pests in one fell swoop? Or will it take several visits?
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- Make sure you cover your expenses
Many pest control agencies are so fixated with the goal of being more affordable than others that they tend to forget to cover their expenses in their prices. It takes money to grow a business, which is why you must always make sure you price your job with a profit margin that is acceptable to you. Expenses to consider may include:
- Fuel
- Chemicals
- Equipment
- Labor costs
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Make sure you keep track of these as they will form a basis for when you quote for all future jobs. Track the time it takes to deliver each job and measure this against the time you quoted for. Your ability to quote will improve if you continually assess how much time it actually takes to complete jobs vs the time you quoted for. Software can really help you with this. Jobber is an example of clever technology that has been developed with the sole purpose of servicing pest control companies both big and small. Not only does it help you to track time spent on jobs, you can keep a tight inventory on all your equipment and chemicals, use it to help with appointments and job scheduling, communicating with your customers and accepting payments.
- Highlight discounts or any benefits you offer
You must remember that when providing quotes to your clients or prospects, there’s no guarantee that they’ll come back to you to request the job. (3) Some may decide that the offering of a competitor is a better fit for them based solely on how quickly they responded to a request for work or how professional their quote looked.
Try to make your offer as easy to accept as possible. You may be inclined to try offering discounts or benefits in your quote but be cautious not to cut prices to the detriment of your bottom line.
Consider itemizing every component of the job
Prospects often dislike receiving a quotation that contains as little information as possible about the job. This does not help to make an informed decision about whose business to choose, and it is unclear to conclude where the final figure has come from. This makes it easier for a customer to reject or negotiate the price down.
That’s why itemizing or listing every part of the pest control job and putting a price tag on each item can be very helpful. It legitimizes how you came up with the total cost of the job. If there are any concerns, you can very easily provide the rationale of the cost. In short, it allows you to use the quotation to open up a path to clear communication.
Final words
Quotations tell your prospects exactly how much it will cost them to avail of your services. They often use this to compare your establishment with other agencies. Hence, crafting a quotation is as important as any other task in your business. While it may be a bit of a struggle at first, these tips should give you a much-needed head start.
References:
- “What information should you include on a quotation template?”, Source: https://www.zigaflow.com/news/what-information-should-you-include-on-a-quotation-template
- “Pest Control Pricing: Complete Guide For Businesses”, Source: https://www.serviceautopilot.com/pest-control/how-to-price-your-pest-control-services/
- “The Advantages of Offering Discounts at Your Business”, Source: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-offering-discounts-business-25765.html
