When most calls you get are somewhat of an emergency, how do you handle that!?
I own and operate a pest control business, and anyone who has ever needed to call pest control, they typically want you there right away! I am sure there are other companies that operate under the same stress, and I wonder how they manage those calls that come in during a planned out day? Or calls that come in at the end of the day. Calls that come in on a Friday afternoon. Calls that come in during a busy week!For those who offer monthly services, do you ever start with a trial period?
I have recently been pushing my monthly exterior rodent control services to my customers and wonder if trying to get them set up for a whole year right away is a good tactic. I created a Checklist in Jobber for the service so I can document and show the client the amount of feeding in each station monthly. Rather than getting pushback right away when I propose the service, I have had success in telling a customer I will leave the stations today, then check the activity next month. Then they can see the feeding level and get an idea of how many rodents are actually around their home. I feel like this has worked really well for me and wonder if anyone else has tried this approach at selling ongoing services?How active are you on your social media?
I wonder how active other business owners are on social media, and if there are any cases where a majority of leads are generated through it? How active do you have to be to make that a viable source of leads coming in? What content are you posting? Are you using other apps to edit and create posts?Is anyone else using Homestars? What has your experience been like?
I have been using Homestars and I must say, it has generated me a lot of calls. I would say it's bringing in about 80% of my business right now. I took a lot of time to perfect my profile and always ask for reviews and that has really paid off. A lot of people have said the reason they requested or hired me was because of my profile and reviews. My only issue with them is tire kickers and dead leads. People who post a job then shortlist you and don't respond, shortlist multiple pros or people who are "just looking". I wish they had more of a guarantee or verification system. Also getting a refund used to be a lot easier, but they changed their system to make it harder. Is anyone else using Homestars? Any tips or tricks on how to succeed better on there? If anyone is interested in it but has questions, feel free to DM me or reply here for my advise also!Do you have a Instagram Business account? How are you utilizing tools built within it?
I started my Instagram business account and finally have started posting. I set it up as a business account so I am wondering a few things from this community... Is there features in the business account that you are using that some people could miss? Something to really get your name out there? What types of posts are you creating? What do you find really makes an impact? I want to post some interesting pest related content, crazy situations, heavy infestations, tips and tricks for homeowners...but I am wondering if any has any tips for me, that have worked for them? Feel free to follow along at pestfreecanadaHow do you educate customers about pest prevention without giving away too much?
I think properly explaining to a customer what I am going to do and how I am going to do it is very important. I do a lot of rodent exclusion and it takes skill to do it right, but a normal person could figure it out. I also think that if they wanted to, they could just take what I said I am going to do, and do it themselves. I often wonder where the line between explaining and selling is? If someone wants to pay me to do it, great. If someone wants to do it themselves and I am not out anything for just explaining it to them, that is great too. That is why I charge for inspections! I am happy to walk away with my inspection fee in my pocket but also enjoy the added revenue from performing the work!Should you use yourself as your model in your advertisement campaign?
I recently was looking into having some professional photos taken for my website and Google profile and was wondering.. Should I use myself as my "model" for the photos or look for a professional? I like the idea of using myself so people know who I am when I arrive at their home, but I admittedly don't look the best in pictures!
How to sign up a business that has multiple sites across your city?
I wonder if anyone has any good advise on getting a medium sized business to sign up multiple locations? I am thinking along the lines of a restaurant/store/landlord that has 3-4-5 locations locally and possibly has different service pros at all of them. I know that I couldn't work a national account or ones that are spread out across the province, but I am thinking the ones that are all concentrated in my city. So far I am thinking about offering free inspections at all the locations, taking photos and notes, and relaying those back to the person who would make the call to approve that contract. Offering a discounted rate if all locations are signed up. Doing service for a very low rate at one location for a trial period. Offering a few no charge services to show my level of workmanship. I think I have a good plan to go after these types of business situations, but I am wondering if anyone has a better approach that I may be missing? Always gonna reach out to the community to see if there are any ideas floating around I missed.
