Fall phone prep for pest control companies
A checklist for the phones, not the trucks, before cooler weather sends mice and other pests looking for shelter.
As temperatures drop, rodents and some insects often move toward buildings in search of warmth and shelter. Many pest companies see call volume change with the seasons, and the phone is where a surge shows up first.
The trucks and materials get most of the preparation. The phones deserve an afternoon too.
Check the basics
- Hours. Do your website, your Google Business Profile and your phone greeting all say the same thing? Seasonal schedules often add Saturdays.
- Closures. Add the holidays you will be closed now, not the week before.
- Service area. If you added or dropped ZIP codes this year, update the list. The edges of your area cause the most confusion.
- Forwarding. Make sure your main line still reaches the phone you think it does.
Decide what to collect
A good booking call gets a few things: the address, whether it is a home or a business, the pest as the caller describes it, where it is being seen, and how long it has been going on. Those answers help your technician arrive prepared.
Notice what is not on the list. The receptionist does not identify the pest or suggest a product. A caller who says "I think it's mice" is recorded as saying that. The technician decides what it is.
Be clear about plans
Callers ask what a recurring plan includes, how often visits happen and whether re-treatments are free. Write down the answers once and put them in your FAQ. The AI answers from your written text and does not guess, so a blank FAQ means a callback.
Set realistic visit lengths
An inspection, a one-time treatment and the first visit of a plan take different amounts of time. If your calendar treats them as the same, you will run late on busy days. Look at the last month of jobs and set a length for each, then add travel time.
Run a test call
Call your main number from a phone that is not in your contacts. Do it at lunch, after 6 pm, and once with forwarding switched on. Note what a caller hears and how long it takes to reach a person or an agent.
Fix what is slow or confusing, then call again. Ten minutes of test calls now is cheaper than discovering a problem in the middle of your busiest week.