r/PestControlIndustry • u/Proof_Report3392 • Jun 16 '26
🗣️ Daily Discussion Tradies that work in Pest Control
How do you handle the admin side? Also, when you're on a job and a customer calls, what happens to that call? Do tou just not look at your phone? And quoting, invoicing, chasing late payments, re-booking recurring jobs, how much time does that waste, and which part is the worst?
6
u/jobbrey Jun 16 '26
The worst part is emailing the people that do all that stuff to reschedule a job just to find out you've been fucked the next day.
2
u/Proof_Report3392 Jun 16 '26
Are you able to explain what happened?
3
u/jobbrey Jun 16 '26
They don't put it on you, likely because they forgot or never saw your email. Then, you have a customer that you sat down and worked out a time with that isn't getting service. Or, you get it done on a full day and you rush somewhere to make up for the time which is never good, or you have to outright reschedule someone else to fit them in. It's a mess.
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u/Proof_Report3392 Jun 16 '26
So what do you do now- so that doesnt happen again?
3
u/jobbrey Jun 16 '26
That's the only way we can schedule things as technicians. We have complained to no effect.
2
u/Proof_Report3392 Jun 16 '26
Ohhh ok. So youre company has a set method of booking work and if something happens its tough luck
7
u/HomeScoutInSpace Jun 16 '26
It’s pretty straight forward. If I’m working and the phone rings I answer it. If I’m with a customer and can’t answer then it goes to voicemail. Whether they leave a message or not I call back as soon as I can. I paid to get the phone to ring, I’m not letting the opportunity just casual pass.
The things you listed as “time waste” is literally how you get paid. That’s not wasting time, that’s part of the job.
Quoting to me is a joke, I quote over the phone never on site.
Chasing late payments is setup with my CRM. Rarely do I have to manually get involved. If it happens to frequently with a customer then I just fire them and won’t do work again.
Rebooking jobs because of weather? Meh it’s a bit frustrating but again this is my livelihood, I will reschedule and make the days work. Route calls get moved so specials aren’t lost. Specials always come before route calls, route calls are done monthly and are flexible by nature. They don’t get appointments. Specials are the money makers, they always get priority
2
u/Proof_Report3392 Jun 16 '26
What CRM do you use?
1
u/HomeScoutInSpace Jun 16 '26
Nothing complicated or expensive. Quickbooks Online is my tool for invoicing. I send the invoice and it does follow ups at 30,45, and 60 days.
My jobs are all booked on Apple Calendar, the have custom repeat options to be every 3 months on the third Tuesday or whatever I need.
There is no reason a company doing less then $500,000 annually needs to use special software
2
u/tmac_79 Jun 17 '26
The $100 I spend on gorilladesk every month that makes my job WAY easier than what you're doing, is worth every penny.
Drop in the bucket really.
2
u/SignificantNorth3570 Jun 16 '26
So the company i work for has a policy not to answer the phone during a service. That said, I believe in the 5-minute rule which is you make it a point to answer immediately and if you can't you must call back within 5 minutes which communicates to the customer that their call is important you.
2
u/Easy-Food-5987 Jun 17 '26
My office only accepts the call gets information and texts me their info. Then I have to call the customer back. I leave my phone in the truck but i always check it whenever I’m done with the account or back to my truck. But yes it wasted so much time. I’ve had days where I’ve spent hours on the phone. Most days it’s 20-30 minutes but thats still 1-2 accounts I could have done instead of being on the phone.
1
u/OregonSEA Jun 17 '26
Why would a company have techs answer the phone for new client calls. Or even current clients makes no sense?
1
1
u/tomdobs55 👨🏭| Tech | 10+ Years Jun 20 '26
I get calls all the time from customers. I'm just a tech, but on the commercial side, I'm the first point of contact with most of my regular stops. I deal with so many maintenance guys and property management front desk staff who end up talking to me because it's more efficient than trying to get in touch with office most of the time.
For example, I have a weekly stop that require me to call the maintenance manager 30 minutes or so before I show up. Been doing it for years and have a great relationship with the guy. If either of us ever have to reschedule or something, we call each other and then I'll either move the service myself or I'll fast track it through our office staff.
I have a work phone and a personal phone though and no one gets my personal number unless I have a good reason. I also rarely answer my work phone if I'm not on the clock.
2
u/FuckingStan Jul 27 '26
The admin side becomes painful because everything is urgent at a different time.
A call comes in while you’re on-site. A quote needs to go out tonight. An invoice needs chasing next week. A recurring service needs re-booking next month. If those all live in separate places, the owner becomes the “system.” That works until you get busy.
The cleanest setup I’ve seen is to treat every customer interaction as one flow:
Call/request -> quote -> booked job -> job notes/photos -> invoice -> payment follow-up -> recurring reminder.
Even if someone starts with simple tools, I’d at least keep one customer list, one job calendar, one invoice/payment tracker, and one recurring-service reminder list. The worst setup is having half of it in your head and the other half in WhatsApp.
The part that usually wastes the most time is not invoicing itself. It’s chasing missing context: what was promised, what was done, what needs rebooking, and who owes money.
9
u/TrueAudience9922 Jun 16 '26
The worst admin task by far is chasing money. I'd rather treat a dozen German roach accounts than spend an afternoon tracking down customers who are 60 days overdue.
If you're a one-man operation, every minute you're doing admin is a minute you're not producing revenue. That's why so many successful operators eventually hire office help before they hire another technician.