Service: Building Relationships, Recurring Revenue

This typically involved preventing or remediating termites in already built structures. Often, treatment came after termite damage was found, like during an inspection or a home renovation.

But some customers might be becoming more termite aware. Doug Foster, Burt’s Termite & Pest Control, said in the past few years a growing number of customers have asked for “restoration” treatments for termite control.

“They say, we haven’t had anything done to the house termite-wise in 15 or 20 years. Could we do something, so we don’t have termites in the future?” It’s an opportunity to allay their concerns and grow the business, he explained.

Pre-construction termite treatments were offered by 77% of service locations.

Team Bug Out anticipates performing more of this work in the year ahead. “We are negotiating with a national builder, who has asked us to take on their pre-construction treatments,” said Brad Lawler. Treating wood framing with borates is part of his treatment strategy.

Not part of his strategy is competing on price alone for pretreat work, which often goes to the lowest-cost provider. That’s when corners can get cut. “Let’s use the cheapest possible product, and we’ll send our least experienced technician out there to spray the dirt, and hopefully we get it right,” explained Lawler of what he sees occurring. It’s interesting how those builders are then surprised when termite issues emerge later, he said.

Wood-destroying insect/organism (WDI/WDO) inspections were offered by 87% of service locations.

The inspections, usually performed for real-estate transactions, deliver the “bonus” of almost guaranteed termite work, said Foster.

“We pick up a lot of termite work with the WDI or WDO inspections. We’re not usually competing with other companies on that. You know, when you get a swarm, sometimes they’ll call three or four companies to get quotes.” With inspections, Foster said, the client just wants to get the house treated and sold, so they’re not going to delay by shopping around for the service.

The home buyer often is onsite while inspections are being performed. This is an opportunity to build a relationship with a new customer, to educate them and eventually pick up recurring general pest control.

“Any time we get face-to-face with a buyer, they’re usually interested. When somebody buys a new home, they want to get off to a good start. ‘Besides termite control, hey, do you guys take care of ants?’ We’re able to convert a fair number — probably at least half of those — into quarterly or what we call a three season customer,” said Foster.

Being a local company has helped Ballard Pest Management, Opelika, Ala., stand out from national companies moving into the area. It helps to have “a little bit of southern hospitality,” explained owner Scott Ballard. Customers in his market don’t like navigating phone mazes, only to be connected to someone who’s not located in central Alabama.

Customers like having Ballard’s cell number in case they get a pest problem. “The bigger companies can lose touch. I’m not pointing fingers at anybody, but any kind of big company can lose what makes you local and what makes your relationship,” said Ballard.

Brock Lawn & Pest Control, Lynn Haven, Fla., grows recurring termite revenue by converting existing liquid treatment customers to termite baiting systems.

“We’ve gone away from our billing per service to subscription-based billing. That works out much better for our bottom line,” adds Executive Vice President Derek Pumphrey. He uses AI technology to summarize customer conversations and capture sentiment to stay ahead of potential cancellations and improve coaching for his customer service team.

Both helped the company overcome slower termite revenue growth in 2025. So has staying true to its values.

“We don’t panic. We don’t place blame. We dig in. We just simply ask, how can we be better? We let our level of trust and customer service speak for itself. We take care of our teams, they take care of our customers, and that’s why we’ve been in business for 60 years,” said Pumphrey.