PCOs Turn to Add On Services to Meet Customer Needs Fast, Poll Finds

CLEVELAND – When pest control companies decide to offer a new add-on service, it could be anything from wildlife control to holiday lighting. Regardless of the type of service, the majority of PCOs agree that the most valuable reason to offer add-on services is to meet customer needs fast, according to a recent PCT reader poll.

Twenty-two percent of respondents voted keeping cash-flow year-round and 13% reported staying competitive and growing revenue as their most important reasons to offer add-on services. Another 13% said engaging staff and preventing layoffs is the most valuable reason while the majority (52%) voted for meeting customer needs fast as No. 1.

Bill Cowley, owner, Cowleys Pest Services, Farmingdale, N.J., said some of the most successful add-on services are the ones most similar and related to pest control. “If you have pest control clients and they have nuisance wildlife issues, you want to be able to help them,” Cowley said. “It is related because you consider bugs [as] pests, but if you have a squirrel in your attic that’s a pest.”

Wildlife control has been a successful add-on service for the company. Cowleys Pest Services was founded in 1991 by Cowley’s brother, Drew. Four years later, Bill joined. Drew has a passion for wildlife, Bill said, which helped make wildlife control services profitable. “It’s important that you have a leader, somebody who’s thinking about wildlife every day, and that’s my brother,” Bill said.

With Drew leading wildlife control at Crowleys Pest Services, the company has been able to provide specialized services, growing the add-on into a $2 million service. “I think [the add-on service] has to be related in some form so you can pick up easy leads and keep your customers happy without having them go to competition,” said Bill. 

Just because a service is not related to pest control doesn’t mean it can’t be successful. Cowleys Pest Services also offers a holiday decorating service through Christmas Decor by Cowleys. “We often call [Christmas Decor by Crowleys] our redheaded stepchild,” Bill said. “It has nothing to do with anything else that we do.”

The Crowleys realized, 22 years ago, that hanging Christmas lights wasn’t as easy as it sounded, but the franchise they became part provides training. While the Christmas decorating business has been prosperous, Bill said it’s important for PCOs not to lose sight of their core business when adding services.

“You’ve got to make sure you’ve got a leader in place that’s going to be the champion of that division every day,” said Bill. “If you don’t have somebody paying attention to [the add-on service], it’s not going to go anywhere. It’s not going to grow.”

For Joe Temperino, co-owner of Liberty Pest Control, Brooklyn, N.Y., implementing successful add-ons isn’t just about selling more treatments or services, it’s about deepening partnerships with clients and meeting their needs.

“Rather than specific add-on services, we focus on the value they deliver,” said Temperino. “This is the opportunity to meet your clients’ needs and strengthen your business ties with them by providing genuine solutions. Those are the ideal add-ons.”

Some examples of services that Liberty Pest Control has added include exclusion and remediation services and environmental and sanitation consulting. In regard to environmental and sanitation consulting, Temperino said the company views the service as “a value [that] adds.” He said Liberty Pest Control’s institutional partners, such as hotels, restaurants and hospitals, need environmental and sanitation audit guidelines and best practices. “They call us, and we share our methodology and approach,” Temperino said.

Sometimes, add-on services aren’t always successful, and that’s OK. “In this business, as in any other business, you have to iterate and see what fits,” said Temperino. 

It’s important for PCOs, especially smaller to mid-sized ones, to think about what core services and values they stand for before adding additional services, Temperino said, because the purpose of add-on services shouldn’t be about chasing profits or selling new products or technologies.

“Our main goal is to meet our clients’ needs and assess our cost of acquisition, training and resources association with the add on service,” Temperino said. “There are lots of components that need to align and could potentially harm your bottom line.”