PestBossPro Blog — Tech App

Automatic On-the-Way Texts From the Pest Control Technician's Phone

A pest control visit goes better when the customer knows it is coming. The dog gets brought in. The gate gets opened. The kids get called off the back lawn before the perimeter treatment. Somebody gets home in time for the interior. All of that depends on one short text that says the technician is on the way.

Texts the Technician Does Not Have to Send

Bait-station routines are covered in Rodent Bait-Station Check Routines and How to Record Them in the Pest Control App. This article moves from the property to the customer's phone.

In PestBossPro, on-the-way texts go out automatically as the technician works the route. The technician does not type anything, look up a phone number, or stop to send a message from their own phone. They work the stops in order, and the customer hears that the truck is headed their way.

That matters for two reasons. Technicians do not send texts reliably when they have to remember to, and texts from a technician's personal number create a mess when the customer starts texting that number about billing. Automatic texts from the business keep it consistent and keep replies with the office.

Customers Choose Their Alerts

Not every customer wants every text. PestBossPro lets customers set their alert preferences:

• Night before. A reminder that service is tomorrow.
• When they're next. A heads-up that the technician is headed to them.
• When the technician arrives. A note that the technician is on the property.

A customer with an outside-only quarterly plan who works all day might want only the night-before text. A customer with an interior service and two dogs will want all three. Letting them choose means fewer people tune out the messages.

What On-the-Way Texts Do for Pest Control

Pest control has more reasons to warn customers than most trades:

• Pets. Dogs can be brought in before the technician opens the gate, and kept off treated areas until dry.
• Kids. Families can bring children in from the yard before the perimeter or mosquito treatment.
• Interior access. Customers can get home or open the door for an interior service.
• Gates. A customer who knows the truck is coming can take the padlock off the side gate they locked last weekend.
• Commercial accounts. A restaurant manager can clear the back area or meet the technician at the service door.

Each of these turns a possible skip into a completed stop. Fewer skips mean fewer return trips and fewer customers waiting another week. Skipping is covered in Skipping a Pest Control Stop the Right Way: Rain, Wind, Locked Gates and No One Home.

The Customer App Map

Texts work alongside the customer app. On service day, customers can see today's route: “You're stop 12 of 20 — the tech is 5 stops away.” A customer who wants to know whether to run to the store before the technician arrives can check without calling.

Both the texts and the map depend on the technician working the stops in order and tapping as they go. If the technician jumps around the list without telling the office, the “5 stops away” becomes wrong, and the on-the-way text goes to the wrong customer first. That is one more reason the office should own the route order and technicians should ask before swapping stops.

Replies Go to the Office

Customers reply to texts. “Can you also check the shed?” “Running ten minutes late, please wait.” “Gate code changed to 6612.” Those replies come into two-way texting in the office, not to the technician's phone.

The office passes along what matters. A new gate code gets updated on the address, so the technician sees it on the card. A request for extra work gets noted on the stop. A question about the bill is handled by the office without interrupting the technician mid-treatment.

The Text Allowance

Texting in PestBossPro works in the US and Canada. Every plan includes a monthly text allowance counted in segments, both sent and received: 500 on Start, 1,000 on Pro and 2,000 on Crew. A short on-the-way text is usually one segment. Keeping automated messages short and plain helps the allowance go further.

Plans are $59, $89 and $199 per month. If you have a large customer list and every customer picks every alert, watch your usage in the first month and adjust alert defaults if needed.

A Text That Saves a Trip

The on-the-way text is a small message with a big effect on the route. The arrived text is its partner, covered next in The Arrived Text: Letting the Customer Know the Pest Control Tech Is on the Property. To see how customer texts fit with the rest of the technician's day, visit the PestBossPro pest control app page.