PestBossPro Blog — Pest Control Software

Getting the Most From a Pest Control Software Free Trial

A free trial is only free if it tells you something. Most trials end the same way: you sign up, click around the first evening, get busy with work, and two weeks later the trial is over and you still don't know if the software fits. Fourteen days is plenty of time to know for sure, if you use it on purpose.

Know What You're Testing

Price is covered in Pest Control Software Pricing: What $59, $89 and $199 a Month Get You. The trial answers the other question: will it actually work for your company?

PestBossPro's trial is 14 days and needs no credit card. Before you start, write down the three or four things that would make you switch. For most small pest companies it's some mix of: quarterly accounts coming due on their own, chemical records done without the binder, techs off paper route sheets, and getting paid at the door. Those are what you test.

Try the Live Demo First

Before you start the trial clock, click through the live demo. It's already full of sample accounts, routes and records, so you can see how the Waiting List, the dispatch board and the records look with data in them. Fifteen minutes in the demo means you start the trial knowing where things are instead of learning the menus on day one.

Days 1–3: Load Real Accounts

Sample data shows you the software. Your own data shows you your business in the software. Import a slice of real customers with a CSV import — your whole list if it's clean, or one area of town if you want to start small. Imported addresses are placed on the map automatically.

Set recurring plans and last service dates so they come due correctly. Add your service list and prices. Add the products you use most and build your main perimeter mix. Add yourself and one tech with PINs. The setup order is laid out in Setting Up Pest Control Software in Your First Week.

Days 4–7: Run One Real Route

This is the most important part of the trial. Circle a cluster of due accounts on the Waiting List, assign them to a truck for a real day, auto-route them and work them from the tech app. Not a pretend route — the stops you're actually going to.

Pay attention to how it feels in the truck. Are the notes where you need them? How many taps does each stop take? Does recording what was applied work with gloves on? At the end of the day, open a completed job's application record and check it against what you'd write in the binder. Then check the “need a chemical record” button.

Days 8–11: Test the Customer Side and Billing

Turn on night-before and arrived alerts for a few customers who won't mind being part of the test, or for yourself and a friend. See what the texts look like. Open the customer app as a customer would: the route view, invoices, card on file, service requests. Check the post-treatment email.

Then test money. Send an estimate to yourself and approve it online. Put a card on file for a test account and complete a job to see the charge and the invoice. If you have commercial accounts, set one to Monthly and look at what the statement will show.

Days 12–14: Decide With Evidence

Go back to the three or four things you wrote down. For each one, did the software do it with your real accounts? Not “could it,” but did it. If yes, pick the plan that fits your texting and size: Start at $59, Pro at $89 or Crew at $199 a month.

If something didn't work, write down exactly what. That's a clear question to ask, and a clear reason to decide either way.

Common Trial Mistakes

• Only using sample data. You learn the buttons but not whether it fits.
• Setting up everything before running anything. One mix, a slice of accounts and one route is enough to judge.
• Not involving a tech. If another tech will use the app, let them run a stop or two during the trial.
• Starting in your busiest week. If you can, start the trial when you have a few evenings to spare.

A trial used well ends with a clear yes or no. For an overview of what to look for, see the PestBossPro pest control software page.