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Modern Pest Control Fleet Management Has Arrived
A fleet manager has a full plate.
You’re responsible for keeping up with scheduling, personnel, vehicles, customer satisfaction, and the list goes on.
Pest control fleet management may be just what you need to organize your business, increase profitability, and maintain your sanity.
We’ll show you how to boost your income, improve time management, and keep your technicians happy with intuitive fleet management software for your pest control company.
What Is Pest Control Fleet Management?
The term fleet management can mean different things to different companies.
In general, however, it refers to the use of hardware, like GPS technology, and software to monitor the performance of your vehicles and workers.
Although fleet management can include vehicle management, (such as preventative maintenance, gas usage, harsh driving reporting, etc.) in this article, we’ll mainly be focusing on the routing and scheduling aspects of fleet management.
Pain Points Addressed by Modern Fleet Management in the Pest Control Industry
Legacy Software and Systems
If you’re still using outdated technology, you’re working with a system that’s not taking advantage of industry standards and modern design approaches.
A few of the problems with Legacy software and systems include:
- Increased security risks
- Overly complicated scheduling
- Inefficiency
- Instability
- Lack of integration with new systems
- Expensive maintenance
- Data silos
- Compliance issues
- Lack of support
- Limited opportunities for growth
Scheduling and Routing
Scheduling and routing are tough aspects of pest control fleet management.
Your fleets have multiple destinations to visit each day, and with today’s unpredictable gas prices, inefficiency can lead to high fuel costs for your company through:
- Poorly scheduled routes
- Not making stops in the most efficient order; and
- Technicians making unapproved stops in the field
This is your livelihood and if you're not spending your money properly, being as efficient as you can, you're not making the optimal amount of money in a day.
Technician Management
Another issue in operating a pest control company is knowing how your technicians are doing in the field.
- Did they take the shortest route?
- Is there downtime while they wait for instructions on their next stop?
- How far along are they on the current job?
- Will they be on time for the next assignment?
Are you ready to simplify your pest control management? Cedar Pest is here to help!
We believe pest control is one of the most essential American industries, so we’re building tools to help make your life easier.
Our app will revolutionize your daily operations, customer experience, and business insights.
Request your free demo today.
5 Benefits of High-Quality Pest Control Fleet Management Software
Let’s take a look at the five top reasons why pest control fleet managers rave about high-quality, intuitive pest control fleet management software:
- Greater efficiency throughout the company
- Increased profitability
- Improved time management
- Greater technician retention; and
- Higher asset “uptime”
#1: Efficiency
If you want to improve the efficiency of your pest control fleet, management software is the way to go.
With this handy tool, you can:
- Schedule routine pest control services
- Create customized jobs
- Send automated dispatch notifications
- Assign specific techs to the jobs best suited to their levels of expertise; and
- Check the status, duration, drive time, and mileage for your calls
#2: Increased Profitability
In this world of wildly unpredictable gas prices, optimizing pest control fleet routing can go a long way toward helping manage your fuel output.
Pest control fleet management software can increase profitability by making you aware of your team’s driving habits, such as:
- Harsh braking
- Speeding
- Excessive idling; and
- Other fuel-wasting activities
You can keep track of the average miles each technician is driving and easily see who your top performers are.
Optimized, efficient scheduling can also lead to more stops in a day, which equals more profits.
#3: Improved Time Management
Pest control fleet management software gives you valuable data on driver behavior that optimizes your time management.
With just a few clicks, you can:
- See how long a technician spends at a specific job
- Find out the average amount of time each driver is on the road
- Track the total time spent in the field; and
- Reroute techs in case of delays or unexpected circumstances
And you can pull this data historically or in real-time to get the best possible picture.
#4: Technician Retention
According to Forbes Magazine, employee turnover can cost an employer 33% of the employee's salary.
You want to do everything you can to curb turnover by lowering technician frustration while boosting job satisfaction.
Pest control fleet management software can help you achieve your goals by providing services that make technician’s lives easier, such as:
- Optimized scheduling
- Simplified routing; and
- Mobile access
#5: Higher Asset ‘Uptime’
If your fleet isn't moving, you’re losing money.
Proper fleet management keeps your assets on the road.
Using your vehicles as much as possible is the best way to maintain steady cash flow, and pest control fleet management software can help by:
- Allowing you to implement a maintenance vehicle checklist for each vehicle
- Letting you set maintenance reminders
- Giving you the tools to track vehicles or other equipment you need for the job
What to Look for When Choosing a Fleet Management Software Program
It’s great to know the benefits of high-quality pest control fleet management software, but how do you find the one that’s right for you and your company? Here’s what you should look for:
Intuitive Scheduling and Routing
To effectively do their jobs, schedulers must have the right tools. This includes seeing at a glance where each tech is and instantly knowing the status of every job.
Look for pest control fleet management software that contains scheduling and routing software with full visibility of the field, from any location.
You need to see up-to-date vehicle locations in real-time. This can help you stay on top of service calls, give directions to drivers, and provide accurate ETAs for workers. Real-time GPS technology helps your business be flexible for whatever comes your way.
And, since technicians have different qualifications and skills, you will also want to see at a glance who's qualified for which jobs — so you don't send an overqualified technician to a job that could be done by someone with lower hourly pay.
Integrative Maps
Your pest control fleet management software should give you an integrative map that provides you with the full picture of what's happening in the field, across your entire company.
It should have GPS locations, with visibility of each tech, making it easy to assign last-minute or emergency jobs.
It should also have a calendar with Daily, Weekly and Monthly views.
You will want to be able to drag and drop jobs from the job pool directly into the calendar. And, ideally, your calendar will have job locations color coded on the map, so you can quickly and easily build efficient routes for your techs.
Mobile-Friendly Tools
Choose pest control fleet management software that's mobile friendly.
Look for mobile apps for iOS and Android that allow you to manage team members and allow technicians to …
- Efficiently complete jobs from anywhere
- Switch between jobs
- Update notes for specific clients
- Update services provided
- View basic information about each job; and
- Utilize the built-in GPS to get from site to site in the least possible amount of time
… straight from their smartphones or tablets.
Cedar Pest: Comprehensive Pest Control Management Software That Includes Fleet Management Features
Want to get the most bang for your buck out of your new pest control management software?
Check out Cedar Pest.
Our pest control management software is the modern choice for pest managers — allowing you to serve more customers with better results using the top pest management software on the market.
Our app features:
- Scheduling and routing
- Payment processing
- Customer management
- Reporting
- Mobile tools
- Sales; and
- Automated notifications
It’s as easy to use as your email account.
And we have processes in place to help you seamlessly transition out of your old, outdated pest control software into Cedar Pest’s modern technology.
