Never miss a call with 24/7 live receptionists.

Pest control technicians, operators, and exterminators have undeniably one of the most jam-packed schedules of any profession. From regular inspections to emergency fumigations, pest control companies spend most of their time overseeing and executing projects, leaving little time to answer phone calls. That's where a pest control answering service comes in. A reliable answering service has been shown to support businesses in the ways that matter most. Here are a number of the benefits that pest control technicians have experienced with answering service:

• Expanded availability‍

With a professional answering service that’s available 24/7, your clients will always have a human being they can talk to, whether you're busy, closed, or on vacation. Your clients’ questions always receive a thoughtful response.

• Increased lead captured  

Missed calls means missed opportunities. Don’t let those leads fall through just because your team is busy. Answering services provide nighttime, overflow, weekend, and after-hours availability so you never miss another call. 

• Increased work productivity 

With all your calls outsourced to an answering service, you’ll have tons of spare time to spend where your company needs it most, allowing your team to focus on more important work to build your pest control business.

• Enhanced client satisfaction and business reputation

Smith.ai knows great customer service, so no matter your business type or industry, our virtual receptionist have you covered. All Smith.ai virtual receptionists are well trained in customer service and hospitality. Let us put our perfected practices to work for you and deliver an exceptional and professional response that gives your pest control company the representation it can be proud of. 

• Save money and time

No need to allocate limited time and money towards hiring an in-house receptionist when you can get all of the services you need and then some with an answering service for a fraction of the price. Customers who use Smith.ai can save upwards of $30,000/year. 

• Stay up-to-date with leads and clients

Phone answering services can provide your pest control business with detailed call summaries after each call and even provide your customers with chat, social media, and text messaging so you can provide a wealth of communication options to your most valued clients.

A live pest control answering service can offer your business with a much needed sense of relief, whether you're on a budget, overwhelmed by overflow calls, or simply looking to enrich your company’s customer service. Your pest control company can reap even more benefits to help your team accomplish their goals, whatever they may look like, with Smith.ai’s pest control answering service.

Smith.ai’s answering service can provide pest control technicians and operators with…

24/7 availability

After-hours & overflow answering

Bilingual answering

Outbound call-backs

Spam blocking

Appointment scheduling

Sales development

Payment collection

CRM Integration

Lead development

And much more…‍

With plenty of accommodating features, Smith.ai’s answering service is guaranteed to boost your productivity, revenue, and outreach. And with years of experience offering top-notch services to pest control companies just like yours, you can rest assured you're in good hands. There's a reason why so many of our clients trust Smith.ai to provide their business with premium support. Read our 5-star reviews to learn why pest control technicians across the nation rely on Smith.ai.

The cost of a receptionist is, without a doubt, one of the most important factors to consider when deciding on whether to hire an answering service or a traditional, in-house receptionist. To give you a breakdown of the cost comparisons, here are the average expenses that come with an in-house receptionist.

The average salary nation-wide for an in-house receptionist is about $37,000 and they usually come with shocking hidden fees, such as:

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance, costing about $11,000/year
• Life and disability insurance, costing about $2,000/year
• 401K’s, retirement and pension plans, costing about $2,000/year
• Paid sick leave, holidays, and vacations, costing about $5,500/year
• Commuting reimbursement, costing about $5,000/year
• Child care subsidy and parental leave, costing about $3,000/year
• Health and wellness programs, costing about $1,000/year
• Bonus pay, costing about $2,000/year
• Company retreats, team bonding events, and employee outings, costing about $4,000/year
• Free lunch, snacks, and drinks, costing about $3,500/year
  

Total Cost in Addition to Salary: $77,000/year

If your pest control company is located in a city, that price may be even higher. Costs pile up when your in-house receptionist inevitably comes in late, calls in sick, requests time off, takes personal leaves of absence, goes on vacation, etc. Smith.ai’s virtual receptionists can accomplish the same tasks as in-house receptionist and then some, barring coffee runs and supply restocks, of course, and are much less expensive because you won't have to pay for any of our virtual receptionists' benefits or salaries.

Smith.ai’s answering service costs as little as $255/month, with no hidden fees. Ever. By hiring an answering service instead of an in-house receptionist, your business could save over $33,000/year on salary alone, and possibly up to $40,000/year in benefits beyond salary payments. Not only will your business save money, but your business will also be able to optimize productivity and revenue like never before. Unlike in-house receptionists, virtual receptionists can answer calls outside of normal operating hours, which is when over 27% of leads call. Smith.ai’s agents can also answer live chats, social media messages, and texts, which is how nearly 46% of customers prefer communicating with businesses. 

Ultimately, responsiveness is still the deciding factor for over 67% of clients who base their choice to hire a business on the initial responsiveness to their call or email. Virtual receptionists can improve your team's responsiveness and help you convert even more leads by providing advanced sales assistance and outbound calling. With Smith.ai’s pest control answering service, your business can receive all the benefits of an in-house worker (and more) without the unnecessarily high cost. Read our article to learn more about the differences between an in-house vs. a virtual receptionist.

Owning and operating a pest control company can take up a lot of time. From coordinating day-to-day operations to overseeing overall company development and growth, pest control teams already have a pretty full schedule. And with so much to do with such little time, managers will inevitably come face-to-face with issues that impact business. The most common scenarios that pest control teams need virtual receptionist services for are:

• I need “front desk” support, but can't afford it

Every business require some form of “front desk” support. Having designated professionals handle regular administrative duties can take the pressure off of trained workers can then use their time on more specialized work. Unfortunately, with budget-restrictions, many pest control companies may not be able to afford the high expenses that come with in-house receptionists, especially when they already have to save room for office rent, cleaning supplies, marketing, and other necessities. 

• Frequent phone call interruptions are distracting

Calls come in whether your team is in-store and available or not. Additionally, when pest control technicians and exterminators are forced to take time away from appointments to answer phone calls, they can quickly get distracted and fall behind on work, which is incredibly common. On average, it takes about 23 minutes to get back to a task after being interrupted by a phone call.

• Growing business demands overwhelm my team

As business expands and grows, so do its demands. For already-overworked employees, it can be challenging to keep up. With calls that need to be answered, appointments that need to be scheduled, and invoices that need to be sent, it’s easy to see how pest control teams can struggle to get everything done.

• I can’t offer around-the-clock availability to answer calls 

When the work day ends, exterminators want to go home and enjoy their time away from clients, but calls don’t stop coming in. When your team isn't available to answer the phone, leads can and will be missed, as over 27% of leads call outside of regular business hours. Sure, pest control companies like yours may want to offer accessible customer service around-the-clock, but it's often unrealistic and unmanageable for them to provide, especially with a limited in-house staff.

If your pest control team is suffering from any one of these frustrating scenarios, an answering service can help by allowing a trained professional to take these tasks on for you. A pest control answering service will give your team the support they need by taking on some of the more time-consuming and frustrating responsibilities for them. Our virtual receptionists can address and resolve most of the tedious issues your team faces. Whether your pest control company needs additional support call handling, spam blocking, or lead qualifying, Smith.ai's virtual assistants can be of service. By eliminating the need to allocate time to screening calls and answering clients’ questions, your pest control business can get back to focusing on more important work without neglecting your client relationships.

Like most every business, pest control companies often find themselves in compromising situations that require outsourced assistance to resolve. Some of the most common reported problems are:

• I can't answer all of the incoming calls and messages from clients

With a limited staff and a never-ending list of assignments, pest control companies may find it a challenge to answer calls and respond to client messages in time, leading them to fall behind in capturing and converting leads they need. Attempting to successfully keep any business up and running while still providing high-quality customer service and lead qualification can quickly lead to poor performance in both.

• I can't be productive because I'm spending a large portion of my day on administrative tasks

With the cost of in-house receptionists being as high as it is, pest control teams are left to delegate administrative tasks amongst themselves. Despite spending a large portion of their day getting these office duties done, technicians and exterminators are usually unequipped to balance their specialized work with their overwhelming administrative duties. 

• I’m missing out on new leads because I can't answer their calls

Though they may try their best, pest control technicians and exterminators are often too busy to answer every phone call that comes in. By prioritizing their work, they fall behind on responding to new inquiries, so, despite their efforts, potential leads will be missed.

• I can’t respond to potential clients as quickly as my competitors

A common complaint from most pest control companies is how challenging it is to stand out amongst their competitors. Providing quality customer service through quick and thoughtful responses can place any business in good standing with their current and potential clients, but many pest control businesses lack the free time between appointments to do so. 

• I'm struggling to capturing and convert new clients

One of the most crucial, yet challenging aspects of building a successful business is finding and converting new clients. With so much time and effort being spent towards existing clients, pest control businesses may not have the ability to seek out and convert new clients. With slow response times, frustrated potential customers won't likely sit around waiting for a response, resulting in severely impacted client loyalty and retention rates.

• I'm unable to store and track of all of my clients’ data properly

Maintaining detailed phone records and call summaries isn't a simple task for pest control companies who likely disperse client data across a multitude of software platforms. Knowing how, when, and why clients call is crucial for any business hoping to successfully maintain and improve their client relationships, but when workloads get overwhelmed, technicians and exterminators find their client relationships are often the first to suffer.

If your pest control business is facing one or more of these challenges and struggling to overcome them, a virtual receptionist service may be useful for you. One of the many accommodating features of Smith.ai is that our services fit your business needs, not the other way around. Our virtual receptionists can allocate time where you need it most and address the specific issues your business face, whether you need additional support answering calls, book consultations, or sending invoices. Sign up risk-free with our 14-day money-back guarantee and see how Smith.ai’s virtual receptionists can alleviate the problems your pest control company faces.

When considering a virtual receptionist service, a good place to start is to consider which areas of your business your team could use additional support in. To figure out which services your business might benefit from the most, ask yourself which problems or challenges your team faces that a virtual receptionist service can help to address:

• Does your business struggle to maintain responsiveness after-hours? 
• Does your business have issues collecting payments? 
• Does your business require additional call handling support? 
  

Whatever it may be, Smith.ai’s virtual receptionists can adjust their service to better suit your business needs. 

After that, think about what services would best fit your company’s activity level: 

• Is your team distracted by constant phone call interruptions?
• Do you receive more text messages than calls?
• Would your business benefit from 24/7 phone answering or would you prefer a particular time frame, such as 9-to-5, for answering calls? 
  

Whether you get twenty calls a month or 2,000, Smith.ai can customize your virtual receptionist service to fit your business activity so you only pay for what you need. 

All you have to do next is sign up. Getting started with Smith.ai’s virtual receptionist service is simple and fast. No annual contracts, no setup fees, and no need to supply scripts. 

Follow three simple steps:

1. Customize your instructions – Just answer a few, quick questions about your firm and the preferences you have and we’ll get you started. We’ll use your answers to customize the way our virtual receptionists answer your calls and your clients’ questions. 
2. Send your calls to us – We work with every phone system and can set up customized rules for when we answer your calls. Or we can answer every call, 24/7!
3. Try risk-free with our 14-day money-back guarantee – Fully experience our call answering, scheduling, payments, and other phone services completely risk free for 14 days. If we're not the right fit for you, get your money back up to $1000 within the first 14 days.

Whether your business is looking for a full-time virtual receptionist or an overflow or occasional phone answering service, Smith.ai can offer customized assistance to your team with quality customer service, lead screening, and sales development. When you sign up with Smith.ai, you won’t just be gaining a virtual receptionist service, you’ll be gaining a professional, reliable, and friendly team who are guaranteed to transform your business by capturing leads and delighting current clients. 

‍Learn how to get started with Smith.ai’s virtual receptionist service.