Most pest control owner operators make the same mistake when they start their business. They position themselves as the cheap local option. They think that’s the smart play to get customers in the door.
Here’s the problem: it doesn’t work long term. Yeah, you might get some business, but you’re not going to be profitable. You’re going to struggle to grow. And you’re going to attract the worst customers who demand the most and pay the least.
After building Pest Badger into a $10 million company, I’ve learned that positioning yourself as a premium service isn’t just a good idea. It’s non-negotiable if you want to build a real business.
Let me show you why and how to do it the right way.
Why Most Pest Control Companies Get Positioning Wrong
Here’s the typical story I see all the time:
Someone works as a technician for a pest control company. They run their route every day. They see how much revenue they’re doing per route per year. And they think, “I could do this on my own.”
That’s the evolution of 90% of the industry.
So they go start their own company. And what do they do? They look at the prices the company they left was charging and think, “I’m going to undercut them.”
Here’s what they’re missing: they’re thinking like a technician, not like a CEO.
As a technician, you have incredible value. You know the service like the back of your hand. You’re extremely knowledgeable. People should pay for that knowledge.
But when you position yourself as the cheap option, you’re telling the market your expertise isn’t worth much.
The Death Spiral of Budget Pricing
Most people get into pest control and position themselves one of two ways:
- They take all the prices in their market, get an average, and put themselves somewhere in the middle
- They put themselves at the bottom and call themselves “Affordable Pest Control” because they want to undercut everyone
Both strategies lead to the same place: struggling to grow.
At first, it seems fine. It’s just you. You’re not really paying yourself a real salary. You don’t have to pay a technician. You don’t have to pay a CSR. You don’t have a whole lot of overhead. You have a truck that’s your own, some equipment, and you do your services.
At that stage, you’re making decent money, or so it seems.
Then you need to grow. You need a second truck. You need to hire someone. And that’s when you realize the truth: you don’t have enough profit margin at the end of each service to cover the cost of all the extra expenses.
Second truck. Second set of equipment. More product. Labor costs. Taxes. CRM to keep track of employees. Overhead.
It’s hard to grow a company when you can’t afford to hire another technician.
The 80/20 Rule of Pest Control Customers
Here’s another reason to position yourself as premium: not all customers are created equal.
In any industry, there’s always going to be low hanging fruit. People who want a really cheap service. And nine times out of ten, you’re going to bend over backwards for these people. You’re going to go above and beyond. They’re paying the cheapest amount, you’re doing a million callbacks, and they’re just hard customers to deal with.
Compare that to a customer who has the money to spend on services like pest control to keep their home protected.
They’re not thinking about the dollars. They’re thinking, “I want to keep my home and kids safe.” To them, $250 quarterly is not a big deal. It’s a different type of customer.
And you never hear from that customer. Or hardly ever. I’ve had customers we’ve been servicing for five years and I’ve never heard their name come up. Not good, not bad, nothing. They’re just happy it’s done. That’s what those people want.
It’s the classic 80/20 rule. The top 20% of your customers might generate 80% of your revenue, and they’re also going to be the easiest to deal with. There’s even an 80/20 of that 80/20, which ends up being more like 99/1.
Those are the clients you’re trying to grab.
We Raise Prices Every Year (And We're Happy to Lose the Bottom 20%)
At Pest Badger, we regularly increase our prices every year. And we don’t mind losing the bottom 10 to 20% of customers who can’t afford the premium service or don’t want it.
Those aren’t the customers we want anyway.
When you’re positioned as premium, you can afford to let the price shoppers go. They’ll find someone cheaper. And that cheaper company will deal with all the headaches that come with serving customers who only care about price.
Look at the Biggest Companies in Your Market
Here’s something that should tell you everything you need to know about pricing and positioning:
If you look at almost any market, the best company in that service industry is also charging the most. Whether it’s plumbing, HVAC, lawn care, or pest control, the biggest, most successful companies are the premium option.
Why?
Because they typically know what they’re doing. They know how to value their service. They know what their break even point is. They know their profit on each job.
They have the nicest trucks. They have the best skilled technicians. They’re recruiting really good technicians because they can pay more.
It’s hard to do all these things if you’re barely making any money off each job.
Premium Positioning Starts with Branding
When you position yourself as premium, your customers want a nice looking truck in their yard.
Here’s the reality: customers don’t want a pest control truck in front of their house to begin with. They think, “What are my neighbors going to think? They probably think I have bed bugs or something.”
They don’t want your truck there. But if they’re going to have a truck there, they want a nice, clean, professionally branded wrap truck that looks super dope in their yard. They want to be able to say, “Hey, I’m using this company. They’re super awesome. I can afford these people.”
It ties into their reputation with their neighbors. Everyone wants status. If you have a random beat up truck or a company with a sketchy reputation, people are actually going to think less of you.
The Components of Premium Positioning
So we’ve established it’s clear you want to be a premium service company. How exactly do you do that? What are the different components?
Great website? Professional trucks? A mascot? Uniforms?
The answer is: it’s everything.
I’m going to bring up Dan Antonelli here because he said something in his book that I’ll never forget: Your brand is the hubcap, and all your marketing are the spokes of the wheel.
Every little spoke is part of your wheel, and if you have a few spokes missing, it’s just not going to roll as easily. Your brand is in the middle of the hubcap, and all your marketing revolves around your entire brand.
So to answer the question: it’s not just one thing. All those things have to be working together to get that wheel to spin.
It’s like pushing a boulder downhill. It’s super hard to push at first. But once you get some momentum going and your wheels are all spinning, it all starts rolling downhill. It’s hard to stop that train now.
The Non-Negotiables for Premium Pest Control Branding
Here are the things I consider absolute must-haves:
1. Killer Website
Your website has to look good. It’s got to match your brand. It’s got to match your character.
We went for cartoonish effects that match Buggy the Badger. We have fences on there that look like characters from kids’ shows, like cartoons. We wanted to be more friendly and kid friendly.
Your website is often the first impression people get of your company. Make it count.
2. Professional Truck Wraps
Your trucks are rolling billboards. They need to look incredible. Clean, professional, branded.
This is not an area to cut corners.
3. Quality Uniforms
Your technicians represent your brand. They need to look the part.
4. A Clear Tagline
You need something short and concise that tells people what you’re about without them even knowing what your company does.
Our tagline is “Have a Pest Free Day.”
I didn’t even come up with it. One of my guys, Tyler, who I’d been working with for a couple years, actually came up with the idea and had it on his truck. I loved it so much because it was exactly what we wanted.
Now our technicians say it as the last thing before they leave a customer’s house. Our CSRs end phone calls with it. We use it across all our messaging and marketing.
Every single person who hears it laughs. It’s our take on Qwik Trip’s “See you next time.” Why do they say that? Because they plan on seeing you again. They know you’re coming back.
Ours is the same. Every time we show up, customers know they’re going to have a pest free day. It positions us as happy, almost fun. It’s memorable.
How to Position Your Pest Control Company for Premium Pricing
If I were starting a pest control company today or repositioning an existing one, here’s exactly what I’d do:
- Stop thinking like a technician, start thinking like a CEO – Your knowledge and expertise are valuable. Price accordingly.
- Calculate your actual costs – Know your break even point. Know your profit per job. Build in room to grow.
- Invest in your brand – Website, trucks, uniforms, messaging. All of it matters. This isn’t optional.
- Create a clear positioning statement – What makes you different? What makes you premium? For us, it’s professional, friendly, and kid focused.
- Develop a memorable tagline – Something that reinforces your positioning and sticks in people’s minds.
- Build systems that support premium service – You can’t charge premium prices and deliver budget service. Your operations need to back up your positioning.
- Don’t be afraid to lose bottom tier customers – They’re not your ideal customer anyway. Let them go to your cheaper competitors.
- Raise your prices regularly – We do it every year. The customers who matter will stay.
The best companies in every market are charging the most. That should tell you everything you need to know about the relationship between pricing, positioning, and success.
We talk about positioning strategies like this all the time in our free Facebook group, Pest Control Millionaires. Over 2,000 active pest control owners sharing what works, asking questions, and helping each other build premium brands that can actually grow.
And if you want the complete blueprint for building a pest control company that dominates your local market, check out Zip Code Kings. Danny, Jake, and I break down everything from positioning to pricing to creating a brand people actually want to do business with. It’s the pest control marketing bible.
The bottom line? You can’t afford to position yourself as the cheap option. Premium positioning isn’t just for the big companies. It’s how you become a big company.
