Why is it important to set up a follow-up sequence and convert these leads over time? Is it even worth it to set up something like that?
The first thing I want to say is attention spans have shifted. Humans nowadays have incredibly short attention spans.
I’m Jake Sheldon, co-founder of Pest Control Millionaires. I own a portfolio of service based businesses including pest control, cleaning, movers, and more. And I can tell you, what happens is people are on a platform and they fill out their info and they’re interested in whatever service it may be that we’re promoting and they just forget.
They’re scrolling, they’re scrolling, it’s already gone. And so if you’re not calling them, following up promptly, they could have just forgot. And so it’s really, really important that we continue to follow up with them because the attention spans are so, so short now.
The Dentist Story That Changed Everything
I’ll actually give a perfect example of this. I wanted to get my teeth whitened and I needed to get them cleaned because I hadn’t done it in a while. And I was like, “You know what? I really need to do that.”
So I looked up some dentists in my area, just on Google. And I got a call while I was looking them up. Didn’t book anything, didn’t find a dentist. So I just kind of let it go.
And then I was back on Facebook and I was scrolling and I saw a dentist ad about some great teeth whitening ad. And I was like, “Dang, as a marketer, I was like, wow, that’s a great ad. I’m going to fill that out.”
So I filled out the offer. It was a great years to support offer. I think it was like a free teeth whitening if you purchase a cleaning. And so I was like, “Oh, what a great offer.” Because teeth whitening is like $300. It’s like a $300 offer, free teeth whitening. I was like, “Oh, this is great.”
So I filled it out, and then they called me, but I was on a meeting. I was on a Zoom meeting. I couldn’t answer.
And then they left me a text like, “Hey, we got your info,” blah blah blah. Didn’t answer. I didn’t call them the next day, because I just forgot.
The next day they called me again. I was in a Zoom meeting. I was like, “Crap.” And I already knew who it was, because it said “Maybe Whatever Dentistry.” I was like, “Crap, I really need to get that offer.”
They texted me again and said, “Hey, do you still want the offer?” I said yes, but it was too late for them to call me. This is how it goes.
They called me a third day, and they were following up. Great follow up on their end, by the way.
They called me the third day. Again, I was in a meeting. I couldn’t actually answer. A fourth day, same thing. Fifth day, I finally signed up the fifth day and I apologized to them.
I was like, “I actually know what you had to do to get me on the schedule. I’ve been on the other end before as a pest control owner. Thank you so much for following up with me.”
That was super important and they earned my business.
And now, they have me on a recurring teeth cleaning. I ended up getting the teeth whitening, all that good stuff. So that was worth it for them because now I go up there every six months.
Really, really, really valuable story there is don’t give up on your leads. Just because they’re not answering doesn’t mean they don’t want your service.
A lot of people think that if they’re getting ignored right away or if someone’s not just buying instantaneously, it doesn’t mean they’re not interested in your service.
Because I was interested in that service and I still didn’t sign up till the fifth day. It’s just the way we are as humans, the way things have progressed in society. You have to do the follow up.
People Are Busy All the Time
I love that term, earn your business. And the other reality is that people are busy.
People, especially with the attention span of a goldfish, there’s a reason for that. It’s that people are busy all the time. People are always doing something.
You’re either working all the time and then all of your free time you’re spending, you might be scrolling, you might be watching a movie, you’re trying to spend time with your family. People have very little free time now. There’s so much that takes up your attention.
So basically you really shouldn’t feel bad about following up with leads. And it’s not like you’re doing them a disservice. Pest control is actually valuable. Your company is actually good. So why not follow up?
Exactly.
One Text and One Call Every Day Minimum
Let’s talk about what that first week actually looks like. What should that first week look like for a pest control owner? Maybe the lead didn’t reciprocate. They didn’t answer the call. For some reason they didn’t close. What should that first week look like?
At minimum you need to be sending them at least one text and do at least one phone call every day for five to seven days.
For some people that sounds crazy. But we do much, much more. We actually do 21 touch points in our company.
Yeah. Which I say that to a lot of people and they think I’m a psychopath. Might be true. But we close a really high percentage of our leads.
We of course use virtual assistants, which we’ll go over in a little bit. But I like to do a lot of touch points in order to make sure we’re following up with that lead properly. Make sure we’re not missing out on any business.
Because we’re paying for that lead. We did the branding. Maybe we ran Facebook ads. Maybe we ran a directory. We already paid for it. So we want to squeeze as much juice as we can out of that paid platform or even organic marketing.
I don’t want any leads to slip through the cracks.
You Won't Get One-Star Reviews
I’m sure it’s really good for business, but do people get annoyed at this? Will you get one star reviews or hurt your reputation doing this?
I’ve actually never in seven years gotten a one star review from following up too much.
I will say for some people, we’ll fall up them, we’re four days in and they’re like, “Oh my gosh, stop calling. You’re calling me way too much.”
And I’m okay with that because the amount of leads that we close because we follow up a lot makes it so worth it. Because those people are closing.
You will, if you’re following up like we do, you will get people like, “Oh my gosh, you know what, I don’t even want to go with you because you follow up too much.”
I’m just being honest. It does happen. But it happens so little that it doesn’t matter and we just continue to do it anyway.
Email Isn't What It Used to Be
Does email play into this at all?
Email isn’t looked at as much as it used to be. So we maybe send out a few emails. I think it’s only two emails that we send out in a seven day sequence.
We like to use email for people who are already clients of ours. Reactivation campaigns, upsell campaigns, referral campaigns. Those are great for your follow up for current clients.
But if they’re people who are looking to get the service, email is important to do a few. But you don’t need to blast them with an email every day for seven days.
We Never Give Up on a Lead. Ever.
So we covered the first seven days. Let’s cover maybe the next 30 days or so. Is it realistic to close a lead after seven days?
The chances of that happening are slim. They’re not zero, but it’s slim.
We do have some automated software that will text them no matter what. So you don’t have to go and do it. We’ll put them in a reactivation software or follow up pipeline.
And so when we put them in follow up pipeline, it will automatically text them in 14 days. It’ll automatically text them again in 21 days. It’ll automatically text them again in 30 days. It skips and then it goes to every two months. And then it skips that and goes every six months.
We, again, this might sound crazy to some of you reading this, but we actually never give up on the lead. Ever. Ever. Until they tell us no.
If they have to say, “No, I don’t want it,” “No thanks,” or “Stop,” or they will get an automated text message until the day they die.
They will get it forever. And so they have to say something.
Which is kind of funny. We actually closed someone after three years of follow up.
Yeah. So it does work. It does work.
I did it more so just to make sure there were people who were interested in the service at the time. Say they got a mosquito control voucher in May and they just decided not to do that year.
Next year comes around, they get another text that says, “Hey, you were interested in our mosquito control voucher last year. This year we’re doing the same exact offer.”
And people will be like, “Oh, you know what? I wasn’t interested in it last year, but I’m going to go ahead and try it this year.”
And that does happen, especially when you’re running a lot of ad spend and you have a lot of leads coming through. Yes, the percentage may be small, but you could close another 40 to 50 new customers just from a reactivation campaign like that if you are running a big volume of leads.
The Biggest Mistakes
What are some of the biggest mistakes? This is not the first day, but the first week, maybe the first month or so. Is it really just that people don’t follow up at all? Or what are most people doing wrong?
The biggest mistakes I see is just people give up too soon.
Say someone calls them from Google and they missed that call. They’re underneath the crawl space or whatever it may be and they miss it. Well, they’ll call them back and then they’ll give up.
It happens so often. I’m like, “Yeah, so how many times did you call them back?”
They’re like, “I called them back and texted them.”
I’m like, “So you only did a call and a text?”
And they’re like, “Yeah.”
I’m like, “Do you think it’s possible that they might have been at work?”
They’re like, “Well, it’s possible.”
I’m like, “All right, you definitely have to set up some automated sequences to help you in the follow up process. Or even hire someone to help you in that follow up process. Because just because you called them and they missed it because they were probably at work or busy with the kid or whatever it may be, doesn’t mean they’re not interested in your service.”
I talk about that a lot. That’s probably the biggest mistake.
Then of course, just not doing enough follow up. Just like the dentist example I gave you, I was interested in the service. I ended up becoming a client of theirs. But it took them a few days because I’m a busy guy and it was hard for them to get ahold of me.
And that’s going to be a lot of your clients. You have to do more follow up than you think, is what I’ll say.
And I’ve talked to a lot of the largest companies in the US in pest control and they are, not all of them, but a lot of them are fantastic at answering their phone and fantastic at follow up.
This Is Your Job
I’ll sum this up in one sentence: do not give up on your leads. Do not give up on them.
They wanted your service. They were at least interested at one point. Maybe if they, God forbid, chose another provider or they’re trying to do it themselves, then let them tell you that.
But otherwise, this is your job to help them with this problem. They contacted you about a problem. They want help. It’s your job to help them.
They are not, they’re busy people. They’re not going to be avidly reaching out to you. You should be avidly reaching out to them.
Start Following Up Like You Mean It
The bottom line is this: most pest control companies give up after one call and one text. That’s insane.
At minimum, one text and one call every day for five to seven days. Better yet, 21 touch points like we do. Automate it with software so it happens whether you remember or not.
Never give up on a lead unless they tell you to stop. Text them at 14 days, 21 days, 30 days, every two months, every six months. Forever.
I closed someone after three years. That customer is now worth thousands of dollars in recurring revenue. All because I didn’t give up.
You already paid for that lead. Squeeze every drop of value out of it. Follow up more than you think you should. Way more.
Keep Learning and Growing
Want to connect with over 2,000 pest control business owners who are mastering follow up sequences? Join our free Facebook group, Pest Control Millionaires. We share automation workflows, text templates, and follow up strategies every day.
And if you want the exact 21 touch point sequence we use to close leads at the highest rates in the industry, check out Zip Code Kings. We break down the automation software, timing, and messaging that’s working right now.
Now go set up those sequences and stop giving up on your leads.
