What is Paper Costing Your Pest Control Office?

Running a pest control office has MANY expenses. Payroll, chemical costs, and equipment are all major factors affecting your bottom line, but the cost of paper is often overlooked. Most companies are SHOCKED to see what they are really spending on paper costs. It is estimated that a 5% decrease in operating expenses results in the same effect as a 30% increase in sales. Eliminating paper costs is the best thing you can do for your pest control office right now.

Cost breakdown

If you are looking for a quick summary, look no further. The most common sources of paper costs include service notifications, billing invoices/statements, and service agreements. Each has an associated paper/ink cost and labor cost. Labor costs include the time required to fill out document as well as enter it into your existing software.

Avg. Per Item

Service Notification

Billing Invoices

Service Agreements

Data Entry Labor 

$0.18

$0.65

$0.97

Labor at $10 /hour

3

1.5

5

Item Cost

$0.50

$0.25

$0.83

Annual # Per 1,000 Customers

5,000

2,000

300

Cost 1,000 Customers

$3,400

$1,800

$540

Total paper costs per 1,000 customers per year:

$5,740!!

**Assumptions:

• Each customer will receive an average of 5 services per year (4 quarterly and a re-service or standalone service).

• Envelope cost: $.07, Paper / Ink Sheet: $.09, Stamp: $.49

• Average of 2 statements per customer per year required to collect balance

• Number of agreements based on signing up 30% more customers each year to keep up with attrition and slight growth

Paper Clutter and Storage

In addition to being expensive and inconvenient, paper is also messy. There is nothing more depressing than walking into work in the morning and seeing a stack of paper on your desk. Especially in our industry, invoices get dirty, matted, crumpled up and covered in chemicals. Storing these documents (as often required by law) can be expensive, take up space, and be hard to manage. Eliminating paper from your office will immediately improve your working environment by decluttering the work space.

Employee Satisfaction

No employee enjoys data entry or stuffing envelopes. The truth of the matter is: there is ALWAYS a more effective use of time for employees than dealing with paper. Eliminating paper allows you to focus your time and energy on improving customer service, calling new leads, and collecting money. It also improves morale as employees no longer have to spend their time on mundane tasks.