Price increase letter to pest control customers
Copy it, replace the bracketed bits, send it. Below the letter: the text-message version, how much notice to give, and what to say when they push back.
Hi [NAME], Your contract renews on [DATE], so here is a quick look back before the numbers. Over the past year we made [N] scheduled visits and [N] callouts. [ONE-LINE SUMMARY — e.g. "Rodent activity at the rear loading door stopped after the proofing work in March, and the bait stations have been clear since."] From [DATE], the contract moves from [OLD PRICE] to [NEW PRICE] per [MONTH / VISIT / YEAR]. The main reason is how the job itself has changed. The rules around rodenticides have tightened, and we now monitor first and bait only where the evidence calls for it. That is better practice and it keeps you on the right side of any audit or inspection — but it takes more of the technician's time on site. Product and fuel costs have gone up alongside it. Your visit frequency, your technician and your reports stay the same. If you would like to review the scope — for example, moving from [MONTHLY] to [EIGHT-WEEKLY] visits now that activity is down — I am happy to talk through what that would mean for the risk. [YOUR NAME] [BUSINESS NAME]
How many customers can this price rise lose?
10% ÷ (40% + 10%) = 20%
Open the full calculator, with your prices and customer count →30 days before the contract anniversary, in writing
5–8% at contract anniversary
The text-message version
For the customers whose entire relationship with you lives in a phone. Send it before the visit, never on the invoice.
Hi [NAME], [BUSINESS] here. Your pest contract renews [DATE] at [NEW PRICE] — details and a summary of this year's visits are in your email. Call [PHONE] with any questions.
Why it is going up, in words you can use
“Rising costs” persuades nobody because everyone says it. Name the actual driver in pest control instead:
- rodenticide rules have tightened, so more monitoring and more non-toxic methods, which means more technician time per visit
- professional-use products and bait stations cost more every year
- fuel and vehicle costs on a route that covers a lot of ground for short visits
- technician licensing and training renewals
When they push back
You will hear these within a week. Having the answer ready is the difference between holding the price and folding on the phone.
- "We haven't seen anything in months — why are we paying at all?"
- This is the objection that follows every successful contract. "That is the contract working. The stations are what tell us nothing is getting in." Point to the visit log. If they still want to cut, offer a lower frequency rather than a cancellation — reinfestation costs them more than a year of visits.
- "Can you just hold the price one more year?"
- Offer a longer term instead: current price for 24 months in exchange for a two-year contract. A held price with nothing in return becomes next year's baseline too.
- "Our food safety auditor only needs a contract, not this one."
- Do not argue about the auditor. Say: "The auditor needs a contract and the records. Ours has [N] years of history on your site, and a new firm starts from zero at your next audit." Continuity of records is the thing a switch really costs.
Is a price rise even the right move for you?
Sometimes it is not. Sometimes the money is in a service plan for customers you already have, or in the job you are quoting below cost without realising. Describe your business in one sentence and you will get three specific moves back — priced per month, with the arithmetic written out so you can put your own numbers in.
Free, no signup, about thirty seconds. If one of them is a price rise, you will get the number to put in the brackets above.
Give me three movesMore letters: home and outdoor
Other trades
A template, not legal advice. If you have a written contract with these contract customers, check what it says about notice periods and price changes before you send anything — the contract wins over any template, including this one.