The pest control sales season is shorter than the year it pays for. Most door-to-door pest companies sell the bulk of their new accounts in the warm months, then bill those customers for service long after the season ends. Understanding that loop explains almost everything about how pest sales organisations plan, staff and measure their year.
Why Pest Control Has a Season at All
Insects follow the weather. Activity rises as temperatures climb, and the pests homeowners notice most, from ants to wasps, are a warm-weather problem. Rollins, the parent company of Orkin, notes in its annual filings that termite swarms in spring and summer lift demand, which is why pest companies treat those months as their main window for winning new customers.
The effect shows up clearly in public numbers. Rollins reported revenue of $822.5 million in the first quarter of 2025 and $999.5 million in the second, a rise of more than a fifth from winter into spring.
Why One Summer Sells a Whole Year
The sale is seasonal; the revenue is not. Most residential pest control is sold as a recurring service plan rather than a single treatment, so a customer signed in June keeps paying through the winter and, if the service is good, into the next year.
Industry data shows how dominant that model has become. The National Pest Management Association reports that 85.4% of US residential pest control revenue was recurring in 2025, across roughly 13.3 million residential customers, in an industry that reached $13.4 billion in revenue.
The Pest Calendar, Month by Month
Every company runs its own calendar, but the broad shape is similar across the trade.
- January and February: planning. Companies set targets, choose markets and plan routes. Reps who sell in summer are often choosing which company to join.
- Spring: the ramp. Rising temperatures bring the first calls and the first heavy weeks of selling, with termite season adding urgency in many regions.
- Summer: the peak. Summer sales programmes put the most people on doors, and much of the year’s new business is written in these weeks.
- Autumn: keeping what was sold. New sales slow, and attention turns to service quality and renewals, because the season’s accounts only pay off if they stay.
- Winter: the base. Recurring plans carry revenue through the quiet months, while warmer markets keep selling year-round.
What a Short Season Does to a Sales Organisation
Compressing most of the year’s selling into a few months has knock-on effects that pest leaders talk about constantly.
- Pace matters early. A slow first few weeks are hard to make up when the season is short.
- Quality matters late. An account that cancels after its first visit cost as much to win as one that stays for years.
- Density matters throughout. Accounts that sit close together on a route are cheaper to service, which shapes where teams sell in the first place.
Staffing a summer programme is its own discipline, and outside the scope of this article. Recruitomatic covers hiring for seasonal sales teams.
How the Season Shows Up in Company Results
The seasonal pattern is visible in the largest pest company’s results. Rollins’ revenue climbed from the first quarter of 2025 into the second and stayed above $1.0 billion in the third, as the warm months carried new business and seasonal services. Its residential business grew organically by around 5% across those quarters, a reminder that steady recurring revenue sits underneath the seasonal swing.
The wider industry expects that growth to continue. In NPMA’s latest survey, 66.8% of pest control companies said they expected residential revenue to grow in 2026, while 36.8% said a shortage of technicians was limiting how fast they could grow. A strong selling season only helps if a company can service what it sells.
What Pest Teams Watch During the Season
- New accounts. The headline number, and the one most summer programmes are built around.
- Early cancellations. Accounts that drop before or soon after their first service, which reveal how well the season is really going.
- Route fit. Whether new accounts sit close to existing ones, since scattered customers are more expensive to serve.
- Renewals. The measure that decides whether a summer’s work turns into next year’s revenue.
Year-Round Pest Selling
Not every pest company runs on a summer cycle. In warmer markets insects stay active for much of the year, and some companies sell steadily through every season. Even there, recurring plans are the core of the model, so the same logic applies: the sale is the start of the relationship, not the end of it.
Where January Fits
Because the season is planned in winter, January is when pest teams compare notes on the last summer and set up the next one. That is the reasoning behind Pest XP at D2DCon 10, which runs on January 29–30, 2027 in Sandy, Utah. For other pest events across the year, see the 2027 home service sales events calendar.
Sources: National Pest Management Association / Specialty Consultants, 2025 industry data (2026); Rollins, Inc. quarterly reports and annual report for 2025.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is pest control sales season?
For most door-to-door pest companies it runs through the warm months, building in spring and peaking in summer. Exact dates vary by company and climate.
Why is so much pest control revenue recurring?
Most residential customers buy an ongoing service plan rather than a single treatment. NPMA data shows 85.4% of residential revenue was recurring in 2025.
Is pest control sold in winter?
Yes, especially in warmer regions, but at lower volumes in most markets. Winter is also when existing recurring plans keep revenue coming in.
Planning your next pest season? Pest XP at D2DCon 10 is built for route builders and the companies behind them.