Background
- Headquarters: Berkeley Heights, NJ
- Locations/Offices: 43
- International Rank: #3
- PCT Top 100: #8 (2020)
In the early 1930’s Sweden had a big problem: bed bugs. The parasitic pests were feasting on approximately half of all the residents in the country. William Albert Flick, a dairy farmer from New South Wales with experience treating termites on his farm, saw this problem as an opportunity. In 1934 he founded Anticimex, translated from the Latin meaning “against bedbugs”, Flick provided his customers with a highly successful “no bed bugs” guarantee. From there Anticimex has had a rich and impressive history of growth. Now operating in 17 countries, Anticimex is the 3rd largest pest management provider in the world offering not only pest control, but also food safety, building environment services, fire protection and insurance.
In August 2016, Anticimex entered the North American market and have since acquired seven independently operated brands including: Viking Pest Control, Modern Pest Services, American Pest Inc, Waynes, JP McHale, Turner Pest Control, & Killingsworth Environmental. Although each business is run autonomously, collaboration on growth and marketing strategies between the brands is a valued component of their collective success.
Growing Pains
In searching for a partner that could assist them in overcoming obstacles with seasonality, turnover & training, it was Viking that first discovered the advantage of working with Slingshot, a 24/7 sales and customer support solution for home services providers. Once word of Viking’s success with Slingshot spread among the Anticimex brands, others quickly followed suit. Slingshot now provides overflow, after hours & weekend support for five of the seven Anticimex companies.
“We’re really excited with Slingshot’s partnership and the growth we’ve experienced,” affirms Brian Alexson, Vice President of Operations and SMART at Anticimex. “Their team has been efficient in helping us manage challenges with training and turnover. I can’t emphasize enough what a valuable resource they’ve been as a 24/7 contact center solution.”
Revenue Gains
This beneficial partnership evidenced through increased sales, revenue and more positive customer interactions has William Haynes, VP of Marketing and Sales from Modern Pest absolutely ecstatic. “Recurring pest control sales are up 56% YTD!! Our Mosquito/Flea/Tick portfolio of clients is up 53% over last year (sales YoY probably even a bit higher) and in September 2020 we will more than double what we did in Sept 2019 for sales.” He continued, “What is key, is that we are achieving these results with a marketing spend that is down 150k over last year. With Slingshot, we are simply answering the phone when the client rings and converting those leads without wasting money.”
Making more while spending less is exactly what Slingshot has done not just for Modern Pest, but for Anticimex as a whole. In fact, in just the last 12 months, utilization has doubled and new revenue sold is over 2.6 million, increasing ROI to over 500 percent and almost 10X in some locations. Alexson states, “Critical to our performance was expanding our sales calls with Slingshot. They got behind us with a fully-dedicated team within days. Our brands, Viking, Modern, Waynes, and American all have had more intake and more volume with the support of Slingshot.”
With a vision to become the global leader in preventative pest control, Anticimex understands that to reach that goal, relying on fruitful regional partnerships is vital. Aligning with Slingshot has given this international conglomerate the ability to connect and engage with their customers on a local level much like their founder, William Albert Flick, who started with nothing but a promise to help his neighbors live pest free. That one promise has been kept, shared across borders and now strives to lead the world in living more comfortably.
By the Numbers:
- Monthly Interactions: 5000+
- ROI: Q1&Q2: 500% Across all Brands
- New Revenue 2020: 2.6 Mill +
