Picking up the waste removes most of the problem. It does not always remove the smell. Urine soaks into turf, patios, artificial grass and dog runs, and in warm weather a yard can smell even right after the tech leaves. That gap is where add-on services come in. Deodorizing treatments, patio and turf cleaning, and a few other extras can add meaningful revenue per customer without adding many stops to your route. This post covers which add-ons fit a scooping business, how to price and schedule them, the records you should keep, and when and how to make the offer.
Which Add-Ons Fit
The most common add-on is a yard deodorizer: a spray applied after scooping that breaks down odor from urine and residue. Many companies use enzyme-based or bacteria-based products made for this purpose. Others treat patios, decks, dog runs and artificial turf with cleaners made for those surfaces.
Other add-ons that fit well include bag station service for customers with large properties, extra visits before parties or holidays, trash can cleaning, and, if you also run a lawn company, lawn repair for spots damaged by urine. Each one uses the trip you are already making.
Choose add-ons you can deliver well and that make sense for your customers. A list of ten extras confuses people. Two or three clear options, offered at the right time, sell better.
Know the Rules for the Products You Apply
Before you sell a treatment, know what is in it and what the rules are for applying it. Some products sold as yard sanitizers or disinfectants make claims that put them under pesticide rules, and some states require a license to apply them commercially. Rules vary by state and by product.
Read the label, check with your state's agriculture or pesticide regulatory agency, and get the license if you need it. Products that are purely odor neutralizers or enzyme cleaners may have different requirements than products that claim to kill germs. When in doubt, ask the regulator before you apply.
Keep records of what you apply. Recording the product, the amount, the area treated and who applied it on each visit gives you a history for every yard and helps if a customer asks what was used around their pets. Application records per property per visit, logged from the crew app, make that easy. Choose products that are labeled safe for pets once dry, and tell customers how long to keep dogs off the treated area.
Pricing Add-Ons
Price each add-on on its own, based on product cost and time. A deodorizer treatment on a typical yard might take five to ten minutes and use a modest amount of product. Add a margin and price it per treatment, with a larger price for larger yards.
Many companies offer deodorizer as a recurring add-on: monthly, or every other visit, or weekly in summer. A recurring add-on can be set up as its own recurring service on the property at the interval the customer chooses, for example every 28 or 30 days. It then shows up with the scooping visit on those days.
Add the product to your materials list with its cost, so job costing shows whether the add-on is profitable. As an illustrative example, if a treatment costs you $3 in product and eight minutes of labor and you charge $15, it is a solid margin per stop. Track it for a month to confirm. Our pricing post covers how add-ons fit into your overall rates.
When to Make the Offer
Timing matters more than the pitch. The best times to offer deodorizer are at signup (as an option on the web signup form), at the start of warm weather when smell gets worse, and after a visit where the tech notes a strong odor.
An upsell alert can carry the offer to existing customers at the start of each season: "Summer heat brings out yard odors. Add a monthly deodorizer treatment for $15 a visit. Reply YES to add it." Keep it short and give one clear way to say yes.
Techs see the problem first. If a yard smells strong or a patio is stained, the tech can send a crew note to the office, and the office can follow up with an offer. Some companies let experienced techs offer add-ons directly; if your techs can write and send estimates from the crew app, they can price a deodorizer or patio cleaning on the spot.
Scheduling and Doing the Work
Add-ons should ride along with the existing visit whenever possible. A deodorizer treatment right after scooping takes a few extra minutes; a separate trip for it does not make sense.
Make sure the tech knows. The add-on should show on the stop in the crew app, along with any notes ("Treat back patio and dog run only, not garden beds"). After the treatment, the tech logs the product and amount and marks the visit done.
Account for the extra time when building routes. A route with ten deodorizer treatments on it takes longer than one with none. If summer add-ons stretch a route, move a few yards to another day or add help for the season.
Tell the customer what was done. The completed alert can mention the treatment and any instructions, like keeping dogs off the area until it dries.
Lawn Repair for Lawn Companies
If you also run a lawn company, urine-damaged spots are a natural cross-sell. Yellow patches where dogs go repeatedly are common, and the customers who pay for scooping care about their yards.
Your lawn crew can offer spot repair: raking out dead grass, adjusting soil, and reseeding or patching. It is a separate service with its own price, usually done in spring or fall when grass recovers best. A scooping customer who sees their lawn recover is more likely to buy other lawn services too.
Keep the two services on one client record. The scooping notes (dogs, gates, problem areas) help the lawn crew, and the lawn crew's notes help the scooping tech. The pet waste removal software overview shows how both kinds of work run from the same client list.
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