Certified Lights Case Study

About The Company 

When their father became too ill to work, the Young brothers took over the family pest control business in Houston, TX. They soon opened two new branches in Dallas and Corpus Christi. Five years later, they elected to dissolve their partnership and sold the main office in Houston. Scott Young took over the Dallas location and grew it to include offices in Austin and San Antonio. Then, in 2015, he decided to make a move that would change the direction of the company forever.

The Challenge 

With several years of steady and aggressive growth, Scott Young was quickly becoming exhausted by the endless cycle of hiring and training new employees in the spring just to let them go when business inevitably slowed down in the winter. He began investigating different options to help maintain the company’s growth and keep his team members engaged during the colder, slow months. 

After hearing that a handful of companies were finding success with holiday lighting services, Scott became intrigued. He began evaluating whether these new seasonal services could be the answer he was looking for. He got busy running the numbers, learning everything he could about the business, and training his team. In 2006, he decided to take the plunge and give it a try. 

At the same time, Scott was growing increasingly frustrated with his current software provider. He began searching for a new solution to help maintain his team’s momentum. Specifically, he was looking for something that would be easy to use and train new employees on. He also wanted access to better reporting, with easier access to his data, in order to gauge the effectiveness of his new services and make better strategic decisions for his business.

The Solution 

Scott spent years searching for a new software partner, to no avail. No one seemed to have the right combination of features and ease of use that he was looking for. Then, he was reintroduced to an old colleague, FieldRoutes (formerly PestRoutes) CEO, Jared Green. 

“We used another software company for 10 years,” said Scott. “And every year, we were like, please, somebody come out with a software that’s easier to use; that’s more functional. Then along came FieldRoutes. We met with them and immediately liked what they had to offer.” The up-and-coming system had all the features they were looking for, and Scott was happy with the simple user interface. He was also impressed by the company’s willingness to listen to suggestions and add new features. 

In 2015, Scott decided to make the switch.

The Impact 

One of the first things Scott and his team noticed about the new system was how easy it was to use. Training that used to take weeks on the old system could now be done in a day. “Training new team members on our old software was a nightmare,” Scott reminisced. “As a growing company, we’re always looking to hire new team members. The ability to train someone in like a day as opposed to two weeks is huge.” 

“There’s been a lot of benefits,” said Ashely Bowser, Account Manager for Certified Lights. “The reporting is super beneficial. But scheduling is my favorite feature.” The team was also happy with the mobile capabilities FieldRoutes had to offer as well as the customer payment portal which allows their customers to make online payments instead of sending paper invoices.

The new lighting services were also having a big impact on the growing business. They now had steady work all year long, their field employees enjoyed the change of pace and work variety, and the company was able to add new, more affluent clientele to their business. Armed with their FieldRoutesTM software and a successful way to maintain growth over the winter months, Certified was able to grow from a little over $3 million in 2015 to nearly $6 million within just three years. 

In 2018, after several years of smooth service and steady growth, Scott made the decision to sell the pest control side of the business and completely transition over to holiday lighting services. “FieldRoutes helped a ton for us in pest control alone. But it has been instrumental in our transition to a holiday lighting company,” said Scott. “We’ve grown a lot over the years, and FieldRoutes has been right there growing alongside us.” 

With FieldRoutes, Certified’s seasonal contractors—who are brought on during the now-busy winter months—are able to train and get up and running quickly. Scott now has quick and easy access to the key metrics needed to make data-driven decisions for his business. The company’s margins have also dramatically improved since making the transition, and its higher-end clientele has helped make payment collection issues a thing of the past. 

Recently, the company has made another important pivot—offering hands-on training workshops to help those interested in adding holiday lighting services to their business. The future has never been brighter for Certified Lights.

Since implementing FieldRoutes, Certified Lights has experienced the following: 

• Grown to become a $5 million+ per year company 

• Successfully sold their pest control business and completely transitioned to holiday lighting services 

• Improved their renewal rate to 85% 

• Increased net margins to around 30%

“FieldRoutes was a savior for us. They were a big part of our growth. It’s been a great ongoing relationship, and it continues to be so.” – Scott Young President Certified Lights www.certifiedlights.com