| Course | BUS 499 Senior Capstone |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 7 |
| Paper type | Recommendations and implementation plan |
| Length | About 1,127 words, 7 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Aspen University |
| Program | Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for BUS 499 Module 7
Same Technician, Monthly Billing and a Promise to Come Back: Recommendations and an Implementation Plan for Keeping Pest Control Customers
Student Name
Business Administration Program, Aspen University
BUS 499: Senior Capstone
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Same Technician, Monthly Billing and a Promise to Come Back: Recommendations and an Implementation Plan for Keeping Pest Control Customers
The previous module set out the evidence on Prairie Shield's cancellations. Four findings stand out. First, customers billed per visit had about twice the odds of canceling as those on monthly automatic payment. Second, customers who saw changing technicians had about 2.3 times the odds of canceling. Third, an unresolved complaint was the strongest single factor, while a complaint resolved within 48 hours was not associated with cancellation. Fourth, first-year customers canceled more often, and several had expected one treatment to end their pest problem for good. The price increase showed no clear effect. This module recommends what the company should do.
Recommendation 1: Present Monthly Payment as the Default
At sign-up, customer service staff and the website should present monthly automatic payment of $43 as the standard option, with per-visit billing of $129 available on request. Madrian and Shea (2001) showed that people tend to stay with whichever option is presented as the default, which suggests many new customers would choose monthly payment if it were offered first. Thaler and Sunstein (2008) argue that such nudges are justified when they help people achieve what they would choose on reflection, and when they are transparent and easy to avoid. Prairie Shield's customers do not pay more under monthly billing, the choice will be stated clearly, and customers will be able to switch or cancel by phone or online at any time. Existing per-visit customers will be offered the monthly option by letter but not switched without their consent.
Recommendation 2: Give Each Home a Primary Technician
The routing software allows a preferred technician for each account. The service manager should divide the city into stable territories, assign each technician a territory and set every home's preferred technician accordingly, so that customers see the same person for most visits. Customers will receive a short message before each visit naming their technician. When a technician leaves, customers in that territory will receive a letter introducing the replacement.
Recommendation 3: Promise to Come Back Within 48 Hours
Because unresolved complaints were the strongest factor and resolved complaints were not, the company should promise a free return visit within 48 hours whenever pests come back between scheduled visits. To keep that promise during busy months, the company should add a part-time technician dedicated to callbacks from April through September. The customer service supervisor will call each customer five days after a callback to confirm the problem is solved.
Recommendation 4: Explain Preventive Service to New Customers
First-year customers will receive three short messages: at sign-up, explaining that quarterly treatments create a barrier that prevents pests rather than removing them once; after the first visit, describing what was treated; and before the first renewal, summarizing the year's visits and any problems resolved.
Implementation Timeline
Kotter (1995) found that change efforts often fail because leaders skip steps, such as establishing urgency, building a guiding coalition and communicating a vision, or declare victory too early. The plan follows his steps.
| Months | Kotter's step | Actions |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Establish urgency and form a guiding coalition | Owners, service manager and customer service supervisor review the findings and lost revenue |
| 1 | Develop and communicate the vision | Staff meeting: one technician per home, a promise to come back |
| 2 | Remove obstacles | Configure territories and preferred technicians; hire callback technician |
| 2 to 3 | Short-term wins | Launch default monthly billing and onboarding messages; report first month's callbacks |
| 4 to 12 | Consolidate gains | Monthly review of measures; adjust territories |
| 13 to 18 | Anchor in culture | Add retention measures to technician and service reviews |
Who Owns Each Change
Each recommendation needs a named owner, or it will drift. The customer service supervisor will own default billing and the onboarding messages, including the scripts staff use at sign-up and a monthly count of customers choosing each payment method. The service manager will own territories and the callback promise, including hiring the part-time technician and reporting how many callbacks met the 48-hour standard. The owners will review all measures together each month for the first six months and quarterly after that, and they will decide when territories should cover the whole city.
Telling Customers About the Changes
Customers should hear about the changes in terms of what they gain. Existing customers will receive a letter introducing their primary technician and the new promise to return within two days if pests come back. The letter will mention the monthly payment option without pressure. New customers will hear the same promises at sign-up, which also gives sales staff a stronger message than price.
Costs and Benefits
The benefit estimate assumes that retention rises by 8 percentage points among about 3,400 customers, keeping roughly 272 customers who would otherwise leave, each worth $516 a year. This is a cautious target, well below the gaps between groups in the findings, and it excludes savings on advertising to replace lost customers.
| Item | Estimated annual cost or benefit |
|---|---|
| Part-time callback technician, six months | $28,000 |
| Longer drive times from fixed territories, about 6% more route hours | $19,000 |
| Onboarding and visit messages | $2,400 |
| Staff training, one time | $3,000 |
| Total first-year cost | About $52,400 |
| Retained revenue if twelve-month retention rises from 61% to 69% | About $140,000 |
Measures of Success
| Measure | Baseline | Target at eighteen months |
|---|---|---|
| Twelve-month retention of new and renewing customers | 61% | 69% |
| Share of customers on monthly automatic payment | 56% | 70% |
| Visits by the home's primary technician | 60% of homes with continuity | 85% |
| Callbacks completed within 48 hours | Not tracked consistently | 95% |
Risks
Fixed territories will increase drive time when one area is busy and another is quiet; the service manager will allow technicians to cover neighboring territories during peaks while keeping the primary assignment. Technician turnover would undo continuity; the company should consider whether pay and scheduling contribute to turnover. Some customers may dislike being offered automatic payment first; staff will be trained to present both options plainly and to record any complaints about the approach.
What the Evidence Does Not Support
The findings do not support cutting the price, which showed no clear association with cancellation, or launching discounts to win back former customers, since the reasons customers gave were about service rather than cost. Spending on these would address a problem the data did not find.
Conclusion
Four changes, each tied to a finding, give Prairie Shield a practical path to keeping more customers: monthly billing as a transparent default, one technician per home, a promise to come back within 48 hours and clearer explanations for new customers. The plan costs about $52,400 in its first year and could protect about $140,000 in annual revenue. The final module reports the project as a whole and reflects on what it taught.
References
Kotter, J. P. (1995). Leading change: Why transformation efforts fail. Harvard Business Review, 73(2), 59-67.
Madrian, B. C., & Shea, D. F. (2001). The power of suggestion: Inertia in 401(k) participation and savings behavior. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 116(4), 1149-1187. https://doi.org/10.1162/003355301753265543
Thaler, R. H., & Sunstein, C. R. (2008). Nudge: Improving decisions about health, wealth, and happiness. Yale University Press.
Reading the BUS 499 Module 7 assignment instructions
Aspen describes BUS 499 as an applied, pragmatic project whose findings should be of value to the student's organization, so a recommendations module usually asks students to turn findings into a practical plan. Follow the Module 7 instructions posted in your classroom; this example treats them as recommendations with an implementation plan. Link every recommendation to a specific finding, so the reader sees the evidence behind it. Make each recommendation concrete enough that someone could start on it next week. Consider ethical and practical concerns, not only benefits. Estimate costs and benefits with stated assumptions. Lay out who does what and when. Define how success will be measured and when the company should review progress. Name the risks and how to manage them, and say clearly which ideas the evidence does not support.
How the BUS 499 Module 7 example is put together
The paper begins by restating the four findings in a sentence each. The first recommendation makes monthly automatic payment the option presented first at sign-up, with per-visit billing still offered, and discusses Thaler and Sunstein's view that nudges should be transparent and easy to decline. The second asks the routing software to assign each home a primary technician by territory. The third creates a 48-hour return-visit promise, staffed by a part-time technician, with a manager's follow-up call. The fourth adds three onboarding messages for first-year customers. A timeline groups tasks under Kotter's steps, from building urgency to anchoring the changes. A table estimates costs and retained revenue. A measures table sets targets, and the risks section covers longer drive times, technician turnover and customer reaction to default billing.
Reading the BUS 499 Module 7 grading rubric
Recommendation chapters are judged on the link between evidence and action, the feasibility of the plan, the quality of cost and benefit reasoning and attention to risks. This example ties each recommendation to a numbered finding, so the logic runs from data to decision without gaps. Costs and benefits are estimated with assumptions written out, including how retained revenue was calculated, and the estimates are presented as ranges of likely outcomes rather than promises. Kotter's Harvard Business Review article on why transformations fail organizes the timeline, Thaler and Sunstein's book frames the ethics of defaults and Madrian and Shea's study explains why defaults work. A measures table with baselines and targets lets the owners judge progress. Stating what the evidence does not support, such as cutting the price, shows disciplined thinking.
Common BUS 499 Module 7 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Module 7 drafts often propose actions with no root in the evidence, such as proposing a loyalty program when the data pointed to service failures. Map each recommendation to a finding. Another is vague advice like improve customer service; say what will change, who will do it and by when. Estimate costs honestly, including staff time, and explain how you calculated benefits. Consider ethical concerns, especially when a recommendation uses customer psychology, such as default settings. Include measures with a baseline and a target so the owners can judge later whether anything improved. Name risks and side effects. Keep the number of recommendations manageable; four well-supported changes are more useful than ten loosely connected ideas. Finally, note which recommendations can start immediately and which need approval or money.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Aspen University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
More BUS 499 and Business Administration sample papers
- BUS 499 Module 1: Topic and Proposal
- BUS 499 Module 2: Problem and Questions
- BUS 499 Module 3: Literature Review
- BUS 499 Module 4: Method and Data Plan
- BUS 499 Module 5: Gathering the Evidence
- BUS 499 Module 6: Analysis and Findings
- BUS 499 Module 8: Final Report and Reflection
- BUS 320 Module 5: Pricing Decisions
- BUS 495 Module 5: Exchange Rate Exposure
- BUS 225 Module 1: Courts and Jurisdiction
- BUS 454 Module 1: Ethics and the Stakeholder View
BUS 499 Module 7 questions, answered
What does BUS 499 Module 7 usually ask for?
Aspen's BUS 499 asks for recommendations and an implementation plan at this stage, so a paper turning your findings into practical actions with costs, timeline and measures is typical. Check your classroom prompt.
How do I link recommendations to findings?
State the finding first, then the action it supports, and explain why the action should change the result the finding describes.
Is it ethical to make automatic payment the default?
It can be if the default benefits customers, is disclosed clearly and is easy to change; hidden or hard-to-escape defaults are not acceptable.
Where can I find a free BUS 499 Module 7 sample paper?
The complete plan is shown above: four recommendations from a pest control retention study, with a timeline, a cost and benefit table, success measures and risks.
How should I estimate the benefits of a recommendation?
Use your own data where possible, state each assumption, show the calculation and present a cautious estimate rather than the best case.