The best care for the pet? A fair price?

Sure. But the most important thing a pet owner is looking for is peace of mind.

Peace of mind knowing they have made the right decision by hiring you
(rather than anybody else).

How can you be certain you are properly providing them this trust and
security in the first place?

By asking lots of questions.

Asking questions proves that you are competent, professional and
experienced. It also suggests genuine interest in the person
themselves.

How else are you expected to learn about the individual needs, fears
and desires of each client if you do not ask questions.

You Must Ask The Right Questions.

And I’m not talking about asking the normal questions such as when do
you need service, what’s the feeding schedule, etc.

I’m talking about questions that get to the heart of their true
concerns, and their true fears.

Remember this fact: Every new client you speak with falls into one of
these three categories:

-She has either depended on friends or family in the past for her pet
care needs.
-She has chosen never to leave her beloved pet behind.
-Or she had an experience with a pet sitter in the past and decided
not to go back.

Unless the pet owner just got a new pet, it’s a guarantee she falls
into one of the categories above. And it becomes your job to
determine the What, the Why and the How of the current situation.

This is where it becomes necessary to ask the right questions. Do not
be afraid to ask and do not think it’s none of your business.

It is your business to fully understand the big picture and, more
importantly, to assure the new client that it won’t happen under your
watch.

Doctors do it all the time. When you visit with a new doctor, he will
ask plenty of questions about your past to help determine how to
properly move forward. Without seeing the complete picture of your
history, the doctor can not make a proper judgment going forward.

While we are not doctors, I will argue that a similar level of trust
needs to be established. It’s a doctor’s responsibility to best care
for our bodies, and it’s the pet sitter’s responsibility to care for
the pet owner’s property, belongings, valuables, house, and of course,
furry loved ones.

So, what can you learn by asking specific questions?

If a past pet sitter didn’t promptly return phone calls, you’ll know
to make it a point to return calls to her in a timely manner.

If a friend made a mess of the litter box and ruined the carpet,
you’ll know to take extra special care when cleaning up after the cat.

Remember, it’s these little things that sent the new client running in
your direction.

If you never learn that a prompt phone call is a big pet peeve of this
client, you might not think anything of returning the call in the
evening. Yet, it could cost you like it cost others in the past.

And never forget that she, too, is looking for a qualified person to
serve her in the best possible manner.

All any client ever wants is reassurance that the person they are
trusting with their furry child has the skill, talent, knowledge and
expertise to handle most any situation that arises in a timely fashion
so that she can stay relaxed.

Nobody wants to be at work agonizing if the dog is OK.

Nobody wants to go on vacation having their heart race every time the
phone rings thinking it’s the pet sitter with bad news.

Pet owners want nothing more than reassurance and to place all the
confidence in the world into you.

If they come to you as a new potential client, and they do not
automatically reveal what their past situation was with care for their
pet in the past, it is absolutely acceptable to inquire.

It’s the only way you will be able to do the best job possible.

Plus, I guarantee you, if asked, pet parents are more than happy to
share bad experiences with you.

Not, of course, to bad mouth, but to educate. She will be so thrilled
that you care, and are listening.

That way, you will be able to empathize with her past situation and,
you guessed it, prove to her that you will certainly not let that
happen again.

Here is the one greatest question you can ask new clients to help get
the ball rolling in the right direction.

Don’t be afraid, shy or timid about asking during the initial
conversation (or at the meet-n-greet), “Can I ask what you did in the
past for pet care?”

Your Homework Assignment:

The very next time you are on the phone with a new potential client,
ask her the magic question listed above, and note her answer.

Come back here and let us know the results.

– Josh Cary–

For example, I was having a friendly debate with another pet sitter friend of mine recently and Steve was not convinced that a website is actually all that necessary for drumming up new business. He currently hits the pavement a few times a month revisiting vet offices and pet supply stores with a batch of fliers and business cards.

While I’ve written plenty on the pros and cons of focusing exclusively on a marketing campaign that consists only of fliers, I had to really get to the bottom of Steve’s approach.

Make no mistake here. Steve has a website, he just has given up on trying to use it for his main marketing tool. (I quickly learned that Steve gave up merely out of frustration trying to learn the ins and
outs of how to make his website work. Sound familiar?)

“What kind of response do you get with fliers and business cards,” I asked?

“Eh, you know, not much of anything, really,” Steve admitted.

I then asked him why he continues with a marketing campaign that is consistently not paying off.

“It’s what I’ve been told from other pet sitters as the only thing they do…”

“What kind of traffic are you getting from your website, Steve?”

“How should I know?!”

Steve, apparently, wasn’t using his website to its fullest potential, and sadly, didn’t even realize it! It surprised me that he was not even monitoring how many visitors were sent to his site each day, which pages were the most popular, how long each visitor spent on his site or what keywords they used to find his site.

He went on to say that he read somewhere to stuff his meta tags with various pet sitting-related keywords and that should do the trick.

Here’s what I pointed out to him… Steve is a pet sitter in New Jersey. He offers dog boarding, dog walking and the occasional cat sitting visit. If Steve is told to use a generic set of random keywords for his websites meta tag, he is doing himself an injustice and missing out on a ton of potential traffic.

Here’s why.

Unless you do the proper research based on your specific services and areas that you serve, you’ll have no idea which keywords are the best ones to target. For example, Steve had no idea whether people were searching more for ‘pet sitters in New Jersey,’ ‘New Jersey dog walker,’ or ‘pet sitting NJ.’ He also wasn’t aware that there are literally dozens of other key phrases that people are using to search for his service that he didn’t even consider.

I pointed out to him that unless you do the research and target only the most searched for keywords, you’ll be wasting your time and missing out on a bunch of potential targeted traffic to your website. And, really, that targeted traffic is the only kind of traffic you want since those visitors are more likely to turn into happy, lifelong clients.

Steve allowed me to show him an example using my own website. I run a pet sitting business in New York City. I sat down with him and quickly jotted down a few dozen keywords that I believe someone searching for my pet sitting business would use. Everything from the obvious ‘pet sitting ny’ to the less common ‘dog boarding [zip code]‘ and ‘cat boarding [neighborhood].’

I put the results in a spreadsheet for Steve to see for himself what was happening. He quickly saw that without properly utilizing his website with the most popular keywords and phrases, he was missing out
on the following numbers each month.

10 Sample Search Terms – Average Monthly Search Volume on Google

This is a real sampling of certain keywords and the actual number of searches being performed each month for that keyword:

pet sitting ny – 1600
pet sitting nyc – 170
pet sitting new york – 480
pet sitters ny – 590
dog boarding ny – 2400
dog boarding new york – 1300
dog boarding new york city – 210
dog boarding nyc – 720
dog walking new york – 720
dog walking nyc – 1000

TOTAL MONTHLY SEARCHES 9,190
306 SEARCHES PER DAY!

Steve was blown away. These were just a random sampling of 10 sample searches. He saw that we were quickly able to extract a variety of other popular phrases based on these ten alone.

“What would you do with an additional 306 potential visitors every single day browsing your pet sitting website?” I asked him?

He was still staring blankly at those numbers.

I hope the importance of a good website that works is clear. I use and recommend the WordPress platform for all my websites. It creates clean code that Google will appreciate, and it puts an end to your website building frustration with its ease of use.

And I hope the importance of proper keyword research is even more clear now. You would not want to optimize your website for, let’s say, ‘atlanta cat sitter’ when the phrase ‘cat sitting in atlanta’
gets searched for more often.

This is why you need a website and this is why you need to know which search terms are bringing you the most traffic. You shouldn’t blindly target specific keywords without doing the research first to make sure
you are maximizing your search potential.

The final piece of the puzzle is this; No matter what keywords or phrases you choose to target, you should only target one per page.

That’s right. Target just one keyword or phrase per page. In other words, create separate pages with separate content for each of your services (keywords) that you wish to target.

Target your most popular phrase or service on your home page, then begin to create new page content for all other pet sitting keywords.

Tools to Use:

Google Keywords: https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

Google Analytics: http://www.google.com/analytics/

Please leave your thoughts and questions below.

Human beings are goal-seeking creatures. We are impatient and try, and fall, and try again until we learn to walk. We babble and coo and struggle until we learn to talk.Skinned knees mean nothing in the quest to ride a bicycle. Recently, the world has watched Olympic athletes over-come incredible obstacles in the quest for a medal. When a client tells me they have had a goal, but in the past 6 months they have made little or no progress towards achieving it, I encourage them to ask themselves the following 10 questions:

1. Do I really, really want this goal? It may sound nice, it may be something I should have or might enjoy, but do I really, deep in my soul, want it? Or, not?

2. Is the goal actually just a means to some other goal? Is my stated goal really a way to look good, or to please someone, or a handy excuse to work on something that sounds wonderful while I avoid something I don’t want to do? Great-sounding goals can be a marvelous distraction!

3. Is this goal consistent with my morals and values? Often there is a subtle, unnoticed conflict between our stated goals and our values. For instance, the concept of “fair profit” may be causing confusion, or we may be caught between our goals of building a business and our values of spending more time at home.

4. Is this goal consistent with my beliefs about myself and my abilities? The years of training and total commitment to winning an Olympic medal are only possible if the athlete profoundly believes they have the potential to succeed. Doubts about what is “possible”, or beliefs that life is unfair will undermine performance every time.

5. Why do I want this goal? Having many solid, vitally important reasons for our goals will drive us more powerfully than anything else. “I want to be a doctor to save a child’s life” is a very different reason to stay up and study all night than “because being a doctor might be fun.” Why do you want this goal, and how badly do you want it?

6. Who else wants me to attain my goal? Knowing that family, friends, business partners or the entire world is cheering for us, counting on us and supporting us is critically important. Who else knows about and wants you to achieve your success?

7. How, specifically, will I benefit from achieving my goal? Being clear and specific about the benefits that will come from completing our goals is a powerful motivator. “Reducing my blood pressure will help me live to see my grandchildren” is very different than “If I do this, my doctor will stop criticizing me.”

8. What one critical step can I take today that will move me toward my goal? Some goals are so large or so far off that they are really just dreams or fantasies. A useful goal is one you can work on today. Make an appointment, open a savings account, eat a salad for lunch, tell your spouse you love them – whatever your goal, find a specific task you can do today, and then just repeat it a few thousand times!

9. Are there smaller projects that will both lead to my larger goal, and give me pleasure in the meantime?
If the goal is to run a marathon, train for a local fun-run first! If the goal is to be a millionaire, getting the first $10,000 in the bank is a worthwhile and useful start.

10. Depending on your answers to the first 9 questions, the 10th question is: “Is there another goal, or another version of this goal, that is really much more important and much more doable?” If the first 9 questions haven’t motivated you to action and created tangible, specific results, then ask number 10. Humans naturally seek and accomplish large goals, but we do best when the goal is tailored to our values, priorities and personal situation.

One of the things my pet sitting business prides itself on is
availability. Being accessible to clients and potential clients.
I’ve learned early on that the pet sitting industry is highly
competitive, especially in New York.

I say especially in New York because unlike a rural or suburban area
where the client homes are spread out in driving distance from each
other, New York is so dense that you are competing with at least a
dozen other companies and sitters who can all be at the client’s home
for the initial meet and greet within 10 minutes.

I know the importance of making sure each client gets a live person on
the phone when they call in because they are literally going down a
list of the first ten Google results of pet sitters in New York.

If they call and have to leave a message, they are moving on and very
well may have a conversation with pet sitter #2 and decide to go with
them and their search is over. If I call them even five minutes
later, chances are they will not be open to hearing what I have to
offer.

Side note: There are plenty of responses you can give to a potential
client you call back that says, “Oh, I’ve already spoken with another
sitter. I’m all set now. Thanks anyway for getting back to me…” but
that’s for an entirely different blog post.

I was manning the phones recently and received a call from a potential
client who was calling around for more info. I was in a meeting and
had some errands to finish up so I was forced to send this call
straight to voicemail.

By the time I got back to my desk ready to return the call, no more
than 3 hours or so had past. I call the woman back and one of the
first things she says to me is, “I’m surprised it took you this long
to get back to me. I called you earlier this morning.”

On one hand, I was flattered. Flattered by the idea that from just
visiting our pet sitting website, this woman had already given us the
benefit of the doubt that we are a professional business, running it
in a professional and efficient way.

On the other hand my thought was, “My goodness, this woman is a tough
cookie.” She wants what she wants when she wants it. Apparently, 3
hours was a bit long for her to be waiting for a return call. And her
travel dates were NOT just around the corner.

Here’s the thing… she’s the potential client. She has every right to
make the rules.

Now, I do not mean that she has every right to make the rules on how
we run our business (quite the contrary) but she does have every right
to set the rules through her expectations.

She decided that she wants and expects the pet sitting company she
hires to call back immediately and/or be available immediately.

We as the business owners have to play by her rules (expectations) if
we want her as a client. This is not to say that we have to expose
ourselves and be a whipping post for every potential client that comes
our way.

There are plenty of times a client is expecting too much or becomes
too difficult to deal with that we feel it best to pass and send her
on her way. But the woman who expected a call back before 3 hours
passed is not in that category. We can deal with that.

So where were we? Oh yea, the phone conversation… she just expressed
her surprise that ‘it took that long’ to get back to her.

What do you say in response to her?

“Sorry, I was in a meeting all morning?” “I was running errands?” “I
was busy?”

You could, but it won’t get you very far. Why? Because she’s not
looking for an excuse.

She’s looking for a response. She’s testing you to see how you handle
such a question. If she’s going to establish a long term relationship
with you and trust you with the care of her beloved pet, she needs to
get inside your head a bit.

A drab, even honest, short response won’t do the trick. You need to
be clever and creative and turn the tables back her way – while still
being honest.

Here is the gist of what I say:

“As you know, I put the words ‘Call Anytime’ on our website because we
are available to potential new clients and current clients anytime day
or night.

“However, being consistently reliable and accessible 24/7 can backfire
on us at times. My clients are spoiled with total undivided attention
whenever they need it, that the minute some time goes by and they
haven’t heard from us, they start to worry.

“I understand having the reputation of always answering the phone and
providing unparalleled service to our team can sometimes get me in
trouble on those rare occasions someone catches me in a meeting.

“My motto is this: I like to give each of my clients my undivided
attention and, when you first called, I was in the middle of a first
meeting with a new client and I didn’t want to be rude to pick up the
phone at her place. We were going through the instructions, step by
step, of how to best care for her dog while she’s gone.

“You, too, can be sure that when you become a new client of ours,
you’ll be receiving the same undivided attention so we can do the best
job possible while caring for your pet during your absence. And I’d
never interrupt a call or meeting of ours by taking another call.”

Obviously that reply is long-winded but I hope you see the point.

I didn’t give her an excuse or simply state the reason why I couldn’t
answer the phone, I turned it around and showed her how it would work
in her favor.

There are ways to turn a potential client’s negative comment into your
favor. Remember, the goal of any phone call is to establish trust,
display expertise and build rapport.

So, how would you respond to a potential client saying 3 hours is a
little long to be hearing from you?

So does it have use for your pet sitting business?  It might. As usual, a new method of marketing can be useful depending on the time you have to put into it. Keeping that in mind, sitters do spend their days with a dream that so many others have: ‘Playing with dogs all day.’ Perhaps you can let them escape to a fun-filled life while at work… through you.

Unlike Facebook or Linkedin, your posts are seen by anyone looking for something under a specific pinboard. For example, if you created a ‘board’ called ‘cute dogs’ and began posting pictures of cute dogs, anyone could repost those pictures.

The focus comes in with creating useful pinboard names with pictures / articles people want to reshare. For example, you could put the name of your business… or ‘Cute Dogs in (enter town here).’ Be creative. With so many people now on Pinterest, it is worth it to see if it would work for you.

Here are some statistics of pinterest. Review them and see if it fits the current demographics of your clients.

• About 50% of Pinterest users have children.
• 28.1% of users make over $100,000 per year.
• 68% of users are female
• Average session time for users: Twitter = 3.5 minutes, Facebook = 12.1 minutes, Youtube = 16.4 minutes, Pinterest = 15.8 minutes.
• 1.36 million users per day
• Between July and December 2011, retailer traffic grew 289%
• Pinterest receives more referral traffic than LinkedIn, Google+, and Youtube combined. (More people get to a post on Pinterest than from a referral to the others combined.) People are sharing!
• 27.4% of users are between 24 – 35.

(Source Modea -  http://www.modea.com/)

In sum, the typical Pinterest user seems to be young, upper-middle class, and female.  It just so happens that this demographic is pretty similar to those who also have a passion for dogs.

Do you use Pinterest?

Click on the link, right click and ‘save as.’ Save it to your computer, then place it as your background. (Or, depending on your browser, just click on the photo to expand it. Then right click and choose ‘set as background image.’

Thank you anonymous artist!

March - Click to view full picture

April - Click to view full picture

May - Click to view full picture

June - Click to view full picture

July - Click to view full picture

August - Click to view full picture

September - Click to view full picture

October - Click to view full picture

November - Click to view full picture

December - Click to view full picture

The basic idea of client retention is to be there for them; be empathetic and do whatever you can for them. People have a general need to feel connected and acknowledged. So many business owners tend to focus on getting new clients rather than improving relationships with current clients. It is easier and more cost effective to focus on current clients than on getting new clients.

Here are some specific things you can do to improve customer satisfaction:

1. Remember birthdays

When a client signs up, ask for the dogs birthday. You can place their birthday in a separate and searchable field in your software program, but you need to remember to search for birthdays in the next week. You could also enter these birthdays into a program like Google Calendar. You’ll then receive an email, text, or pop-up to tell you it’s the dogs birthday. (You can also invite the client to the pet’s birthday & it’ll seem like they’re getting automatic reminders from you.)

Get the owner’s birthday, too! Be sure to send them a gift certificate or a thank you card on their birthday. Facebook is a great way to find people’s birthdays.

2. Let them know you

Keeping in mind business etiquette; be transparent with your clients. Tell them where you want your business to head, get their input. Tell clients how many stops you currently have. Tell them when you’re done with their house (or when you get there.) Leave them fun notes. Compliment them on their home and talk a little about yourself; it’s okay. Be human. Connect with them.

I told a client how much I loved walking their dogs, but I was sad because at some point the route would become full and an employee would have to walk their dogs. I prepared them for the transfer months before it happened. This gave me the opportunity to reassure them how I looked for staff and who my ideal walkers were. When the new walker came on board, they were already a part of the family.

3. Go Tech

There are reward and reminder apps out there for smart-phones. If a sitting client hasn’t had an appointment in a while, you can automatically remind them or give them a discount to sign up within a time limit. Check out the following apps to see if they work for your business: Cardigan, LoyalTree, or QR Rewards.

4. Answering Machine Hell

Don’t you hate calling someone and getting their voicemail? Not only do you need to listen to their long message, but you usually need to listen to the annoying ‘If you would like to leave a message, press 1’ post-voicemail announcement. Do whatever you can to have a human pick up the phone when someone calls. Studies show that consumers are happier with a call center taking a message, than having to leave a voicemail. If you need to let the call go to voicemail, change your voicemail. With many cell phones, you can hit a number (or the pound sign) and go right to the beep. Try telling people to press pound to leave a message and see if it improves over-all happiness. Whatever the case, if the client leaves a message be sure to call them back as soon as possible.

5. Good Impressions

If first and last impressions are most noticed, then the other impressions are your opportunity to further your consistent branding. Follow up with the client, via email, snailmail, phone call, (but not text) after the first meeting. Don’t be impersonal. Don’t treat them as a ‘routine’ client. Follow up to ask them how the first care visit went. Follow up after a week and then a few weeks. Make sure you are both on the same page in regards to their expectations and your services. Tell them you appreciate them and you’re excited to work with them. Leave a good impression.

6. Thank you.

Please say ‘Please & Thank you.’ Thank you. Be sure to be appreciative of your client. They don’t need to be with your company, but they are. Enough said.

Do you have any more tips? We would love to hear from you!

Mark these on your calendar! Let client’s know how ‘in the know’ you are by supplying them with this list of pet-centric holidays throughout the year. These are all holidays created by different organizations in order to raise awareness. By posting them on your Facebook wall, announcing them to workers, or creating a celebration around a certain day you help your business in multiple ways: It creates a fun environment (Squirrel Appreciation Day), it shows your company has compassion for certain causes (Pet Theft Awareness Day), and it gives you some great things to blog / share with your clients.

We scoured the internet to find these, so if you happen to know of any we missed on this list PLEASE let us know. We’ll certainly look into them!

January

• January – Walk Your Pet Month

• January – Train Your Dog Month

• January 5 – National Bird Day

• January 14 – National Dress Up Your Pet Day

• January 21 – Squirrel Appreciation Day

• January 29 – Seeing Eye Dog Day

February

• February – National Prevent a Litter Month (HSUS)

• February – National Pet Dental Month (AVMA and American Veterinary Dental Society)

• February – Responsible Pet Owners Month

• February 2 – Sled Dog Day

• February 4 – Thank a Mailman Day

• February 7-14 – Have a Heart for Chained Dogs Week- Dogs Deserve Better

• February 14 - Pet Theft Awareness Day

• February 20 – Love Your Pet Day

• February 22 – Walking the Dog Day

• February 23 – International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day

• February 28 – Spay Day USA - Doris Day Animal League & HSUS

March

• March 3- What If Cats and Dogs Had Opposable Thumbs Day

• March 4-10 – Professional Pet Sitters Week - Pet Sitters International

• March 18-24 – National Poison Prevention Week

• March 20 – International Earth Day

• March 23 – National Puppy Day

April

• April – Prevention of Animal Cruelty Month (ASPCA)

• April – National & International Pet First Aid Awareness Month

• April – National Pet Month

• April – Prevent Lyme Disease in Dogs Month

• April 7 – Everyday is Tag Day

• April 10 – ASPCA Day

• April 10-16 – National Animal Control Appreciate Week

• April 11 – National Pet Day

• April 15-21 – National Pet ID Week

• April 17 – Pet Owner’s Independence Day

• April 15-21 – National Pet ID Week

• April 22 – Earth Day

• April 24-30 National Scoop the Poop Week

• April 26 – National Kids and Pets Day

• April 28 – International Guide Dog Day

• April 28 – National Arbor Day

• April 28 – World Veterinary Day

May

• May – Be Kind to Animals Month

• May – Chip Your Pet Month (HomeAgain)

• May – Go Fetch! Food Drive for Homeless Animals Month

• May – National Pet Month

• May 1 – MayDay for Mutts

• May 6-12 – National Pet Week (AVMA)

• May 6-12 – Be Kind to Animals Week

• May 12 – Animal Disaster Preparedness Day

• May 20-26 – National Dog Bite Prevention Week (HSUS)

June

• June – Adopt A Cat Month

• June – Adopt a Shelter Cat Month

• June – National Microchipping Month

• June 13 – World Pet Memorial Day

• June 17-23 – Animal Rights Awareness Week

• June 21-25- Take-Your-Pet-to-Work Week

• June 22 – Take Your Dog to Work Day - Pet Sitters International

• June 23 – Great American Backyard Campout

July

• July – Dog House Repairs Month

• July 3-August 11 – Dog Days

• July 31 – National Mutts Day

August

• August 5- National Assistance Dog Day

• August 5-11 – International Assistance Dog Week

• August 20 – International Homeless Pet Day

• August 26 – National Dog Day

• August 30 – National Holistic Pet Day

September

• September – National Guide Dogs Month

• September – AKC Responsible Dog Ownership Month

• September – Pet Health Insurance Month (Canada)

• September – Pet Smile Month

• September – Senior Care Health Month

• September – World Animal Remembrance Month

• September 9 – National Pet Memorial Day (International Association of Pet Cemeteries)

• September 15 – Responsible Dog Ownership Day

• September 15 – Puppy Mill Awareness Day

• September 23-29 – National Dog Week

• September 23 – Dogs and Politics Day

• September 23-29 – National Deaf Awareness Week (Deaf Dog Education Action Fund)

• September 28 – World Rabies Day

October

• October – Adopt a Dog Month (AHA)

• October – National Pet Wellness Month

• October – National Squirrel Awareness Month

• October – National Animal Safety and Protection Month (Emergency Animal Rescue Service – United Animal Nations)

• October – Adopt a Shelter Dog Month

• October 1 – Fire Pup Day

• October 2 – World Farm Animals Day

• October 4 – St. Francis of Assisi’s Feast Day/ World Pets’ Day/World Animal Day

• October 14-20 – Squirrel Awareness Week

• October 14-20 – National Veterinary Technician Week

• October 10 – National Pet Obesity Awareness Day

• October 16 – National Feral Cat Day

• October 20 – Pit Bull Awareness Day

November

• November – Pet Cancer Awareness Month

• November – Pet Diabetes Month

• November – Wishbones for Pets Month

• November – National Pet Awareness Month

• November – Adopt a Senior Pet Month (Petfinder.com)

• November 4-10 – National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week

• November 17 – National Black Cat Day

• November 18-24 – Puppy Mill Action Week

• November 23 – Fur Free Friday

December

• December – Safe Toys and Gifts Month

• December 2 – National Mutts Day

• December 15 – Cat Herders Day

• December 21 – Underdog Day

Are there any dates that need updating? Did we miss anything? Please click on ‘contact us’ or leave a comment and let us know!

1. Give customers more than they expect

Whether from promises you place on your website or from what others do in your area, know what your customers expect from you and then do more. For example: If you ordered non-rush product from me with a 5-7 day delivery with free shipping, you would be happy. If you then received the product next day you would have a lasting impression of ‘wowness’ with my company. Even if I could probably always send it next day, I wouldn’t tell you that because you would expect it. Know what you can offer. Promise their expectations and then wow them with more. (Read ’Delivering Happines’ by Zappos CEO Tony Hseih)

So how can you do this with sitting?

• If you have extra time between visits, make longer visits and make sure to tell the client about  their bonus.
• If the client lets you make a spare key, make an extra one for the client.
• When you set up an initial visit with a client, find out their availability schedule. If you plan to meet them within a few days, see what you can do to meet them later that day (or asap)… and tell them you were able to squeeze them in because you are very excited to have them as a client.
• Take a client to breakfast… or golfing… or anywhere the client likes. (We had a walker who took a client on a Chicago day cruise because the client’s husband would never pay to do a tourist thing in the city he lived.

2. Know your clients.

Know your client’s hot buttons. On a large scale, you can send out surveys to current clients to see what they like and don’t like about your offerings. Some clients are more apt to respond honestly to a survey.

Talk to you clients. Even if you don’t get them Christmas cards or cards for special occasions in their life (baby birth, etc.) talk to them about it. If someone is having a baby, post articles on your website about introducing babies and dogs… and be sure to send it to them. Be their friend and learn about them. Know their habits and help them make informed decisions about whatever you can (especially their dogs.) (Think of the popularity of Amazon’s ‘Other People Have Bought’ recommendation.)

3. Respond IMMEDIATELY to problems

As a consumer, you should know how annoying it is to reach out to someone and not get a response for a few days.  Businesses that do large amounts of business have call centers that answer the phone. This is because they people are unhappier if they’re waiting on someone to get back to them. Be quick about solving problems with a great solution.

And don’t believe that if you created a problem with a client, you have lost them as a client. Much of the time, you can keep the relationship going… and if you hone your skills, you can usually use the mistake as a bonding point between you and the client. Let’s say you missed a dog walk one day. Be calm and call the client as soon as you know. If it was your fault, admit it. If it was there fault, don’t blame them… help them know for next time. Be honest and sincere. Be sympathetic towards the dog (Are they okay? Is the house okay?) and listen to the client’s feelings. Understand them. Show empathy.  By the end of the call or when you speak to them a few hours later explain how you created a fix for the problem and thank them profusely for helping you find an error. Give the dog a gift basket or free visits. (GO over and above an apology.) The point is to make sure everything is okay and then do more to make sure the dog (or the client) is happy.

4. Keep In Touch

It’s natural for relationships with certain clients to become closer and further away at times. It gets busy running a business. Set up a reminder in your calendar to take an hour a week to contact clients you have not spoken with in a month: send them a personalized e-mail, call them, do something to reach out to them. A handwritten ‘thank you note’ outside of the pet visit only has to be three sentences… and you’re usually at their house so you don’t even have to put a stamp on it.

5. Be personable

As much as people try to make relationships with a ‘business,’ relationships are mostly about people. You can grow your business and clients can trust the types of people your company hires, but if you are not personable… if your staff is not personable, things will shut down.

Being a larger or more productive company is great, but when it loses the human touch for profit it loses spirit. If you dislike a client, they still have every right to get an equal taste of your company as the next person. Also keep in mind that just because you dislike them, you might not dislike people who they refer to you. Be a person to your clients, not just a robot for a business.

6. Reward your customers.

Because who does not like seeing a return (or at least a little perk) on their investment. Yes, their pets are happier. Yes, their house is well cared for. Gift exchanges are sometimes expected during the holidays; they lose their luster and get mixed in with all the other corporate gifts. Do it in March… or July.

We saved our pennies and bought our clients $15 gift cards to Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, or whatever coffee /snack place we knew they liked. It took some research, but we used them for birthdays or little (otherwise pointless) moments of celebration:‘Yay! It’s your dog’s 29^th walk with us and that’s how old he is in human years! Happy golden walk!’…or… ‘Yay! Milo didn’t chase after any squirrels today! I’m glad you and I (client and dog walker) are working on training him together. In honor of this, I award you with a gift card.’ Or to our one die-hard & jovial Bears fan: ‘Yay! Bears beat the Packers this weekend! Scruffy barked at your neighbor (Packer’s fan) and wagged his tail when he saw someone in a Bear’s Jersey. Well-trained! Please accept this gift card in celebration.’

Gift ideas: dog treats, gift certificates, free walks, ‘extended’ walk gift certificates, items with their pets pictures on it… (I like shutterfly or cafepress.com.)

Make your interactions with them enjoyable and memorable. Create a fun environment your clients will enjoy… and most of them will praise you for it. Be human and enjoy yourself.

Happy learning,

Paul Franklin
APSE Board Member

For MORE ways to ensure client happiness, join us! Learn what other sitters do to create happy clients. New membership levels include business consulting, coaching, and more!

Learn about our virtual conferences

Don’t forget to join us on February 14th @ 4pm PST for our interview with Zappos Insights!

Association of Pet Sitting Excellence

Why should promotions just help ‘the lead’ and ‘the business?’ Too often businesses have a promotion and make it completely self-serving. I recently attended a conference on marketing to a specific niche where they strongly encouraged squeeze pages. Pages where you can watch a video or get a download, but you need to enter your email to ‘get more.’ They do work, but I tend to think of them as the god-awful-sales-pitch website that has the “obnoxious extra-loud voice playing that stuns you like a deer in headlights before remembering the mute button.”

Those are so typical and they turn people off. It’s like hearing an advertisement on tv: you either fast forward through it or try to use the washroom before commercial break ends. It can be so interruptive and … cheap feeling. So how can we DO MORE for our audience? How can we make our audience LOOK GOOD just for interacting with us? How can we be genuine?

After a brain storming session, this is one idea we decided to try:

First: As business pet service business owners, we have asked ourselves (and have been asked by others): ‘Are service associations worth the money?’ This question has been posed in so many different places, that we wanted to give business owners an ‘example’ of what they can expect to get with us. Let’s give out one of our best webinars. But then we improved it. Just offering 1 thing bores people. It’s not enough incentive. What happens if we give away 5 days of relevant content for ANYONE to look at? Though it’s only 5 days, we decided it might convince people. (Then we added an extra event just to make it better.)

We have hundreds of business offerings inside; will 5 be enough for a good taste? We are putting our name on the line and letting others review it publicly. But that’s still not enough. How could we improve the sitters experience even more? How could we directly help a sitter make a business transaction they might not otherwise do? Then we had the idea…

Second: The Association of Pet Sitting Excellence (APSE) is picking a random pet sitter and donating up to $500 (in the sitter’s name) to the sitter’s shelter of choice. (Click here to enter.) Picture yourself going to your local shelter with a check for $500.00 & showing them your support. Talk about good PR and networking! You might even offer to buy them ‘new parent kits’ for new pet parents (with your name on them.) The sky is the limit.

APSE went out and got a sponsor to split the funds. Rover.com, a nifty pet sitter search engine, is donating up to $250 of the final prize. In return, we mention their name and thank them profusely for caring. We don’t give them any personal information regarding the sitters who sign up. We mention their name and everyone is happy.

The more sitters who enter, the more money you can give your local shelter. (Plus you get 5 days of material that will improve your pet sitting business!)

It is a few promotions in one. The sitter who wins $500 will build a relationship with a local humane society. Pets at the humane society will benefit. The humane society will benefit. The sitter will hopefully get more business from the humane society. Ideally, this is how it will work.

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When you do promotions, keep them fun. Follow the advice of Bob Burg and have your actions help others as much as possible. With enough of a reach, good will, and attractiveness, people will start flooding in.

It’s okay to get sponsors and work with others. Be confident. Help others.

Happy marketing,

Paul Franklin

(Do you have any promotions that have worked really well for you? I’d love to hear about it! Send me a note at: pfranklin@petsittingexcellence.com)

PS – CLICK HERE to be a part of this current promotion. I hope you win the $500.00!