Announcing the Winner - and Pre-Release Special

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Pet Business QuestionI’m excited to announce that Rhonda Pederson of Paradise Pet Sitting is the winner of my survey competition and will be recieving a free copy of my Secrets of Pet Business Success Package. Congratulations Rhonda!

Thank you to everyone who filled out the survey and let me know what they want to see here on Working with Pets. I’ll do my best to get you the information you requested.

It’s not too late to submit your survey and get your free copy of the Hub Pages guide.

 Click here to visit the survey

I will be releasing Secrets of Pet Business Success later this month. You can get my pre-release special offer (a big discount! ) by visiting now and signing up for the pre-release notification list. 

Get more details on the successful petrepreneurs that I interviewed and sign up to make sure you get your pre-release discount offer right here.

Avoiding and Dealing with Difficult Clients

Filed Under My Pet Business, Pet Business Tips | 1 Comment

Dealing with Difficult ClientsDifficult clients come in many forms - picky people, constant complainers, fault-finders, and the worst of all - angry customers.  Setting expectations early, and living up to your promises can head off most of these problem people.

When you do run into problems, treating customers with respect and empathy, listening to their problems and then taking swift action is always the best solution. Research indicates that customers who complain are likely to continue doing business with you if they fell they were treated properly and their problems addressed. 

In the past 3 years I have had very few angry clients. I believe that prevention is always better than cure. Having good processes in place and working hard to provide your clients with peace of mind while you care for your pets will ensure happy customers.

Before we discuss how to deal with angry customers here are some of my tips for angry customer prevention:

1) Set clear expectations by accurately describing your services on your website, in your sales materials, and at the initial client interview.  Make sure the customer knows exactly what they will and will not recieve as part of your service. Ensure that your pricing policies are clear and client understands what they will be charged.

2) Leave pet clients a note every time you visit or provide a service for their pets that details the time that your service was performed, how their pet behaved, anything unusual that occurred, and what services were completed.

3) Encourage clients to call to check up on their pets while they are in your care. You will find that many clients do not call but knowing that you are available will give them confidence.

4) Send a confirmation email to clients before their services commence. Give them the contact details of the person that will be caring for their pets. 

5) Give clients a card or keyring with you business contact numbers that they can carry with them so that they can easily contact you if there are changes to their plans such as flight delays. 

If you do have to deal with an angry customer then you should follow this 5 step plan:

Respect :  Remain in control of your emotions and respect the clients need to express their greivances. 

Empathy:  Put yourself in your customers shoes and see the problem from their perspective. 

Listen: Let the customer vent and listen attentively to undertand the source of their frustration. Don’t try to cut them off or urge them to calm down. Acknowledge their feels and when you feel that they are finished say “I’m sorry you’re experiencing this situation, let’s take a look at the next step”

Identify the problem: Restate the problem to them to confirm that you’ve understood the heart of their issue. 

Resolve the problem: Leave the customer with the understanding that your goal is to resolve their problem. Give them a time when you will call them back and then do your best to make the calls, or get the information to get the problem solved. Get back to the customer at the time promised even if you haven’t yet resolved the issue to give them status. This will let them know that you are trying your best to get things fixed. 
 
Follow this plan and you will have done everything you can to keep their business.

Remember that prevention is easier than cure. Look at your business processes and see where you can improve your customer service and put measures in place to ensure that clear expectations are set before you care for your clients pets.

If you’ve found a system or approach that works please share it with us by leaving a comment after this blog post.

Creating a Pet Business Website that Grabs Attention

Filed Under My Pet Business, Pet Business Tips | 4 Comments

In my recent survey several of you expressed interest in learning more about getting a website online to market your pet business. My website has been one of my best marketing tools - I always ask new clients where they found me and most of the time I hear that they found me online.

A website gives you a great opportunity to educate prospective customers about your service and tell them why you are a good fit to care for their pets. A good website will differentiate you from your competitors and make your customers choice easy.

There are several essential pages that you need on your site to make a good case:

1) An about you page

2) A testimonial page

3) A page that explains how your service works

4) A page that explains your rates

5) A page that explains your policies

It is also a great idea to have a page where they can make a reservation online. This way you capture their information instantly and can give them a call to discuss the details.

I have two articles that I’ve written for this blog that will give you more help with your website:

5 Steps to Creating a Client Attractive Website

5 Reasons Why You Must Have a Website for Your Pet Care Business

Another resource I can offer you is a new teleclass by Karen Greenstreet called “Creating Small Business Websites That Grab Attention” that begins on July 17th. I enjoy reading her newsletter each week and she gives some good advice. Her class runs for 6 weeks covers the following topics:

  • What makes a good web site design that’s both appealing and usable, while accomplishing your marketing goals at the same time.

  • What visitors really want to find when they visit your website

  • How to choose effective page layouts and colors for your site.

  • The keys to powerful website text that sells your products and services.

  • How to critique websites (including your own!) in order to apply this knowledge to your own website.

  • How to effectively market your website to get more traffic to it.

  • Which website statistics are important to track for the success of your business.

  • What to look for in a website designer.

Karen will be recording the class so you can listen to the calls when it fits your schedule. I spent too much money hiring a designer to put together my website when I first launched my pet sitting business. I wish I had invested some of that money in a class like Karen’s!
Click here to get more details on the class

Pet Sitting Business Growing Despite High Gas Prices

Filed Under My Pet Business, Pet Business Tips | 3 Comments

High Gas PricesThis was the news in the Fort Worth Star Telegram in an article published last week. Several of you expressed concern about rising gas prices in my survey last week and they are certainly a valid concern when so much of our business is driving to our customers homes. This is cutting into pet sitters profits.

The good news is that the rising gas prices are not reducing the demand for our services. The article predicts that the pet sitting business is will again increase by 7% in 2008.

So what is the solution to higher gas prices? The article suggests that many sitters in my area are cutting their services areas and giving away clients that are more than a 7-10 mile drive. That’s a solution that will cut their gas expenses but these pet sitting businesses spent a lot of marketing time and money to get those clients that they are now giving away.

Some other solutions are:

1) Increase your per visit charge by $2-3. Before you change your rates send out a letter to your clients explaining the reason for your the increases. I have done this twice in the last 5 years and have not lost any clients. Your clients will understand that your expenses are rising and you need to cover your costs to ensure you can provide their pets the same level of care.

2) Put a mileage charge in place only to clients that live outside a 10 mile radius of your home. Explain to these clients that you need to charge them $2-3 more per visit to cover your fuel costs. Again, most clients will prefer the convenience of keeping the sitter they are comfortable with and pay a additional fee rather then having to find another pet sitter.

3) Find and hire contract sitters that live closer to your clients. If you have several clients in one area why not find another pet lover who can service these clients needs and won’t have to travel far from home. If you don’t have enough work to support the sitters work needs then ask if they will help you with marketing to build up your business in their area by handing out flyers door to door or at the local dog park. Give them a bonus per visit for new clients they bring in as an incentive.

3) Trade in your car for a more fuel efficient model. If your car doesn’t get great gas mileage you could think about trading down to a smaller model that you can use for sitting visits.

4) Plan out your daily route so that you reduce your daily travel distance. Use Google maps to schedule visits so that you take the most efficient route.

These are all alternatives to giving away those clients you’ve worked hard to get. Remember that keeping an existing client is always cheaper than finding a new one. If you have no alternative but to give away clients, why not network with other local pet sitters and see if you can trade or swap clients and reduce both your gas expenses.

If you have any other suggestions please share and leave a comment after this post.

Free Gifts for You - The Wonderful Web Women Giveaway Event

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Wonderful Web Women Giveaway

  Today I have a wonderful gift for you. The community at Wonderful Web Women have banded together with invited friends to create a collection of over 200 gifts for you. This is a really unique event which is only available for 3 weeks. You can sign up here to choose as many of these gifts as you like.

Click here to view the gift directory and get your free gifts!

Many of these gifts have been created especially for this event and are donated by men and women from all walks of life. Here are just a few of the topics covered:

  * tools to help you build an Internet business
 * ebooks and audios on personal development
 *  ideas and help on starting a business
 * Health and lifestyle gifts on yoga, weight loss and skin care
 * fun things like books and videos on music, recipes, jewelery making and gifts for children created by children

There are so many great ideas and the value of the gifts is easily more than $ 10, 000.

Enjoy!
Danielle

P.S. The Giveaway event is only open for 3 weeks. It may take you that long to download all your gifts so sign up as soon as you can. 

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