Learn the Success Secrets of Pet Sitter of the Year Rob Nager

Last night I interviewed Rob Nager – recently crowned PSI Pet Sitter of the Year to learn the secrets to his successful pet sitting business Decadent Dog in Needham MA.  On the call we discussed how and why he started his business 7 years ago, how he got his first customers, marketed the business, and his process for screening and hiring his team of dedicated sitters. If you sent in questions or joined us on the call – thank you – we had a great call that lasted almost 2 hours.

Some of Rob top tips were:

1. Market directly to people that you know are pet owners. Check whether your city requires pet owners to register their dogs and cats.  If they do you can obtain a list of pet owners, their address, their pets name and breed from the County Clerk’s office.  Send out flyers or postcards to this list advertising your service. Rob has never paid for yellow pages or online directory advertising. He marketed his pet sitting business through flyers, posters, car signs, and word of mouth referrals – and of course his website!

2. When you hire staff ask yourself – would you leave your own pets in this persons care for a weekend? If you can’t honestly say yes, then they are not the right person to hire as a sitter in your business.  Rob will interview anyone who expresses interest in a pet sitter position but has a stringent screening process. He first conducts an in person interview, then takes the potential sitter on a day of his visits to make sure they understand that they will be picking up poop, may be walking dogs in the rain etc.  Sometimes he also asks them to accompany one of his sitters as they make their daily visits and if he’s still not sure – then he may have his senior staff sitter conduct a second interview.

3. Make sure that your website, logo, and all marketing materials present a professional and consistent image.  He spent considerable time and money designing his logo for Decadent Dog to represent his vision for the business.  Your website and flyers create the first impression to pet owners so you need to make sure that convey your commitment to quality service and reliable care. Little touches like having a photo gallery of your customers pets on your website make a big impression on potential clients.

Of course in 2 hours we covered a lot of other topics and Rob shared many other suggestions for creating a unique customer experience and exceptional service.

It’s not to late to register to receive the recording of the call.  Just register here and you will immediately receive an email with instructions to either download the mp3 file or listen to the replay online.

If you enjoy the call please consider joining the Pet Sitting Business Success circle. Each month I interview pet business experts and other sitters to bring you tips to grow and strengthen your pet sitting business.

When you sign up you will get instant access to a library of 11 call recordings and transcripts of my past interviews with pet sitters, pet behaviorists, CPA’s and marketing specialists. It’s only $7 to join now. You can get more information about benefits of membership at Pet Sitting Success Circle.