Bob

So much goes into the building of a business: The name, the logo, the website, the marketing—just for starters. That’s a lot of effort aimed at gaining clients and referral sources. And as businesses grow and become more time-demanding, it’s easy to lose track of the details. Good follow-up practices often suffer—an ironic twist given how hard we work to get clients and referral sources in the first place.

A little weekly attention to follow-up can actually make your tight schedule easier. Follow-up is about protecting what you’ve accomplished and using it to build further. You can boost profits from 25-125% percent by retaining just 5% more clients, and satisfied clients will, on average, tell four to five potential clients about you. Combine that with a steady stream of referrals from other dog professionals and over time your marketing and sales responsibilities may feel a little lighter. On the other hand, ignore follow-up duties and you may find yourself struggling to build your business, or running a lot faster than needed to keep it where you want it.

To avoid such a fate, and to take advantage of all your hard work so far, choose a one- to two-hour block of time weekly to dedicate to follow-up tasks. Make it the same day and time each week if at all possible to help build a lasting routine. Once you’ve got the time carved out, here’s what to do with it:

Client Follow-Up
Say thank you. Too often dog pros disappear from clients’ lives once the allotted service time is up. Take a moment to let your clients know how much you appreciate them. Send a quick hand-written card to thank them for entrusting their training goals to you or to let them know how much you enjoyed their dog while they were away. Such details leave a lasting impression. When you wrap up with a client, put her name on your follow-up list for the following week. Always keep plenty of cards, envelopes, and stamps at the ready.

Check in. One way to build a business that lasts is to make sure your services actually work. Are your clients seeing a difference in their dog’s behavior after a month of daycare or dog walking exercise? How’s that recall coming along? If you don’t know, you can’t make improvements. And taking the time to check in and show you care means a greater chance of positive word of mouth.

Use pre-set intervals to make your check-ins easy. For example, a one-month check-in for daycare and walking clients. Trainers, plan to check in at multiple intervals to check on progress and make sure the training is sticking. For example, place each client’s name in your follow-up calendar 2 weeks, 1 month, and 3 months after the end of your training contract. Doing so will increase case resolution as well as referrals to friends and family.

Potential Client Follow-Up
Make time. Make keeping up with daily correspondence easier by setting specific times for it each day. Let potential clients know when they will hear back from you by listing your phone and email time in your outgoing phone message and email autoreply. This relieves you from the worry of missing a call or message, shows your professionalism and provides incentive for potential clients to wait to hear from you, gives you structure to ensure all calls and emails are returned promptly, and allows you to turn off your email and ringer for higher productivity and better focus.

Return all calls. Respond to every inquiry, even if you don’t want or need the client. Don’t risk getting a reputation for not returning calls and emails. The word will get out that you’re too busy or full to take clients, and pretty soon you won’t be. It’s simple courtesy to respond to all emails and phone calls, and you can do your colleagues and your business a favor by referring on those clients you don’t take yourself.

Pat your own back. When you refer a potential client on, don’t rely on the client to say who sent her. Send your colleague a quick email with the name of the person you sent over. It’s a great opportunity to connect, to remind a fellow dog pro you’re there, and to set yourself up for future reciprocity.

Referral Follow-Up
Say thank you. Here’s another situation where a hand-written note (perhaps on a branded postcard) can do wonders. As soon as you’ve received a referral, jot the name of the client and the source of the referral on your follow-up list for this week to be sure you get a note out right away. Occasionally include a small thank-you gift with your note, such as a gift card for a nearby coffee house. For those referral sources who send clients frequently, forego the thank-you cards. Instead, place these sources on your follow-up calendar quarterly for a special treat. Send over a surprise pizza lunch for the staff, for example, or movie tickets, or drop by with your famous chocolate chip cookies warm from the oven.

Share results. Place each client and her referral source on your calendar again at a pre-set check-in interval. Let the vet who referred Trixie for boarding know how much she enjoyed her stay—complete with a picture or two. Or let him know how well Trixie is working out in your walking group or at daycare, and how happy Trixie’s mom is about her considerably calmer presence at home. Or tell him how well your resource guarding protocol went and that Trixie’s mom is now able to safely take things from her. Let your referral sources know how well you take care of the people and dogs they send your way.

Return all calls. It only takes one client telling a vet or other coveted referral source that she never heard back from you to dry that well up. Giving referrals can be a risky business; no one wants the behavior of another company to reflect badly on their own. Be sure to follow through on every referral sent your way, even if it’s to offer an alternate referral of your own.

Follow-up is time well spent. These maintenance tasks make building and sustaining your business easier by cutting down on the time needed to search out new clients and referral sources. You worked hard to get the ones you have; a little extra effort to keep them is worth it.

Making guarantees is a tricky business. Domino’s Pizza discovered this back in the early 90’s after its 30-minute-delivery-or-your-pizza-is-free guarantee led to a series of car accidents and lawsuits. You may not have a lot in common with an international chain like Domino’s—apart from the occasional use of pepperoni with your more demanding clients—but you’re undoubtedly looking to turn a profit, and the right guarantee could tip a hesitant potential client in your favor.

But guarantees can backfire, setting up expectations that you can’t possibly meet, and turning your marketing tool into a weapon wielded by a disgruntled client with easy access to Yelp. Just as Domino’s discovered, part of making guarantees work means figuring out what not to promise.

Potential clients contact you for results. A front door without visible teeth marks, for example. A perfectly coiffed Pomeranian. An Aussie that actually naps.

Whatever your area of expertise, some outcomes are easier to guarantee than others. And knowing that a potential client is out there, browsing your home page, trying to decide whether to entrust her companion to your care, may compel you to promise a garden of roses.

But tread carefully. Trainers, when you joined the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT) you pledged to abide by their ethics statement, including section 6, which reads: “Members will refrain from giving guarantees regarding the outcome of training because there is no sure way to guarantee the cooperation and performance of all parties involved and because the knowledge of animal behavior is incomplete.”

If you’ve struggled with a reticent client and a fearful dog, for example, you understand how little is within your control. And so the thing that the client most wants changed (behavior) is the one thing you can’t guarantee. What’s worse, the traditional trainer across town who doesn’t belong to the APDT may be making wildly improbable promises that, from your viewpoint, attract hordes of new clients.

How can you compete with that?

Take such guarantees head on. Add a tab to the navigation bar of your website or a link from your training page called Our Guarantee. On this new page, explain why it’s unethical to make guarantees about behavior results and that as a member of APDT you’re dedicated to a better approach to training. This demonstrates your professionalism and your level head, and implies that you’ll bring those same qualities to your work (which, of course, you will.)

Then tell them what you can and do guarantee — stellar customer service, a customized approach to each client’s goals, a commitment to excellence and to ongoing continuing education. The second part of APDT’s clause reads that the prohibition against behavior-based guarantees “…should not be confused with a trainer’s desire to guarantee client satisfaction with their professional services.”

An ethical approach to guarantees aligns with the ethical treatment of animals, and will appeal to a certain type of client: the kind more likely to choose you.

For walkers, guaranteeing pick-up and drop-off times can lead to unhappiness all around. Traffic, weather, and other unexpected delays can throw a wrench in your best intentions. And though all clients want their dogs walked at noon, you’ll never make a living chasing that guarantee, unless you’ve figured out a way to be in multiple places at the same time (in which case, please share!)

Instead, offer clients a spot in either your morning or afternoon group, with a realistic window of time that allows you some breathing room and keeps you from breaking a dozen traffic laws. Or guarantee that you’ll pick up their dog no earlier than 10 am, for example, and tuck them back home no later than 1 pm.

For sitters, it’s best to guarantee a set number of visits, and the approximate time of day: morning, afternoon, evening meal, or bedtime check-in.

For all dog pros, consider the kind of business you want to run, day in and day out. Emphasize the features that will contribute to your vision and your brand, and that will set you apart from your competition. Features you can actually control:

• • Superior customer service
  • Trained, expert staff
  • Commitment to R+ training methods
  • Small group sizes
  • Customized training plans
  • A commitment to help clients seek relief, change, and improvement

And then deliver on those guarantees. In fact, do more than just deliver—delight your clients by giving them more than they expect. In the age of the Internet the customer review has steadily gained prominence. Most guarantees pale in comparison to a few glowing testimonials.

Apologize sincerely when you fall short. After its string of pizza delivery lawsuits, Domino’s fortunes declined until 2009, when a survey of consumer taste preferences ranked the chain dead-last. Domino’s faced the problem head-on, acknowledging the dismal ranking in an ad campaign and committing to improve its product “from the crust up.” The result? An enormous quarterly gain, and by 2011, a 233% growth in company stock.

Sometimes the best guarantee you can make is a superior product or service. Be the best at what you do. Your clients will appreciate your efforts, and word will spread.

When it comes to productivity, few places are as treacherous as the Internet. Between Facebook, celebrity gossip, and cat videos, it’s a wonder any work gets done at all. But for gathering information the web can’t be beat, and today most consumers begin their buying decisions online. For most dog trainers, sitters, and walkers, a website is the only storefront you have. Groomers and doggie daycares may have physical locations, but these days they too will make first impressions online.

And let’s face it: some websites are better than others. Just like in the real world, the details make a difference. Strobe lights and high-decibel Lady Gaga set the right tone for a teen girl’s clothing store, but would be less successful at the maternity shop down the street. When it comes to your own site, you’ll need to hit the right people with the right message. Here are some tips for making the most of your virtual presence.

Architects Get It Right
You wouldn’t build a brick-and-mortar store with your own two hands. And yet the Internet is littered with homemade sites poorly designed, written, and coded. For a dog owner wondering which local pro to trust with their beloved companion, a site designed and written by professionals implies a level of across-the-board competence, making the choice clear.

Graphic designers give your site the right look, pleasing to the eye and aligned with your brand. Writers craft messages with a big marketing punch, choosing words that all at once convey information, engage the viewer’s emotions, and push your site closer to the top of search engine results. And web designers bring it all together in one quick-loading, well-coded whole.

Hiring the pros does cost money. But in an increasingly web-savvy world, your site should be the last place you cut corners. Here are a few tips to keep in mind as you work with your website team.

Retire The Dancing Chihuahua
Blinking smiley faces, background music, and where’s-the-pause-button slide shows frustrate viewers, and detract from the capable, professional image you want to project. Good photos work better than animated gifs while still offering visual variety. If you insist on adding moving parts to your site, let your visitor control them with a click.

Less Really Is More
People don’t read websites like they read books. Your potential client will scan your page, then zero in on the relevant info. Nothing provokes the urge to click away and check one’s email like a long page of unbroken text. Hold your potential client’s attention with short paragraphs, bullet points, and lists.

Give Them What They Want
Shorter paragraphs = fewer words. Make every one count. Your homepage should provide:

• Business Name
• Location/Areas Served
• Services
• Rates
• Phone/Email

Create a separate “About” page for staff bios; a page for each service describing them in greater (though not long-winded) detail; and a final “Contact” page. Use clear and consistent navigation links throughout.

Include contact information—a phone number and active email link—on every page in an easy-to-find location. The top right-hand corner is best.

Worn-Out Leashes And Solid Praise
A few weeks in business can leave you with a grimy treat bag and a few broken clickers. But your hard work probably pleased a few clients, too. With Internet shoppers giving greater weight to customer reviews, grit your teeth and call in a few favors. A “Testimonials” page, with detailed before-and-after success stories (“I can finally walk Bowser by the neighbor’s dog!”) is worth its virtual weight in gold. Sprinkle short testimonial excerpts throughout your site, too, set apart visually to draw the eye. Consumers know that some businesses fake their own praise, and reviews signed with full names and locations sound more authentic than those signed “Tricia K.”

Write For The Right Crowd
You pursue continuing education in canine behavior. You network with other dog pros and subscribe to industry email groups. You know the lingo. Your clients don’t. Few will have more than a vague understanding of the term “positive reinforcement,” let alone “R+.” Whether it’s “recall,” “sep anx,” or “resource guarding,” be sure your writer chooses words with the dog owner—and our good friend Google—in mind.

What’s Their Problem Anyway?
The last point bears repeating. Your website is for your clients. When mapping it out, always keep them in mind. Their priorities are different than yours. Most owners love their dogs, but they’ve chosen career paths that don’t leave their hands smelling like liver treats at the end of the day. When owners steal five minutes in their cubicles to surf the Internet for local dog pros, they’re not worried about the quality of their human-canine bond. They just want to come home to an intact couch and a still-white carpet. They’re short on time and need their dogs walked, groomed, or trained not to jump up on attractive neighbors. So be sure your website answers two questions:

1. Where does it hurt?
2. And how can I help?

Step Away From The Soapbox
Humans are confounding. It’s tempting, after time spent in the trenches of owner compliance, to use your site to lecture on proper training methods or the exercise needs of young Labradors. But an owner is like her dogs in at least one respect—neither of them like to be scolded. You can summarize the key benefits of R+ in brief and welcoming prose. But don’t let a gruff bark scare off new business.

With these tips and the right professional team in place, your site will make a formidable first impression, setting you apart from other local dog pros and grabbing the attention of potential clients. Good design, strong writing, and a clean layout will quickly provide the info clients need, earning their gratitude. After all, Facebook, cat videos, and the rest of the Internet are calling.

When you run a small business there are days when it feels like the world’s got you beat. Days lost juggling business plans, start-up costs, emails, phone calls, piles of paperwork, excessively complicated tax forms, and the steady accumulation of dog hair on everything you own. And still there aren’t enough clients. Finding them can feel like a race with no finish line.

Then a national pet food chain or massive daycare operation opens up in your neighborhood, and with growing alarm you watch owners drop their poodles and pit bulls off for box-store grooming and training. Who could compete with that marketing budget? That five-acre parking lot? That a-la-carte biscuit bar?

Pick Your Fans
If you’re feeling bruised by the competition, take a breather on the sidelines. You’re not crazy – their game is stacked against you. The cold simple truth is that you can’t compete with the box store. Not with its budget. And not by its rules.

The big-budget chain stores exert a gravitational pull that many dog owners don’t think to fight. They’re the lost clients – the ones you’ll never reach. They’ll settle time and again for the big bright store, unaware of other, better options, and their four-legged friends will never benefit from your superior skills and attention. Why do they choose the box stores? We could hazard a guess, but the reasons don’t really matter. Cut your losses and quit that game. Cause there’s a better one to play.

Your true client – and her adorable Aussie/Yorkie mix with the matted coat and the debilitating fear of skateboards – is out there, looking for you. She may not know yet where to find you, or whether she can trust the glowing testimonials on your sharply-branded website, but chances are she won’t step through the box store doors. She may be immune to the charms of chain store convenience. She may have been alarmed at the chop job her friend’s Maltese got from the very young box store groomer. She may have heard something about positive reinforcement, or socialization, or clickers. She may be, like you, a small business owner, looking for something the box stores don’t sell.

Be A Good Sport
So how do you find these clients if you can’t compete with parking lots and network ads? Play by different rules. You’re not a chain stretched across an entire country. You’re an individual, in a community. Start with the people around you. Some might call this networking, but you’ll need to call upon a deeper skill. You’ll need to be engaging.

Introduce yourself to other local dog pros. It’s tempting to view them as competition, but we’ve seen dog pros reap better rewards from collaboration. Get to know your colleagues’ strengths: the separation anxiety cases a trainer has a knack for treating, or the groomer’s secret favorite breed. She will get to know yours as well, and the day will come when her caseload is full, and someone comes to her with a hand-shy cattle dog, and she’ll know just who to call.

But engagement goes beyond end-game motives. Two or more dog pros banding together can do more than just send each other new clients. They can vent, talk shop, and learn from each other’s work. Running a small business is hard. You don’t need to do it alone.

If you’re the sole R+ pro in a town full of choke chains and alpha rollers, you’ll need to look to surrounding communities. No matter where you live, schedule time every year for conferences, workshops, and seminars. Join Yahoo discussion groups. Skype with a friend from the training school you attended. Collaborate, keep your skills sharp, and polish those credentials that discerning clients value.

Build Your Marketing Team
The box stores spend more time and money on advertising than on building relationships with the community, which is good news for you. Referral relationships will be your hat trick, more powerful than a 30-second network ad. Reach out to locals who see a steady stream of dog owners in their daily work. Offer free training to vet, shelter, and rescue staff. Create marketing materials with free articles full of solid advice– Pre-adoption folders, articles on “How to Choose a Dog Walker,” or branded housetraining tip-sheets for new puppy owners. For the frazzled owner of a counter-surfing Labrador, a referral by her vet carries its weight in gold and relief.

The point is this: the box stores have more money, but you have more expertise. Think of your marketing budget not in terms of dollars, but hours. Use your time, experience, and professionalism to create materials and experiences that show off what you know and can do. Give talks, write articles, stage a public grooming or training demo, wear logo clothing while you walk dogs. The big guys simply can’t compete on that playing field.

Narrow Your Playing Field
All dog pro have their favorites. The breeds, temperaments, or behavior cases they love to take on. It may seem, with a box store down the street, that you should offer more, of every service, to every dog and every possible client, just to play it safe. But while the box stores are tied to the all-things-to-all people strategy, you aren’t. And that can be an advantage.

You can find evidence in every industry of the growing power of the niche. We join Facebook fan groups and LinkedIn pro groups for every possible pursuit. With so many channels and choices at our disposal, we seek out the trusted few who filter out the noise. The experts in their deep and narrow fields. Stand out by specializing. Figure out what you love to do, the thing only you can offer, then adjust your marketing. The client searching for a small-dog nosework class or doggie daycare will thank you.

Take To The Net
With most consumers now starting their buying decisions online, you won’t last many rounds in the new-client-battle while unplugged. Get yourself on the radar. Learn basic principles of search engine optimization (or better yet, hire an expert), so that your blog posts full of free expert advice push your brand to the top of Google’s “Tallahassee Groomer” search results.

Knock ‘Em Out
Box stores may get the foot traffic, but they don’t get the devotion. Every community has at least one small business with the fiercely loyal clientele, and it’s not the big chain. Instead, it’s the little sandwich shop with the around-the-block line at noon. The wine shop owner who didn’t smirk when you asked what was in a Zinfandel. The hardware store with every screw of every size you’ve ever needed, and the counter clerks who know your name, or at least the name of your bulldog. They all have one thing in common: they do more than what’s necessary. They give us better products, and better service, and we leave their stores smiling. The cumbersome box stores, heavy with bulk goods and bound by red tape, can only offer the average: the sullen, minimum-wage sales clerk making his rote pitch for the frequent buyer card.

You can play a better game as a more nimble player. A bright, committed, talented individual, who left a cubicle or a kitchen or a corner office to try a life with Kongs and dog hair. Most importantly, you can inspire a community’s devotion by giving more than the expected. You can give them an experience they can’t get from a box. You know all about positive reinforcement. So put it to use in all of your affairs. Your testimonials page – and your bank account – will benefit.

We never said this game was an easier one. It requires time, effort, persistence, and generosity. And though you may never have as many fans as the box store down the street, you don’t need as many, either. Focus on appealing to and pleasing the ones who have the better sense to choose you, and they’ll cheer loud and long to sustain you.