Bob

Work Smart: Making the Most of Your Desk Time

Bob · Sep 27, 2015 ·

Not so long ago, we thought of multitasking as something only computers could do. But now it’s a required skill listed on most human job descriptions, usually somewhere after “detail-oriented.” And with cell phones, Twitter, CNN, and flat-screen TVs on gym treadmills all vying for our attention, we can be forgiven for thinking ourselves capable of tackling more than one thing at a time.

But if you’ve been stuck behind a driver on a cell phone you know that multitasking rarely works as well as we’d like to believe. Our brains simply aren’t wired that way. Multiple studies have shown that attempting two tasks at once (emailing while returning a phone call, for example) leads to distraction, errors, and wasted minutes. Each mental shift requires time to restart and refocus. One study of office workers by the University of California-Irvine showed that workers interrupted by emails or phone calls took an average of 25 minutes to return to their original task.

You’ve devoted time and money to understanding the minds of our four-legged friends. So let’s spend a couple of minutes on humans. Simply put, we’re built to focus. It’s in our nature to tackle one task at a time. Which is easier said than done, we know. Every day dog pros juggle clients, dogs, leashes, keys, and treat bags, just for starters. And it’s easy to let these demands take precedence over desk-bound tasks like marketing, billing, and the like. But the continued growth and success of your business depends upon these tasks, which depend on making the most of your desk time.

Break It Down
For dog pros, time is money, and we urge our clients to adopt a master schedule for both long-term and daily projects. Incomplete tasks (and their attendant worries) rattle around your head until they’re finished. Scheduling tasks—deciding exactly when you’re going to get them done, rather than relegating them to an ever-lengthening to-do list—makes tasks easier to get to and clears the mind of worry about them, providing you with a little extra focus.

When it comes to desk time, you’re no doubt faced with more than a single task. Marketing, emails, phone calls. Social media updates. Newsletter and blog writing. Professional networking. Hiring. Research and continuing education. Maintaining and sharing your expertise (and thereby growing your brand) require all of the above.

Divide your tasks into discrete chunks of time, anywhere from ten minutes to two hours, depending on their importance and difficulty. Anything with an alarm will do: a watch, a cell phone, even an egg timer. Start the clock and for the next few minutes, do nothing else.

It’s a well-known fact that a task will expand to take up the amount of time allowed for it. If you schedule an hour for emails, they’ll take the full hour. But if you schedule only 15 minutes, you’ll zip right through. So get a little ruthless with your egg timer. You might be surprised at your own efficiency.

Cut The Noise
The first time you try this method, your mind, accustomed to constant distractions, will rebel. Seemingly of its own accord, your hand will grip the mouse and click on Facebook, or that link to the YouTube puppy video. It takes time to retrain your brain and learn new habits.

So protect your focus. Close the door. Shut off the TV. Give your pups a stuffed Kong. Close your email and your browser and silence your phone.

If you habitually get lost while wandering the Internet, emerging three hours later with a fuzzy head and nothing accomplished, consider software programs like Freedom or Self-Control, which shut off your Internet connection for a predetermined length of time. If a tool helps you, use it. But don’t procrastinate by searching for the perfect system of productivity. You’ll learn more about your working process from your own trial-and-error.

Prioritize The Big Stuff
It’s tempting to want to clear the deck, tackling emails, phone calls, and billing before engaging in longer-term, bigger-picture projects like marketing or curriculum writing. Trouble is, too often those emails and phone calls swallow all your time, and once again you’ve put off the important work for another day. Unfortunately that other day exists only in some alternate universe, unreachable by us mere mortals.

Chances are those emails can wait another hour. A new blog post may be harder to write than an email, but fresh content on your website will boost your ranking on Google, making it easier for prospective clients to find you. Every time you sit at your desk, pick one big thing to work on, even if it’s only one chunk of a larger project. For a little motivation, imagine how you’ll feel with that blog post written. Now picture how you’ll feel should your day be lost to emails. Tackle the crucial business-growing stuff first, then clear the deck.

Take A Break
We can learn from our R+ training when it comes to desk time. So reward your own good behavior. Stretch, refill your coffee, reach down and scratch your dog’s ears. For a particularly egregious task you’ve just finished, you might even consider chocolate.

Leave It Neat
It’s probably happened to you: you sit down to write your next newsletter only to have the vacuum cleaner call your name. Who hasn’t cleaned a sink full of dishes when faced with a blank page? The price of procrastination is high, so we don’t put off your desk work until after you’ve cleaned the kitchen. But if you’ve had a successful day at your desk, with more than a few items crossed off your list of tasks, take a couple of minutes to tidy up. Piles of papers tend to attract more piles, but a clean office can make your next scheduled desk time easier to face.

Changing your routine (and building your business) doesn’t require expensive or complicated tools. When it comes to productivity, less can be more. A calendar, an egg timer, and a little bit of discipline is all you need. Armed with these tips, you can get more done during your desk time, and help put to rest the myth of multitasking.

Hiring Help: Employees vs. Independent Contractors

Bob · Sep 27, 2015 ·

“Should I hire employees or independent contractors?”

It’s one of the most common questions we hear. First off – congratulations. Pondering the hiring plunge is often a good sign of your business’s health. But growth can be stressful, particularly when it involves taxes and paperwork. Compared to the IRS, dogs are easy to understand. We’re here to help.

Many first-time employers are tempted to go the independent contractor route, having heard it’s easier and cheaper. Maybe you have dog pro peers using IC’s. But make sure you know the implications of your choice, as the legal consequences carry weight.

What’s The Difference?
Employees are considered official, long-term hires, and they come at a higher cost, as you are responsible for half of their Social Security and FICA taxes, as well as payroll taxes, not to mention workman’s compensation insurance. So a $10/hour employee will cost you more than $10/hour. How much more depends on a number of factors including your location, but you should figure at least a couple of dollars more per hour.

All of this tax and insurance business requires more paperwork, too, though it’s probably not as complicated as you fear, and there are tax pros and payroll services to help.

In some states, local laws make it more difficult to fire an employee than an independent contractor. This varies considerably state by state, so it’s worth your time to research or ask an expert.

With these added costs and complexities, however, come some significant benefits. Fro one thing, you can train an employee in the style and procedures you prefer, and require them to follow your rules and standards.

Independent contractors are a different animal altogether. IC’s are simpler and less expensive to hire. There’s much less paperwork involved and you pay no taxes or workman’s comp: $15/hour is $15/hour.

Unfortunately, the IRS would prefer you not to hire them. They get less money when you hire an IC, and it’s easier to commit tax evasion, payment-under-the-table being the most common method. To discourage use of ICs, the IRS uses a very narrow definition of what constitutes an independent contractor.

The chief thing to understand is that an IC must be a professional who owns their own licensed business, and who contracts only a portion of their time to you. They are free to contract the rest of their time to other businesses, including your competition, and to the public as well—which means that they must remain free to compete directly with you.

And that’s only the beginning. Here are other rules dog pro business owners will have difficulty not breaking:

You can’t train an IC; they should be professionals in their own right, fully formed and skilled at the job they’ve been hired for.
You can’t provide them with materials for the job. Which means groomers have to bring their own shears and trainers should teach their own class curriculum.
Their term of employment should be finite, not ongoing.
They should not be doing work that is your primary source of revenue. If you run a dog walking and pet sitting business, this means no independent contractors to walk dogs or do pet sits.

This is only a sampling of the IRS’s rules of engagement; there are nearly 20 of them. And you only have to break one to be found guilty of tax fraud. In short, there’s almost no way for a dog pro to legally hire an independent contractor to provide services for dogs.

Which doesn’t mean the desire to go the IC route isn’t understandable. We get it. And chances are you know other dog pros using ICs. But pointing at the dog walker down the street when the IRS comes for you won’t get you far; the IRS makes it very clear that claiming precedent doesn’t fly.

If You Get Caught
If you’re audited, the IRS will likely demand the taxes you would have paid had your IC been an employee, as well as interest owed on those taxes. Not to mention a probable fine. A little math will tell you that the longer you used an IC illegally, the more you’ll owe Uncle Sam.

Will I Get Caught?
Statistically speaking, you aren’t likely to be audited. But paying money to the same ICs year after year could get you flagged, particularly if the sums are equivalent to local salaries. You could also land on the IRS’s radar if an IC files a complaint against you with the Department of Labor.

Again, the odds are against exposure. But if you did get caught, the result could be catastrophic. We know of dog pros who, pushed into bankruptcy, have lost their businesses (which, by the way, won’t pardon those taxes).

Boy Am I In Trouble
If your stomach has been sinking reading these words, there’s no need to panic. What’s done is done, and now you know. If your use of ICs has fallen outside of legal boundaries, there’s no time like the present to bring your ICs on as official hires. The longer you wait, the steeper the potential costs. So take the leap into full-on employment. Yes, you’ll pay a little more, but consider it money well spent for a good night’s sleep and the benefits that come with employees.

Stories Sell: Using Case Studies & Testimonials on Your Website

Bob · Sep 27, 2015 ·

We’re all drawn to stories. People remember stories and anecdotes long after any recollection of advertisements is gone—and case studies are particularly compelling because they highlight a problem that was solved. Even if we’ve never personally struggled with the problem in question, a few specific details of the experience is enough to trigger our imagination and with it our empathy.

That makes miniature case studies an excellent sales tool and one you should use to help your website work harder for you. Your website is the ultimate sales tool and ideally it will have primed your potential clients so that when they call or email, they’re ready to pull the trigger. Stories can help do this.

What To Include
The key elements are:

A problem.
Enough details to bring the story to life; what did it mean to your client to have this problem?
A description of how your service helped solve the problem or make the situation better, preferably without too self-congratulatory a tone. The idea here is to show, not tell, how terrific you are.

Your case studies don’t have to be long and elaborate, though occasionally telling a more detailed story can help drive home what it would be like to work with you. But most visits to a website last only a few minutes, so a quick story will do the trick. Here are some examples:

Trainer Example:
Mollie’s New Manners. Mollie, a bouncy shepherd mix, is a foundling. At the tender age of six weeks, she was discovered in a trash bag by her current owners, Sam and Trina Kowinski. Early on, Sam and Trina brought Mollie to a traditional dog training class, but neither dog nor owners could stomach the choke collars and physical corrections used there. A year later the Kowinskis came to us: Mollie’s behavior was out of hand. She chewed up Trina’s shoes, knocked people over with her exuberant greetings, and pulled Sam’s arm an inch longer with every walk.

Already after her first few sessions, Mollie caught on to the training game. Now food and play rewards have her sitting politely for greetings, walking on a loose leash, and munching exclusively on sanctioned chew toys. Not only that, but Sam and Trina have discovered a true love, as well as a knack, for dog training. They have signed up for our Canine Good Citizen class and want to start Rally-O in the fall. Unsurprisingly, Mollie thrives on all this exercise and stimulation. According to her parents, she is calmer than ever.

Pet Sitter Example:
Jake’s Mom Goes on Vacation & All He Got Was Tender Loving Care. If anyone deserves a trip to balmier climes, it’s Rebecca Grey, Jake’s mom. As a corporate lawyer she works crazy hours. But up till now, Rebecca’s hard-earned vacation time had always been haunted by thoughts of the pooch she left behind because, well, her sweet-tempered Afghan, Jake, is quirky. Certain foods that are okay one day are considered inedible the next. He loves other dogs, except on off-days when he doesn’t. Bicycles send him into a panic—but not skateboards. And so on. Other pet sitters had not worked out well, with Rebecca returning to a stressed and unhappy Jake.

But at TLC Pet Care, Rebecca found the perfect housemate for Jake. His name is Ken Eder and he has a soft spot for sight hounds—as well as a deft hand with long silky coats. Jake and Ken formed a bond right away. Throughout her vacation Rebecca received daily email updates, spiced with the occasional photo of Jake, playing tug-of-war, snoozing, or frolicking in the park. “He was having more fun than I was in Bermuda,” says Rebecca. She has already booked TLC for Christmas.

Dog Walker Example:
Slimming Down Sadie. Three-year-old French Bulldog Sadie was in trouble with her veterinarian. As the good doctor told Sadie’s dad, Robert, the food-loving pup weighed too much, had high blood pressure, and was at risk for diabetes. Robert changed Sadie’s diet and cut out snacks in-between meals, but busy as he was running a software company and spending time at home with the family’s new baby, the extra exercise Sadie also needed was tough to fit in.

He called Take A Hike and we immediately arranged for Sadie to have twice-daily leash walks with an experienced and patient walker. Soon, Sadie’s fitness improved and she graduated to our off-leash small dog group walks with lots of running and playful wrestling. Four months down the line, Sadie is trim and fit and her blood pressure is normal. She loves to play fetch and has become best friends with Amigo, a Jack Russell mix. On walks, they’re attached to opposite ends of the same tug toy, and in the car on the way home, they sleep sprawled over each other. And Robert? He no longer dreads vet check-ups.

Placing Case Studies On Your Site
Make your case studies easy to find. Place them on main pages, such as your service pages, bio page, even your home page if there’s room. Frame the stories in a nice box to help them stand out. As potential clients scan your site, they’re likely to be drawn to anything set apart this way.

Even just one well-placed case study can have an impact. But try to add a few each year if you can. And once you’ve collected more than a few case studies, you can add a new page for them. (But keep them on the main pages, too.) Call the new page something interesting like Client Stories or Success Stories, and link to it from your services page in addition to adding it to your navigation menu.

Approaching Clients To Tell Their Story
This is easy. Next time a client says something nice to you (i.e., “I don’t know what we’d do without you,” or “Working with you has helped so much.”), thank them and then add, “We occasionally like to include our clients’ stories on our websites. I’d love to feature you and Max—Can I share this success with others, maybe post a picture of him?” You can also email a few clients with whom you’ve enjoyed a particularly nice relationship to ask them the same thing.

Make The Most of Your Case Studies
Once you’ve taken the time to chat with a client and write up a little story like this, why not use it in the rest of your marketing? Print a case study in your printed newsletter, include it in your e-mail newsletter, send it as part of introductory mailings to veterinarians and other referral sources, and lay it out with pictures in color on single 8.5 x 11 sheets for distribution at any events you attend.

Are You Losing Money? Smart Rates & Policies

Bob · Sep 27, 2015 ·

You’ve heard of “death by a thousand cuts”? The phrase can be traced to lingchi, an ancient Chinese form of torture in which the victim was…well, we’ll leave it to your imagination. Suffice to say it wasn’t a quick way to go. We know you’d never subject yourself to such a thing. But what about your business?

Sometimes it’s not the biggest mistakes that do the most damage. Too often we see dog pro businesses suffer from a thousand tiny wounds, decisions about policies and services that lose you money every single day. Add those days up, and we’re not talking small change. We know you could put that money to good use, so here are a few suggestions designed for your protection.

Rates
It’s tempting, when first starting out as a dog pro, to aim your sights a little low. Your marketing and word of mouth haven’t had sufficient time to draw in business. Giving the first few clients a break on your rates may seem like a good idea.

But you could be painting yourself into a corner. These first clients may refer business your way, but they’re liable to share news of your low rates as well. When you realize your rates need raising, it could make subsequent sales more difficult.

Sometimes dog pros are slow to raise their rates at appropriate times, falling behind the local going rate, and training their clients to expect the status quo. It’s particularly important if you offer ongoing services—daycare, walking, boarding, for example—to raise rates a little every year or two, giving your clients plenty of written notice, rather than putting it off and finding yourself in the awkward position of needing to announce a much bigger raise all at once to catch up.

If you find yourself in that position, no fretting. It’s a fixable problem, and we’ve worked with many clients in this position. But here’s the thing: there’s no time like the present. The sooner you fix your rates, the sooner your business will improve. The longer you put it off, the harder it’ll be on you and your clients.

And if you’re worried about losing clients, this might help: In our experience coaching clients through this process, we’ve rarely seen more than two clients lost; often there’s no loss at all. Meanwhile, the higher rates loyal clients pay offset any temporary losses.

Payment Policies
We recommend an up-front payment policy for all dog professionals.

Trainers: Most trainers already require up-front payment. And accepting credit cards allows clients to sign off on the right size of training package needed to meet their goals. Credit cards also allow you to offer low-risk payment plans to further incentivize clients to pursue training. Discuss and arrange a schedule of preauthorized charges to assure that you’ll be paid on time, and to save yourself the hassle of endless invoice cycles.

Walkers and Daycares: Ask for monthly up-front payments. Rather than asking clients to pay for services rendered, charge them to reserve a spot among the limited number of dogs you can take on. We discourage the use of a pass system (the practice of selling a certain number of sessions to be used at the client’s discretion). Such systems make income difficult to predict and staffing difficult to schedule, implies to clients that exercise and socialization is optional, and requires ongoing social navigations among your changing roster of dogs. Instead, have clients pay monthly and commit to set days each week. Also require a minimum number—no less than two—to reduce the impact of under-exercised dogs on you, your staff, and the other dogs in your care.

Sitters and Boarders: Ask for up-front payment at time of reservation, like a hotel, where people expect to hold a spot by giving their credit card number or paying in full in advance. This policy also deters abandoned dogs.

Discount Policies
Compassion for clients can lead to giving out too many discounts. Avoid overly generous discounts when a much smaller one would give clients the same psychological benefit.

Remember: the central purpose of a discount should be to increase your overall revenue. Before giving a discount, ask yourself: What is the purpose of this discount? Why am I giving it? Will giving this discount drive more business my way? How? If you can’t easily, soundly answer these questions, you probably shouldn’t give the discount.

Sometimes we give discounts for customer service reasons. We might want to thank a client for their referrals of friends and families. Or show our remorse over a mistake. Think of these as brand loyalty discounts. They’re part of running a thoughtful, caring business. But be judicious. Handing out too many can mean significant revenue losses.

Cancellation Policies
The purpose of a cancellation policy is to protect you against revenue loss. If your policy isn’t fulfilling that purpose, it’s time to revise. We commonly see new clients losing $10,000 a year or more from weak cancellation policies.

Trainers: Don’t allow cancellations. Training requires consistency and commitment. Your policy should state that cancelled appointments are automatically charged and rescheduled. Clients will then get the full complement of sessions, dogs benefit from a complete training plan, and you’ll earn your full income.

Walkers and Daycares: If a no-cancellation policy feels too strong, try a vacation allowance. For example, give clients ten days a year where they can keep their dog home for any reason—illness, vacation, whimsy. But any additional days after that should be charged. Child daycares, which charge monthly rates regardless of attendance, don’t allow cancellations. They have a limited number of spots and parents reserve one for their child when they register. Dog daycares need to move toward this model to avoid the heavy revenue losses the current systems, including pay-as-you-go, passes, and packages incur.

Sitters, Boarders, and Groomers: Consider a policy that allows advance cancellation with a processing fee. Make a realistic assessment of how much time you need to fill a cancelled spot, be it 72 hours or two weeks, and stick to it.

For all dog pros, decide up front what constitutes an exception to your cancellation policy, and don’t waver. You run a business, not a garage sale. Unless you make it punitive for people to cancel, and then follow through, you train them to ignore your policy.

Scheduling Policies
Trainers: Don’t allow your clients to dictate your schedule. Asking “what time is good for you?” leads to chaos for you, with small batches of time throughout the day that are difficult to put to productive use. Instead, offer pre-set slots. Doing so projects a successful business, and starts you out on the right foot with clients who acknowledge your status as a professional and the value of your time.

Daycares and Boarders: Give set pick-up and drop-off times. Failing to do so means chaotic days, with restless, unsettled dogs, and more staff needed more hours of the day. Daycares, consider charging a fee for missing these times, but a fee large enough to deter, not to encourage a regular practice. Boarders, don’t allow pick-ups after a certain hour, especially if you board from home. Instead, keep the dog overnight and charge for the extra day. Your private hours are too valuable not to protect.

Dog walkers and Sitters: If you ask each client for their preferred pick-up or visit time, every one will say, “noon.” You can’t run your business on that model. Instead, let clients know when you’ll be visiting their dog, giving a range so you can adjust your schedule and handle the unexpected as needed.

Communicating Your Policies
Put your policies in writing in your contract, using plain English, and go through them with new clients, asking them to initial each policy section. Practice your verbal delivery of all your policies to combat your qualms of offending the client. And put your marketing spin on: You have these policies in order to maintain your commitment to small walking groups, or to allow for a high daycare staff-to-dog ratio, or to allow you to take and concentrate on a small number of training cases at a time, or to keep your boarding facility small for lots of one-on-one attention. In other words, tell me why your policies are actually good for me and my dog.

Getting Started
Review your policies right now. Are they working for you day-to-day? How about monetarily? Pick a three-month period and add up what you’ve lost to cancellations, discounts, pass systems, and the like. Multiply by four to get the yearly total. The number will probably surprise you.

Decide what changes you’d like to make and add them to your contract. Draft a letter to share your new policies with your current clients, remembering that point about spin.

Then put it on your calendar to revisit your policies each year to check that they are in line with your practices and services—and that they’re still working for you.

It’s time to stop losing money. Heal those tiny cuts with strong policies and protections, and help your business grow.

Want some help or guidance creating smart rates and policies for your business? Join us for Money Matters 101: Pricing, Policies, & Packages.

5 Ways Dog Pros Get Their Marketing Message Wrong

Bob · Sep 27, 2015 ·

Let’s face it – marketing may never make the list of your favorite activities. We know there are several dozen things you’d rather be doing: visiting in-laws, maybe. Or working with dogs. Still, you know that smart marketing will grow your business. And getting your marketing message right can save you time and money by making your efforts as effective as possible.

Here are some common marketing message missteps to avoid:

1. Marketing To Dogs
Too often we see dog pros marketing to dogs, promising a loving, caring experience where Spike will be treated like a member of the dog pro’s own family. But here’s the thing: dogs can’t dial phones. At least, we have yet to meet any with that particular talent.

Target your message towards those with opposable thumbs. Marketing studies show that people decide to buy based on emotion first, then use reasoning to justify the purchase. Fluffy’s owner will certainly appreciate your affection for her dog, but that runs a distant second to the fact that she works ten hours a day and is wracked with guilt over leaving Fluffy alone so long. Appeal to your clients’ emotions.

Don’t just list your services. Tell her how you’ll help solve her problems. Your message should stress why, not what: “Because a tired dog is a well-behaved dog” vs. “Daycare.”

2. Marketing To Other Dog Pros
You’ve worked hard to earn your stripes, pursuing education in positive reinforcement methodologies. It’s natural to want to signal to other R+ colleagues that you belong to the forward-thinking club. Problem is, most of your potential clients don’t know the difference between the two prevailing schools of dog training, and your message will be lost on them. Your savvy colleagues will be able to discern your methodology. Aim your marketing message at the people who’ll be writing you checks. Again, tell them first that you will solve their problems, secondarily how.

3. Saying Too Much
Yep, we hear you. Cesar Milan and the cult of the alpha dog has you down. If one more person at the dog park talks to you about pack hierarchy, you’re going to scream. It’s tempting in your marketing to try to correct them, to tell the dog owner you’re going to teach them how dogs really learn, and how to communicate to their dog, and thus strengthen the human-canine bond. But to the typical harried client, you just described what sounds like an awful lot of added work.

Traditional trainers still do well because they promise potential clients results. Save your reeducation agenda for when people have become your clients; use your valuable marketing space for messages that appeal to emotion and offer results: “Enjoy walking your dog again.”

4. Casting Too Wide A Net
Going after every possible client can be a zero sum game. Instead, zoom in on your target clients; consider lifestyle, location, and income levels. Do you want to work with families? Gay couples? Single moms? Retired folk? Busy professionals? Consider dog sizes, breeds, and behavior issues. Target your marketing message to reach the clients you really want to reach, saving yourself valuable screening time. (And when it comes to running your business, we know you could use more time.)

5. Being A Generalist
Assuring potential clients that you can do it all, especially in a saturated market, can get you lost in the crowd. Instead, focus on your specialties and niches. Give people a reason to choose you above other local dog pros. Do you excel at training pit bulls? Are you good at grooming poodles? Love walking small breeds?

Think about the services that bring you the most joy, the ones for which you feel the most passion, and grow your business around them. Are you great at dealing with separation anxiety or solving dog-dog issues? Do you prefer to take care of older dogs and animals with special needs? A niche can bring a steady stream of clients seeking your particular specialty and, as your business reputation builds around your special skills and interests, colleagues will be more likely to refer clients with corresponding needs your way.

With these tips in mind, identify your target clients, focus your services, and polish the words that’ll grab their attention. With the right message in play, your marketing will get you a better return on your investment, meaning less time wasted on unproductive marketing, and more time for what really matters. Like quality time with the in-laws. Or working with your dogs.

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