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Veronica

How To Do It All (By Not Doing It All)

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Imagine a job description which read:

Seeking a motivated and passionate individual with expertise in marketing, accounting, customer service, web design, operations, management, event planning, coaching and networking. Must also have a thorough understanding of canine and human behavior and be willing to lie awake at 3am pondering training plans.

Being a dog professional can feel like a lot. And just as we remind our THRIVE! members that they can’t always do all the things, it’s important to recognize that you can’t always be all the things either. Figuring out what you love and excel at and what you can ship elsewhere (and how) is a useful exercise for all business owners, whether you’re just starting out or have been at it for decades.

Here are some tips for getting control of your own job description:

Identify your pain points
Are there areas of your business that you avoid or find stressful? Do you have ideas that excite you but are contingent on things that make your head spin, like putting together a social media campaign or developing a new financial model? In order to tackle these barriers, you need to be able to identify them. Making a list of all the different areas of your work, including the systems that support them, can be a helpful starting point. Do you maintain your website or does someone else? How are you tracking expenses? And crucially, how much time per week are you devoting to these tasks? This is a great time to revisit your master schedule and ensure it’s capturing all those pieces that can easily fall by the wayside.

Make friends with technology
There’s a plethora of nifty systems out there when it comes to running your own business. If you struggle with juggling clients, online booking systems can save you from lots of back and forth trying to pinpoint dates and times (they’re also convenient for many clients). If dealing with accounts and taxes makes you despair, online accounting systems can help you develop simpler and more automated processes. For those who find social media exhausting, using a social media management tool allows you to schedule everything in advance and be more strategic about what you post. There’s lots of great project management tools out there as well, which can help you stay focused on all those exciting endeavors you’ve been dreaming up.

Essentially, if there’s a roadblock in your business you’ve identified, there’s likely to be an online solution for it out there. Often the biggest challenge is finding and selecting the one that works for you. Some people love to play with new technology, while others want to throw their laptop across the room just thinking about it. This is where dog pro communities come in handy! Ask colleagues for input and recommendations. Many of these systems also have free trial periods, so you can get a feel for the tool and how it works before committing.

Skill up or skill swap
While tools and systems can be incredibly helpful, sometimes the barrier is simply a knowledge, confidence or skill gap. We’ll say it again – running a business can be complex, and we have so much respect for all the dog pros we work with and the many plates they are spinning. The first thing we recommend is to acknowledge and congratulate yourself for being able to switch channels so dynamically across your work.

There are many ways to grow your business skills, from online courses and communities to seeking a mentor or business support group. Local councils sometimes offer community workshops for small business owners – these can be a great way to network and you may gain fresh ideas from those outside the dog world. If you have nailed a certain element of your business and like working with others, how about a skill swap? Maybe you have a friend who relishes doing their taxes (actually – can we have their number?) but would love to know how you stay on top of those emails. Sharing this information over a coffee or Zoom session can be an easy and cost effective way to up your business game.

Let it go…
Your time is exceptionally valuable. When you run your own business, and especially when starting out, it’s easy to feel like you have to tackle every part of it alone. For some people, this ‘do it all’ approach can quickly become overwhelming and isolating. It also means you can end up spending hours wrestling with a task or problem that may have been solved quickly with some external support. These are hours you could have spent doing (and being paid for) the thing you love – helping dogs and their humans.

While it can feel counterintuitive, outsourcing parts of your business saves you time and money in the long run. Common areas for this are things like accounting, logo and web design, SEO support, printing, marketing and legal compliance. Just like the multitude of online systems you can choose from, there are also plenty of options when it comes to people and organizations offering these services. Ask colleagues for recommendations, check out online reviews and make a list of questions and requirements in advance so you can articulate your needs. You may even find that working with local businesses has a positive knock on effect for your business. Dogs are loved by a diverse range of people, so maybe that local printer would be happy to have some of your postcards on display in their office, or your accountant turns out to be dog obsessed and starts recommending you to all their clients.

Have you had success with new technology, skill development or outsourcing? We’d love to hear about it!

Here’s another way to take some weight off your shoulders: Join the THRIVE! waitlist.

5 service ideas to inspire your dog business this year

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One of our favorite things about our THRIVE! program is the inventive flow of ideas that members generate for their businesses. Whether it’s services, ways of working, products or packages, we love witnessing these innovations.

Woman standing in front of a chalkboard thinking of ideas.The best new endeavors usually have a clear purpose and help to enhance the client experience, as well as making your life easier and more enjoyable. Rather than change for change’s sake, think about the ideas that really excite you or solve a problem. Even if you’re currently content with what you have going on, it can be useful (and fun!) to keep a list of ‘maybe one day’ ideas as your business evolves.

Here are a few that we’re loving right now:

1. Training in the ‘real world’

As we dog pros know, behavior doesn’t occur in a vacuum. The environment plays a massive role in how dogs and humans respond, as well as their ability to take in information and learn. Navigating triggers, unpredictable settings and novelty can be tough, especially for dog lovers with anxious or reactive dogs. Being able to support and teach dogs in low distraction environments is vital, but at some point the training wheels need to be eased off.

Offering service options in real world settings can help set these dogs up for success. It can also instill their humans with confidence to tackle new situations. There are loads of compelling opportunities for this, such as socialization excursions for puppies, hiking expeditions in the woods and busy city walks. Running these sessions in small groups can help foster a sense of community among your clients. You can also incorporate useful life skills, such as hanging out calmly at a cafe or waiting in line at a market.

2. Launch a membership program

Membership models are a fast growing area across multiple industries, and the dog industry is no exception. A membership model is where individuals pay a recurring fee (which could be weekly, monthly or annually) to access a product or service, often referred to as a subscription. Some models are ongoing, such as a reactive dogs support program, while others may be limited to a set period of time, such as a puppy raising program.

Membership models can be attractive to clients as they are usually parting with smaller amounts of money over time, which can be less intimidating financially. It’s also advantageous for you – recurring payments create more predictability, and allow you to retain clients over a longer period. Retaining clients enables you to help them for longer and avoid that sense of pressure to find fast solutions to complex problems. There’s also loads of room for creativity, from weekly tutorials and video libraries to set tasks and challenges and in-person events. Getting started with a membership model can require a fair amount of planning, but once it’s up and running things tend to become more automated over time.

3. Add enrichment to your dog walking service

One trend in the dog world that continues to have a positive impact on the lives of dogs is enrichment. These days many dog lovers have become aware of the positive impact appropriate enrichment can have, and brain games and scent work are more commonly understood concepts. If you provide services while the humans aren’t there, such as dog walking and day training, why not add an enrichment element? This could involve scent games during or following a walk, as well as leaving the dog with a safe activity such as a stuffed Kong to help them relax post-session. This is a great add-on for puppies and senior dogs who may not be able to go out for long periods, too.

4. Mix your medias

Packages were a big focus for those in THRIVE! last month. Packages allow you to tailor experiences for clients and get more buy in from the get go. When designing packages, don’t feel limited to one type of service. Learning can be cemented in a multitude of ways, including online, in person, classes and by providing the right tools and products. Perhaps your puppy clients would benefit from a self-paced online course which they can engage with between sessions. Or maybe your reactive dog package would be enhanced via a book or webinar on body language prior to the first in-person consultation. An adolescent dog package could include a monthly troubleshooting session, bringing together clients who are dealing with teenage hooligans at the same time.

5. Create a premium offering through collaboration

We love hearing about collaborations at dogbiz – in our experience the best way to spread R+ approaches is together. Teaming up with colleagues in your area can provide new opportunities for services. It also allows you to connect with like-minded individuals and feel less isolated in your work. Perhaps you’re a dog walker who runs trail walks, and you have a client who would love their dog to attend but is worried their off lead skills aren’t up to par. Teaming up with a trainer who can get them ‘trail ready’ ensures the safety and enjoyment of the dogs, as well as providing a great service pathway for clients.

Do you have a service idea you’re working towards or can’t wait to try? Join THRIVE! and make it happen!

 

 

Don’t Let Clients Get Lost on Their Way to You

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Woman who appears to be lost leaning on a car.Last month we looked at the client journey—the complete experience a dog lover has with your business, from first exposure (entry points) through learning all about what you do (marketing and information-gathering “rest stops”) to becoming a client (purchase points) and then their time with you as a client or student (their client experience).

Not all potential clients make it to a purchase point. Some just aren’t the right fit. But too often potential clients simply get lost along the journey you’ve laid out. This is a loss not just for your business, but for the dog lover and the dog, too.

To ensure smooth traveling along your client journey, avoid these marketing “rest stop” mistakes:

Missing Directions
As R+ dog pros we’re leery of overpromising in our marketing. We’re careful not to come off pushy or salesy. These are good and ethical business practices, but they can be taken too far.

You don’t need to be loud, pushy, or tacky to be effective in getting clients. But you do need a marketing message that communicates why dog lovers should choose you and how you can help make life with their dog better. You do need a call-to-action (or CTA) encouraging them to take the next step, whether that be to register for class, reach out for a consult, or visit your website to learn more.

It’s your job to guide your potential clients along the journey to becoming actual ones. If you’re too shy about doing so you’ll lose them along the way.

Unclear Directions
The directions you provide along your client journey must be clear and easy to follow. This includes a strong, effective marketing message aimed carefully at your ideal clients, one that convinces them to stay and begin their journey.

The next step is making navigation along the journey simple. Take a look at your website—is it easy for a first-time visitor to find their way to your service page(s)? If you offer choices, are those choices clear and easy to pick between? For example, say you provide multiple services like walking, training, and sitting. Can I quickly find my way to a separate page with details about the one I need, without having to scroll through information about the others? Or if you specialize in all things puppy training, is there an at-a-glance summary of some kind helping me to understand the difference between, say, classes, private training, and done-for-me daycare-and-train, plus an easy way to learn more about the option I’m interested in?

Tip: Too many choices often lead to making no choice. Decision paralysis is a primary reason potential clients quit a journey before reaching a purchase point. Narrowing your offerings often increases conversions—and it can make running your business easier, too!

Dead Ends
Dead ends are just that—a spot of no return where potential clients’ journeys stall. Most dead ends are a failure to provide the next step, usually access to a purchase point. This happens more often than you’d think.

Take a hard look at your website. Better yet, ask a friend to help. Give them a task, like registering for your basic manners class or scheduling a reactive rover consult or dog walking meet and greet. Don’t tell them how to do it—just ask them to go on your site and try. You’re looking to make sure the journey arrives smoothly at a purchase point. You’re checking for missing CTAs, sign up buttons, or contact information that bring the journey to a halt.

Give your marketing materials the same hard look—everything from your social media to your print pieces. Is it obvious how and where to get more information or take the next step?

Empty Gas Tank
We live in a busy world. Potential clients are adding looking for a dog pro to already full plates. Don’t let them run out of gas while checking you out.

The most common spot for potential clients to end up stranded on the side of the road is on your website. Take another good look to be sure you’re answering all the central questions a dog lover might want answered before reaching out—and make sure those answers are easy to find. If you make it too hard to get the answers they need potential clients can run out of energy for you and turn elsewhere.

These are the key questions your website should answer:

Who? Who are you and what makes you qualified? Who is this service for?

What? What is the service? How does it work? What does it cost?

When? When does it happen? What days and times? How soon can I start?

Where? Your place or mine for training? Where do you take dogs on walks? Where is your daycare or boarding or training facility located?

Why? Why should I? How will this service help me? How will it make my life with my dog easier or better?

How much? This is such an important question to answer that we’ve included it twice. Fail to answer this question and you are without doubt losing potential clients before they reach a purchase point. (Yes, we mean you should list your rates on your website. Here’s why.)

Road Barriers
You can also lose clients right at the point of purchase. Don’t assume your job is done when someone decides you may be the dog pro for them. Help potential clients travel smoothly through your purchase points by removing barriers between their decision to take action and their ability to do so.

Dog pros have a bit of a reputation for poor customer service. Don’t let that include you. You don’t have to pick up the phone every time it rings or become a slave to your email inbox. But you do have to get back to people in a timely manner so they don’t give up and turn elsewhere.

Use outgoing messages and email autoreplies to give potential clients the peace of mind of knowing when they’ll hear back from you. Wherever appropriate, set your website up to allow potential clients to become actual ones as soon as they’ve made the decision. Class registration and payment is the most obvious example here. Allowing dog lovers to book a consult or a short screening call (perhaps after guiding them through a short online self-screening process) is another way to move them smoothly into the purchase portion of their journey with you—while saving you time as well.

Not every dog lover will be the right fit for your business, but it’s a shame to lose those who are. Make it easy for people to navigate their way toward you by laying out a smooth client journey with no unintended off-ramps.

Sending Clients on a Successful Journey

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Think about the client journey as a marketing roadmap to your training services and classes. Another way to put it: A client journey is the complete experience a dog lover has with your business, from start to finish.

Toy van sitting on a map. Everyone who comes into contact with your business takes a journey with you. Careful cultivation of that journey, of the pathways people have available to them, means more potential clients becoming actual ones, and more of those becoming repeat clients and raving fans who send others your way.

Every journey has a beginning, a middle, and an end. The client journey is no exception. (Though when crafted well clients tend to cycle back through rather than saying good-bye!)

Here are the 4 parts every client journey should include, and some tips for mastering them:

1. Entry Points
Each client’s journey, each client’s experience of your company, begins at an entry point. You likely have more than one, and hopefully many.

Entry points include professional referrals, such as recommendations from a vet clinic, pet supply shop, or rescue organization.

Other dog lovers may find their way to you via a personal referral from a friend, family member, or work colleague who has enjoyed your services or perhaps come into contact with your marketing materials.

Speaking of which, your marketing materials are also potential on-ramps to a client journey with your business. A dog guardian may begin their journey by picking up your print newsletter at their local pet shop or reading a good training tip sheet while waiting at their vet clinic, for example.

If your website is performing well a Google search can be another common entry point, making investing in good search engine optimization, or SEO, worthwhile.

Entry Point Pointer: The more opportunities dog lovers have to come into first contact with your business, the better. Take a moment to count and assess your current entry points. Where can you make it easier for people to find you?

2. Marketing Rest Stops
If you’re old enough to remember life before smart phones, you’ll recall when highway rest stops weren’t just places to go for a restroom and leg stretch. They were also where you stopped for maps and travel brochures to get information on where you were going and what you might find when you get there.

Similarly, you can think of each instance of your marketing as rest stops or information kiosks for your potential clients. Think of your marketing projects as opportunities to move potential clients along the path toward a purchase with you.

Your most important marketing rest stop is your website. Some dog lovers will land here first via an online search. Most, regardless of their first contact point (whether a referral or a piece of marketing material), will make a stop here for more information before deciding to reach out or purchase.

Marketing Rest Stop Pointer: To do the job well, your marketing must provide good information and clear directions. Your marketing pieces should be designed primarily to direct people to your website. Your website should be designed primarily to answer important questions (like how your service works and what it costs) and to encourage people to take action. That action might be to make a purchase (for example, register for a class) or take the first step toward becoming a client (such as reaching out to schedule a dog training consult or dog walking meet-and-greet).

3. Purchase Points
Your purchase points are the spot on the journey at which potential clients become actual ones.

Purchase points might include online sign-ups such as registering for a group puppy training class or on-demand tricks training course.

Other purchase points may be more interactive, such as a phone screening conversation in which a dog guardian schedules a walking meet-and-greet, an initial consult training appointment, or the decision at the end of an initial consult to purchase and commit to a training package.

Purchase Points Pointer: Keep your purchase points simple. Make it as easy as possible for potential clients to become actual ones by cutting any steps that aren’t absolutely necessary. Don’t risk losing people just as they’re jumping in!

4. Client Experience Points
A dog lover’s journey with you doesn’t end once they purchase. In many ways it’s only just begun as your clients move on to experience your services.

The center of that experience is the service they’ve purchased—such as you walking their dog, or their time with you in basic manners class or one-on-one training—but there are many more potential client experience points.

Every interaction, both remote and direct, is an experience point. The notes or texts you send after a dog walk, for example—and how clean or dirty you leave the dog. The appointment reminders you send, training homework handouts or videos you provide, Zoom drop-in Q&A sessions you make available between training sessions, etc.—all of these are part of your client’s experience with you.

Client Experience Points Pointer: Add points to enrich your clients’ experience with you. Is there opportunity to add more support spots to their journey—perhaps online office hours or emailed homework reminders for training clients, for example, or leaving their dog with a stuffed Kong post-walk?

Keep the Journey Going
Ideally your client journey includes opportunities to re-engage in additional services if appropriate. For example, moving on to the next training class in your program or choosing a post-training support package. Keeping clients longer reduces your marketing and sales and admin pressure while serving them more fully.

Also build in steps for gathering feedback, including reviews or testimonials for use in your marketing. You get the information you need to make your services stronger while helping bring the next wave of potential clients to your door to begin their own journeys with you.

 

Want help building successful journeys for your clients? Grab your spot on the THRIVE! waitlist to be first in line next time we open enrollment.

What To Say & How To Say It

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A client calls to cancel a training appointment or dog walk, knowing it’s against your policy. You show up for a training session to find the client’s not done their homework again. You decide a student and her dog would be much better off in private training. You realize it’s time to let a client go. All of these situations require a difficult conversation. Putting such conversations off only makes them harder. Rushing in too fast can make the situation worse. So what do you say? And how do you say it?Two dogs looking at each other, both with their tongues out.

Here’s the 3-part dogbiz formula for finding the right words for any situation:

Set your conversation up for success with the 3 Ps
Humans are complex. We have ability to engage in complex language. We have complex emotions. We each carry a lifetime of complex experiences that influence how we interpret the world around us. Put all that together and it’s no wonder we often find it difficult to get along, to hear each other properly, to respond to situations as calmly and rationally as we might.

Challenging conversations are more likely to go smoothly when we take the time to think them through, from both our perspective and the clients’. The 3 Ps—Prepare, Pause, and Plan—can help us do that.

P #1: Prepare
Before heading into any conversation, get clear with yourself about your conversation goal. Setting parameters ahead will help you craft your approach and stand firm during the conversation, avoiding temptation to agree to an outcome you regret afterward. What do you want to happen as a result of the interaction? What will success look like? Are there any alternative outcomes you’re willing to entertain?

Answering these questions is much easier when you have clarity about your services, who they’re ideally meant for, and how they’re meant to be used. If you find it difficult to set a conversation goal it may be helpful to spend some time clarifying your service details, policies, and the ideal clients you’d like to attract.

P #2: Pause for perspective
In step two we take time to consider the situation from the client’s perspective. We often enter these conversations focused on our own needs and emotions, compounded by our concern for the dog. With all of that swirling in our minds, it’s easy to overlook the person we’re talking to. But to reach that person, to connect with them and communicate effectively we’ve got to be able to step into their shoes.

Take a few minutes to consider these questions. Writing your answers down will help when it comes time to craft the language for your conversation.

  • Why might the client/student be doing (or not doing) something?
  • What needs might they have?
  • What might their priorities be in the moment?
  • What emotions may be involved for them?
  • How might they be experiencing the situation?
  • What’s in it for them? How will your outcome goal benefit them?

P #3: Plan
Now it’s time to plan what we’ll say and how we’ll say it. As you craft your first draft, keep your goal forefront of mind to ensure clear communication of your intended outcome. Also keep an eye on your answers to the perspective questions. This will help you communicate with empathy, increasing the client’s receptivity what you have to say. Be particularly sure to include your why—your answer to what’s in it for the client. How will they benefit from what you’re communicating?

Step away from your draft for a bit. Now try reading it from the client or student’s perspective. Are you saying what you mean to? How else might your words be heard?

Once you’ve got a solid version, practice your delivery to tighten up your words and build your confidence. (It’s absolutely okay to communicate in writing if you feel you’ll be more successful or more easily received that way.)

The 3 Ps in Action
Let’s look at an example of putting the 3 Ps to work. Say a client calls to tell you her week has gotten away from her and she needs to cancel her day training transfer appointment, even though your cancellation policy is clearly stated in your contract and you’d explained it up front during your initial consult. You’d also explained the importance of the transfer sessions and the client’s role in attending them.

Step 1: Prepare
What is your goal for the conversation? In this case, it’s simple: To convince the client to keep the appointment. You want to protect your schedule and revenue. You also want to protect training progress for the client and the dog.

Step 2: Pause for perspective
It’s very frustrating that the client wants to cancel, even after the care you’d taken to explain the critical role these sessions play in the training plan and its success. But let’s take a deep breath. The client obviously cares about her dog, or she wouldn’t have invested in a training package. And she clearly want results or, again, she wouldn’t have invested in a training package—especially a more expensive one in which the trainer does the training. This isn’t a lack of care.

And though it can be easy to focus on personal feelings, such as frustration or feeling disrespected by the client’s request, the more likely culprit is simply overwhelm. The client has put too much on her calendar and is feeling stressed. She’s looking for a release valve, something to remove from her schedule to take some pressure off.

Step 3: Plan
The job, then, is to convince the client that she stands to lose more by missing the appointment than she stands to gain. We know she cares about the dog. We know she cares about the training results. We know she’s invested a lot of money to get those results. Protecting that investment and those results, helping her achieve her goals, gain relief from stressful walks, and enjoy her dog—this is our why, what’s in it for her to keep the appointment.

With all of this in mind, our script might go something like this:

I’m so sorry this week’s feeling so stressful. We can reschedule our Friday appt., but before we do I just want to make sure it’s really the best option for you. Remember, as I explained at our consult and in our contract, I’ll have to charge you for the appointment, and we’ll be slowing down progress toward being able to enjoy your walks with Charlie. He and I are making some great strides and I hate for you to lose the opportunity to take advantage of that, given all the money you’re investing in his training. Before I take our appointment off the calendar, are you sure we can’t make Friday work?

This script makes the goal clear: We want to keep this appointment. It also leaves no room for alternate outcomes. But it’s delivered with empathy and caring, both for the stressful week the client is having and for the frustrating walks that brought her to us in the first place. We are standing firm about our intended outcome because we care about the client’s success.

When we go into difficult conversations with the 3 Ps we’re much more likely to come out pleased with the results. If thinking on your feet in such moments is not your strong suit, make a list of the client conversations you most dread. Take some time to use the 3 Ps to set yourself up for success ahead of time. Prepare for each with a clear goal. Arm yourself with a caring perspective from the client’s point of view. Then plan what you’ll say to communicate your goal from that place of empathy. Add a 4th P—practice—and you’ll be ready for any conversation that comes your way!