Veronica

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.

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!

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?

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 4^th P—practice—and you’ll be ready for any conversation that comes your way!