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Money Matters

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Money Matters

Good Policies Save Money

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Running a business without effective policies is like driving a car without oil. The car—or your business—runs less and less effectively until, finally, it breaks down. To avoid spending time on the side of the road, here are some tips to tune up your policies.

Scheduling Policy
Set your schedule up for success. “What time is good for you?” is a question to avoid at all costs. Though your intent may be to be accommodating and customer-centric, inviting clients to dictate your schedule leads to an inefficient, unpredictable calendar. Appointments often end up scattered throughout the day, with small batches of time in-between that are difficult to use productively. Instead, cluster your appointments to leave larger blocks of time open for business development and marketing—for working on the business—and for your own personal use.

Asking clients what time is good for them also implies that your schedule is wide open, carrying the subtle implication that your business is slow. Consciously or subconsciously most consumers are drawn to businesses that are already successful—don’t inadvertently signal that yours is otherwise.

Finally, one key to successful training is building a strong, effective client-trainer relationship in which the client acknowledges the trainer’s expertise and status as a professional. Without this it is difficult to gain client trust and compliance regarding methodology and specific training advice. There are many small moments in which we build or erode this relationship. Scheduling is one of them. Giving clients set appointment times to choose from not only stabilizes your schedule, it conveys the value of your time as a professional service provider.

Lest I be misunderstood, respecting clients and providing excellent, top-notch, sincere customer service is of utmost value to your business and your professionalism. But there are many ways to do this without compromising your ability to run your business while also having time to actively grow it and to attend to your life outside of work. Good client service does not mean being accommodating to the point of inefficiency or inadvertently undermining your professional status.

Payment Policy
Most trainers require payment up front and in general that’s good practice. Taking credit cards, particularly if you offer private training packages, can make your services more easily available to clients when they need them. Payment plans can also help when used carefully. Here are a few rules to offer help without getting burned:

1.    Require a credit card for payment plans.
2.    Work with your client to pre-set the dates and payment amounts, and build an authorization into your contract so that you can automatically make the deductions on the agreed-upon dates. This saves you and your client multiple collections conversations, keeps the focus on the training, and ensures you’re paid on time.
3.    Your contract should stipulate clearly—and be sure to cover this verbally, too—that the client is committing to the entire training plan. This discourages the client, experiencing improvement in their dog’s behavior part way into the training process, from deciding to wrap up early. It’s not only in your business interest to avoid this, but serves the client and dog as well—an uncompleted training plan rarely delivers lasting results.

Cancellation Policy
Trainers often operate with no cancellation policy, or with one that stipulates a certain amount of notice required for calling off an appointment. But when a client’s week starts to feel too busy and they look around for something to jettison from their schedule, it shouldn’t be dog training. Training requires consistency and commitment. Your cancellation policy should not imply that it’s okay to put training off if you just call ahead. If you put a package together for a client, deciding that their goals required 6 sessions, for example, then everyone loses if only 5 sessions occur.

You also need to protect your finances. You have a limited number of paid hours in your schedule—if you take, for example, 10 clients a week, a single cancellation represents 10% of your income.

In order to keep your income intact and to help clients create the consistency they need to achieve their training goals, consider a no cancellation policy in which cancellations are automatically charged (this should be in your contract and explained to clients) and then rescheduled. This way clients get the full complement of sessions, dogs benefit from the completion of a training plan, and you enjoy the satisfaction a job completed, as well as your full income potential.

Policies for Now and Later
A final rule of thumb—create policies you can grow into. If you’re not currently as busy as you intend to be, your policies don’t need to reflect this. Design them to take care of you when you are busy. In the meantime, strong policies will save you money and time. And if you learn to use and enforce them now you’ll be ahead of the game when your schedule is full.

Set Your Rates Right

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Most of us are dog lovers first, trainers second, and business men and women dead last. A number of challenges arise from this reality, including a pervasive sense of guilt about charging money for what we do. This guilt is then alleviated with chronic undercharging, the result of which is an income level that keeps many trainers in perpetual hobby or part-time status, drives others back to “real jobs,” or creates long-term financial strain for those managing to train full time.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Charging what you’re worth—and you are worth it—is a win for you and for the dogs.

Getting Over the Guilt
Trainers hold an invaluable and specialized skill and knowledge set. If you’re reading this you most likely have spent time and money attending a school for dog trainers and have used innumerable hours practicing your craft on your own and with the guidance of mentors and colleagues. You’ve probably attended a long list of seminars, conferences, and workshops, and have read and watched every book and DVD you could get your hands on. Many of you have studied for and taken certification exams as well. Because although you may love your work well enough to enjoy it whether or not it’s paid, it’s still work—highly skilled work that requires a good deal of study and practice.

Training is also work that helps people and their dogs. You have the capacity to change the lives of the clients and canines you work with. Surely this is worth paying for. And though everyone loves to get something for free, we don’t generally expect free professional services. If training is to become a full-fledged profession we need to keep this in mind. Also important to remember is that people value what they pay for, and generally in our culture we value more that which costs more. During my time as Director of Behavior & Training at the San Francisco SPCA we raised our adoption rates, to the dismay of many who predicted adoption rates would fall. They didn’t. What did drop off was returns. Many trainers experience a similar phenomenon when they raise their rates—not only does business not go down, it often goes up (because committed owners want the best) and so does client compliance. Clients who have paid more for a service are more likely to try to get the most from it.

There’s another reason to leave the guilt behind. Financial stress and underpayment are major components of trainer burn-out and business failure. And every talented, skilled, compassionate trainer who quits due to exhaustion or the need to take a job with a paycheck means owners and dogs who will never experience the benefit of her services. The longer you stay in the game the more dogs and people you can help. To stay in the game you need a successful business. And to have a successful business you need to charge what you’re worth.

Setting Your Rates
Trainers often look at what others charge when setting their own rates. While it’s important to know what the trends in your area are, you shouldn’t feel compelled to do exactly what everyone else does. Here are several additional considerations:

Take into account your services—how is what you are doing different, what sort of niche are you filling, what do you offer that others don’t? What are the demographics in your area—the socioeconomic levels, average incomes, kinds of work most commonly done? Factor in also your needs, both financial and psychological. What do you need to earn for your business to provide a solid, safe living? What hourly rate makes you feel professional, makes you feel you’re being truly compensated for your skills?

As a final and central factor, recognize that your rates are part of your marketing plan and that rates carry subtle messages about you and your business. If, for example, part of your image is that you are the local go-to expert (whether you already are or would like to be!) having lower rates than your local colleagues will undermine that message. Again, Americans tend to equate cost with value. Pricing yourself low sends a message of not being as good as others whose rates are higher. There’s often a belief that lower prices will lead to higher volume. For plastic goods this may be so, but in professional fields this approach can backfire. First of all, you’ll see more bargain hunting clients rather than those looking for the best possible service for their dog, and if you’ve been training for any length of time, you know the difference this can mean in terms of owner compliance and commitment. Secondly, training is not a volume field. You can only train so many hours per week, you can only accommodate a finite number of clients at a time. Given this, volume is not the key to success. Instead, you want to get the most revenue possible from your billable hours.

If you offer packages (which I do hope you do—see “Win With Packages,” another article in this category), you probably offer discounted rates for larger numbers of sessions. Keep two things in mind when structuring your pricing. One, the savings don’t have to be large to be effective. Five to ten dollars per hour is plenty to help clients feel like they’re getting a good break. And second, be sure to price yourself so that your lowest rate is what you actually want to be paid per hour. For example, if you want to make $100 per training hour, you might set your rate at $110 and offer discounted packages based on $105 and $100. If you want to make $100 but offer discounts at $95 and $90, you’ll be making less than you wanted.

If You Still Feel Guilty…
I may have convinced you it makes sense to charge what you’re worth. Does this mean trainers should avail themselves only to the wealthy? Absolutely not. It does mean you should be able to make a living. Families of average means who take their responsibility to their animals seriously will choose a trainer based on an impression of their effectiveness and professionalism. A large part of this impression will be made by your marketing, and pricing is one part of that.

Still, for many trainers a business plan that prices you higher will exclude populations you wish to serve by putting your services out of their range. If this is the case, there are several ways to make yourself more widely available. You might, for example, offer regular Ask the Trainer volunteer hours to a local shelter. Though you will not be able in most cases to offer a full training plan, this triage focused on management can help to take the edge off many situations. If you prefer a more hands-on approach, try providing a shelter or rescue group pro bono case time. Just be sure to put boundaries around this work, for example specifying the number of clients you can handle at a time. It’s best to do pro bono work through another agency to keep it from impacting your business. A reputation for taking on unpaid cases can make it difficult to get paid ones.

Sales Anxiety?
If you’re one of the rare trainers who feels no guilt charging for your very needed and valuable services, or if I’ve convinced you to give up that bad habit, perhaps you suffer from sales anxiety. You know you’re worth it, but how do you ask for it? How do you communicate your services and their worth to potential clients? And how do you answer that dreaded question: “What do you charge?” Not to worry—read “Making the Sale,” another article in this category.

 

Want some help or guidance setting your rates? Join us for Money Matters 101: Pricing, Policies, & Packages.

Making the Sale

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In “Set Your Rates Right” I talked about charging what you’re worth. I attempted to convince you to give up the guilt and understand that being paid well for your work is good for you, your business, your clients, and the dogs. But knowing you’re worth a decent rate is only half the battle and I promised we’d talk this time about making the sale.

It’s Not a Job Interview
The first step toward comfortable and effective sales is a perspective change. Many trainers approach both the phone conversation and the initial consult as though they are interviewing for a position. This triggers all the anxieties associated with job seeking, chiefly performance pressure and the fear of rejection, emotions that make the sales experience nerve-wracking and tempt us to lower our rates, offer larger than required discounts, and otherwise send messages that we’re not worthy.

Instead, recognize that you’re a professional with a valuable skill and knowledge set. Potential clients are coming to you for help. You are using the phone conversation and the initial consult to assess whether theirs is a case you’ll take.

Don’t Be Afraid to Lose the Client
If you determine that you’re willing to help (either moving from the phone screening to an initial consult or from the initial consult to a training program), you’ll offer assistance at the price it’s worth. If it’s not the right match for the client, that’s okay. It has to be—no service is right for everyone.

Again, this is all about perspective. Not being the right match at the right time doesn’t need to be a personal rejection. The client may be saying no for all sorts of legitimate reasons. They may not have understood the level of work and commitment involved and, now that they do, are making a wise decision to wait until they’re ready to do it right. They may truly not have the money needed and so will wait until they can afford it. If this is the case, it is not your responsibility to subsidize their training by lowering your rate—we talked about the pitfalls of that last time. And in both cases, if you handle things well there’s a decent chance you’ll get a call from them in the future.

Be Confident. Take Charge.
It’s also much more likely that potential clients will say yes when you let go of the fear. We want to hire confident service professionals—I want my doctor to know her stuff, for example. I’d be nervous if she appeared to doubt her rates. Just like I’d be leery if my lawyer didn’t step in to take charge of the initial interview or my mechanic asked me what I thought was wrong with my car.

When you talk to a client on the phone, lead the conversation. Start by asking what led them to call a trainer today. Listen, asking any follow-up questions that’ll allow you to determine whether you want to pursue an initial consult. And then empathize, be the expert, and tell them what you can do for them. If the call is about excessive barking, for example, you might say, “I know how frustrating barking can be, and to have neighbors calling on top of it—how stressful. I’m so glad you called and I’m happy to help. Now, there are a number of different reasons dogs bark, and we’ll need to determine what’s happening in Fido’s case. So let me tell you a bit about how we work.”

From here you explain the role of the initial consult and your basic approach. If you do day training you explain how the program works. If coaching, you explain that you’ll be meeting with them once a week, etc. Same with board and train. Be sure to include the benefits of your approach. (For example, with day training you’d emphasize the convenience, speed, and effectiveness of having a trainer do the training for them.)

It’s important to take charge at the initial consult, too. Don’t be content to be left standing in the entryway while the client’s life swirls around you, politely waiting to be acknowledged. You’re a professional there to do professional work. They’re paying for your time and there’s a limited amount of it—it’s important to get right to work and set a tone of productivity. When the door opens, introduce yourself and shake hands while making good, solid eye contact. If the dog is present, compliment her and, if safe and appropriate, pet her. But then straighten back up, smile, and suggest, “Shall we sit at the kitchen table and get started?” Clients will feel more comfortable if you take the lead, and are much more likely to hire you if you seem competent and in control.

When it’s time to decide on the number of subsequent sessions, that decision must be yours. Offering clients a choice of package sizes is a setup for failure. You’re the only one with the knowledge and experience necessary to determine how many hours are needed to reach the client’s goals. Once you’ve moved through the assessment interview to determine what’s happening with the dog, and have come to an understanding of the client’s desired outcomes and what needs to be done to reach them, you need to share that—confidently and sincerely—with the client. You might, for example, say: “I’m so glad you called to get help with this. It sounds like this situation has been difficult for quite a while and I can certainly help to alleviate some of this stress for you.” Next, explain your assessment of the situation and your prognosis. (Remember never to make guarantees—they’re rightfully considered unethical in our profession.) Then continue: “I told you a bit about how we work on the phone. (Repeat the basic info and benefits of your approach.) Given that your goals are [insert client goals here], we will need X weeks to carry out the training plan for Fido.”

The Dreaded Question: How Much Do You Charge?
It’s ironic that a culture so profoundly focused on money has bred us to be so uncomfortable talking about it. But that’s the reality for most of us: Being asked what we charge makes us squirm. Maybe it’s fear of rejection or self-doubt. Maybe just polite squeamishness. Whatever the reasons (we’ll leave them to the sociologists and psychologists), let’s talk solutions.

One way to get around the dreaded question is to answer it preemptively. Don’t wait for the question—just tell them your fees. The smoothest place to insert the information during the phone screening is after the explanation of what you do. You explain how you work and the role of the initial consult, and then tell them what it costs. At the initial consult, cover the fees right after you tell them the length of the training program.

The next key is to move on. So often we quote our rate and then wait for a response. This opens us up to uncomfortable silences, rude whistles of sticker shock, or even ruder commentary on our pricing. Instead, just keep talking and infer in so doing that 1) your rate is perfectly reasonable, 2) it’s not up for discussion or comment. Because it shouldn’t be.

On the phone try, “The initial consult is $XX, which includes a written report (if it does). What I’d like to do with our time together is to determine the root cause of Fido’s barking so that we can put together a training plan specific to his situation and your needs. I have an opening in my schedule next week if you’d like to get started.” Similarly, during the initial consult: “You know my regular rate is $XX. Because we’re looking at an X-week commitment I’ll put your package together at a discounted rate of $YY, which will make the full training program $ZZ. As I explained, the key here will be to teach Fido alternatives to barking so he has a more polite and acceptable way to ask for what he wants. This should give us the time we need to accomplish that so you can enjoy his company more fully and not have to worry about the neighbors. I have some availability next week if you’d like to get started.”

When They Say No
A gracious response is best. When clients say they have to consult their spouses or think about it for a while tell them they should: “Absolutely. This is a big commitment and I encourage you to think it through. If you have additional questions please don’t hesitate to let me know. And if and when the time feels right I’ll be here to help.”

It’s never a good idea to backtrack. Fight the temptation to lower your rate or change your schedule or anything else you think may cause them to reconsider. Doing so sends a message of self-doubt and business desperation that actually makes you less attractive to potential clients. A strong, confident, gracious answer leaves the door open and your professionalism intact.

A quick note: If you’re selling packages (which I hope you are!) look into opening a credit card account. This is very easy to do through your bank (or you can research companies for the lowest rate—the average is around 2%) and allows potential clients who may not have the money easily at hand to still take advantage of your services.

The Benefits of a Professional Stance
In addition to raising your conversion rate (the number of potential clients who turn into real ones) and thus your income, taking a strong professional approach to dealing with sales affords several other benefits. When you carry yourself in the manner described here you’ll likely begin to feel more confident, making the sales process that much easier. I’ve had many business consulting clients report that although they had to “fake it to make it” the first couple of times, as they saw results from these approaches they began to believe in the message. Our clients report a significant increase in comfort and success around issues of money and sales from their changed stance.

You should see differences in client buy-in, too. As you hold yourself more confidently, clients are less apt to question methodologies or compare them unfavorably to those they see on TV. If you act like an expert your clients will see you as one and treat you accordingly.

Are You Losing Money? Smart Rates & Policies

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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?Keep more of your money with smart rates and policies

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.

Why You Should List Your Rates on Your Website

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Very few dog pros I know are comfortable talking about their rates with potential clients. Let’s face it: We’re dog lovers, not salespeople. But you shouldn’t let that discomfort extend to your website. In fact, handling the numbers right on your site can make the over-the-phone or in-person sales process much easier on yourself—and on your potential clients, too.

Tell People What They Want To Know

We are often asked whether rates should be included on websites. The answer is a resounding YES. We see a lot of dog pro sites—particularly training sites—with no pricing information. This is a huge mistake. People go to websites to make purchase decisions, to decide if you’re the right dog pro for them. By asking them to contact you for your rates, you run a real risk of losing many potential clients. Some will move on to competitors’ sites, looking for one who answers all their questions—including “What will this cost?” Some will assume that if they have to ask, it’s more than they can afford. And if they do call? You have to have that dreaded numbers talk. Imagine the peace of mind of knowing a potential client called you after seeing what you charge—how much easier is that sales conversation for you both?

Trainers often leave rates off their websites because they customize the training to each client. In this case, explain how the process works and list your initial consult rate so potential clients at least know what the first step will cost them. You might also consider sharing some ballpark figures to give people a range of what different types of training scenarios can run. Take the worry and guesswork out of the equation for people. When they call, you’ll know they’re serious and they’ll know you’re honest and not likely to try a hard sell.

Help People Choose The Right Fit

If you provide pricing choices—various daycare packages, for example, or different types of training (coaching, day training, board and train), help people choose the right fit. First, keep your choices few and simple. Marketing research shows that having too many choices often leads to no choice at all. Second, tell potential clients how to make the decision. Who is each type of training best for? What kinds of situations are best served by which of your packages?

Put Your Prices Where They Belong—With Your Services

Your prices should be on your services pages, not dangling by themselves on a separate page. You especially don’t want your pricing page accessible via your main menu, where people can go straight there without first learning what you’re all about—and what you can do for them. And you don’t want rates hidden on another page only accessible from an internal service page, either. One of the central rules of good website design is to make important information easy to find so people stay on your site.

Include your pricing on your services page. Make it easy to see, and surround it with your marketing message. What benefits will I see from sending my dog out with you for daily walks? What do I get for that $XX per day?

Convince People They’re Making The Right Choice

It’s great to have a separate page of testimonials, but those only do you good if a potential client chooses to click over and read them. So whether or not you have a dedicated testimonials page, place short testimonial excerpts throughout your site, and especially on your services pages near your pricing. Set them apart with a larger font size or a pull out box or other design element to draw the eye. Reading testimonials can help people jump down off the fence and make a purchase—so make sure potential clients see yours right as they’re considering your pricing and all you have to offer.

A well-designed website should do much of your sales work for you, increasing the number of inquiries you get and sending folks your way who have already decided you’re the dog pro for them, rates and all. If you’re like most dog pros—more dog lover than salesperson—this can make life quite a bit easier.

For more website and rates advice, consider joining our group coaching program THRIVE!