Business

'3 Key Strategies to Combat the' typography
illustration of woman holding dog with downward arrows floating around them
Declining Demand for Dog Daycare typography

By Laura Laaman

Have you noticed a drop in demand for your dog daycare services? If so, you’re hardly alone—pet care facilities nationwide have experienced the same slowdown in both daycare attendance and pet nights.
The post-pandemic travel surge is over, but the prevalence of remote work keeps many pet parents at home during the day. The piles of puppies adopted during COVID are now older and have less of that playful energy and, hence, less need for daycare. Inflation has changed—OK, let’s be blunt—curbed customer spending habits. But wait, there’s more: most markets have also been saturated by an influx of new facilities entering the fray.

Boarding remains the biggest source of revenue for most pet care facilities. However, an effective dog daycare program is essential for staffing and revenue stability. Why? Because daycare buffers the steep valleys of the boarding off-season. Plus, once daycare customers fall in love with your company and staff, they’re more likely to bypass local pet sitters and return to you for other services like boarding.

With a smaller new-pet-parent-prospect pool and turbulent seas of competition on all sides, it’s more important than ever to ensure your daycare program is as effective as possible. The following will outline three key strategies pet care businesses can use to strengthen their daycare programs, win more new customers and better retain existing ones.

1. Elevate Your Phone Process

Even in today’s fast-paced digital world, most new pet parents choose the telephone for their first touchpoint with your business. So, the critical question for business owners and managers is, who answers the phone at your business? Have you equipped them with the training, tools and measured goals to convert prospects at an exceptional rate? Are they well-prepared to be the chaperone of your new clients and revenue?

Unfortunately, most pet care companies allow any available employee to answer phone calls without any training or tracking. This misstep can crush a pet care facility’s revenue stream. Each new-prospect phone call should be treated with the utmost respect and care. After all, any daycare customer could turn out to be worth thousands per year in daycare revenue alone.

When a prospective client calls your facility, they’re filled with questions and trepidations. Whoever answers your phone has a very short window to obtain the pet parent’s information, create a welcoming environment, differentiate your company from inferior competition, earn their trust and convert the lead to a booking. This is a big ask for someone without a particular skillset and effective preparation, with a lot at stake if they don’t succeed.

Consider adding or training a dedicated phone person (or people) to fulfill this critical role. It’s your phone person’s job to ensure the caller understands the benefits of your facility and what they get for their money. Provide them with the information and tools to ensure every new customer prospect can visualize the quality of care, special amenities, and distinguishing factors that make your company worth their trust and business. All this can and should be done on the initial call. So, what do you need to do to make this happen?

  • Hire or train a candidate with an upbeat demeanor and strong verbal communication skills.

  • Provide effective sales training for your phone person.

  • Prepare compelling, consistent and strategic messaging for them to use on every call.

  • Have your phone person answer as many incoming calls as possible.

  • Train them to make outbound calls to re-engage existing customers and prospects.

  • Ensure you can record and review calls and adjust training as needed.

  • Regularly track performance and conversion.

With a stellar phone process, your facility can make the best impressions, increase conversion rates, improve daycare attendance and stand out in a highly competitive market. But what about when a prospect comes right to your doors?

illustration of  green upward arrows floating around woman wearing green dress holding leash while dog sits at her feet

Tours offer a unique opportunity to stand out from the competition in a face-to-face setting. A well-executed tour emphasizes your clean and organized facility, wonderful care, and the fun and enriching experience your guests enjoy, all while establishing enough trust to convert the prospect.

2. Give Effective Tours

The power of an in-person facility tour should not be underestimated. Tours offer a unique opportunity to stand out from the competition in a face-to-face setting. A well-executed tour emphasizes your clean and organized facility, wonderful care, and the fun and enriching experience your guests enjoy, all while establishing enough trust to convert the prospect. It’s not as simple as just walking around the property; the best tour procedures call for careful preparation, training, execution and measuring—and here’s how:

Personalize every tour. Before embarking on the tour, have your tour guides take a few minutes to obtain the customer’s information and ask some thoughtful questions about their pet. Insights into the dog’s breed, age, personality and past daycare experience will all help make a connection with the prospect. It demonstrates an active interest in the client and their dog and helps the tour guide customize the tour in meaningful ways.

Prepare consistent and compelling messaging. Consistent, powerful messaging is vital to differentiate your company from competitors. Ensure your tour guide emphasizes what sets your company apart, shows the features that make you special and demonstrates the quality of care provided. This might include pointing out special safety systems/precautions, noteworthy amenities, play areas, cleaning protocols, staff training and any number of highlights. Touring prospects desire reassurance that their pet will be happy, safe and cared for while they’re away.

Plan your tour route strategically. Take the time to plan a tour route that your tour guide takes every time. For many customers, seeing, smelling and experiencing translates to believing. Developing a strategic route throughout your facility that touches on the most important features will be fruitful. Many top pet care companies also prepare a “wall of fame” showing off any training certifications, press, and awards to boost credibility and foster trust.

A promotion like “first day free” can lower the barrier to entry for prospects unsure about committing to dog daycare right away.
Wrap up effectively. At the end of each tour, the tour guide should attempt to book a service (or services) for the new pet parent. Whether they book right away or not, consider giving the pet parent a special tour gift, such as a goodie bag with a branded dog toy. Also be sure to include your brochure, coupons and/or flyers in the bag.

A good tour should leave no doubt in the customer’s mind what makes your facility special and why you’re the right place for their pet to stay and play. Be sure to explain any special offers you’re currently running, as they can help to motivate bookings.

3. Marketing with Special New-Client Offers

Enticing, well-promoted special new-client offers are yet another tool your company can use to stand out from competitors and drive business. Consider offering discounts for first-time customers, including specific offers for different services.

A promotion like “first day free” can lower the barrier to entry for prospects unsure about committing to dog daycare right away. This is a lot like being given a complementary sample of hand cream or perfume. Hopefully, the new customer will try it, enjoy it and want to continue. A free first day of daycare, or even just a free daycare evaluation, is like a free trial for the customer and their pet. It encourages the pet parent and the pet to try you first—before competitors.

The ideal offers for your company depend on your individual facility, region and market. But once you’ve chosen your offers, you need to be sure that as many prospects as possible will see or hear about them. How?

  • Ensure your special offers are displayed clearly and prominently on your website. They should attract the customers’ eyes with eye-catching colors, bold fonts and clear language.

  • Create flyers with your business logo, contact information, and special offers and place them in areas highly trafficked by pet parents.

  • Promote your daycare and any offers on social media, complete with great photos demonstrating how much fun your facility is.

  • Include your special offers in your email and text marketing, positioning them boldly and in subject lines.

  • Reach out to existing customers to invite them to daycare with a special offer or encourage repeat bookings.

  • Attend special events, like a community festival or parade.

These are great places to hand out coupons and encourage visitors to try out your services. You can put out a sign-up sheet to collect the information of interested prospects and have your phone person reach out later.

In today’s shifting pet care landscape, it takes more than a great facility to capture enough leads to thrive. But even as consumers become more selective and new competitors crowd the market, there are still ample opportunities to be seized. Pet parents spend more and more on their pets every year, and the same is predicted for 2025. With proactive planning and wise adaptation, your pet care business can establish itself as the go-to choice for pet parents—now and well into the future.

Laura Laaman is president of Outstanding Pet Care. If you’re interested in growing your revenues with our proven and guaranteed services, schedule a consultation by calling 1-888-836-8740 or visiting www.outstandingpetcare.com/contact.