Business
any pet boarding and daycare business owners think boosting profitability means raising prices or expanding your client base—meaning prices get raised once a year and the rest of their efforts go into new-client acquisition. Yes, adjusting prices and increasing your customer base are essential strategies, but they aren’t your only options…
Here we’ll dive into seven innovative ways to unearth the hidden potentials within your existing operations, adding substantial value and profitability without the typical grind of problematic price hikes or constantly hunting for new customers.
For example, a daycare client attending twice a week can be encouraged to increase the number of visits, benefiting both their dog and your bottom line. Or, grooming clients might shorten their six-week cycle to five and add a quick wash between full grooming appointments.
McDonald’s famously asks, “Do you want to supersize that?” applying the same principle of frequent, value-added offers. Frequency in sales also matters.
Are you actively selling? Do you communicate offers to your existing clients? I recommend implementing a robust system that utilizes various media—emails, texts, calls and direct mail. Remember, when you sell you aren’t bothering your clients; you are offering them the chance to treat their dog or get better and faster results by using your services. By offering more, more often, you will consistently increase profits.
Affluent clients naturally gravitate towards premium services—it’s in their nature. A surprising 5-20% of your clientele might choose the pricier option with little to no prompting.
Oddly enough, by offering these higher-end options, you may find that more clients opt for your standard services too, viewing them as more accessible yet high-quality choices. Remember, pricing taps into emotions more than logic.
By focusing on relevant, value-adding services, you can effectively multiply the value of each customer, turning single transactions into multiple opportunities.
Cross-selling can be as simple as offering an “Existing Client Loyalty Discount” on a service they aren’t buying yet. By focusing on relevant, value-adding services, you can effectively multiply the value of each customer, turning single transactions into multiple opportunities.
A comprehensive “New Puppy Package” might include obedience training, several daycare introduction sessions, a “Confident Puppy” grooming session and a “Welcome Home Puppy Kit.” Such bundles make it easy for new pet owners to choose you over competitors, ensuring they get everything they need in one convenient package.
Offering packages will increase sales and also enhance customer loyalty, as clients come to appreciate the convenience and care you provide for their beloved pets.
So, can you charge for consultations, meet and greets, no-shows and cancelled bookings? Yes, you can! You can also design new services where you charge clients for something that no one else charges for. Here are two examples:
- Recurring Revenue Membership: This locks clients into a monthly fee just to be able to use the daycare, ensuring steady income and consistent use of daycare services.
- Daycare Induction Program Trial: Dogs undergo a five-day assessment before joining the daycare. This improves integration and significantly increases the initial transaction value per client.
Look for opportunities to turn staff interactions into sales opportunities, then make it easy for the staff to sell. Provide scripts, sales aids and even incentives that make it worth their while to add “sales” to their job description. Consultations, meet and greets, and facility tours all present a great opportunity for staff to identify problems and better selling solutions.
What other interactions can you add in to your process that will make it easier for you to communicate and sell your other services? Can you introduce a client appreciation call one week after they’ve started using your service? And on the call you tell them about your upgrade and cross-sell services. Could you do a semi-annual “Pawrents Evening” where you talk to each client about their dog’s progress and see what else they might need from you?
Dom Hodgson is Europe’s leading pet business coach, and is known as the Pet Biz Wiz. His mission is to help pet service providers create superior customer service systems that enable them to build an impactful and profitable pet business. Dom has written over nine books, and is a much in-demand speaker. You can instantly download a free copy of his latest book “How to Disnify Your Doggy Daycare Business” by going to www.petbusinessmarketing.com/daycaremagic
