Seven Ways to Boost your Pet Business this Summer! (Part One)
In 1963 Nat King Cole sang about rolling out the ‘lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer’, but if you are a pet business owner coming out of 12 weeks of lockdown then being ‘lazy’ probably isn’t high on your to-do list.
Hopefully, you have a ‘to-do’ list, and it’s full of money-making marketing activities, that will enable you to recover from the Covid19 shutdown and push on with confidence in the second half of 2020.
Most dog walkers, trainers and groomers have made the mistake of jumping straight back on the hamster wheel of busyness, which means they often miss easy opportunities to increase profits, and make their business more attractive to affluent dog owners.
See, even when there is a fog of fear hanging over the economy, and there is lots of uncertainty about how the unlocking of the lockdown will develop, there’s stuff you can be doing to elevate the status of your pet business so that when dog owners in your town start looking for a service you offer, then yours is the one they gravitate too.
So, in this series of articles I’m going to share seven marketing activities you can easily do, right now that will give your pet business (and your bank balance) a boost over the summer.
If you implement just half of these then you’ll end up have a storming second half of the year;
Booster Number One – Pricing!
You wouldn’t go to Harrods and expect to purchase the same items at the same price as you would in Aldi or another discount store, would you?
No Dom, you wouldn’t (correct answer BTW ;-))
But, is Harrods a better store because its products are five times better, or is it perceived to sell better products because it charges five times the price?
Well, it’s a weird quirk of pricing, but many consumers will infer that a product or service is better quality than a lower-priced one simply because it’s more expensive.
You can use this to your advantage and immediately position your services as better and more desirable than all the rest, simply by making your pet business service the most expensive in your town.
Ah, but you have competition and couldn’t possibly charge any more than you do, right?
Wrong, and I will explain why.
Let’s move away from the Harrods and Rolls-Royces and take a closer look at the town you live in.
Look around your town the next time you go for a walk or are driving to work. Have a look at the different cars people are driving, the Fords and Ferraris. See the different houses for sale, cheap flats and council houses and huge private gated mansions. Now think about all of the bars, restaurants and shops in your town centre. Do they offer the same products at the same price in exactly the same way?
The answer is no, they don’t.
In every town and city all over the world, there are expensive and cheaper choices for every product or service you can think of. If you look hard enough, you will find both a high-end luxury and a bargain-basement option.
So if you are such a great dog walker, dog trainer or dog groomer, then it begs the question, why aren’t you charging the highest prices?
You may be tempted to think that because of the hangover that exists because of lockdown that this is a bad time to increase prices, and it may be that you need to be selective about which prices you increase, but there will be opportunities to increase prices of some services TODAY.
I have private coaching clients who run dog walking, training, grooming businesses and doggy day-cares who have all increased prices in the last 10 weeks. Some have done it multiple times.
Being premium AND just as importantly being known as offering a premium pet service will actually insulate you if we have another lockdown because your more affluent clients will be less likely to ditch your services.
I’ll talk later in this article series about how you can increase the price by changing your offering, and introducing an upsell, but for now, think about increasing your prices by at least 10% on your most popular service.
There are so many different ways you can market your pet business it can be easy to forget that despite the easiest and most reliable way to make more money is to increase prices.
So, remember while you are promoting your services on Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, Blogs, podcasts etc, that those ‘likes’ ‘loves’ and ‘blog views’ won’t pay the bills.
The fact is dog owners in your town love their dogs the same now as they did BEFORE lockdown, and they will find the funds to give their dogs the best products and services they can.
So, ignore the doomsters and gloomsters, and your pet business competition.
Be brave with your pricing, but most of all ‘Be Premium’.
On July 17th 2020 I’m running a free 7-day challenge to help you implement these 7 Pet Business Boosters. If you want to join a bunch of kick-ass pet business owners and get my help to fix your broken pet business then click on the link below now and sign up.
www.growyourpetbusinessfast.com/challenge
Booster Number Two – Sell more stuff!
Have you ever pulled into a drive through determined that you would only get a coffee, but then as you idle past the menu your tummy starts rumbling so you add a burger, THEN find yourself upgrading to a meal, THEN find yourself ‘Going Large’? Who knows, maybe you really have the munchies and end up adding a muffin to keep you going throughout the day….
Hey, I’m not judging ok. We’ve all done it.
When that happens, you are experiencing ‘upselling’. This means you are being ‘upsold’ and encouraged to spend more money, buying more of the same or a product you perceive to be better quality which is usually more expensive.
‘Going large’ is the most obvious example of upselling, but this actually happens in almost all selling situations.
So, you may choose to upgrade to Sky Q from regular Sky HD to improve your viewing pleasure at home.
You might ‘upgrade’ to first class on a train ride to experience a better journey, and when you arrive at your hotel you may even ‘upgrade’ to a bigger room, or even the penthouse suite if you are feeling flash.
Most businesses have upsells built into the business model and the sales process, but most pet business owners DON’T, and if you are a dog walker, trainer, groomer or day-care owner who doesn’t have a range of services to offer your clients then you are leaving A LOT of money on the table.
The reason ‘upsells’ are so crucial is they are where all the easy money (and usually the BIG money) is made in your pet business.
See, getting a dog owner to go from prospect (just interested in your services) to client (where they’ve bought something and invested in your services) is the most expensive aspect of your business.
It takes time for you to get the word ‘out there’ about your services, and for the client to build up the know, like and trust required to get them to get in touch with you. (I’ll show you how to speed that process up in the next article.)
It also takes money and effort to make that happen. You have to show up regularly and consistently with marketing materials like websites, leaflets, business cards, adverts etc, that all require investment.
The great news is once that dog owner has crossed the Rubicon and become a fully-fledged ‘fee-paying’ client then they will be much more amenable to investing more money in your services.
It’s your responsibility to offer them more.
Don’t over think this. A simple A/B, standard/deluxe, silver/gold offering will do for now.
Just make sure your higher prices ‘Gold’ option has enough bells and whistles attached to motivate your client to invest more money.
Some clients will jump straight to the ‘deluxe’ dog walk, dog groom, training session, day-care experience, as soon as they are offered it.
So, remember to offer it!
To get more pet business tips and advice you should sign up for my 33 ideas that will help you grow your pet business fast! www.growyourpetbusinessfast.com/33ideas
In 2011 Dom Hodgson revolutionised the pet service industry with his first business Pack Leader Dog Adventures, the UK’s first, award winning ‘dog adventure’ company. Now a respected dog trainer, author, speaker and mentor to pet business owners, Doms calling is to help dog walkers, trainers and groomers to excel with their marketing, so they can help change the lives of more dog owners with their amazing skills. You can join the elite, ambitious pet business owners inside the Pet Business Inner Circle, or apply to work with Dom personally by clicking here now.
You can grab a FREE copy of the pet business bible ‘Walk Yourself Wealthy’ from me by clicking here.
If you are a super serious pet business owner, with a more established business that you are struggling to make profitable, and you want to move forward faster, then you can apply to work with me directly inside the PBIC or in of my pet business coaching programs. Click here to find out how to work with me personally to help you grow your pet business.
Take that leap today. You won’t regret it.