10 Ways To Tell If Your Pet Sitting Clients Like You

Internalize the Golden Rule of sales that says, “All things being equal, people will do business with, and refer business to, those people they know, like, and trust.” – Bob Burg

If your clients do not like you, they will not use your service.  Establishing trust with your clients may be one of the most important things you can do to assure they remain loyal and continue to see you as the best and only option for the care of their pet. Without a relationship based on trust, your client will look elsewhere for pet sitting services.

A pet sitter is asking a lot of a potential client. We are asking for access to their home – while they are not there – and are responsible for the care of their pets. This is a lot of responsibility.

10 Ways To Determine If Your Clients Like You.

Ask yourself these questions.  The more times you can answer ‘Yes,’ the more likely your clients like you.

1) Are you professional? Do you keep your word, conduct business in a professional manner and look and sound professional? If you say you’ll call back or stop by at a certain time, do you?

2) Are you put together? Do you look good and clean? The clients are allowing you into their home. They expect everything to remain the same when they arrive back home.

3) Are you trustworthy? From a man’s perspective, when we go out on a date with a woman we like, one of the first things we need to do along the way, is establish trust. If your date does not trust you, you will have a very hard time getting a second one.

The same can be said for potential clients. Meet and Greets have a similar need. The client must trust you in order to go ahead and use your service. After all, she’ll be trusting you with the care of her animal and handing you the keys to her entire home. That’s a lot of trust needing to be establish!

4) Are you genuine? Do you say what you mean and mean what you say.  Try and take a genuine interest in the client’s life. If she is sharing personal details with you, and opening up, do the same by sharing a little something about yourself. This is where you want to start to build rapport.

5) Are you honest? If you can’t handle a request, say so. If you don’t understand what the client is requesting, ask her to explain further. If you don’t know how to give cats their insulin shots, don’t say you do and hope you’ll figure it out. Most clients are more than happy to show you how it’s done. As long as needles do not freak you out, it’s relatively easy learning how it’s done.

6) Are you accessible? The more often the client can reach you on your phone or quickly via email, the better.

7) Are you transparent? Be honest, open and upfront with the client. Let her know every step of the way what is happening. Keep her in the loop. You are going to be spending time alone in her house. Make sure she understands and feels comfortable with the process. Give her a brief overview of how you work.

8) Are you open? Share a personal side of you that is appropriate and that she can relate to. You want to be able to find common ground. Remember, we like to do business with the people we like and can relate to. See be genuine, above.

9) Are you friendly? Perhaps most important is to simply be friendly. Provide good service and handle any requests happily. “Sure, no problem!” goes a long way.

10) Are you smart? Think before you speak and take action. You are dealing with a stranger’s home and possessions. If you’re not sure how to operate that funky looking icemaker, better leave it alone and do with out the ice.

So how do you go about making a solid impression on your clients to ensure a long term business relationship?