Obtaining a competitive edge or advantage is one way to ensure success as a pet sitter. Referrals from happy clients can be one of your strongest tools to winning more clients.
However, word of mouth from vets, groomers and pet store business owners could prove to be your sharpest tool yet.
It sounds like the perfect plan. You become a qualified pet sitter in your area, get business cards printed up and are ready to get some referrals from your local vet, groomer or pet store.
How ideal. You’re a savvy business owner and see the power in partnerships. Naturally, every person walking in and out of any of those places has a pet and is a potential client.
You start making the rounds with business cards in hand and quickly realize not everyone is as excited as you are about leaving your cards on the counter. You are told no and sent on your way.
You walk away confused and defeated. Not to worry, we’re going to get you back on your feet while showing you how to stop wasting your time and actually get your cards displayed on those counters.
First, a few questions for you:
What sets you apart from other pet sitters? Why should a potential client choose you over all other options available? What are you doing to stand out and become the preferred choice as pet sitter?
If you do not have clear and specific answers to these questions, you may find yourself struggling for new clients.
Start by asking yourself, “What do I do better than anyone else?” Dig deep to discover what makes you, you.
First impressions really are everything. If you do not immediately grab the attention (and trust) of a potential client in a positive way, it’ll be unlikely she’ll ever become a client of yours.
As consumers, we make quick decisions that help us weed out the abundance of websites competing for our business. The growth of the Internet has quickly leveled the playing field for most anyone to open up shop and sell any product or service they desire.
The goal, however, is to quickly position yourself in the client’s eye as professional, reputable and reliable. Here’s the best way to do just that.
Picture this: you are caring for a client’s pet and notice a drastic change in its eating habits. Or the poor pooch has some sort of discharge oozing from her eye. Or worse yet, the dog is breathing in a way that can’t be good.
Something’s got to be done. And quick. What do you do? You remain calm, compose yourself and put your plan into action.
You do have a plan… don’t you?
What makes a successful pet sitting business owner? How do you stand out from the competition and become the obvious choice for new clients? Let’s look into what personal qualities and traits are vital to your success.
Running your own pet sitting business and becoming your own boss is a dream come true for most people. However, without developing the necessary personal qualities and traits, you may quickly find yourself struggling to get off the ground.
As you know, trust plays a huge part in a client’s decision to use one pet sitter over another. If a client does not trust you, nothing else matters. She will not become your new client.
Understanding what is going through a client’s mind during the first crucial minutes of your contact together can lead to a growing business by winning more clients.
Your website’s title tag is by far one of the most important elements when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO).
SEO is just fancy talk for all the ways you hone, tweak and adjust various elements of your site to give yourself the best chance of popping up in the search results for the terms your clients would use to find you.
Google, along with the other search engines, places a lot of weight on a page’s title to determine where it shows up in its search results. Get it right and you’ll see a steady flow of potential new clients.
Dr. Napoleon Hill. Think and Grow Rich.
If you’re not familiar with either of those names, it’s never too late to come along for the ride and enjoy the rewards.
“Think and Grow Rich” is Dr. Hill’s masterpiece book written more than 70 years ago, during The Great Depression. One of the best selling books of all time, his book is the result of more than twenty years of research and captures the essence of how success occurs and how anyone can achieve it.
You hear plenty about how to give proper care to the various animals we are hired to watch, but sometimes forget that we must treat the human (the pet owner) with the same care and respect.
After all, it is the human making the decision to hire the pet sitter. Without winning over the pet owner, you’ll never get to use your amazing skills as a pet sitter that you’ve worked so hard to perfect.