5 Steps to a Better Pet Boarding Business

Running a pet boarding business is both rewarding and exhausting. As a small business owner, you don’t have a lot of time to make extensive and chaotic changes to your business strategy. We’ve put together a few easy, and fairly quick, tips that you can use to increase your visibility, communicate more efficiently with your clients, and manage your business more smoothly.

CREATE A SUCCESSFUL WEBSITE

Optimizing your website does a variety of great things for your business, such as creating a positive first impression when people visit. When your site is easy to navigate and encourages people to engage with your content, the odds are that they will spend more time there. If your website is responsive and has a clear “Call to Action,” your visitors will know exactly how to proceed to the booking step when they are ready. A “Call to Action” is a clear prompt for your customers to proceed to the next step, such as booking a service with your business. Some small improvements that you can make to your website to optimize it are:

• Create a “Call to Action” button on your website that allows clients to book services online quickly and easily. After looking over your site and realizing that they love your facility, your clients will appreciate the ability to book with ease
• Ensure that your website is responsive. This means that it is optimized for mobile viewing as well as desktop viewing, and will automatically adjust to whatever screen size that your customers are viewing your site on
•  You can encourage your clients to engage with your website by creating a blog. A blog allows you to post about things that you think your clients would like, such as pet healthcare tips. Creating blog posts gives your clients a reason to visit your site other than making a booking, and also gives them something interesting to share on social media-thus helping to promote your business.
•  Social media should be your best friend. Consider creating a presence on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ to interact with your customers, and include share buttons on your website so that clients can easily share something that they enjoyed reading. Make sure that you adhere to polite social media guidelines!
•  Testimonials are a great tool to build a positive reputation for your business. When people visit your site and see that other customers are happy with your services, they engage in something called social proof. This means that potential clients will be more apt to build a trusting relationship with your business from the very first interaction with your website

USE A MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

Using an all in one software solution, such as ProPet Software, allows you to manage your business quickly and easily. You can monitor the pets that are checking in and out of your facility, review online requests from clients, manage payments, review reports with ease, and more. For example, software enables you to send quick updates to your clients while their pet stays at your facility, thus reassuring them that their pet is having a great time and is safe in your care. Not only can software save you time, it allows you to manage your facility with complete ease, from anywhere with an internet connection, on any device.

GOOD QUALITY SIGNAGE & LOGO

Good quality signage and a unique logo will give your business credibility. A logo that is recognizable will allow your customers to identify your business easily and it also makes you simple to remember. Signage and logos become especially important when marketing your business through social media and trade shows becuase they help you to create an advertising presence.

CREATE A NEWSLETTER OR MONTHLY EMAIL

Check out services like MailChimp, an online email marketing solution. You can create informative newsletters, manage contacts, and track the results of your efforts from this service. Once someone becomes a regular client of yours, a newsletter allows you to provide updates quickly and easily, and promote any sales or deals that you might be offering. This is a great tool for keeping your clients informed and encouraging them to take advantage of the promotions that you offer.

GOOGLE MY BUSINESS

No we don’t mean typing the name of your business into a search engine! Google My Business is a tool Google offers that can help you to connect with customers whether they are searching maps, Google+, or just an organic search for similar services through the Google search engine. This means that your customers are receiving the information that they need about your business, and that your business has every opportunity to appear in the search results that are produced. You can share information like a map, hours of operation, phone number, address, and more. Customers can review your services, offer ratings, and endorse your content, which can lead to more customers in the future.

These changes can really make a big difference in improving your pet boarding business by making you more visible to potential clients and strengthening the bond that you have with existing customers. Did you find this article helpful? Share it and check out some of the other business development tips on our blog!