It’s time to stop being busy and start being productive! Investing in a software can help you better manage your pet business with ease, whether it’s a boarding kennel, dog daycare, pet grooming salon, dog training facility or an entire pet care resort. But it’s not about choosing just any old software, it’s important to choose a software that best suits your business and your needs. Having a software that doesn’t work for your business can be just as bad as having no software at all. The frustration will take up too much of your time and sanity. If you haven’t looked into investing in a kennel management software for your business, what are you waiting for? Stop throwing money out the window and start being productive.
But don’t take it from us, Mitch Ostapchuk of Sunnidale Boarding Kennels raves about his switch to kennel management software, explaining “Time is money. Without this software solution, we, as a business, would not be as efficient and miss potential bookings. The software saves time on data input and accounting data entry for receivables when syncing with QuickBooks. The software is so effective and efficient it is allowing us more time focus on our top priority. Our furry guests! Every company should not miss the opportunity to use this outstanding software”.
A kennel management software not only helps you manage your systems and processes, but also can help you build a more efficient, streamlined, and profitable business. Peace of mind from using a trusted software can lead to better sleep, allowing you to become a more productive and rested business owner. Without a reliable kennel software, these are the ways you’re losing out!
1. YOU’RE DOING ALL THE WORK YOURSELF
Take a second to think back on the previous years of running your pet business. How much time did you spend on filling out forms and documents for your customers? Or even editing booking information and dealing with change requests? It’s time to get your clients do the work for you! With a pet business management software, your clients can easily log into their account online, fill out their profile, make reservation requests, upload vaccination records, and much more. Stop chasing clients for information and ensure that all the necessary details are collected prior to their reservation. By asking customers to fill out forms online, their information is automatically added to their account in ProPet which speeds up your check-in process. Get rid of your filing cabinets and store all your documentation securely online in the cloud. This way you can access important client information from anywhere at any time on any device without having to waste time riffling through endless piles of paperwork and files.
2. YOU’RE MISPLACING IMPORTANT FILES AND INFORMATION
No more misplaced kennel cards. No more lost forms or post-it notes. No more need to spend hours filing paper records. A kennel software helps you get organized! Stop spending hours flicking through bookings and writing and re-writing boarding lists. Pet business management software makes scheduling (and even rearranging) your boarding plan a breeze. It’s now easier than ever to organize and optimize the capacity of your facility while avoiding the embarrassment and stress of double booking. During your busy season, split bookings between various rooms or spaces within your facility to optimize your space and maximize your revenue. You can also monitor capacity daily and know instantly when you are full at peak times to start a waiting list. Investing in a software will help you minimize human error and build your reputation as an organized and professional business.
3. YOU’RE NOT PROVIDING A CONCIERGE EXPERIENCE
An important aspect to consider when investing in a kennel management software is concierge features. Your staff can personalize the experience for your customers when they drop their pets off at your facility. Greet your customers by name and personalize the conversation with information from their pet’s past visits. Remember the pet’s favourite activity, treats, buddies and more. This can also help to improve staff communication with features such as notes and colour codes. Teach your staff how to leave notes with detailed information to avoid mistake or having them interrupt you to ask for more details. Create tasks for your staff to keep them accountable and knowledgeable and never miss an important task due to a lost sticky note or misplaced file.
4. YOU’RE SPENDING TOO MUCH TIME ON MANUAL PROCESSES
When doing your research for a new kennel management software, make sure there is plenty of automation to save time for both you and your staff. Automated invoicing can be a game changer. Your customers can request a reservation online and instantly be sent an auto-generated invoice with estimated prices. No more surprises, brilliant! Implementing a software that has automated invoicing will reduce the embarrassment of over-charging and the stress of lost revenue due to under-charging. No more forgetting to apply a late pickup fee or holiday premium. Find a system that automatically notifies you when these charges are triggered.
There are many different processes that your software can help you automate. For example, kennel cards can be automatically populated with the information filled out by each customer and will be ready to print every morning. Also, avoid costly financial mistakes that can result in unexpected fees. Use a kennel management software that has an integration with QuickBooks Online to cut not only manual data entry time and costs, but also accountant fees. Eliminate costly human error with a kennel software that automatically sends data to your accounting program. Additionally, credit card integrations can be used to charge deposits and no-show fees, which can significantly decrease the amount of lost revenue, especially when paired with automated reminder and thank you emails.
5. YOU’RE NOT USING EMAIL AND SMS AS EFFICIENTLY AS POSSIBLE
We have all faced those clients who never showed up for their booked appointment which results in lost revenue. A kennel software can reduce no-shows with the use automated emailand/or SMS reminders. For optimal effectiveness, email reminders should be sent a few days before a customer’s visit. This will give them the option to cancel, allowing you to replace them with any last-minute booking.
A good old 5-star review is priceless! Find a kennel software that offers a variety of templates to optimize communication. Sending automated thank-you emails that ask your customers to write a review can help boost confidence and trust in your business. A happy customer will gladly give you a glowing review. Email marketing is a critical aspect for any business. Be sure the software you select either offers robust email marketing features or integrates with a leading email marketing software such as MailChimp.
6. YOU’RE NOT KEEPING TRACK OF YOUR PROCESSES
How will you ever know the full value of a client if your systems and processes are not well organized or tracked in any way? A boarding management software should give you the LTV (lifetime value) of each client. Excel can be confusing and frustrating, but a pet business management software creates the reports for you and saves you time by having information at your fingertips with a push of a button. Know your finances so you can make important decisions to grow your company. Identify which services are most popular and which times are less busy so you can launch promotional campaigns to increase revenue. Not knowing when your slow periods occur can be detrimental to your business. These reports can help you schedule employees based on future projections and also find ways to maximize revenue in different areas of your pet business.
A kennel management software is like having a full time assistant! You’ll be able to optimize and streamline your processes, as well as get back to doing what you love. However, don’t forget to take advantage of the user training so you get the most out of your software. Many companies offer training sessions and help with set up to ensure your transition is as smooth as possible. Educate both yourself and your staff so you can use your software to its fullest potential!
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If you’re interested in seeing how a kennel management software can help you optmize your pet business processes, click on the button below to get started with a trial of ProPet Software!
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