If you run a pet grooming service, dog walking business or pet sitting business you probably know the importance of promoting your business. A small business runs not just through providing quality services but also by marketing its products right. Since you can probably not afford to spend a lot of money on advertising, referrals are the best way to get publicity for your pet grooming business. This article discusses how to get referrals working for you.
Importance of Customer Referrals: Referrals come from many sources vets, customers, and neighbors. Be sure to provide quality services to clients if you want them to refer you to other people. A happy customer will come back to you and use your pet grooming service at least 5 times a year. Multiply that by the number of years he will live in the area, and you get to understand the importance of keeping your customers happy.
If you offer good services, chances are that the local veterinarian will also recommend your pet grooming business to pet owners. Apart from providing quality services, you also need to work on customer relationships if you want them to refer your business to other people.
In addition, keep in mind that if the quality of service is bad, you won’t lose just the client but many other potential clients as well. This is because the unhappy client will tell others to stay away from your pet grooming business.
Therefore, you see how important referrals are to your pet grooming business.
Customer Referral Strategies: How to get customers to recommend your pet grooming business to other people? Here are a few strategies.
1) Ask for it in the form of a survey. Put to them questions like “What did you like about our services?” or “How can we be of more help to you?” Then ask them if they know anyone else who might be interested in your service.
2) Draw up a mailing list of potential customers. Then send emails detailing your pet care services to them.
3) Ask new customers how they got to know about your pet grooming business. This will help you focus your referral strategies, keeping in mind where your market exists.
4) Send Thank-You notes or New Year greeting cards to vets, clients, and other people who referred new clients to you. A gift voucher or coupon is an excellent way to thank someone who has referred many customers to you. This also encourages them to refer more people to your pet grooming business, since it makes them feel appreciated.
The client referral strategies outlined above work well for any pet grooming business. You also need to provide superlative service, since that is the only way to ensure referrals. Customer relations and quality of grooming are both important factors when it comes to customer referrals.
If you want to know more about customer referrals and how you can use them to get more clients for your pet grooming business, you can hire the services of a business advisor or a professional dealing with marketing and promotion aspect of small businesses.
EDITOR NOTE: I would also like to take this opportunity to recommend joining a BNI Chapter or similar group if one is available in your area. BNI, a group I belong to in New Jersey (it’s International), is based on members referring business to other members. The twist? Only one person per business. Each catagory is exclusive, meaning each chapter only has one butcher, one baker and one candlestick maker. This is the PERFECT way to grow a pet sitting or dog walking business inexpensively. Some of the best marketing dollars I’ve ever spent! -gene
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Alexander Gordon is a writer for http://www.smallbusinessconsulting.com – The Small Business Consulting Community. Sign-up for the free success steps newsletter and get our booklet valued at $24.95 for free as a special bonus. The newsletter provides daily strategies on starting and significantly growing a business. Business Owners all across the country are joining “The Community of Small Business Owners” to receive and provide strategies, insight, tips, support and more on starting, managing, growing, and selling their businesses. As a member, you will have access to true Millionaire Business Owners who will provide strategies and tips from their real-life experiences. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alexander_Gordon |
1 response so far ↓
Neville // October 20, 2008 at 4:07 pm |
Excellent article. End of service “customer feedback form” is an essential marketing tool that says you are professional.
Not often covered is what a pet sitter should charge for the services. We charge a minimum of $18.00 per visit. This takes into account not only the motor expenses (at least 58 cents per mile travelled) but also the time wasted in travelling both ways to an assignment. Remember when setting up a business revenue and cost model (or budget), it is essential to appreciate just what it costs you for down time (fallow time). When you are sitting, you are earning revenue, all other time is a cost and represents lost revenue.
Neville
CEO Pet Care Angels is Orlando