When I was a kid I was taught a song that was very simple, sung to the Frere Jacques melody, and basically just said I am special over and over. It obviously stuck. I remember it now, probably 30 years later. While we can argue about what makes people special and if everyone is special in their own way or some are more special than others but what’s important here is what makes your business special? Most small business owners do not have an entirely new concept. They see a window in the market and they fill it or they see something they think they can do better. We’re going to look more at the second one, what makes you better and if not better, different?
I am not the first person to start a dog walking company. Many people came before me and forged a path. I am not the first person to start a dog walking company in Denver but here I am almost 10 years later with at least a decent portion of market share. Why? Why do people pick my company and not someone else’s? This answer can be complicated but usually, there are some basic tenants that set us apart from the competition (as well as some things we don’t do that disqualify us from another person’s search). No company can be everything to everybody. If that’s your goal, you are going to spend a lot of time beating yourself up and a lot of time catering to everyone’s whim. Especially in service. Let’s say you own a concierge/assistant company. Your clients have you pick up dry cleaning, make appointments for them, and generally help their lives run more smoothly. What if they called you at midnight and asked you to come over and hang out cuz they had a bad night. That might be crossing a line you don’t want to see the other side of. It’s OK to say that’s not what I’m here for. Or maybe you do go over, but if you do, your client list isn’t going to be very long. You can only be that person for so many people. If you are available 24/7 for everyone, eventually someone is going to be upset because you can’t be in two places at once.
In our case, a huge challenge for dog walking companies is customer service. Most people who get into it love dogs, not people. They may or may not be organized and/or tech savvy. I have gotten so many complaints from new clients that whoever they had tried before was great with their dogs but just so hard to work with. I have a long history of working customer service before starting Pawsitively Pooches and I’ve made it a priority. Reliability is the other big requirement. While we are not perfect, I have worked very hard to ensure that if we say we’ll be there, we’ll be there and we’ll be within our time window. We have staff members who don’t have walks assigned and can pick up a walk if another walker is behind. Everyone knows that being on time is important and to ask for help if they get in the weeds. These are basic pillars of our company. If you hire us, you can expect us to be there, when we say we’ll be there, and take good care of your pooch. If for some reason that doesn’t happen, you’ll be notified, you’ll get and explanation and an apology and a promise to do better as well as a discount. This communication comes from me or one of the managers. There’s no online chat, no finding the right email address, just honest and humble communication. That’s what truly sets us apart.
More recently, I’ve been trying to come up with some ideas for ways to promote this mentality in a more straightforward way. Soon we’ll be adding welcome gifts for all new clients. Old clients will get them too. Each gift includes a letter with a little bit about the company and what they can expect from us and how to navigate our systems best, as well as a treat and some other goodies. We want people to immediately feel how good it is being part of the Pooch Family.
The other thing that sets us apart is that while we do believe customer service is important, we remember that our employees are people too. While we may discount a client’s walk if they were unhappy, we discuss it with the dog walker and get their side too. Even if the dog walker was in the wrong we try to give the client an idea of why what happened happened and how we’re going to fix it going forward. None of my employees have to worry if a client is being over the top or mean for the sake of it. I will always step in for them and I do not tolerate abuse from clients to dog walkers. If a client wants to yell and scream they can do it with me. The dog walkers don’t get paid enough for that and they have no legs to stand on because they aren’t empowered to fire or reprimand a client. It’s completely unfair to them. Keeping your employees happy and in the know will keep them around for longer and employees who last work for businesses who last.
These things work well for us, they might for you too, but really you need to take what makes you different and translate that into your business. I’m different because I’m good with dogs and people. Both of which I had to learn but my history has me uniquely qualified to provide that experience to my clients. What sets you apart and how do you weave it into your business?