• What if I told you that your business would never again have to compete on price?
• Would you be willing to put in a little effort one time to add 10%-30% to your prices if you knew you couldn’t loose a single client?
• What would you say if I told you increasing your prices would guarantee more new customers?
• Would you be interested? Keep reading….

Whoever uses this Strategy First Dominates the Dog Business in Their Market Segment

How do you differentiate your doggy day care or pet sitting business from every other dog business in town? Doesn’t every single business claim to treat the clients’ dog just like their own? Couldn’t you just copy any little feature or benefit your competitor was offering and essentially wipe out any competitive advantage? Sure you could.

If your competitor provides a report card for their dog sitting clients - you could easily incorporate the same strategy. A webcam is a huge selling feature I recommend all of my doggy day care clients, trainers and in their own home pet sitters utilize. So, if you aren’t using a webcam and the new doggy day care down the road is, you certainly can install one in about 20 minutes - no problem.

“So, what is this one thing that can actually differentiate your business that isn’t duplicatable by your competition?”

It isn’t that it can’t be duplicated - but, it is one of those ideas that benefits the first mover the most. If you utilize this one strategy before your competitor you will always have the advantage. That is, as long as you are doing it with quality and consistency. The first to incorporate this single strategy into their business becomes known as the industry leader in their community (or online market).
This is one of those strategies that is so good I am going to make you do a little trick before I give it to you. (don’t you just love my doggy humor?) Actually, I don’t want you to do a trick, I want to bribe you to answer a couple questions for me.

Its a really good bribe though - you are going to love this strategy and it will, without a doubt change the entire dog business game in your town if you use it.

Actually, we are REALLY close to wrapping up our long-awaited “Recession Proof Your Dog Business Manual”. We will be releasing it in a couple weeks. But before we do, we would like to make sure we covered everything you are concerned about in your business- so we would like to ask you a couple of questions.

Can you help us out?

You can post your questions in the comments below or e-mail me directly at: fran@dogbusinessdaily.com. Please tell us your top 2 or 3 business concerns, problems, questions or issues.

That’s it - just post a comment below and be sure to request our marketing tips newsletter if you aren’t already a subscriber (to the right) so I have permission to e-mail you and I’ll send you the strategy that is going to revolutionize your dog business!

How do you create Your USP - unique selling proposition?

Almost every one of my dog business clients and readers struggle to identify their unique selling proposition. Most think that all the creative ideas are already taken - how many different services and features can a doggy day care or dog trainer offer anyway? When you recognize that you don’t have to invent anything new - you just need to create a different twist, angle, service or benefit to your clients from your unique set of skills - it becomes much easier to identify.

Although we are all connected, you are a unique portion of the divine and there is no one in the world with your history, skills, talents and unique knowledge. No one has walked the same path or seen the world through your eyes. You are the most amazing and mystifying combination of com­plicated, interrelated systems of communications, transportation, transformation, operation, circulation, coordination, elimination and various processing plants ever brought together into one or­ganism.

As a matter of record, and phylogeny as well as psychology sub­stantiate it, no two individuals are exactly alike in every respect. In all the millions who lived before you, who are alive today and will be born in the future there never was and never will be any­one exactly like you. Nature and God have given you special tal­ents, abilities and aptitudes, which only you can use and develop.

Find out what your customers want and need and use your unique experience and talents to create a solution, product or service. Communicate with your prospects and clients - it is all about them. Take the pressure off yourself - it is about the clients not you. Ask questions, listen and then allow your unique take on the world to deliberate while you go about your daily routine.

Your essential being will come up with amazing ideas if you just allow it.

Give it a try - and let me know what you come up with.

If you provide dog kennel services a few simple tweaks and you could double your profits from your existing clients and add another 20%-30% in profits from new clients.

• What is the single most important factor to your business success?

• Your unique selling proposition!

What is it that you do that none of your competitors do? Or, what do you do so much better than your competitors you don’t even consider them competition?

If you don’t have an answer to that question - it is time for a quantum shift in your marketing strategy as well as execution of your day to day business. Your Unique Selling Proposition is what allows you to ignore competitors pricing. It allows you to flourish when the competition is struggling to keep the doors open.

If you run a dog kennel service there are several things you can do to immediately differentiate yourself from the competition, command higher prices and retain long term clients.

• Hire a trainer
  • a trainer on staff to work with your kennel clients
    • your clients take a home a dog that is more obedient and well behaved than when they arrived is sure to come to you whenever their travel needs require sitting or kenneling
    • if choosing between in home dog sitting and day care a client is going to choose the provider that keeps their dog happier
      • if the client comes home to a mess and a dog full of pent up energy they instinctively know they dog was not happy or fulfilled while the owner was away
  • a trainer of course is another stand alone source of revenue for your business

• Add a dog runner/walker to staff
  • For the same rationale as the trainer - a tired dog is a more well behaved dog
  • adding a dog runner to staff allows you to add additional services for your dog kennel clients
    • I call my dog running / dog kennel package - Fit Kennel
    • The client is paying for dog kennel services as well as up to 3 - 30 minute running sessions per day

• You get the idea right? Adding additional services to bundle with the dog kennel service that also serve to increase obedience and fitness are not typical and are extremely well received by owners. Sure, there are plenty of pet care businesses that provide multiple services but rarely do they aggressively bundle the service and almost never do you see the connection between fitness, obedience and kennel services.

I’ve got a few more suggestions I will e-mail anyone who posts a comment and requests them.