Loyalty & Repeat Business — How to Keep Clients Coming Back

Today we’re talking about something that can literally change your calendar, your cash flow, and your confidence: Loyalty & repeat business!

Because here’s the truth…

If you're constantly chasing NEW clients
 If every month feels like starting again
 If you fear gaps in bookings

then you don't have a marketing problem - you have a loyalty problem.

Repeat clients:

• Book faster
• Spend more
• Refer more
• Are easier to manage
• Fill your calendar without effort

So let’s talk about how to genuinely build loyalty and turn clients into repeat, consistent bookers.

To learn how create  a thriving dog sitting biz with someone who has done it and can teach you the exact steps, then you need Paws to Profit Program https://pawstoprofit.com.au/

And follow on Insta for real life practical tips that will transform your dog sitting business. HERE 

Transcript

0:01.14
Tanya williams
So let's talk about some practical ways to build loyalty and repeat business. um So we want to turn some of those principles that we've spoken about into some actions that you can do, right? So the first thing is to follow up after your bookings. um And that's a simple thing to do. It doesn't have to take long, okay?

00:18.30
Tanya williams
You know, we had a dog during the week who'd hurt his little paw but was just randomly limping on it. So obviously I'd let them know during these stay, but I sent them a little message to say, Hey, how's he doing? You know, did you, did you take him to that? What was the outcome? And they appreciate that. They Oh, thank you so much for checking in. I mean, yep. He's good. You know, and so forth, you know, little things like that matter.

00:40.57
Tanya williams
You know, you can say, Hey, um, you know, Luna was so affectionate today. She's had a really great play date with Teddy. So I hope she sleeps well tonight. We look forward to seeing you the next time. Clients remember how you made them feel, okay? So follow up after your bookings.

00:55.77
Tanya williams
The other one is to do small things that feel big. Okay. Humans love those thoughtful extras. Okay. Dogs don't care about the videos and the fun things that you do, but they're humans do. And the small ideas that you have can go a long way. So I will often do little treat bags. So, um you know, if it's different times of the year, perhaps, or I've, you know, just randomly will give someone a little extra treat and go, there's some treats there for Rosie that she might enjoy. Again, doesn't cost me barely anything to do but it has a really big impact.

01:30.65
Tanya williams
You could do like a little goodbye note um or you could do like a first day photo and like print that off and put a little message on the back of it. This year I did little report cards, just a one page, A4 size little report card for our daycare guests, which our clients are loving because it was just super fun, right?

01:47.61
Tanya williams
It didn't take me long to do, but that little bit of effort makes a big impact you know it could be birthday photos now one of the things i do um for any guests that are staying with us on their birthdays i'll do i've got a little um little birthday sign i put them in front of the birthday so i'm a little bandana and take their photo and i also sometimes will do a thing called talking pet where we can actually do like this little video of the dogs actually talking and believe me They absolutely love it, especially if they've got kids. Kids go nuts for it. But again, they're really simple things that take me a couple of minutes but have a big impact.

02:24.69
Tanya williams
We also do seasonal themed like photos and videos and stuff. So Easter and Christmas are two big times of the year. So we have fun little fun. little signs and little like photo ops and all that sort of stuff that we do for our guests that are staying at that time of the year our clients love them they tell me all the time how much they love them they share them with other people right so these little things have a big impact because that tiny little cost for you has a massive return because they share it with their friends their family and their social media and that's free marketing i have gotten bookings from people who have gotten a fun video of their dog at christmas time

03:02.49
Tanya williams
um And they've shared it with the people that they're holidaying with who go, oh my God, that's amazing. Like, and then they're, you know, they're raving about um the service that we offer. So then guess what? Their friends want to book in with us.

03:13.82
Tanya williams
It is so simple. You also want to do um rituals. So you want to have, um you know, rituals and routines that are comforting. So, you know, um doing the same sort of things in the same way to welcome back guests. So it could be a little welcome back photo. You could do a little poor passport with stamps. So if you're doing daycare or regular visits, they could get a stamp for each visit.

03:36.73
Tanya williams
um You could do a five-stay perk. So when they stay five nights, they get something. um You know, little loyalty bags, like whatever it is it might be. um you know, create little rituals for that. You know, get creative with this stuff. You can create your own rules and do whatever you want.

03:53.02
Tanya williams
Okay, so Dogs don't care about those sort of tokens, but their owners do. So do what works for you, okay? The other thing that we need to be mindful of, and again, here's the C word.

04:06.33
Tanya williams
communication so having that communication without being asked that builds trust okay the pre-arrival message hey i'm just checking what time you want to je um drop barney off on saturday um don't forget bring their food their bed their bowl so there's little reminders about the rules the things that they need to bring behavioral feedback just letting you know that that billy got a little bit nippy with another dog today and this is what the situation was um You know, settling in updates. Hey, you know, buses arrive and he's settling in really well. He's just having a little nap underneath the table.

04:40.02
Tanya williams
You know, little things like that build trust and still confidence in someone, especially if they have never been before, okay? Once you've experienced that a couple of times, you are going to turn them in into a loyal clients, especially with anxious owners, because they are going to be worried about their little baby, going, what's happening?

04:59.99
Tanya williams
um But these little things matter. You also want to ask for reviews and testimonials. Now, as you will be well aware when you're buying goods and services, testimonials build trust before people even meet you. I've lost track of the amount of times people go, oh my God, you've got the best testimonials. um You know, like we are just already confident that they're going to have a great stay with you and you're going to take good care of them because we can see that from the testimonials. And the fact that our friend um is saying how much they love you and the service you provide, that's stuff.

05:32.91
Tanya williams
matters okay you know ask when you know the emotional side the emotional part of the state is is fresh so maybe when they pick them up and their dog's happy um and you know they you know can see how content they are and they're like oh my god thank you so much you go that's great it's been a pleasure you know, would you like, you know, if you're happy, I can send a link and you can give us a testimonial. I've never had anyone say no.

05:57.21
Tanya williams
You know, when you send photos, hey, if you think they're enjoying this, say we'd love you to send a little testimonial, um you know, after an overnight stay or a first daycare or, you know, if they, you know, ask them if they want to rebook, um you know, if you've got 30 seconds, would you mind leaving a quick a quick Google review about Luna's stay? Because your feedback helps other owners feel confident as well. You know, doesn't need to be a massive long thing.

06:20.95
Tanya williams
It doesn't need to be hard. It's not a you know a complicated thing. you know ah we I send out Google review links. So you know you can get that off Google My Business. You can easily get the link and send them a quick email and go, here's a link.

06:34.62
Tanya williams
um We'd love you to so to share you know ah your experience with us. How did you find your experience with us you know before and during the stay? It is simple to do. you know What did you love most? What surprised you? How did your pup settle afterwards?

06:49.34
Tanya williams
Just prompt them with some questions to give them some ideas because if it's easy for them to write, they're going to write it. If they sit there and think, oh my God, I don't know what to say or you know how much information she needs or whatever, it becomes too hard and they won't. Okay. Help them to help you.

07:06.78
Tanya williams
And bonus tip, use these testimonials everywhere. Put them in your email footers. Use them on the website on your website, on your booking pages, on your social media accounts. um You can print little handover cards that have a bunch of, you know, um testimonials on it we have a pdf that goes out but call them the frequently bark questions um we will add testimonials to that as well so guess it reinforces that confidence before they book or they book again okay also um another point is to ask them for the next next booking right away so particularly if it's a key period a reminder don't forget we book out by christmas really early let you know let me know if you want to get that booking in early

07:47.80
Tanya williams
um You know, he's had a great stay today. Do you want to book him in next next week at the same time for another daycare day? You know, whatever it is, don't miss out on those opportunities while they are there, while they are happy, while the dogs are happy, because scarcity also motivates action.

08:03.61
Tanya williams
So you also want to make sure that rebooking is the default. So instead of going, oh, just come back to me when you read want to rebook, try things like, do you want me to book him in for the same time next month or the same day next week?

08:15.77
Tanya williams
You know, just assume that they want to book their dog in, okay? That's what loyalty-based sales looks like. Have some confidence in the way that you operate.

08:27.00
Tanya williams
So What breaks loyalty really quickly? So taking too long to reply, someone sends you an email, text message, whatever it might be, and you take, you know, two days to respond to them. Guess what?

08:39.16
Tanya williams
Not probably going to be a loyal client. um If you're not giving them updates during their stays, if you're being really vague and not answering their questions, or even just giving them really vague messages. If you're inconsistent with how you structure things, um Sometimes you do this. Sometimes you do it that way.

08:54.55
Tanya williams
Like it just creates confusion for people. um Being visibly stressed. When you show that you're stressed, people are going like, wow, you know, she can she handle this? Like is this going be okay? She's stressed out when my dog's getting dropped off. What's she going to be like later? You know, be calm, be rational and practical.

09:11.38
Tanya williams
you know, making every interaction transactional. People don't want to be treated like bots or robots. They want to be treated like humans. So, and I always joke to people when they come from meet and greet or when they do drop-offs and stuff, because I always usually treat greet the dogs first.

09:27.00
Tanya williams
And we laugh about and say, sorry, in your house, dogs get treated like loyalty. And they're usually the first ones to get created. And people will laugh and go, oh, that's okay. We totally get it. And we sort of love that too. So again, don't apologize for how you do things by us greeting the dogs first and then go, oh, hi, by the way, my name's Tanya. You know, they think it's a bit fun as well.

09:47.35
Tanya williams
And it shows that you genuinely care for dogs. Your job is to reure reassure, inform and personalize. Okay. There's a lot there that I've just broken down. Okay, so let's do a quick rackup wrap up.

10:02.48
Tanya williams
Loyalty is not luck. It's not about personality. It's not about how you dog how cute your dogs look. What loyalty is is, consistency, communication, confidence, convenience, personalization, and thoughtful follow-up.

10:20.98
Tanya williams
It transforms one-off clients into booked-out calendars. And that is how you build wait-listed business instead of constantly hunting for new clients.

10:32.47
Tanya williams
If you love this episode, then share it with another sitter um who who needs help building repeat business. And remember, your most profitable client isn't the next person walking in the door, it's the person you've already served.

10:47.70
Tanya williams
Until next time, I'm Tanya, helping you turn a Dog City into loyal, profitable business where bookings repeat without effort. Have a porsome day and don't forget to subscribe and listen out for our next episode.