225: The Holiday Season
Summary
The Holiday Season is upon us! But don't worry, it's NOT too late to get prepared and make sure you set your mental and emotional health as a priority. The holidays are busy, but they don't have to be crushing. Setting up your schedule right now, and communicating your availability are just the first steps to start taking more control for a more enjoyable season. From saying, "NO" to why you may consider taking deposits this year, boundaries are more important than ever. Natasha O'Banion answers the question, "What books are you reading right now?"
Topics on this episode:
Scheduling
Communicating
Staffing
Gifts
Ask a Pet Biz Coach
Main takeaway: Look at your schedule and find what number of visits will give you peace, balance, pay your bills, and meet needs of the clients. Then STICK TO IT!
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A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
sitter, people, clients, book, holiday, max capacity, holiday season, talks, service, dog, pet, business, year, confessional, busy, ritz carlton, seasonal workers, gift, bit, money
SPEAKERS
Meghan, Collin, Natasha
Meghan 00:17
Hi, I'm Meghan.
Collin 00:18
I'm Collin and this is petsitter. confessional
Meghan 00:20
an open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter. Hello, welcome to Episode 225. Hello. Today we're going to talk all about the holiday season which is coming upon us. Whether you like it or not, whether you're ready or not, it is coming.
Collin 00:41
We really want to thank our Patreon supporters for making today's show possible. If you want to learn more about what that is how much that is a month and all that comes along with it. You can go to petsitter confessional comm forward slash support
Meghan 00:53
and also if you are looking to get CPR certified and first aid trained in pets, you can go to protrainings calm and they have a whole slew of trainings and certifications you can take. And if you want to get 10% off you can use the code CPR dash pet sitter confessional,
Collin 01:11
it is the end of October, which means the holiday season is just around the corner. And if you're like us, you're already booking up fast. Now fortunately, there is still plenty of time to start getting some things in place so that it's not as chaotic and crazy and full as it could possibly be. And there are actually several areas that we can be working on right now to make things just a tiny bit less stressful for us. Things like scheduling, communication, maybe even looking at the staffing and then the big question that we always have gifts
Meghan 01:46
for our personal pet business, we are anticipating a lot of holiday travel this year. And we already are almost booked up for New Year's and Christmas and Thanksgiving as well. So compared to last year, we feel like it's really going to be we're going to be bombarded with requests. With all the new pet owners out there who couldn't travel last holiday or didn't want to. Now they can and are ready and they have all these new pandemic puppies and they are ready to get out there.
Collin 02:15
Well, and as with most things in the world, when it comes to preparing, we have to start with our communication. We need to be sending out email reminders, social media reminders, updating our website in our Google My Business listing to book now to be sending out those reminders that we have limited spots available, that we can't cover everybody for all things, and that that's okay, but to start getting that message of limited resource limited time limited slots, start promoting those right now.
Meghan 02:44
Yeah, the holidays will be crazy, you will be booked, you will have people trying to book you at the last minute that always happens. Inevitably, somebody is trying to book you for Christmas on Christmas Eve, you will also probably have people cancel or extend their trip as their plans change because of COVID. So get people on your schedule now, have your book filled for the rest of the year, by the end of this month, figure out how many spots you have for each service. And don't take any more than your max capacity. really write that number down for each service. You know you if you want to do eight dropins per day, you will take no more than eight, or whatever the number is. But that's a really easy way to curb burnout, especially when everybody is overrun during the holidays. Don't take on any more than you are capable or want to handle. So know that number now, so you won't go over it. And so you'll hold yourself accountable and stick
Collin 03:43
with it. Well, I think it's really important to because sometimes we may look at our max capacity and go oh, I can flex this a little bit. I may go up above upon this just for this first couple days. But when we're looking at the holiday season, it's not just for a couple days, it's for weeks and weeks on end, it's Thanksgiving, and it's Christmas, and it's New Year's, it's this very long, protracted series of very busy season for us. So going up to 150 max capacity for you for five weeks at a stretch is really unhealthy. And it's a really great way to get yourself burned out. So by looking ahead and putting that max capacity out, that's really hard. What we're saying what we're saying here, it's actually not easy. We're saying look at your schedule, cap, the number of visits that you want to do so that you still have peace balance, that you're able to pay your bills and you're still able to meet the needs of your clients. Take all of that into effect into account and make sure that you are still able to enjoy that time and you're still going to be doing a really good job with your business.
Meghan 04:47
But this means that you will be saying no to people. Right? Like that is the caveat here. You can say yes to X amount of people, but after that you have to say no. And that's the biggest lie Have defense that you have going into the busy time is the word no, which is a complete sentence. communicate your limited spots and availability to everyone and then stick to it when you hit your max. I think Natasha has sent out an email on the past of saying I have six spots left. And then when somebody else books, I have five spots left, I have four spots left, like come on people like, Yeah,
Collin 05:24
you got when we're talking about trying to manage the chaos. And what we're trying to do is limit the amount of juggling that we have to do for last minute booking requests. Now, those still may come in. But as you said earlier, Megan, the more we can have our books filled and our schedules filled right now, the more streamlined we'll be going forward, because we can just put out that blanket statement, we are fully booked for all services from this time to this time, and then you don't even have to worry about it. Imagine what kind of peace and stillness that could give in your life, if you knew your entire schedule, and you're just going to say to nobody, you're going to say no to anybody who tried to contact you above and beyond that, obviously, there are emergencies and things that you may have to try and fit in. We're not saying to just ignore everything entirely. But having that peace of mind of things already being set, going into the holiday season is a really good thing to have for your mental health.
Meghan 06:13
It's also important to comb through your policies and your procedures now to make sure that they are protecting you. So do you have an appropriate cancellation policy in place, that is probably going to happen and you don't want to be left in the lurch or left with no money for somebody that cancels the day before when it's a busy holiday season. And you could have filled their spot with somebody else. It's a very busy time. And it may be good to have people give deposits, we do a 50% deposit or a full payment ahead of time, so you don't waste your time if they cancel or change their plans.
Collin 06:48
I also like this idea because having money in your pocket at the immediate time when somebody books, and as soon as they book makes it easier to say no to the next person who tries to book after you hit your max. Because you already feel that money in your pocket. It is very real. When you keep booking people and booking people and they haven't paid yet they haven't paid. But technically you haven't made any money. And so it starts to feel this urge and this need that you're not busy enough that you're not making enough money that you don't have enough coming in. So unless you have a really good handle on exactly how much money is coming in, having them put a deposit down either half or full, is a really great way to help you know how much money you have and how much money you need and helps balance out that reaction to always take on more people because you feel like you need more.
Meghan 07:35
Another important aspect to think about at least here in the northern hemisphere is inclement weather. And we recommend that the client provide a local emergency contact that can help in case the weather turns. A lot of times when we have the clients fill out our digital Meet and Greet, they will put down themselves as an emergency contact, not helpful. No, it's really not or though if it's the wife, they'll put down their husband, again, not helpful if they're traveling together. So make sure it's somebody local, who can pick up the dog or pick up the cat or whatever, or who can come in and stay at the house if you are not able to get there. And then obviously, monitor the weather and keep plants updated on your arrival time when things look a little dicey and have those policies in place is there a point at which you will not provide a drop in if there is a foot of snow on the ground or whatever, if your car is not up to that make sure that you have that in your contract, that you will not provide service. If you know the school, your local school is not in session or whatever the case may be.
Collin 08:36
A common question that comes up during this time of year is whether to charge more for a holiday visit or not. This is totally and 100% up to you. We know people who charge an additional holiday fee, we charge an additional holiday fee. We also know people who don't do just fine. We know some people who do it slight variation on this where instead of doing like a 30 minute visit, they'll do a 15 or 20 minute visit but for the same price, so they're kind of getting paid more for the visit. And they've never really had a problem with this. It really is something that you need to work out for your business to figure out what's fair to you fair to your clients, and really what your business needs to survive. There's no right or wrong answer here. And we truly believe that that if you want to charge an extra 510 $15 for the holiday visits, that that is totally within your right as the business owner to do that. It's a very busy time of year there's a lot of constraints and pressures placed on you as the business owner. And if that if that extra pay helps you then do that. If you don't think that's fair to your clients and you want to keep your prices the exact same. That's totally fine as well. This is a point of discussion that comes up an awful lot so we would like to hear your feedback on whether you have holiday prices or not and how it's worked out for you. higher prices during the holiday season is also a good way To help limit the amount that gets put on your plate, when we talk about trying to manage our time and our schedule and our sanity, we need to be saying physically no to people. But by raising prices, we were also raising the bar on the people who will be coming in using our service and limiting the amount of inquiries that we get. That's been a helpful thing for us. And I know it's been helpful to many other people as well. So that's something else to consider is this we're talking about this episode, ways to handle the stress and ways to handle and making sure that we still have our protecting our mental health through through the holiday season.
Meghan 10:32
If you do feel like you don't want to say no to people, if that's a hard thing for you to do. Welcome to the club. I Hi. If you feel that something that you just don't want to do, you may consider hiring seasonal workers for dog walks for drop ins. And a pro to this can be that more people are willing to work for just a couple of months. You see other industries do this all the time, like retail Macy's hires, you know, the Santa for just a few months, they hire extra workers to keep up with the demand. A ton of other industries do this. So why not Petcare?
Collin 11:08
Why don't we hire more Santa dog walkers? That's a good question.
Meghan 11:11
Okay, well, that's not what I was saying. That's what I heard. But it is something you have to balance if you want to hire seasonal workers, because if you do have other staff that are a year round, it may stress them out with all of the training that they may have to do. And people coming and going. It also may stress you out when you're trying to get your walks and your droppings done while also having to train a new person. So do it. If it makes sense for the goals in your business. We're not saying seasonal workers are right for every business, but it may be something to consider. And then we talked about burnout a little bit earlier. But figure out when you are going to celebrate the holidays, this is a great way to curb that burnout. This year, we are taking off the weekend before Thanksgiving to celebrate with our family. And we posted about it to clients in several places. And unfortunately, we still have requests coming in. And for that time,
Collin 12:02
not surprising, the best way to book up your schedule is to write and take time off, it's guaranteed to work every single time
Meghan 12:09
Yeah, it's gonna happen. So just stick with the dates that you choose there, the clients will still be there, when you get back, enjoy the vacation, enjoy the time off, but just make time for you.
Collin 12:20
And whatever that looks like, if that's half of a day, if that's a full weekend, if that's just a few hours, whatever you need to do to carve out time for you to take a step back, whether that's friends or family, however that looks like to do, we want to encourage you to be able to celebrate those times and those occasions when you can, if that's something you're able to do.
Meghan 12:41
If you've listened to the news at all lately, there are talks of supply and gift constraints. So think about gifts that you want to give your clients now it's a great time where a couple months from it, and you can set them up and just have them sitting ready to go.
Collin 12:57
Some say that their service is enough of a gift. And that's a very good point, we provide an extremely valuable service life giving service year round to their pets and to the owner in a passionate, dedicated manner. And if you feel that way, again, it's totally fine. We're not saying that everybody needs to go out and get a gift for their client because it's not needed. Now others would like to get some sort of small gift for their client and maybe others would get a big gift for their best clients or a small number of gifts for everybody. And you can look at the clients and how much they've paid you over the year and see, oh, this one's paid me $5,000 over the year and this one's paid me $2,000 What's a $5 candle if I were able to get that to them or something along those lines, you can judge what constraints you have to figure out what's going to be the best gift for them. And obviously you don't want to be spending money just to waste money on some random gifts. So there are some things that we can do to make the most of them
Meghan 13:56
well and if possible, try to support local Amazon gets enough business this time of year and all throughout the year. So if possible, try to partner with local businesses. We asked in our sitter confessionals Facebook group, and it seems like a lot of sitters already do support local. So that's great. Some of the ideas for gifts that they had were getting treats from a local dog deli or a Dog Bakery or someone who makes bandanas. There are a ton of other gift ideas that you can just mail a seasonal card. Yes, snail mail is still a thing. clients love receiving a handwritten message from their sitter. Or you could do a personalized calendar with pictures of their dog if you want to splurge a little bit. And another great idea is poop bags because who doesn't need a poop bag? Hey,
14:45
everyone poops.
Collin 14:46
There's a book book. It's true. I read it in a book.
Meghan 14:50
Another sitter said that she gives $10 off a visit and not you know not as much cash is in your bank account with that one, but also not as much plastic waste where the client may not want a gift, necessarily, and so $10 off a visit is better for them.
Collin 15:07
You may also consider giving a donation. And this is great for those clients that maybe have everything or are the ones that you just don't know what to get. Last year, we donated to the Humane Society of the US for our clients. And they really seemed to appreciate it, especially since many of them had adopted their own dogs from shelters. And as we wrap up this holiday discussion, it's never too early to start thinking about preparing for the new year. Yes, preparing right now.
Meghan 15:35
Well, because it is going to get very busy in the next few weeks. And then the new year is going to be here. You know, typically, at least for us, January and February are slower months for pet sitting and dog walking. So if you want to take some time off in January or February, let people know now I know a lot of sitters use that time to take a week long vacation to the beach,
Collin 15:54
or go to the Texas pet sitters conference in February this year. Yep, there you go.
Meghan 15:58
If you want to keep your book fold during that typically slow down time, start advertising now figure out what services you want to start the year off strong with and put out ads that reflect that. If you want more dog walks or daycares. As people go back to work after the holidays. Put out ads that have that kind of language and target those that are working. You know the best time to market and advertise your business is during the busy times. Because there is more demand and more people will see your ad your ad will be in front of more eyeballs or if you are sharing it to Facebook groups. More people will be home looking for scrolling on Facebook and seeing your ad. So during the slow months, typically January and February, there will be lots of other sitters and walkers vying for the attention of pet owners. That's when you know we have lots of time to devote to advertising and getting our name out there. But get out in front of everyone now, so that they know you are there. Once they need you come January and February. And while you may not have the availability anymore over the holidays, or maybe you do but you can put them on a waitlist or let them know that you'll be able to take them on as a client starting January 2, or whenever you're super busy holiday season is over.
Collin 17:15
And I know people may worry about putting clients on a waitlist, that is a concern that I have from time to time, but that waitlist are perfectly fine. Does it mean you'll convert 100% of those people back to active services when you can No. But it does mean you can keep their contact information and stay in touch with them. So it's another touch point, it's another service that you can try and add on and continue to communicate to them from time to time.
Meghan 17:40
Well, and if you have their email address, if you send out a weekly or monthly or quarterly newsletter, you can add them to that and they will still be kept in the loop as you as you update that newsletter. We would love to know how your holiday season is looking. If you are going to take the holidays off you say No, not this year. I'm not going to deal with that. Or if you have a set number already that you're already booked for. Or if you are just starting to see the request rolling now I know every sitter is different and across the country and parts of the world are different. So hopefully, you can make the holidays exactly what you want it to be and not get burned out.
Collin 18:19
Natasha opionion is back for another Ask a pet biz coach segment this week. And this week she answers the question, What book is she reading right now?
Natasha 18:26
Yeah, so I'm reading the atomic habits. Atomic habits talks about your daily preparation. Like they say, like we talked about earlier, they say starting the day with little habits to success, putting it in the air. So I love reading that book. I'm also reading excellent winds. It's based on the Ritz Carlton theory. So I know all of us want to provide excellent service to our clients. Guess what the Ritz Carlton provides excellent, top notch service nation wide. How amazing is that? I'm not calling them. I'm not texting them. I don't know their whole life story. But these guys are pulling off amazing top notch service industry teared nationwide. So I like to be excellent ones based off of the Ritz Carlton way. I'm also reading Rachael Rogers, we all deserve to be millionaires. Because I think a lot of us have mindset blocks on making a lot of money and doing a lot of good impact. And she really talks about the more money we make, gives us more opportunities to help more people. Think about all the rescues that may need funding or dogs need assistance around the world or cats need assistance. If we had that money we're like listen, God is I'm doing well here's a percentage of our business that we can give to you to make a difference. So she really helps us with our mindset blocks on what it means to make more money for our for for the world. Not for us. Of course I can say hey, I don't need this amount of money to live well. That's selfish. I'm not making money just for me to live. I'm making money to make an impact. And that's what that book talks about.
Collin 20:05
When you reading a book, how do you start applying these things or get yourself in the mindset of learning and being receptive to new ideas?
Natasha 20:16
Yeah, anytime you're listening, like if you're listening to this podcast, you want to take action on the small things. So instead of reading a book, you know, all the way through first to end, read the first chapter, and implement that. The first chapter talks about Hey, just in the morning routines, stop, go ahead and write out a morning routine. second chapter talks about how to not internalize things stop. Think about ways in your life where you have internalized things and you want to make it better so now when those things happen, you're like no, actually read something about this. And when these areas of my life come up, I'm going to implement these practices. So do it little bit by little bit, I think I think we consume way too much information then we go back and try to implement we forgot what happened in chapter one and two, so do it a little bit by a little bit. I like
Collin 21:07
that because many times we can start becoming overwhelmed. We're trying to take notes and we put it down somewhere but I think the slow digestion of material doesn't really help us apply it to situations as they come up.
Natasha 21:18
Yeah, taking action is the big thing. I mean, we all can be information grabbers forever I mean, that's what we do. We take information information, but it's really the the 2% that really implement and that's really the difference between them. And we all have the same exact information. They just did something we are still waiting on it. Little bit by a little bit.
Meghan 21:43
If you'd like to work one on one with Natasha, you can do so at her website, start scale sale, calm and use the code PSC 20 for 15% off her coaching. And we appreciate you taking the time to listen to this today.
Collin 21:56
We hope that you really are able to make the best of the holiday season whether you're able to work through it all whether you get some time that you carve out for yourself, whatever that looks like for you. We really encourage and we're rooting for you to make it the best one yet.
Meghan 22:08
And if you ever have any topic suggestions or specific people you would like us to interview you can let us know on Facebook or Instagram at pet sitter confessional. We love hearing new sitter stories and getting to learn from others journeys and experiences.
Collin 22:23
Yeah, and if you go oh, maybe you don't know somebody who'd like to be interviewed but you would like to be interviewed. Still reach out to us. Yes, we would love to hear from you. If you're the best recommendation. We want to hear from you. We hope you join
Meghan 22:35
us next time. Bye
