315: It's Personal with Scott Black
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Summary:
How do you grow and keep clients as a solo business owner? Scott Black, owner of Personal Touch Pet Sitting, shares why pet care is so personal to him. Scott shares stories from the past 17 years to give insight into how to set boundaries, excel at customer service, and get clients that work for you. As a solo-preneur, Scott focuses on keeping his business streamlined and simple so he can provide top tier customer service. He also recognizes that how he operates his business isn’t for everyone, but by focusing on the basics of professionalism we can exceed our client’s expectations.
Topics on this episode:
Staying solo
Customer service
Screening clients
Keeping things simple
Main take away: Keep things simple and focus on your personal relationships.
About our guest:
Top dog, jack of all trades and founder/owner of Personal Touch Pet Sitting, Kingwood, TX since 2005. CPPS through PSI. Top 5 finalist for PSI’s Pet Sitter of the year 2097 and 2009. Honored to have been named the 2010 Pet Sitter of the Year.
I am a co-pet parent to 4 dogs and 3 cats, all rescues. I represent the professional pet care industry by taking part in town events, as well as maintains professional relationships with the veterinarians and other pet businesses in my community.
(The picture is the day I met Chato. He is our blind and deaf dog. We fostered him for almost a year before we adopted him.) This is one of my favorite pictures. Some how the two of us bonded that day. He couldn’t see or hear me. It was love at first smell I guess.)
Links:
https://www.petsit.com/pet-sitter-kingwood-tx-personal-touch-pet-sitting-inc
https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-black-76ab301b/
Email: ptps@comcast.net Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/412597292686603/user/100000948727987
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Email us at: feedback@petsitterconfessional.com
A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
people, dog, clients, business, pet, pet sitter, sitters, kingwood, service, scott, industry, knew, greet, house, offer, email, day, minutes, hear, visit
SPEAKERS
Collin, Scott B.
Scott B. 00:00
I think the biggest mistake we all make is thinking we can do it all and we can't
Meghan 00:14
Hello, I'm Meghan.
Collin Funkhouser 00:15
I'm Collin and this is Pet Sitter confessional and open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter brought to you by time to pet and our Patreon supporters in order to thrive in the pet sitting industry do you have to hire? The answer is no. Today Scott black owner of personal touch pet sitting reflects on his 17 years in the industry, he shares why he's decided to remain solo after all that time. He also shares what it means to have excellent customer service, and why personal relationships will help your business thrive. Let's get started.
Scott B. 00:48
Okay, well, I am Scott black from Kingwood, Texas, the business owner of personal touch pet sitting. We incorporated in 2005. And proud to say that I am a 2010 pet sitter for the years through pet sitters International, and a certified professional pet sitter as well trained in pet first aid and CPR and kinda chief cook and bottle washer do it all. I'm a solo sitter. So I do not have staff. So customer service is pretty much always my main focus. Because if something bad happens, it's all on me.
Collin 01:38
I have a saying that we we throw around a lot of it's not my fault, but it is my problem. A lot of times when we run our businesses and we've got to we have to be the ones that step up to take
Scott B. 01:49
over. Well, you know, it's funny for a very short period of time, as my business was growing, I was on the fence about bringing on helpers and was you know, you know, in the industry employees or ICS Yeah. I knew some people that were doing this so I opted for the icy route just to kind of keep things a little simple. But this was years ago and again, you know, the whole ICD thing is is taboo. But you know, I realized that it was just easier to do it myself. You know, when you just because you had people that wanted to work didn't mean they were willing to work. So with ICS you can't control that so I just said you know what, I'm done. I went back to a solo module and in 2016 and I haven't looked back and you know what, I go to bed I sleep better at night. I don't worry if someone made a mistake you know, and knock wood you know, I I don't have any complaints. You know, new clients and I stole this from another pet sitter, I have to give Cynthia Loomis Johnson a shout out for this but when a new client gets home from their trip, I always say compliments or complaints we'd love to hear both you know if there's something we can do better than next time and you know I you know so things like that. Like you guys know if you make a mistake you own it if that employee makes a mistake as the business owner you still have to own it. So I just cut out the middleman you know, but But I enjoy being a one man band to be quite honest. I really do.
Collin 03:52
And that kind of flies in the face of a lot of things that we hear in business of grow grow, grow scale, more reach more clients, more customers bigger company, have you had to battle that urge at all? And how do you how do you keep everything kind of in in perspective for you?
Scott B. 04:11
Every day when I have to say no to a potential new client or an existing client, because I'm booked and know what my limitations are I think about that I go do I want to go down that road? Do I Do I need to think about I would go the employee route if I ever if I ever wanted help again, I would go the employee route for sure. Knowing what I know now from so many other veteran ciders and and, you know, amazing business owners in our industry that I've been fortunate enough to meet and talk to and even kind of be mentored by some. But you know, then I kind of take Deep breath again, assess the situation and say, You know what? I network with other professional pet sitters in my community. And it's a psi registered network. So we in order to be part of our network, you all have to, we all have to have similar credentials. Our rates are all different and all over the map, because we don't price fix. But by having that network, if you were to call me and I'd say, Oh, come on, I'm really sorry, but I am so booked for Labor Day weekend, you know, but here's the name of three other sitters. One of them is my personal pet sitter. You know, I can't guarantee their availability. But this would be an excellent opportunity for, you know, Sally, you know, to, to take care of your your your guys, because God forbid, something happens to me on one of your trips, she would be a great backup to call, or, you know, so that's, again, customer service, she talked about customer service, bringing it back, having this created this psi registered Network is an amazing customer service to existing clients. And when people are outside of your service area, I know I kind of deferred from your original question. But to me customer service. If I can't help you, I at least would like to be able to say I'm sorry, you don't reside within my service area. But here's the name of two centers that service, you know, like Kingwood, where I live Kingwood is pretty big. And I don't cover all of Kingwood. So I only go so far and anything past that. There's two sitters or no network that I can refer now, again, I can't guarantee their availability, but at least I'm not saying to you, sorry. Are you out of my service area by I mean yesterday, a perfect example yesterday, I got a thing through my website, you know, contact his sitter, whatever an email, and she was looking for service. I couldn't provide you know, overnight service with a senior pet that needs medication. I don't offer overnights, none of the sitters in our server in my network, offered overnights, I tried to email her twice, the email was returned to me. So she must have some heavy duty spam blockers or something because they probably didn't recognize my my domain, you know, or email thing. And thank God, she had a phone number. I called him and left him a voicemail. I said, I've tried to email you twice. But it keeps being returned to me. Unfortunately, I don't offer that thing I said there are other sitters in Kingwood. That may, but I sent her to a couple of like the NAPS locator and the psi locator and I said, you know, you may even want to check with your vet, to see if they have a vet tech that might be willing to you know, but I took the time to call her back. Because, you know, in this industry, people's worry, if I say no, I'm gonna get a bad review, before I do this, you know, I'm gonna get this. You know, to me, it just made sense. If I couldn't get a hold of her by email, it took me another minute and a half to call her and leave a voicemail. And, you know, hope that that may come full circle at some point where she may know someone that says, hey, this guy helped me out or, but I hate to say hate our industry as a whole. Because some technology I think we've gotten away from, I'm gonna say it the personal touch of of, you know, just taking an extra minute or two, to return an email to return a voicemail to say, I'm sorry, you're out of my service area. Unfortunately, I'm booked for that weekend, or, you know, I would love to be able to take care of your dog in the future. But but I'm not available. You know, it doesn't take that long. Because you're still establishing a relationship with those people. And, you know, sadly, you you've been on some of the chats in the forums. And, you know, I when people are out of my service area, I don't even return the call or the email. It's a waste of time. It's not a waste of time.
09:39
In my opinion, again, well, well,
Collin Funkhouser 09:42
yeah. Because you said maybe that might come back around because it's building a reputation about your company, but who you are and the values that you have as a person right. When people reach out to us we've, I went to a community event and it was for corgis. There was a local Corgi Association put on a big Cordia I got But it was adorable, right? And she
Collin 10:05
was just days and days of Korea. But we were invited to come out and just take part. And we just kind of got to talk with people and tell them, you know, see everybody was doing. And people would ask for my card and stuff. And I've asked, okay, well, where are you located? And some of these people had driven from like three to five hours away. And there was no way that I could I'm not doing that. Right. It took no effort for me to say, you know, if you ever if when you need a pet sitter call me and I can help you get with some students ask. And what is that? It took me 13 seconds to say,
Scott B. 10:43
you know that anytime I do an event in my folder that has my credentials in this and that, I have the list of email addresses and phone numbers for the citizen or network, that when someone comes and says, Oh, you know, well, where do you live, I live in you know, a task Casita, or I live in humble Oh, I don't service that part of town. But here, here's someone here, here's your phone, take a picture.
11:11
I mean, you know that. I mean, again,
Scott B. 11:16
if I can't help you, maybe someone else can. I mean, it's, it's that simple.
Collin 11:22
And that's, that's where that customer service comes back in. And we have these this internal fear of saying no to people, but just saying it's the no comma, but right, we continue the conversation. We continue that going, I can't, but let me help you find someone who can. Right. So
Scott B. 11:36
speaking of which, speaking of saying, No, did, you probably approved it, but you can edit this out? But did you see the little tick tock thing I put on your on the that is so liberating. Right, I mean, it's okay. And again, this this this is taboo. Another thing in our industry, people are so afraid to say no, yeah, it's okay to say no. It is. Okay. You talked about we were talking about with with the dog that you had to do six visits with, to even get comfortable enough to go in and, you know, if there's something that you're not comfortable doing. I mean, I know, sitters that are comfortable doing off leash pack walks, not me. I know people that just want to let their dog go out the front yard off leash and potty and come back in. Not me.
12:39
You know, the safety and liability?
Scott B. 12:43
Or am I my top two priorities? You know, my safety, the pet safety? You know, I love when people say, Well, will you walk our dog while we're on vacation? Or do you walk your dog when you're home? No, he's a little bit reactive, and he pulls well, okay, that's a red flag. Well, you know, I, it might be best if we keep you know, Max in the yard, you know, you know, I would hate to have to call you and say you know, Max, bid someone on a bicycle or another dog or pulled me down and I'm in the ER, and you need to call your emergency contact to come and take care of Max or, you know, I don't think people really understand our side of it. And they think we're being difficult. But they need to understand that you know, the policies we have in place
13:42
to protect them too.
Collin Funkhouser 13:47
Well, that that is part of that customer service of guiding people through what you can and cannot offer, right? If you go into buy if you go into a Ford dealer and you're like, show me all your Chevy's they're like, out the door, go that way right there, or they can show you well, I know you're interested in that. But let me show you what we can offer. Right? See if that still fits your needs. It's almost being I mean, you can still feel bad about it. But it's presenting yourself in an unapologetic manner for what for what your policies are.
Scott B. 14:13
And again, that that is why my screening process that I tried to make sure i's are dotted and T's are crossed during that phone call.
Collin 14:23
Well, so what walk us through that phone call Scott, somebody calls you, how do you take that person from potential client to moving on to the next steps? And how do you gauge what that person is? Because that gauging whether to move somebody on or not, it isn't. It's an art form. Right. And so I was curious how you work that?
14:41
Well, you know, I want to say part of all
Scott B. 14:49
I want to say the success of my business before we even get into the screening is years ago, before I had any type of a career in business S or petsitting, or, you know, I wanted to be an actor, and I studied in New York and got into some really fine schools and dance schools. And sadly, I was just another face in the crowd. But that's okay, I have no regrets. But the one thing I did learn is you never overact less is more. And through my entire life, I have used that keep things simple. And I do that in my business. My services are this, my rates are this. You know, I know again, what works for me may not work for somebody else. What works for somebody else may not work for me. I don't offer all different packages. And my 30 minute visit is 30 minutes. So whether it's a mid day walk, a drop in visit a pet sitting visit, it's 30 minutes, boom, same price. So when when you know people say well, I guess need, you know, you come in for 15 minutes? Well, well, I can do that. But I think your pet would benefit for another 15 minutes, because I'm going to charge you the same amount of money, whether I'm there for 15 minutes or 30 minutes. Yeah, so understand that. But But again, my process, you know, if you are Megan were to call me or leave a voicemail, my first. So here's part of my screening process too. And I know my outgoing message on my business line, I do have a separate business line of digital voice line, because I don't run my business or my cell phone. First of all, when you're paying me to be at your house with your bunnies, your kiddies, your hamsters, your dog, your cat, whatever, I'm not on the phone, rubbing your dog's belly talking to the Smiths that we've been playing phone tag for two days, and trying to line up a meet and greet. You're not paying me to get my next customer. So I don't do that. Okay. So my outgoing message, thank you for calling blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. If you're calling about services, and availability, please leave your name, address, phone number, and dates of service required. This way, when I get your message, and most people say, Well, I'm looking for a pet sitter. My name is that that again? They didn't follow my instructions. Like, is this someone that I want to work with? First of all? Second, if they can tell me where they live? I can find out if they reside within my service area. Because if not, I know I'm gonna call. Hi, Mrs. Smith, it's Scott. I got your message. Unfortunately, I don't service that part of Kingwood. Here is the name of two sitters that do, you know, I hope they can help you. I'm sorry, but my service area is not as big as it used to be whatever, you know, again, offering service,
Collin 18:06
right? A solution right and coming prepared, and not just picking randomly calling them back, you have answers for
Scott B. 18:14
them when they pick up, which is why I do that. But most people just and I guess we post COVID or still COVID Whatever, you know, everybody's gotten so entitled, I there's two words I don't like in our industry need and want. I need a pet sitter, well I need a million dollars to but that's not going to happen, or I want I want a lot of things too. I mean, and I guess maybe I take it too personally, but I'm like, Oh my goodness. And then you know, I have when these are always potential new clients, you know, my established clients. Hey, Scott, can you check your availability? You know, sure. I can, you know, like but so anyway, when we get back to that I returned the call if we if I get an email inquiry, let me let me kind of I still want to say hey, is there a good time that we can talk I said I would prefer to discuss the opportunity of providing care for your pets. If you can please send me your your your number and the best time to reach out to you. And I want to talk to people I don't like to do anything through email, the written word could be misconstrued with no it can you know, if I'm having a bad day or someone else is having a bad day, they might read that and go Well That was rude when it really wasn't meant to be. So once I can make that phone contact, I always ask
19:54
May I ask how you got my name?
Scott B. 19:57
I found you on next door I found You, my vet referred you my groomer referred you the store where we buy our dog food referred you. You said from my neighbor next door. Oh, okay, I know that that at the rate. I'm gonna say, next question, how do your pets do with men? And, you know, sometimes there's some silence. And I say, look, I asked this for a reason, I said, you know, you were referred to me. But, you know, I'm a one man band, I do it all. And I have a house full of rescue dogs, and some of them were a little uncertain of me. You know, and some dogs just don't do well with men. So I would not want to stress your dog out while you were on your on your on your trip. You know, I said, Now, if we have some time to work, you know, prior to your trip, like you did, I said, I would be more than happy to come and do some drop in visits and go for a walk or whatever to make sure we were a good fit. I said, but if you think there would be a problem with with, you know, him or her, you know that, again, I'm part of a professional pet sitting network. And I would be more than happy to I like, I kind of have certain questions up front. Because if there's a deal breaker there, we could end it, you know what I mean? versus going on for 30 minutes. And then getting to a meet and greet with a dog that's going to be given me the side eye or you know, the Elvis lip curl. You know, where I'm not, I mean, you know, you don't want to go there and stress an animal out for 30 minutes, three times a day, that's combat pay, I call it combat pay, I don't want to work. I don't want to work for that. So you know that that's the question. You know, I always want to make sure they live in my service area, you know, first of all, you know, and then it's just kind of like, well, you know, your voicemail said that you had two dogs and a cat. Do any of them require special medical attention or dietary needs? Um, that it might be difficult to administer medication? Or, you know, just what's their routine? Do you have a doggie door? Do you know? Do your dogs go for walks? Does your will your cat come out from under the bed? You know, I just kind of what what is their day? Like? You know, I want to find out what red flags might start waving for me. That is this a client I want to take on? Or, you know, are they you know, driven by treats or by toys or I guess I finished a job yesterday with with a doodle mini doodle that I would spend 20 minutes out of a 30 minute visit out in the yard with a chuck at this stock was so focused on the ball, the ball, the ball, the ball, like he definitely took the lab gene there in that in that mix of the poodle in the lab, but you know, I have a house full of hounds. Okay, I've got a senior golden on meds. I've got a blind deaf dog. I've got another 10 year old hound mix and little Lola. I've got cats, geriatric cats. So I think about my house. And like for anybody coming into my house, would they be able to do these things in a standard 30 minute visit? You know, fortunately, my pet sitter can. And she's a psi member, and you actually met her in New Braunfels. But, you know, I just tried to think about it, if if I was interviewing a pet sitter for my crew. I kind of flip it. And sadly, in our industry, again, I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer. But you see it all the time and hear it all the time. pet sitters complained so much about their clients that put yourself in the customer's spot. You're gonna want the best for your pets to and for your house and whatever services you offer. So if you want that, why should you be able to offer that to your clients? And when they ask, don't don't think they're there, they're taking advantage of you. You don't I mean, like, don't complain about it, because you probably wouldn't think twice about asking and then you do the same thing.
Collin 24:58
Well, and that's that sign Those are signs of improperly placed and manage expectations and going, I feel like people are asking me all these things or I arrive at the visit, or I arrive at the meet and greet. It's nothing like I expect him. I think that's a good opportunity to stop and reflect and go, what steps were taken before I got here? Did I ask appropriate questions? Maybe I've maybe they've decided I don't want to do this on the phone. I want to do a digital form. That's fine. Do you have the appropriate questions that will help you screen before you get in front of that person? Because I know, I hear people say a lot of times, I don't have time to be on the phone. Well, personally, I don't have time to be at a meet and greet. That's a waste of my time.
Scott B. 25:41
Exactly. And that's why I would rather take to 30 minutes or 20 minutes or whatever. And again, this is not an ego thing or a chip on my shoulder. But my business, you know, grows through word of mouth. Okay, most of my new clients are referrals. Okay, I do very limited marketing. So when someone calls me or emails me, they already feel like they know me a little bit because, you know, oh, my neighbor, you know, Sally told me all about you. And I've seen you out there with their dogs walking them or playing or swimming, or, you know, whatever, or, you know, so they know me actually the meet and greet, I have a meet and greet on Saturday, this is the third house on the same street that that I'll be taking on, because neighbors have have seen me with with other neighbors pets.
26:38
But, you know, it's to me,
Scott B. 26:43
I don't want to go to a meet and greet that's going to blow up in my face. Now, you know, again, not to sound egotistical, but I don't even go to a meet and greet till I've got dates on the calendar, and I'm about 95% Sure, I've got the job. And I tell people, so when I come, this is what I'm going to need from you. I'm gonna need two keys. Um, you know, I have some paperwork we're going to need to fill out. And, you know, I don't rush through this. So we need to a lot for the time. And again, it's a psychological thing, because the longer it takes for me to get through this. If there's dogs there, they can hear me, they can see me, they can smell me, they can see that I'm not going to harm their mom or dad. I mean, I've had situations where dogs have gotten between me and their pet parents. And I'm like, huh, this might not be good. But of course, when you're the only one there that like oh, hello, you know, got my belly. But you know what I mean? It's, so again, I try to make sure i's are dotted and T's are crossed before I even set that meet and greet. And, you know, sometimes people will be like, well, you know, I'll have you know, when someone a woman says, I'll need to talk to my husband. I know, I'm never going to hear back from them again. No, and I'm not saying that because it's a woman, it's just that the husband's like, I'm not paying that kind of money. And then when they go, I don't want a stranger in my house. Well, why are you calling an In Home Pet Sitter? Right? I don't board in my home, you know. So So again, there's just lots of things that can come up that you can go red flag, red flag, red flag, or, you know, and you know, I don't have a problem saying, you know, well, based on on our conversation, I kind of get the feeling you're not overly comfortable with me. And I respect that. I respect that. You know, if you'd like to discuss it with your husband, or you know, if you're interviewing, I ask, Are you interviewing other services? Because, you know, I tell people, I said, Look, I don't put dates on my calendar until I have a meet and greet scheduled. So if you're interviewing and you would like to, you know, set up a meet and greet. You know, but a lot of times when I say well, they all need keys and this and that. Well, I'm not ready. I don't know if we're ready to go there yet. I'm like, Well, okay, well, you know, I appreciate you taking the time to speak with me like, I'll just cut it short right there. Appreciate you taking the time to speak with me. You've got my number. You know, if things don't work out with other other services, please let me know. Hopefully I'll still have availability for the time you need.
Collin 29:42
Have you heard of time to pet Susan from the pet gal has this to say
29:46
time to pet has helped us grow exponentially. We believe the platform's features make us by far more professional than other companies who use conventional dashboards. They are the software gurus constantly developing and improve Using the platform based on user feedback, this decision was a
Collin 30:03
good one. If you are looking for new pet sitting software, give time to pet a try. Listeners of our show can save 50% off your first three months by visiting time to pet.com/confessional. How do you not take that personally, Scott, because I know early on when we would do that, and we would hear they were talking to other people, or they were still deciding or stuff, it hurt us, you know about that they didn't like us or, you know, we did take that kind of as rejection. So
Scott B. 30:31
again, going back to being an actor and rejection you know, I hate to say it like, I think it made me tough. Like, I mean, no one wants, no one wants to not be number one. I mean, come on. But but you know what, I hate to say it, I think people just aren't. I don't think people know enough people that have never used a professional pet sitter before. I don't think they understand what it is we do. Yeah. And I think that having a stranger come into your home.
31:12
It is is scary. I get it.
Scott B. 31:18
But being a professional pet care provider and a professional pet care business owner, hey, actually, I need to do it beginning of August. But look, I'm insured, I do the bonding, even though I don't have to. I run a background check on myself every year. Okay, credentials are very important to me. You know, I explained to people, I said, Look, if you needed to put an addition on your home, or we're going to remodel your kitchen or bathroom, you want to make sure your your your your general contractor or the plumber they use or whoever, that they're insured, that they're licensed, you know, I'm coming into your home, I said, I have these credentials for your peace of mind. And again, that goes back to when I first started. My whole thing was quality care for the pets and peace of mind for the humans. You know what I mean? Like? And it's simple, but you know, no, no. And again, knowing who your ideal client is, and this comes back all the time. I mean, we've seen it at conferences, and that now we're calling it the avatar, you know, but it's still who is your ideal client. My ideal client is someone that sees the value in the service I can offer. That respects me as a business owner. That that realizes that this is just not about playing with dogs and cats all day long. Or bunnies, you know that there are times that our jobs are very difficult. In the situations where a pet gets sick in our care and how we respond to it. Or, you know, sadly, I've had to take clients pets to say goodbye when they were out of town. Not a fun thing to do. But I promised my clients their pet would not be alone. I gone with clients when they had to say goodbye because they wanted they offered me the chance to say goodbye and I was there for support for them. You know, it's not always wagging tails and whisker kisses, you know that, you know that. You know it takes a long time for a butt cheek to grow back, you know after it's been chewed. But living here in Texas, having dealt with Hurricane Rita, Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Ike hurricane Harvey, the freeze we had where our power grid was not working properly. I became a shapeshifter. I mean, like with each little natural disaster, I had to rethink things. I had a very dear client with two dogs in crates on the lower level of his house during Harvey and I couldn't get back to his house and his house flooded and without again having a plan. I was able to get a hold of them. They couldn't get back to Houston because of the storm. And I we were able to get those dogs out of the house and just safety. I couldn't do it. I almost ruined my car trying to get back there. And he lives like he lived like on the lake so I knew he had canoes and kayaks at his house. I'm like if I could just get back there. I can get the dogs out because that's how high the water was. I mean it was crazy. But fortunately there was an airboat back there and they had a neighbor that had an Extra tea, they were able to get the dogs out. I mean, I said, Look, if they can get the dogs out, I'll even bring them to my house. I mean, you know, again, extenuating circumstances, right? I mean, but it all worked out fine. But you know what? I use that story now at meet and greets about emergency contacts. And saying, look, we've all lived through it, if you live here in Kingwood, you know what it was like, with the flooding? You guys knew what it was like that February when everything froze? You know, I like to think I can go into a phone booth and turn into super pet sitter and fly everywhere. And, you know, a George Jetson backpack or something, but you know, sometimes it's, this is why emergency contacts are so important. And you know, when I share these stories about having to, you know, take pets to their final vet visit, or, or flooding and, you know, I said look, these things have happened. You know, you learn very fast what to do and what not to do. And again, you just have to learn by your mistakes. And and one of the biggest things, I guess about coming after a mistake is, I think the biggest mistake we all make is thinking we can do it all. And we can't. And if you think your can your lion, sorry. I mean, I know it sounds like I got a major chip on my shoulder. But post COVID Now, look, there were pre COVID. I was doing it by myself anywhere, including Monday through Friday, mid days, I was doing anywhere from probably 18 to 20, maybe 22 visits day by myself. Holy, yeah, included. You know, midday dog while I was blowing and going from the time I opened my eyes in the morning to the time I went to bed at night. And you know what, I was okay with it. And then COVID hit. And I got lazy, and lazier and fatter. And you know, as things started to open up, I said, one, I can't do it anymore. But I don't want to do it anymore. Now, there have been some days that I have still done the 16 to 18. You know, I call it the transition days where one client comes home and another one starts that day. So you got an extra visit on each end, you know? So like, am I going to turn down a week's job for you know, having an extra two visits that day? No, of course not. But, you know, you learn and you know what, I've gotten so good at saying no. Now, I would always say, Oh, I'm so sorry. I don't apologize anymore. I just say no. I've had people say to me, well, that's disappointing. Are you available? No. Oh, that's disappointing. Sorry. Yeah. I got I think I told you, you know, privately that, you know, I'm scheduled to take a vacation the end of August, beginning of September. And I'm actually taking Labor Day weekend off. I had someone tell me, Well, you can't take a holiday weekend off. And I said why? This was a potential new client. I mean, any of my existing clients, they I've shared with them what I'm doing and they're like, have a good time. You know, like you deserve it. And then other people are like, well, you're taking a holiday weekend off? Yes, I am. But you're a pet sitter people travel on. I said, there's other pet sitters out there,
38:55
too. I'm sorry. I like when people tell me how to run my business. You're not going to be a client.
Scott B. 39:05
Like I already checked out like yep. Next, you know, but I'm, I am very sympathetic and empathetic to people. Look, I wish I could help everybody but you can't. And any pet sitter thinks they could be available 100% of the time for 100% of their clients. They're lying to themselves. You just can now a solo sitter. Okay. A business with multiple centers and staff. Ah, I would imagine you guys get to a point where you're fully booked to that you have to turn people like
Collin 39:39
yeah, it you'll you'll never be big enough to care for absolutely everybody. And so if you think the solution to is having to say no is just bringing on more staff, that's not the case. I know some of the biggest pet sitting companies in the world. You know, they've got waitlist for months. Because it's just it that's just the way it is. So No, is a lesson that we have to learn. And we have to learn it earlier sooner rather than later. But you know, sometimes it takes some time for people like myself who are slow learners. But it is, it is part of that process. And you know, Scott, you learn, you've learned a lot over the last 17 years. But I did want to ask, I did want to ask, what you know, 2005 is when you said you started, right, what? What was it that brought you into the Pet Pet industry, then?
Scott B. 40:29
Actually, it's a very interesting story. Before I moved to Houston, I lived in New Jersey and my spouse worked for a bank in New York and I worked for city Cork City Bank, so I was based out of New Jersey, but there were times that I did have to go down to Walsh The Wall Street area. And where we lived, we were very close to the New Jersey Transit trains that took us to Hoboken. I don't know if you've ever been to Hoboken, New Jersey, I have the infamous PATH trains were the PATH trains that literally went under the river and into New York. Yeah, well, I our our train stop was the World Trade Center. So fast forward to 2001 When the World Trade Centers, you know, 911. I was working for a mortgage company here in town. My business was my background was was mortgage and stock transfer banking at that time, but I was working for a mortgage company. And sadly, the company that was the the reason for the big crisis with all the bad loans. Oh, that well, that little one? Yes. countrywide. Anyway, I had a hard time. After after the towers went down, I knew people that got out, I knew people that didn't get out. My best friend, my next door neighbor, best friend growing up all through elementary school in high school, he had worked it down in that area, not in those buildings, but one or two over. And he was missing for a week, like wandering in the dust. Nobody knew if he was alive or not. And it was just really surreal for me, like I was like, wow. And then of course, not knowing what countrywide was really about, I had only been there a few months. But then they I was an inside loan officer. And what they wanted me to do then was to just go and get all the people that were currently in bad loans to get him into worse loans because the rates went down. And they're like, well, we could refinance you and you can get cash back. But you know, there were all the hidden costs, and this and that, and basically, every loan that close you would get, you know, it was just one of those deals where I just couldn't profit off of the backs of people that this company was trying to take advantage of. And, you know, long story short, I did it for a couple of months. And by November, December, like I would go to bed at night and said, I can't do this anymore. I just can't. And one morning, I woke up in a sweat had a major like panic, anxiety attack, and I'm not going to work today I called in sick and one sick day became two and to, and I just had to take a break and ended up you know, being diagnosed with an anxiety and then the anxiety makes you depressed because you feel like you're letting people down and it went through that whole depression anxiety thing. So I took a little bit of a break. And during that break. In 2003, I literally took like a two year sabbatical and just said, You know what, I was very fortunate that I was able to get some assistance through the government and qualified, you know, I wasn't suicidal or any of that stuff. I was just in a really dark place. And, you know, thank God, I had a very supportive family and spitballs not a spouse now, but not at the time. But, you know, I'm in a 39 year relationship. So I mean, very supportive people and family and friends. And, you know, people don't understand it, but they tried to, you know, and at the time, a neighbor found a dog, and they were going away for a weekend and they asked if we could come and feed it. And I said, Well, why don't we just bring it our house? And it was a little dalmatian puppy. And that dog saved my life. She was the best i They couldn't find a home For her, they weren't going to keep her but they just didn't want to abandon her for their trip, you know what I mean? So that was my first real pet sitting. And, and that dog literally saved my life. I was outside again, walking. I was like, she was my reason for getting up in the morning. And, you know, this is what we got to do today. And of course, not very original, but I named her Domino. Because she was still young, and her all of her spots were coming in. And she looked like a domino. So now here, here's a little helpful that never name a dog with no on the end of their name. Generally, they only hear two syllables. So they don't hear the third note. Anyway, she was my Domino. No, no, no, no, no. But anyway, she led me to volunteer with rescue, I said, I need to give something back. And then I volunteer for an amazing rescue here locally, and through rescue was how my business started. Because I started to do some pet sitting for the rescue. When people adopted to them and they needed to go out of town, they would call the rescue and say, Hey, is there any way, you know, maybe the foster can take the dog back while we're on vacation? And they'd be like, Oh, no, because that foster already has another dog that they're fostering. And they said, but one of our volunteers does some pet sitting. And I did it for free, because I was getting assistance from from the government. And I didn't want to burn my bridges there. But it helped me make commitments and get things back on track and realize, you know, if this was something I could do, and finally, the director of this rescue, said, Scott, this is you. She said, stop making money for us and go make money for yourself. And that's kind of how this started that so personal touch pet sitting became, like around 2004. You know, I didn't know about pet sitters International. I didn't know about naps. I didn't know about any of this stuff. I started doing my research. And, you know, to say I started as a hobby sitter, I mean, in many ways, don't we all? I mean, when you're just testing the waters, you know, and but before I really opened my doors legitimately, I was a member of psi, I had insurance and bonding, you know, I did all the right thing. So July 1 2002 2005, is my legitimate like, business birthday, you know what I mean? So, we just are entered into your year seven. It was definitely a way of reinventing yourself. And, and I can't say that 911 It was the catalyst. But apparently there was some other things going on, that I wasn't even aware of. But it triggered something. You know what I mean? And I've never looked back. I mean, I kind of I'm not gonna say I've never had you know, COVID I'm sure for any business owner. In our industry. I don't care how big or how small you know, I'm sure we all thought we were done. You know, I was fortunate to the government again, to get the pandemic unemployment assistance. I didn't go the PPP route, but I was able to do what I need to do as a self employed person. And you know, so I was appreciative of that, but without that I would have been done. I would have been done. I really thought about hanging out my leashes because I said it this doesn't come back. I got to do something. But then again, I also thought about you've been your own boss for how many years now? Yeah, I don't think I could go work for anybody. I would probably get fired day one for insubordination. I'm sorry, I would. I have no regrets. I still love what I do. And you know, you know, the life is life is good brand. You know, their thing is, what does it do what you like, like what you do? I mean, every day is not like, like I said, wagging tails and whisker kisses. But if you know, like, get just keeping things simple. The what? to kind of recap, know who your ideal client is, know how you're going to screen or process a potential new, new clients. So when you go to do the meet and greet, the onboarding is so easy. And again, I don't use PET setting software. So when I go on the one right and everything down, I've taken the notes It's not something they're putting in there. That also opens a dialog while you're doing it. I, what you see it all the time to about, they don't want to pay my cancellation fee, or they don't want to do this or they don't want to do that. On my service agreement, contract, whatever you want to call it at the meet and greet, when it comes to that time, I take the pen and draw a little line next to each one of my bullet points. And I said, I know we've talked about this, but can you please read these and initial, I just want to make sure you understand my policies, that hopefully we will never have to deal with it. But you need to understand that policies are in place to protect you and me. And then I make them sign the contract, and I even sign it as as the representative of the business. I mean, you know, contracts are great. But do they really hold up in a court of law, it's more of a good faith thing. You know, and mean, in a technology world, you can even sign up for something to get a free brochure sent. And then to your email address unless you accept their terms of service. It's crazy these days. So you know, to me by them initialing and signing, they're accepting my terms of service, in my mind business model is not for everyone. Again, customer service, if you go to my website, if you get one of my pens that I leave behind one of my canned covers, one of my keychains, a sticky note pad, any of my marketing things that I leave for clients or drop off at pet stores, or vets or whatever, poop, poop bag dispensers, whatever. It's got the name of my business, and either my phone number or my website. Okay, that's customer service you want to hear or no learn about me. I mean, yesterday was a perfect example about someone not not doing their research, the lady that I had to email and came back and then called, but if she contacted me where it says contact us, or it could have been the psi locator, I'm not sure. But if you were there already. Nowhere in the description of the services I offer says overnight service. So if you know I didn't do that,
52:27
why don't you contact me?
Scott B. 52:30
Like, again, it's another way of screening potential clients did did. And I that's another thing I do on the screening. If I know, I'm all over the place, but have you been to my website? Have you read the services I offer? Have you seen our rates? Have you seen my policies and holiday fees? And you know, Have you have you seen all that, because again, I'm not gonna go to a meet and greet and have someone go, Oh, my God, we need three visits a day at $24 a visit, that's $72 a day, we're gonna be gone for 10 days, and we can't afford that. I made sure prices, cancellation policies, early return policies, payment policies are fully understood, before I even set up a meet and greet. Because those are things that blow up at the table too.
Collin 53:25
But you know, this thing, as you're talking, describing all this, Scott, you know, it's the name of your business is personal touch petsitting. And it really is, it really is personal to you, but you don't take it personally. And I think that's a very fine line that a lot of people
Scott B. 53:41
if I took Colin, you know, me well enough to think if I took everything personally, I would be back in bed in a fetal position. Like I was years ago. No, but you can't, you can't and sometimes it's hard because people that know me, locally, they know on the face of my business and and you know, and Scott is the business in the businesses, Scott but there were times that Scott has to take that business hat off. And you know, when I'm in public, you know, I I try to be the best representative of my business. But there's times that Scott still Scott has to be Scott. And and you know, it's hard to find that that work life balance, but I've done a much better job post lockdown, and because I I've made a few tweaks about the number of sets I'm going to do and the number of jobs I'm going to take it one time and yes, I need to be profitable. And I have been profitable since year one may not have been a huge profit. But you know what I found On the thing that works for me, and you know, I have clients that have been clients of mine, actually since 2004, before I was legit, that are on their second sets of dogs now or puppies, you may
Collin 55:17
think about how do I get those kinds of get to that point in our business and hearing everything that you've talked about? Scott, it? It starts from that initial conversation. Yes, it does. And viewing the long term relationship you're going to have with this person, how would you like to step off on an amazing foot? Treat them well, right, provide answers, provide service to them in an exceptional way and do it every time you come over. And that's where that builds its loyalty, or bond or Frank, almost friendship at times.
Scott B. 55:50
It's hard, actually, this family with the Goldens. Their mom had had a battle with breast cancer. And when she was going through her her chemo and radiation, and they still had me come daily to walk the girls, you know, and I always knew Monday was chemo day, by Wednesday, she wasn't going to be feeling well. So I would always go and and you know, on a Tuesday or Wednesday, I'd say hey, why don't you walk with us today, we'll go slow. And like, it's hard sometimes not to cross that line. But we have such an amazing
56:39
relationship because of that.
Scott B. 56:42
You know what I mean? Like, it's very hard when you don't, you don't want to cross over that professional, too personal. But I think in some way we do it and not even realize we do it with our clients that that I don't want to say that they're super special to us. But I think we've all been there when when there's been an illness or something going on in the house, that you want to be more than just a person that, you know, any little thing you can do to help
Collin 57:11
right like what exactly we're not.
Scott B. 57:15
And but continuing with, with the consistency of the midday dog walks for the girls was my way of helping. But what else can I do while I'm here?
Collin 57:28
Yeah, Scott, I know. I know, you've you've said before, when we've talked previously of, of I'm hired, but I'm not the hired help. Yes, this is so much more than that. And can we can we replicate that interaction we have every single with every single client? No, but you kind of know, okay, this is a super special scenario right now where maybe I need to step into this for us. We had a client who has mobility issues, and he fell out of his wheelchair, and he didn't panic about his dog, because we knew he knew every morning at 9am, we show up, we were gonna be there. And, and he was, he knew we would be there. And we've had clients, you know, who have spouses that are dealing with cancer, or all sorts of things, and they just, they know, we're going to be there for them. And you can go, Hey, is there anything else I can do to help you while you're going through this tough time, Scott, as you've been sharing your stories, and relaying kind of these experiences through this, it is making me reflect a lot about that, when we talk about it being personal, it is personal, in that we take things seriously, we invest in them, but it is personal to us. And we are a person, right, as you said, like it's just who we are, like, it's, it's a part of this is accepting that and embracing that of like, I have these responsibilities that I do have to, you know, maybe never find a perfect balance and doing but I have to be able to dedicate energy and resources to them and recognize that's part of who I am is the things that I do and interact with in the world around me whether that's pets, or parenting or whatever.
Scott B. 59:01
But you know, it's funny and I mean, I just think that you know, a lot of people get into our industry because I love pets. And they're maybe not such people. You know, they're not people, a people person. But they forget that you got to get through the human to get to the canine or the feline or the lizard or the or the, you know, the reptile or the hedgehog or or the horse or the cow or whatever type of you know animal use you sit for you know, they use software because they don't want to talk to people that you know everything. I mean technology is great until it's not. No, I actually tried to sign on here. I had an issue with my outlook that I couldn't open the email you sent me with the link to the zoom thing. So technology is great until it's not you know firsthand. I have. So I don't rely on technology I like I have an Excel calendar that I emailed to myself every time I update it. I use QuickBooks for my bookkeeping and invoicing. My payment structure is simple check cashers L, no credit cards, I don't want to deal with it. Just simple, simple, simple, less is more.
Collin 1:00:22
And I really appreciate you encouraging us to go for the personal, keep it simple and focus on those boundaries and build those relationships. Because at the end of the day, that's what this is about and building that trust. I know. And again,
Scott B. 1:00:35
part of my screening process again, is I joke, I don't know if you've ever saw the play or the musical Chicago? Yeah. There's a song in there called Mr. Cellophane. You know, I have become Yes, I have become Mr. Cellophane, I am so transparent. I know what my deal breakers are and what they aren't. And like, I put it out there. And if you're not comfortable with it, that gives you the opportunity. Simply, you know what, Scott, I am not comfortable with that. And a lot of it comes down to when you talk about a emergency contact or backup, or, you know, I've referred to my spouse numerous times as my spouse, but I am in a 39 year relationship with a man, we were married legally in 2005. But without his support, I wouldn't be where I am right now with this business. And he, at many times has been my go to backup. So I asked people, look, are you okay? And I know it's a no, no. But I always say, Listen, my schedule is so crazy that there are times that after I feed my dogs and cats and come home and respond to emails and voicemails and whatever, that we'll go grab a bite to eat, or go run an errand together. I said, but are you okay? If I bring my husband to your house to meet your dogs or cats? said only in a dire emergency? Would I ask him but if I got stuck somewhere where your dogs needed to get out? Would you be okay? If I called him and said, Hey, come and get the keys to the Jones. You know, you need to go let you know, Lucy out, whatever. Are you on board with that? Are you comfortable? I said, but you need to let your nosy neighbors know. I mean, you know us you know as well as I that man in our industry, our minority. And that's another thing we have to face, every every block has a Gladys Kravitz, the nosy neighbor. So I tell my clients all the time, please let your neighbors know that I drive this kind of car that I'm coming multiple times a day, I've had the cops called on me, there's a strange man going into the Jones house, you know, or I'm on a first name basis with a lot of the cops in Kingwood now, but alarms going off where they don't tell you they change the code and you know, whatever. But, but I put it all out there. And that's another way of me measuring. I mean, not to get political, you know, but you know, there are some people that are just not on board with
1:03:21
gay marriage. You know how I live
Scott B. 1:03:24
my life doesn't affect how I do my job. And if you don't want a gay pet sitter, then I'm not the right person for you. I don't show up in a rainbow flag. I don't have fairy wings when I can't, you know. But again, some people are just not on board with that. And if you're not, you're not my ideal client. But most people go wow, you thought about that you thought about what happens if you can't get to our house. I said you can give me three emergency contacts. It doesn't mean they're all going to be available when I need them to get to your house. My husband had to take me to the ER but he had to take me to do my bedtime visits first before my appendix almost ruptured. Once the morphine kicked in, I was texting the client saying hey, we got the bed sets covered. But you know, those are things you do. Those are things you do. You know, it's all it is personal.
Collin Funkhouser 1:04:20
Scott, I really appreciate you taking time to talk with us today and share about that and share the personal touch that you do bring and why it is so personal to you. In the end. I know that there's a lot more we can cover this is probably just part one of that. But But if people want to get get in touch and pick your brain on stuff, especially on staying solo, being simple setting those boundaries and embracing you know, who you are and what you bring to the table. How can they best do that? They can email me
Scott B. 1:04:49
or message me on Facebook. You know, some of the folks that you know are in your groups might be in the other you know petsitting forums too. You know, I'm an open book. You know what works for me may not work for someone else, but you know, I also think that that, you know, whether you're big or small, have staff don't have staff. You know, getting back to the basics sometimes, you know, is more important than the big stuff. You know what I mean? Like, we all want to grow our business by a certain percentage every year or do this or do that. But do you want to grow it by just taking on any client that comes along? The onesie, the one time wonder when their their pet sitter bailed, or their neighbor's kid bailed on them two days before they were gonna go on their trip? They're a one time wonder, although they may not be so you know, do you do screen differently? No, because they may become a longtime client, you know, but, you know, sometimes, you know, I do it the same way every time. You know what I mean? Like, I don't want to lose the possibility. But, you know, they could very well be a one time wonder, because you're bailing them out
1:06:04
out of a situation. Yeah. But the basic
Scott B. 1:06:07
customer service and personal touch, or whatever you want to call it, professionalism, the courtesy of, you know, you owe them that courtesy. Now, granted, every person may not be polite.
1:06:26
But again, screening them.
Scott B. 1:06:30
I remember I was at a meet and greet, it didn't work out. But this lady's phone kept ringing. And she kept saying, Can I call you back the dogs dog walkers here. And after the third or fourth call, I said, you know, the dog walker has a name. That kind of cut our meeting, we're really short. said you're the one that told me you only had a limited amount of time. You know, can you maybe just not answer your phone so we can get through this? I'm a real estate agent and I got house to show them. Well, then maybe we should have scheduled this for another time. I have places I need to be to when I worked this into my schedule.
1:07:06
We would not a good
Collin 1:07:08
preach the good stuff. Well, Scott, I appreciate you taking time to talk with me today. And share on
Scott B. 1:07:16
anytime seriously, anytime.
Collin 1:07:19
Keep things simple. It sounds so simple. But it really is, I believe the key to both longevity and a flourishing in an industry like ours, from everything from the prices that we have the services that we offer, the onboarding process, and the way we communicate with our clients, and then everything in between, we get to walk through that and go with a fine tooth comb through our entire business, and make sure everything is exactly how we wanted and that it's simple, not just for our clients sake, I think far more importantly, for our sake, as well. So we can stay consistent whenever we are communicating with clients, and that we can understand exactly how our business is operating complications, lead to mental fatigue, emotional burnout, and all sorts of things in our lives and in our business. By stripping away all of the unnecessary facets and components of our business. Maybe we added something because we used to offer it or we see someone else offering so we tack it on or we decide that we want to change service areas. Whatever we do to complicate our business, we need to both be able to justify it and perform it reliably and predictably every single time. So what are you holding on into your business? What things do you need to let go of to simplify your life and how your services are rendered? Let us know we'd love to hear. We want to thank our sponsor today, time to patch and our amazing patreon supporters who helped make this show possible. We hope you have a wonderful rest of your week and we'll be back again soon.
