235: The Great Resignation and Pet Care
Brought to you by Pet Sitters Associates
Summary
The pandemic has brought about a new wave of the job market, The Great Resignation. Millions of people are leaving their jobs in search of something better. So, what’s a pet care provider to do? How does this impact marketing messages, clientele, and employee retention? We discuss new ways to approach obtaining clients and why watching these trends is critical for your business. Then, Natasha O’Banion answers, “How do I make clients happy?”
Topics on this episode:
What is the great resignation?
The problems we face
What we can about it?
Ask a Pet Biz Coach
Main takeaway: Start understanding how The Great Resignation is impacting your local market so you can adjust your messaging to meet the needs of a changing clientele.
Links:
Susan, from the Pet Gal, talked about this kind of relationship with the Alamo DraftHouse on episode 88: https://www.petsitterconfessional.com/episodes/088-supporting-your-employees-with-the-pet-gal
The Texas Pet Sitters Conference in New Braunfels Texas is coming up and we’d LOVE to see you. Collin will be speaking and we’re really looking forward to a great conference. Go to http://txpetsitters.com to get registered!
Pet Sitters Associates: use ‘Confessional’ at checkout
Check out Start. Scale. Sail. and use PSC20 for 15% off
Give us a call! (636) 364-8260
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Email us at: feedback@petsitterconfessional.com
A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
pet, people, clients, work, business, pet sitters, job, discount, market, quitting, resignation, pet sitter, package, traveling, flexibility, staff, dog, hiring, offer, left
SPEAKERS
Meghan, Collin, Natasha
Meghan 00:17
Hi, I'm Meghan
00:18
Collin and this is Pet Sitter confessional
Meghan 00:20
and open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter. Hello, welcome to episode 235. Hello. We're so glad you're here if this is your first time listening, welcome. If you are joining us for maybe the 10th or 100th time or
Collin 00:42
230/5 time also welcome.
Meghan 00:44
Welcome back.
Collin 00:45
We want to thank our Patreon supporters like Sherry, Katie and Savannah for today's episode, as well as today's sponsor, which is pet sitters associates,
Meghan 00:55
if you didn't know the Texas pet sitters conference in New Braunfels, Texas is coming up in February, and we would love to see you there, we are going to be there, it's in person, you do not have to be in Texas, to attend this conference. And so we're traveling there because Cullen is going to be a speaker
Collin 01:12
who Yeah, definitely speaking about something, you can go to TX, pet sitters.com, to find out more and see all the other speakers, all the events that they have going on and get registered.
Meghan 01:23
So there is a lot going on in the world. One of those is called the Great resignation. And it is we're today we're gonna be talking mostly about the United States. But I think this is happening all over the world. Yeah,
Collin 01:37
it is a global event. I know the UK is experiencing this, Australia is not experiencing so much. But they are still collecting data, and tracking and seeing if the trend picks up and continues with the speed that it has in the US and other places around the world.
Meghan 01:52
So basically, the great resignation is that people are leaving their jobs, they're quitting their jobs in droves. So 4.4 million people in the US just in September, said bye bye to their jobs, their careers. And some people are starting their own businesses, which is awesome.
Collin 02:09
Yeah, well, maybe some of you did the same thing in your own careers where you decided that 2020 2021 was a great time to make a career change, and you chose petsitting. And we couldn't be more thrilled for you.
Meghan 02:22
And if you are one of those people, you would be joined with 4.7 million other new businesses that were started as of October this year here in the US pretty crazy.
Collin 02:32
Other people are staying home to either care for their kids, other family members, and some people are even choosing to retire early, as opposed to waiting it out to get extra benefits. Something like 3.6 million people have retired this year alone, when only one and a half million were expected. And what's interesting, or at least I find interesting about this entire thing is that the ones who are quitting their careers, and deciding to remove themselves from the job market are those mid career. So we're talking about 30 to 45 year olds, who are mid level in their jobs in their experience as well. And this is in contrast to those who are younger than them or older than them who are actually not returning over in their positions as much or at least as is expected. And then when it comes to the sectors of people who are quitting this jobs in these fields, with the top five here are education, leisure, hospitality, transportation, and the medical field. All jobs which have been experiencing a lot of high stress, tension, burnout and demand on their time and attention over the last two years. And they say that they are quitting for higher wages, flexibility in their schedule, and there's a desire to work from home as best that they can.
Meghan 03:48
And so what does this mean for us as pet sitters and dog walkers in the pet care industry? What does it mean for you for us? We mentioned a lot about knowing your client. And obviously it's going to be down to your particular market. But generally the areas that have seen the most people quitting their jobs are the Midwest and the southwest of the US. But if your market was dominated by 30, somethings working a nine to five, a lot of those people are just gone because of the pandemic and the past couple years people have left to cities favoring smaller areas to work and live in. Obviously, this is not across the board, New York City took a really big hit. But now they're coming back to live again. But whether they've gone, these people that have moved, whether they've gone on to live remotely in an RV or just relocated to a smaller town, the point is that they've left and like I said, not everyone, but people have made kind of a mass exodus out of big cities into smaller rural areas
Collin 04:48
well and they've left their jobs to so not just physically removing themselves, but they're no longer working those nine to five so whether they've left their job or moved entirely, we are seeing a change In clientele, so who is your client? Are they a 30? Something in a big city with a 95? Who needed you for middays and periodic vacation? If so, it's time to take a good look at who you are marketing to, because those people are getting rarer and rarer. We watched a video about a couple who retired early to live in an RV. And really the only thing that we noticed, because it's who we are, was that they had a dog running around. And I immediately asked, How do I pet sit for that person, a person living in an RV, they retired early, they're traveling around the country, it's a growing trend, and they have a dog along with them. Do they even need a pet sitter. So if there's a pet friendly RV campground in your area, I'd be dropping business cards there and building a relationship with their owner, so that they can give your information out as a reference when campers ask.
Meghan 05:51
But unfortunately, because they are traveling around so much, they probably won't be repeat clients unless they're coming back through your area. So it's not as predictable. But more people are getting into our v's and traveling and buying school buses, which my husband wants to do,
Collin 06:07
hey, you can get him really cheap on on Facebook marketplace, not that I've looked I've delivered
Meghan 06:12
now. So more people are doing that now than ever. So you've got to decide if it's even worth it to you to take on or not. But it's another avenue to consider. And that's another major reason to make sure that your Google My Business listing is up to date with pictures, and it's properly filled out so that people can find you easily. Because if they're not from your area, they're probably going to be typing in dog walker, Scottsdale, Arizona, or petsitter, Lansing, Michigan or wherever you live. And so you want to make sure that you are some of the first hits up there, so they see you
Collin 06:44
other than retiring early. The other reason people left was to care for their kids or a family member. And when one person decided to stay home in that family unit, statistically, it was more likely to be the mom
Meghan 06:56
as not saying that dads don't stay home too. But looking at the data, women were more likely to stay home.
Collin 07:02
So with that in mind, do you have a local mom's Facebook group or a local women's business Facebook group? Mom groups on Facebook are huge, they are a really big deal. So now you're leveraging access to parents and parents with pets, their stay at home or possibly work from home parents with pets? A lot of these peoples we mentioned earlier, a 4.7 million in the United States started their own business. So now you have business owners at home with pets? How does that impact our marketing? What kind of language? Can you start thinking about how you would use to tap into those people's stresses, desires, fears and wants for their family and their pet?
Meghan 07:43
Well, and unfortunately, Cullen and I do not have all the answers. No. But you know your exact local market, you know your business, you know your area and your community. And if you don't already check out business resources, like your chamber of commerce or your local college with a business program. And this all gets a lot trickier to work. Because if the stats are to be believed, people are dropping out of the workforce and not racing to get back in. And I'm sure if you've driven down the road at all, you've seen all of the employment signs, everybody is hiring. So people may have a pet. But now they have potentially less income than they had before. You know, those stay at home moms, they potentially went from two incomes to one income.
Collin 08:30
And that's even more true if there was a sole income. And they are not testing the waters to see what's out there for a job. And they're just kind of hanging tight. So whether it's a two income to a one income, or somebody who is just stepping back to use their savings, to work on some skills to start something new and see what happens. They have less disposable income that they can use for pet care.
Meghan 08:50
And so the big question is how do we sell our services to someone who's left their job to have more flexibility and time with their family? Well, depending on why they quit, they may even need your services now more than ever, if they're traveling more, or if they're busy at home, and they don't have time for their pet like they used to. If they're staying at home with their kids and homeschooling or doing virtual schooling, their kids may have more activities during the day, or they just may want to go do more things with them. And this is of course, all tied in with who your client is. If your ideal client does not have kids, then this discussion is not for you.
Collin 09:25
Right, right. But you can think of other ways, again of how someone who doesn't have kids, maybe it's a married couple, and they don't have kids. They don't have family, but only one of them is working now or they've decided to make a life change. Right now a lot of people across the globe are trying to decide what their life looks like for the next 10 and 20 years. We as pet sitters get to help them along that transition with their pet care and help guide them and give them advice and come along that journey with them.
Meghan 09:51
But if they have seen a decrease in their finances, then they may be more aware of their pricing and budgeting. So they may not have as much discretionary income anymore. And I think it's still kind of remains to be seen just how price sensitive people become, especially with inflation the way it is. But you have people who view their pet as a family member. Those are the clients that you want, who really care and value and will pay for your services for their pet, but they may possibly have less income than before. So how do you reach that person? How do you meet their needs and solve their problems?
Collin 10:25
Before we answer that, as pet care professionals, your clients trust you to care for their furry family members, pet sitters Associates is here to help. for over 20 years, pet sitters Associates has provided 1000s of members with quality pet care insurance. If you work in the pet care industry or want to make your passion for pets into a profession, you can take your career to the next level with flexible coverage options, client connections and complete freedom in running your business. Learn why pet sitters Associates is the perfect fit for you and get a free quote today at pets it llc.com You our listeners can get a discount when joining by clicking membership petsitter confessional and use the discount code confessional checkout to get $10 off today, check out the benefits of membership and insurance once again at pets it llc.com When we are dealing with price sensitive markets, not necessarily price sensitive individuals. But when the entire market is starting to question how much things cost, especially when we're approaching things through inflation and loss of income. This is where periodically offering a discounted package deal may be worth it. People may buy a package deal to us over the course of a year, because they know that they'll need it eventually, but just can't afford all of it right now. Or they can't afford it. But they're being more careful about budgeting. Now, this is not that you have to discount your services all the time, or anything or even
Meghan 11:41
at all really there are plenty of pet sitters all over the spectrum. And most of them do not discount at all, they say my services, this price. And if you don't want it, there's the door.
Collin 11:50
Yeah, we're not talking about an individual basis as someone asks for discount and you give it to them. But something like a Black Friday deal or a new year sale or something a couple times a year may help boost your sales, get more money on the books and help make each month more predictable for you. More and more people are already moving to package pricing, because it's predictable for you. So just offer a monthly package or weekly packages as well, they the person purchasing it, make it a 10 or 15% discount. Now you get guaranteed income for that month, everyone wins. And again, this is just one way to try and adapt to get more people in the door so that when they become less price sensitive over time, they start paying more full price and they don't take advantage of those deals. That's for you to decide how you want to use that.
Meghan 12:36
Well. And so your point was if you add inflation on top of that people are becoming price sensitive, it's becoming more and more of a thing you go to the grocery store prices are higher. We just experienced us tonight a restaurant and they called
Collin 12:47
it a menu refresh. And I was like oh, new menu items? No, no new menu prices. Tada.
Meghan 12:53
We figured up to 25% Yeah, 25% increase on each one of our meals. pretty shocking. So again, people are even more going to be looking for deals and not necessarily for cheap things. Because their pet is their family and they want to look after their family. But they want to know that they can get a deal when it's available. So now you as the business owner, sure you didn't make full price on that item, but you made the sale. And you have to determine if it's better to have dollars on your books, or potential money in the future. And this gets into a little bit of risk management. How financially stable is your business? And what risks can you take? And this is a personal decision. And then what is best for your staff if you have them as well.
Collin 13:37
Yeah, it's realizing that pricing is purely theoretical, what somebody will pay is totally theoretical up until they actually pay you for that. So do you continue to hold out going? Well, if I give a 30% discount on Black Friday, I know a lot of people will book. But maybe I don't want to do that because I don't want to lose out on that extra money. Well, you may potentially lose out on 100% of those dollars, if nobody books at your full rate. But it's frustrating. I know to have a fully booked weekend and know that all of those that visits that you're going into are at a discounted rate. I hate that it's especially when you could have said yes to somebody at your
Meghan 14:15
full rate. And that's why a lot of centers don't discount ever
Collin 14:18
No. But that's a decision that you have to make. And again, we're not talking about discounting all the time, but selling packages periodically to get people to pre buy for the upcoming year. As these families as these individuals are looking at their pet wanting the best care possible for them. If you can give them away and in at an even a slightly reduced rate a discounted rate for larger packages. That's going to help both people be more happy about the care and quality and the ability to offer those services because I recognize especially for just me personally, there are times where I would rather be booked and money in the bank, as opposed to having nothing coming in at all, even if it was at a reduced rate, especially since it means possible exposure are two new clients who I can eventually convert into full time clients over the coming years. Because the value that that person is going to give to me, after the discount or pricing runs out or after that discounted package pricing runs out is immense when we think about the lifetime value of not just that pet, but the client as they continue to get pets over the over the remainder years,
Meghan 15:20
when it comes to the great resignation. What else should we consider? Well, employers are doing everything they can to keep their staff. employee retention is huge right now, because everybody is quitting. And
Collin 15:32
well, it's not huge, it but it's a big deal. employee retention is very low.
Meghan 15:37
But some are even considering allowing their staff to bring their pets to work, or their staff have pets at home that they really need cared for. And so companies are really taking a look at tailoring their retention programs and their benefit packages right now.
Collin 15:50
Yeah, non monetary benefits are huge in the corporate world as ways to say that they are contributing to your quality of life as an employee as a staff member without having to spend a lot of money or giving you cash in your hand. So this is everything from recognizing you at awards banquet, or offering dinners or offering different parties at them. But it can also mean allowing you as a pet sitter, to give discounted prices or just full package prices to the staff on that company.
Meghan 16:22
A great way to participate in this is to start calling other companies in your area and have them include your services as part of their employee package. You can work out a monthly rate that the business can pay you to keep you on retainer for their staff. So you become a perk of working at the other company. And I know that Susan from the pet gal talked about this kind of relationship with the Alamo Drafthouse back in episode 88, she has a ton of staff, it was an excellent episode, you should go listen to it number 88. And so she gave a discount to each employee at the Alamo Drafthouse rather than the company paying for it. But I leave it all on the table at this stage.
Collin 17:04
Yeah, you could even choose to just invoice the company as well at the end of the month, for the walks that you did for their employees and for their staff, so that everyone knows exactly what's getting billed and what's getting paid for.
Meghan 17:15
And then also looking at Pet Friendly hotels, hotels don't want dogs barking, they so partner with them to offer dog walks. And it's a great way to increase your clientele and really build rapport within the community, especially if you can find a small business local hotel, you know, of course, Holiday Inn, or Marriott, those are great too. But if you can really build rapport with a small bed and breakfast that allows pets or whatever, that's going to go a long way as well, especially if they are connected within your local business community as well.
Collin 17:46
And the sales pitch here is pretty easy. Again, they don't want dogs barking dogs, they don't want damage from highly stressed out dogs. And yet they offer pet friendly accommodations for their people staying there. So they want to attract those people to stay at the hotel. So you can tell them, hey, this is a way to get people in the door because they know that there's a dog walker on staff are on hand to be able to accommodate them that they have access to. It keeps the dog less stressed. So they're not damaging your property. And there's no barking throughout the day while I'm caring for them.
Meghan 18:18
And there's no better time than right now to do this. People are traveling, we don't know how much longer that's going to happen. But pet sitters are busy, we are extremely busy. And so this is a great time to approach these other companies and ask to collaborate with them.
Collin 18:32
So all of that is about being a pet sitter and getting clients. Something else that many of us are struggling with or have questions about how do I hire people, given everything going on given the great resignation? Wouldn't it be great if we could hire those retired folks or those people that are quitting on to our business to help us take off some of the load off of our backs and expand our businesses.
Meghan 18:54
But what's the job seeker on the market looking for right now? Well, flexibility, that's why they quit, they did not want to work nine to five, five days a week anymore. They wanted the flexibility of being able to take their kids, drop them off at school, pick them up, take them to activities, do other things with them or just go to the grocery store wouldn't travel whenever they wanted to. They want to feel engaged with something that is huge for them. We've talked before about millennials they want to feel connected with a company and that they can grow and expand and social causes and all of that it's making it more than just something to do you know a job but it's the bigger picture kind of thing and I think that's really important when working for a company
Collin 19:37
petsitting may be the perfect thing for them but they might not know that it's a thing at all. So if you're placing a job ad capitalize on what the current job market that and what the candidate pool is looking for flexibility yeah that play that up a lot. If you haven't changed your job ad language in a long time. Right now is the perfect and really most essential time to do that because the job see careers of 10 years ago, aren't on the market anymore. And they're looking for different things because they've had different experiences. They have different motivations and different goals in their lifestyle,
Meghan 20:07
but it's really all about what you are looking for in a higher. So if you absolutely require that they have had Petcare experience before that something different than what we're talking about, I think, because a lot of these people were teachers, they were certified nursing assistants. They were bus drivers or airline people that are quitting because they were so burned out. So that
Collin 20:29
is something to consider that just because there is a job pool that is a job market available for people looking for jobs, doesn't mean it's going to be the best fit for you. They were burned out, they're looking for something new. But they might not have all the pet care experience that you were looking for that you require for the positions that you're hiring for. And that's totally up to you whether you decide that something that you can train, or whether you even want to go through that hassle. But with the job market the way it is, there are a lot of options for people who may have had some sort of experience in the past that they can apply to right now. So in your job ad, yes, you should highlight the pets in all the cute cuddles. But again, also start using that language that the workers are looking for the fringe benefits of flexibility, being outside, helping their community be involved in something bigger, helping others, maybe even that you want their input and helping grow and expand and using their past experiences to make your company better.
Meghan 21:22
And as always making sure that your job ad reflects that. This is hard work. This is supposed to be done with excellence, that communication is huge. It's not a low stress job. The great resignation is certainly something that we no one has ever seen before. And it's going to require us again and again to adapt to whatever comes at us and respond not to just our clients needs but also finding new clients as people quit, move on, or stay home. And this whole discussion is basically if you are needing clients, we've talked about how to get new clients through this. But if you are booked to the brim, as most pet sitters are as we are, you may not need the advice we've shared right now. But if a great resignation continues, these trends in pet parents will continue and they may increase as well.
Collin 22:09
So it's something to stay on top of and continue to check your market. Look at the clients that you're getting and assess whether the ones you want or not. Because as she said, The demographics are changing, people are moving. People have different expectations, and the great resignation is really speeding up a lot of these things.
Meghan 22:25
There's also tremendous opportunity when hiring and expanding if we can tap into that messaging, that those people that are quitting are really looking for. Are you seeing changes in your clients? Have you tried hiring recently, you can let us know on Facebook or Instagram at petsitter. confessional or you can give us a call. Oh, we haven't done that or why? Oh
Collin 22:45
no, I don't even know our phone number. It's been so long. 63636 so perfect. We're
Meghan 22:51
good at this 6363648 to six zero leave us a voicemail,
Collin 22:56
Natasha is back this week to answer the question. How do I make my clients happy?
Natasha 23:01
Yeah, I believe that if you can, well, your customers kind of like Apple, right? Apple literally brings out new new products and they sell their old products or new products to their new clients. And then any new client I mean any new the product that drops out your old clients gets it so they literally just recycle like this client ascension ladder. And so I do believe in like rolling out the wow factor just in trust and loyalty and consistency. And anything else you do in the background that really makes your business stand out from the others. So it
Collin 23:34
may be going okay, well how do I know what's gonna make them happy? How do I know what the wow factor is? For them? Is that something that I have to just come up and hope it works? Or how do I go about discovering that?
Natasha 23:46
Yeah, you can try different things you know, we do subscription boxes for our clients, we do really great welcome bags. You know, we always find that when you come into someone's house, bring something with you. So giving your client a welcome bag wouldn't be a bad thing. But then you can also just survey your audience Hey, we're rolling out some new ideas. What are some things you would love to see in our business your clients will tell you really how to form your business with the wow factor. But um, you know, subscription boxes is something that we've done like throughout all industries, you know, when I make a big purchase, I always get like a welcome gift and it's something that I enjoy so I just duplicate that back in my pet business.
Meghan 24:28
If you want to work with Natasha, you can do so on her website at start scale sale calm. And when you do you can use the code P SC 24 15% off her coaching. We greatly appreciate you taking the time and listening to this today. Hopefully it was helpful to you. And if you ever have topic suggestions, you can let us know we'd be happy to do a topic on it and or if there's somebody that you want us to interview we can do that too. Also, thank you to pet sitters associates for sponsoring this episode and our wonderful Patreon members.
Collin 24:55
If you want to learn more about what being a Patreon member is and all that entails, head on over To petsitter confessional.com/support Thank you.
25:03
Bye
