Brought to you by Pet Sitters Associates. Use ‘Confessional’ at checkout
Summary:
Have you raised prices, brought on staff, made a policy change, and a client disagreed with the decision you made? Whether a new client or an existing client, it will happen eventually. It can be tough to get negative feedback on our businesses, so how do we properly (and professionally) handle it? We discuss the options and how to keep your business moving forward. Plus, Natasha O’Banion answers, “How do I break bad habits in business?”
Main topics:
When will client’s disagree?
Don’t assume the intentions
Two feedback reactions
Sticking to the facts
Ask a Business Coach
Main takeaway: You don’t need to justify your business decisions, but know your policies and WHY you have them.
Links:
Episode 241: Handling Conflict in Business
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A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
client, policy, business, pet sitter, people, staff, disagrees, run, pet, contract, confessional, prices, important, visits, feedback, habit, overextending, growing, operate, email newsletter
SPEAKERS
Meghan, Collin, Natasha
Meghan 00:10
Hello, I'm Meghan. I'm Collin. And this is Pet Sitter confessional and open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter. Hi there. Welcome to Episode 288. Hello, thank you to pet sitters associates and our Patreon members for sponsoring the show today. Do you know what a Patreon is, they are the people who support the show and help us to keep doing what we're doing. So if you have gotten anything out of the past 287 episodes, and one to learn more about how to support the show with a few dollars every month, you can do so at Pet Sitter confessional.com/support.
Collin 00:44
And we are really looking forward to our first Friday meet up for our $15 a month patreon supporters this Friday where we jump on a zoom call, we just see how everybody's doing kick around some ideas and just come together as a community. So if that's something that you're interested in, head on over to that link, it'll be in the show notes as well.
Meghan 01:01
Also do you watch you do maybe I do or listen to YouTube, I guess I don't do that. Well, we are on there. So we post the Monday and Wednesday episodes. And then on Fridays, we dive a little deeper, we give our take on the episodes from that week and discuss a topic that we had not previously. So if you are on Youtube, you can search for petsitter confessional and subscribe. On this episode, we're going to talk about what to do when a client disagrees with a business decision that you have made. So you have policies and procedures to run the business that you want to run for the goals and dreams and desires that you have. And so you set those up because you want to have boundaries, you don't want to be working 24/7 365. And you have made intentional decisions about the services, the pricing, the service area, and a ton of other things because it's what you want, you are the CEO of your business. But unfortunately, there will come a time when a client disagrees with one of those decisions or anything else really in your business. You know, it could be an existing client who discovers a new policy that you have implemented, or an old policy that they have never encountered before if you change something up on your contract every year. And so that's why it's so important to remind your clients of your policies on your website by including a frequently asked question page. Or you can remind your clients in your email newsletter, if you send one, you can kind of chop up bits and pieces of your contract and include them one a month or one a week in your email newsletter. And then social media is great to have, hey, here's our cancellation policy. Here's our key reminder, or whatever it is. But the majority of times when you have a disagreement with a client, because of a decision that you have made, it's going to be from a new client inquiring about your services.
Collin 02:52
Yeah, they may make a request for something for you to do only to find out that you have something or a policy that goes against it. A great example of this is we get requests from people to do every other day visit for a cat, which is something we won't do. Or maybe they ask for something and you have a policy where you operate differently than they expect or have encountered with a previous pet sitter in the past.
Meghan 03:14
And that's a good reminder, because people will contact us. And they are not reaching out as a blank slate, you know, they have they come in with their preconceived notions or their expectations, and whether that's from past experiences that they have had with a previous sitter or not, but it shapes how they view your business and how they will communicate you and what their expectations are for your communication with them. So this episode isn't really about handling conflict with a client. We talked about that a little bit on episode 241. But this is about when you have a policy or procedure or contract, whatever it is in your business, or you just made a decision in your business that a client or a potential client doesn't agree with and how really best to handle that as the CEO of your business.
Collin Funkhouser 04:00
So some common examples of when a client may disagree with a decision that you've made in your business include a very common one about raising prices, or there's a lot of disagreement that goes on with that, especially these days. Another one is when a client only wants you to do at the visits instead of a staff or other team member. But you really have to assess what the client's intentions are. And remember that not every disagreement is hostile in nature.
Meghan 04:26
That is true because they may actually be trying to give you good feedback for a policy that is not necessarily good. We always have good intentions when setting policies for our business, but it may not be best for the clients. Yeah,
Collin 04:40
there may be a stumbling block to becoming a client of yours. And if somebody is coming to you going, hey, when you asked me to do x, y, z and then ABC and then the square root of this other thing that was kind of hard for me to do and I feel like that isn't necessary to get into or to do these things. That is feedback that you need to take to heart and understand that this versus trying to actually help you. And so you need to assess and see if that's something that you can change. On the other hand, they could actually be legitimately upset about the policy because it impacts them directly, or very important here goes against their expectations and background and experiences that they've had with other centers and other businesses.
Meghan 05:19
And this comes into play, a lot of times with price, when you increase your price, they may come back and say, Hey, I'm not okay with this, I can go get somebody else for cheaper. But the important part here is to stick to your guns, it can be hard, but it is most important for the health of you and your business, you know, they may be angry, because they can't push you around like they want to. And so there are really two main things that you can do when a client disagrees with you. And the first one is changing your policy or waiving your policy. And you may do this for a client that has used you for a long time, or that you want to keep around because they're so good to you. Or it could be for a first time client, this is something we will do, if it's the first time a client breaks a policy, we will send a gentle reminder to them about it with a screenshot from the contract that they have signed. And that way we have a record of when the incident occurred. And, you know, hey, we notify them that, you know, they can't ever claim that they quote never knew because we have it in writing in black and white.
Collin 06:24
Just be cautious about this. Because there is a slippery slope by operating this way that can lead to you having one set of policies that you hold one set of clients to you have another group of clients who have kind of a different subset of policies, because that's just how they've learned to operate, and that you've adjusted to for them. So when we are waiving the policy, we are basically saying here's your one free, get out of jail card. But the next time this happens, this is being upheld. That way, we stay consistent across everybody. And we're doing that across weights. And why do we want to avoid having some policies for some clients and some other policies for the clients, because it gets confusing. It's it's hard to keep up with, it's hard for you to be consistent, it's hard for the clients to know what's going on. Because if you are communicating to different policy sets, in your newsletters in your social media, when you're interacting with people, that is not good, we need to be clear spoken we need to be straightforward we meet need to make our intentions and our policies plain so people can understand them. But we also recognize that nobody is perfect 100% of the time, especially brand new clients who have never used us before, or have or never used a pet sitter at all. Exactly. So giving them that grace period, getting that little bit of a reminder and that screenshot of the policy that they are breaking with the note the next time we will be sticking to this policy is a great way to start getting them into how you're going to operate. So we stick to our policies, but we need to also be gently leading, guiding and teaching and instructing clients into how we want to operate, we operate the way we want to operate. Not every client understands why we operate the way we do. So this is part of an educational opportunity to say I understand you want me to bring your keys back brand new client, we will do it this one time. Please note the next time you request the service, it's a $20 charge to get them back. And then when it comes to just changing a policy, we've mentioned this a little bit earlier. But if it's a bad policy, if it's something that maybe you aren't 100% comfortable with or as I mentioned earlier is a stumbling block. We change policies when we recognize they can be better. Obviously we always want to be improving. No policy is so precious that we have to leave it untouched for eons and eons. When a client disagrees with you view it as an opportunity to take that feedback and assess and make sure that your policies and procedures are still the best that can be for you and your desired business goals and objectives. Remember, we're gonna we're gonna keep saying this. But just because somebody disagrees with you and how you run your business doesn't mean that they are being hostile or that they are angry. They may just misunderstand, they may be confused and asking for clarification. And they're trying to give good feedback to you. So take that as a learning opportunity to apply go How can I make this more clear? How can I make this better for me and the clients that I'm trying to serve?
Meghan 09:13
A great policy to have is an insurance policy. As pet care professionals, your clients trust you to care for their furry family members, and pet sitters Associates is here to help for over 20 years they've provided 1000s of members with quality pet care insurance. Since you work in the pet care industry. 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@llc.com. You can get a discount when joining by clicking membership petsitter confessional and use the discount code confessional at checkout to get $10 off. Check out the benefits of membership and insurance once again at petsfit llc.com. The other option you have when a client disagrees with you is doing the opposite of changing or wavering Your policy but sticking to your guns. It's very important when you feel that your boundaries are being tested or it's a client that is a repeat offender. We all know though, those clients that tried to do the same bad habit over and over and over again, it's really frustrating. So you know, I find it easier to stick to our policies when it's a client that I don't particularly like, or that I wouldn't mind if they didn't book again, that would be totally fine with me, it's also pretty easy. If you have a contract that they signed, you can screenshot that portion of the contract, send it to them, and note why you are doing what you are doing a very easy, black and white, they signed it. Easy peasy. And also, for some reason, I find that it's easier to justify now, not that we have to justify things in our business. But I almost find that it's easier that we have staff for me to enforce our cancellation policy, because you know, my staff was taking the time out of their day to go to the visit. And you the client didn't give the company enough notice. So you will be charged,
Collin 11:03
which is an interesting point to touch on here is that if you struggle with sticking to your guns and holding to those boundaries, externalize the impact. So ask yourself, well, if somebody did this to my best friend, somebody did this to my mom, somebody did this to my spouse, but I'd be happy that they were going through that would I allow my best friend to be treated like this, but I allow my staff to be treated like this. And then act accordingly. Remember, give the best advice you would give to your closest friend, your most secret confidant, give that to yourself. And allow yourself to receive that so that you can stay true to these boundaries and stick to what you have set in place.
Meghan 11:45
But it can be really hard for us to do, you know, it's easier to capitulate to the client's needs to make them happy, because we want the client retention we want the repeat client. Many times we feel that we have to do that because we're worried about losing the client or not making enough money or our you know, our reputation means so much. So it's it's the truth. But the truth of the matter is that all of the headaches, all the frustrations, it's going to cause you to bend over backwards for really demanding clients. And ultimately it's going to cost you more than losing them, it's going to cost you your you know loss of productivity or strain on your health or time you know, our most valuable asset is our time. And when we dedicate that to clients who are not appreciative or take advantage of us, it can really all add up very quickly and not be very healthy for us. So for
Collin 12:35
the example of raising your prices, don't even bicker or negotiate with the people who disagree with the fact that you're doing that. It can feel hurtful, though, when an existing client doesn't like your new prices, most of the time, they won't say anything, they just won't book again and will kind of disappear and fade off into the background. But there will be a few that will be upset and they'll actually say something at which point, the best policy to do is state. These are my prices of effective this date. book here. A lot
Meghan 13:09
of times we try to justify or explain or over explain why we're doing what we're doing, you know, inflation, gas prices, the cost of doing business, it's it's it all just it's in my opinion, it's not necessary. You know, we for our company, we said as of X date, our prices will be x. We've talked about this before, but McDonald's doesn't tell you when they're raising the price of the hamburger. Jiffy Lube doesn't tell you when they're raising the price of an oil change, like companies don't do this. Nike doesn't tell you when the cost of a shoe goes up by five bucks, they just do it. And we need to be thinking of ourselves as big businesses like them.
Collin 13:50
Also Nikes motto just do it. So exactly. Another common scenario that happens when you may get some people who push back and disagree with a policy decision is when you bring on staff. And what's one of the first questions that we all fear of is well are my clients going to just ask for me? They only want me? Well, the vast majority of time that's not going to happen. But every now and then it will and clients are going to ask you Well, are you going to keep doing my my sets? Are you going to be my primary? What if I don't want that person that you hire? We have dealt with this on our own business? Yep. Which is why it's important to prep everybody in your client list for what's going to happen in this transition.
Meghan 14:32
Yeah, as much notice as possible as you can give them to prior to hiring. Just put an ad out on social media. It doesn't have to be a paid ad or anything. Just say that you are hiring you know kind of get the the the juices flowing. That's weird to self
Collin 14:48
acceptance, the juices of acceptance flowing in your clients. Let them know on your social media page. Hey, we're hiring. We're super excited. Please apply here just so that you can start being on the periphery because we have to start getting the used to the idea of talking about staff and employees in your company, then start including it in your email newsletter, update them about the process, how excited you are get clients to warm up this idea that you are growing, that you are needing to bring on staff, I'd recommend that you thank your existing clients for all their support over the years, and all the referrals that they've given to you. And that because of that you are now busier than ever and growing, and that you want to continue to provide the same level of service and care for them. And in order to do that, and service all of your clients consistently and reliably that you have to bring on staff. For us, we reminded them that they we are a team. And that while we have a primary center dedicated to that person, depending on how many visits they want, and when it is, it may not be the exact same person every time. But we tell our clients, we all share notes, we have a weekly meeting where we discuss this, we go over the visits beforehand with everybody. And we also remind our clients that our staff, our background, check certified pet First Aid CPR take extensive pet care training, and tell them that if we were ever sick, or one of us couldn't make it that we wouldn't be able to provide care for their pets. So in order to again, ensure that care is given. And given the way that we want to do it. We need to have on staff. Yeah, I
Meghan 16:15
think that is key there. Because a lot of clients do not think about that aspect of okay, Colin has always been there every visit, we you know, he's never had to say no to us before, we've always been able to rely on him and depend on him. But the client doesn't think that, hey, what if Colin gets sick? Or what if Colin breaks a leg? You know, they don't think about because we have always been there and always said yes to them. They don't think that hey, what if one time calling can't do it? Exactly,
Collin 16:49
exactly that this is such a pertinent topic right now, because so many of you are growing. And so many of you are starting to realize that you can get a little bit of your life back if you have some help in your business. And so this is going to be a question that you're going to struggle with. And this is going to be a question that you are going to get for at least a few of your clients or maybe brand new clients and you may be struggling with how am I going to communicate this transition. This is something that we have worked through. And we continue to work through as we bring on new clients. And we talked to existing ones about how we're making this transition. But really play up the team benefits that you are now providing you will always be able to accommodate their requests. I tell our staff and I tell our clients, we are a 24/7 365 business and we provide service then, but it's not always the same person. And that's why we're a team because people need breaks. And we look forward to being able to provide the best care possible every day of the year, year round. And if a client is still concerned about having someone else care for their pets, gently remind them that they trust you to care for their pets. And so they should trust you in the training of this new person. Walk them through your trading processes, your onboarding criteria discussed with how you teach and train your staff and say, Look, you love the way that I do it. And that's exactly the same way that I'm going to teach every single person who comes on my team to do it as well.
Meghan 18:09
Well, and it really is a fine line, though, because you obviously want to keep your existing clients happy. But at the same time, if this client is really struggling with you bringing on your team members and isn't really jiving with what you're saying, don't feel that you need to invest so much time into this one client, especially if the client is a once a year or not a regular client, you know, you have to find that balance there between wanting to keep your clients and wanting to grow your business,
Collin 18:39
which can seem counterintuitive, because oh yeah, I do want to grow my business. But now this client is leaving me that's that's the exact inverse of growing my business. I'm losing somebody, but it's the potential we we talk a lot about opportunity costs. And one of the biggest opportunity costs in running a service based business where you are required to be there is that when you are in one place, you are not in another one.
Meghan 19:03
It's not make sense
Collin 19:05
at all. But when we limit ourselves to being the only one who can ever do that client, it means we lose out on the opportunity to go to another client or another client
Meghan 19:16
or maybe not even clients just doing something that you actually want to be doing. Maybe you love puzzles, and you want to bring on staff so you can work on 5000 piece puzzles. I don't know what you'd like to do. But that's just something that you can do when you don't when you aren't limiting yourself anymore by being at two places at one time. Because you are only one person and you only have so many hours in the day. You cannot run yourself ragged if you have all the clients that you want and don't want to grow anymore. Great. You know, raise your prices. Don't forget that raise your prices so you make more so you can save more. But if you want to grow your business and never have to say no, you have to have a team, there's just no other way to do it. But it's important here do not let your clients run Your business, if they ultimately at the end of the day, if they are not okay with you growing, if they only want you to service them from here to infinity and beyond, then they are not the client for you. This whole discussion
Collin 20:12
has rethinking about the importance of understanding why we run our businesses the way we do. So do you know your policies? Have you read through them recently?
Meghan 20:22
Yeah, your 15 page contract?
Collin 20:24
You know why? A lot in there you have, unfortunately, we can get to the copy and paste mindset of Oh, I see that sir. They said this, Oh, I like this, that or they said that we start copying and pasting and throwing these little chunks into a document. And that's what we have people sign. But we've never sat down ourselves and understood why that's important to us. Why is it that I don't do any visits after 8pm? Why is it that I don't do visits on the weekend that says it here on my contract that people sign? But do I remember why that's there. And so if you haven't done that, or maybe you've done it in a long time ago, look at your policies and your contracts and your procedures, and line item, every single one of those and write down your why, why is this important to my business, so that when somebody pushes back against it, not that you have to tell them the why you know what, I don't do any visits after eight, because I want to be home to talk to my children, you don't have to explain that to anybody. You can just say, this is there, because it's important to me, and how I run my business. And you will have the ability to stand up to that person. Because you'll remember how important that is to you.
Meghan 21:32
It is very important that when you change a policy or procedure or you update your contract for the new year, or whatever it is something new in your business, like bringing on staff, whatever it is prepare for the feedback, you can't prepare for everything. But you can think about how clients are going to react to the new things that you're bringing on in your business, you can if it's a contract, you can either highlight the new portions, or in your email or social media state, what is new about it. So you know, they don't have to go in and read the whole new 15 page document again. But you don't have again, you just said this column, you don't have to justify it, you don't have to tell them the exact reasoning why you are doing it this way now. But let people know what you've changed, because it's unlikely that they're going to read the whole contract again. And you may not get any feedback, right? Like that's what all of us wants. We don't want anybody to say anything about the new things that we've changing in our business, because we're fearful of how they're gonna react, and they're gonna leave us and all this stuff, but preparing a response is going to set you up for success.
Collin 22:37
Yeah, this can be as simple as open the Notes app in your phone and type out the response that you're going to give to when somebody asks you, Hey, what is this policy? What Why is this important? What what's what's happened this, how does this impact me type of a few canned responses that you have ready to go. Because if we don't think through these processes, if we don't think through how people are going to receive and interact with the information that we're putting out there in the world, we will be blindsided when people come to us. And then we get flustered and we Babylon and we say the wrong things or we get heated, it doesn't add up in a hostile argument. We need to be the professional business owners here and with a clear mind and a clear headset communicate plainly to people and respond likewise in a professional manner, which takes thinking through each step of the way. And so having some canned responses, or getting some initial feedback from a small group of people is a great way to start building up to them.
Meghan 23:30
And it can be something as simple as a positive response and a negative response. So if somebody says something positive about it, then you can think of a response for that. And if somebody says something negative about it, you can think of a response for that as well. Obviously, in all things, you need to be respectful, you need to be kind, and you need to be professional. There are no two pet businesses alike. There are no two clients alike, but it is your business and you need to run it the way you want to run it. So when you respond to pushback or feedback, remember to be firm and steadfast
Collin 24:02
because at the end of the day, going into in depth explanations and long winded responses ultimately weakens your boundaries in the eyes of your client. The more we keep talking on and on and on, the more they start seeing holes and start picking ways that they can get in and get a foothold into options in other alternatives and ways of doing it other than what you're saying that you actually want to do. So stick to the facts. And ultimately, really, when you're talking with your client, don't do most of the talking. That's really important. Yeah, listen, listen to what they're actually saying. So we'd love to know situations where a client has disagreed with your policies and procedures and how you have handled that and what that looks like for you and whether you decided to change a policy or how you stuck to your guns. If you decided to do that. You can
Meghan 24:49
email us at feedback at petsitter confessional.com Or we are on Facebook or Instagram at petsitter confessional or YouTube to on our Ask a biz coach segment with Natasha OB And then she's going to answer the question, how do I overcome bad business habits?
Natasha 25:04
Yeah, when I think of bad business habits, I just think of business health, I think we all run our business is different. So what could be healthy to me could, you know not be healthy to someone else? So I'll start with that. But overall, I think overwhelm and burnout are typically how I measure health. You know, if your clients, you know, they're feeling like the balls being dropped, or you're feeling like you're running around with your head cut off, then you want to measure that health, and say, Is this conducive to what I'm trying to accomplish in my business? Is this really what I thought I wanted, I'm working with someone right now. She went on vacation for 10 days, it was epic. We were all cheering for like, oh, you left. But she said that she had to just close the door, she said, I was too nervous to go on vacation, and not know what was going on. So she just was like, I'm just gonna close while I'm gone, just so I don't have to worry about it. Well, she ended up getting sick when she came back. And then she couldn't work a few more days, because she was you know, getting sick from traveling. And she's like, wow, I really now need to hire because I have been running this show over and over and over on myself. And now I'm tired and burned down and I had just 10 days, or 14 days now I have no income. So sometimes we may think that we're doing good thing, we may think that it is good intent. But at the end of the day, that habit that you're in is kind of controlling the whole thing, meaning the whole ship, it catches up to us.
Collin 26:38
Yeah. And that's looking down the road a little bit and going, Okay, if I do this activity, is this going to make my business healthier? Or not healthy? If I do it 10 more times 20 more times? Or can I do this habit for the next 20 years? And see you kind of you know, add some zeros onto the stuff to really see the impact?
Natasha 26:57
Yeah, and so for me, that habit is just always inserting self. equation is this client wants this insert itself, this other client wants to insert itself? Well, you only can insert itself so many times before you completely get burned down. And you're not inserting self herself. So that's a bad habit. No, I can't take this client. You know, I know we all have issue with saying no, sometimes No, I can't take this client. Unfortunately, it's because it's going to overextend me. So make sure you're not having a habit of overextending, you know, going into Easter season going into memorial of the season. You said you said last year, that this last year was crazy, and you're not gonna book that many this year. Well, don't go into that habit of taking the 11th client taking the 49th client, write your number down, right your capacity that you can handle on your team. And don't create habits that keep overextending you.
Meghan 28:00
If you would like to join in and Natasha's monthly membership group, you can do so at automated ceo.com and use the code P SC 20. For 15% off.
Collin 28:08
We'd really like to thank today's sponsors, pet sitters associates and our wonderful, amazing stupendous Patreon members for making today's show possible. And again, we really look forward to that monthly meet up the first Friday of every month this Friday included.
Meghan 28:22
We appreciate you taking your time and listening to this today and we hope you enjoyed it and we will talk to you next time.
28:28
Bye
