598: Selling What Has to Be Experienced
Brought to you by:
Pet Sitters Associates. Use ‘Confessional’ at checkout
How do you market something that has to be experienced to be believed? In this episode, we dig into the challenge of selling emotional value—like peace of mind, trust, and joy—when your service can’t be fully understood until after it’s delivered. We explore why emotional storytelling matters more than bullet points and how to connect with both logical and emotional buyers. From showcasing transformations to using guided testimonials, we share practical strategies for building trust and standing out. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to elevate your brand, this episode will help you sell the experience, not just the service.
Main Topics
Emotional vs. logical buyers
Marketing through transformation stories
Using visuals and social media effectively
Creating consistent client experiences
Gathering and leveraging client testimonials
Main takeaway: “You’re not just offering a service—you are offering relief, joy, trust, yes, even peace of mind.”
Marketing your pet care business isn’t about bullet points or just listing credentials. It’s about showing what reallyhappens—when a worried pet parent breathes easier because they saw their dog playing fetch with joy or their cat curled up peacefully after a visit. You’re offering an emotional transformation, not just a check-in. That’s why we need to tell stories, not just stats. Let your care be seen—in photos, in updates, and most importantly, in how you make people feel.
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A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Pet sitting, dog walking, emotional value, client experience, marketing strategy, peace of mind, transformation, client testimonials, storytelling, brand reputation, service consistency, emotional connection, client trust, service differentiation, business growth
SPEAKERS
Collin, Meghan
Meghan 00:01
Hi, I'm Meghan. I'm Collin. We are the host of pet sitter confessional, an open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter. Thank you for joining us today, for taking your time and listening. We also like to thank pet sitters, associates and dog who launch for sponsoring today's episode. And we can't forget our executive producers on Patreon. They are Adriana and Amber, Barbie Beck and Erica, Jan and Janie, Jenny, Julie and Catherine, Liz and Lori, Keith Lucy, Sarah Savannah, Rachel Scott, Theresa and Yvonne. Thank you for loving the show and for listening and giving back. If you are listening and have found value in the podcast, you can go to pet sitter confessional.com/support, to see the ways that you can help out on this episode, we're going to talk about something that we've been trying to get our hands around. Our hands around for the past few years. And it's how do you explain something that has to be experienced? Some things can't be explained. They have to be felt experienced. You can describe the rides at Disney World list the snacks that they have on the on their menu. Even show photos of how awesome it is and your face going down the roller coaster all smiles, but until someone walks down Main Street and hears the music swell or the fireworks at the end of the night, they won't get it. That's what we're going to talk about today. How do you sell something that has to be experienced to be believed? We are in the pet sitting and dog walking industry, and we all want to say that we provide peace of mind and happiness to the pets and their owners. But how does that translate to someone who's never had a dog before and they need it cared for, whether it's a luxury dog walk, personalized cat care, or the peace of mind that comes from knowing your pet is in loving hands, there is a problem here. You can't put that feeling into a bullet point, and yet that's the very thing that we are trying to market our businesses. We want our clients to know that we are the best. We are the ones that they should pick above all else. But it can be hard when we have a generic title like pet sitter or dog walker, because ultimately, anybody can call themselves that the experience here is in the product. You're not selling time. You're selling a transformation from worry to relief, from chaos to calm, from missing your pet so much you can't stand it to peace of mind that is hard to translate because transformations are hard to show in advance. The dog wagging its tail when you enter the house because it's so excited that you're here to play fetch, or the cat asleep on the couch at the end of a visit because you've been massaging it and petting it and giving chin scratches. It's like trying to describe what a massage feels like to someone who's never had one before.
Collin 02:24
And so here we are trying to convince people to use a service that they have to experience, right? The whole experience that we're offering that is what we are selling. We are trying to get them into our companies, into our services, to have an experience. And that is fundamentally hard to get people to understand what they're getting when you when they have to go through the process. And there are a lot of emotions tied up into this, and that was also hard because emotional value is subjective. It's different from person to person. What feels life changing to one person might seem unnecessary and wasteful to somebody else, and we often find ourselves selling to two different people, the one who's emotionally invested in their pet and the one who's logically trying to justify the cost, and we have to find a messaging that appeals to one or the other, because trying to find an appeal to both of them will just mean that neither are satisfied and neither see what you're trying to sell to them. And
Meghan 03:23
you can probably think right now, on your client base, who do you generally have more of practical numbers, people who really just want the service done, do the job, do the walk and then leave, versus people who are more emotional. They send long messages after you're done with the service about how they arrived home and Fifi was so happy and and giving you more of a play by play throughout the months and the years of their pet ownership experience. Yeah, not
Collin 03:49
everybody buys emotionally. This is what we're talking about here. This is really big. Some clients don't feel the value until they see it, line by line, the credentials, the features, the insurance, the pricing. They want to see the stuff behind it. And then there's that other group who is all emotional, but that's really subjective, and that's what's hard for us to talk about these transformations, or talk about the peace of mind, or talk about what people get, and then have some people quibble over that say, Oh, well, I don't see the value in that, because you didn't trigger me emotionally. Or we can hit it on the head with our marketing and our messaging, and it's even harder if we, ourselves as a business owner, are a logical buyer, right? It's harder to write emotionally. It's hard to resonate with our marketing, because we may think, why would I talk about how it feels to miss your pet or just tell them the facts about this, tell them why it's better, but that's only part of the story that we're trying to get across.
Meghan 04:41
But thankfully, there is chat GPT where if you are one and trying to get to the other, if you are more emotional, you're trying to get logical, or you want you are logical and you're trying to attract more emotional owners. AI can help you in this by crafting those marketing messaging, crafting the copy on your website, crafting those social media posts you. This dog walking and pet sitting that we do is hard to prove without experience. Even the best testimonials can fall flat if someone hasn't experienced your level of care. A moment ago, I mentioned the dog wagging its tail and the cat asleep on the couch. Those are things you can show on your website through photos or your social media posts. And so while we can capture some of those pet emotions, those pet feelings of, yes, a job well done. Pet Sitter, it is harder to capture the client's emotions of peace of mind. Okay. Well, what does that mean? I have to experience that I have to worry less during my vacation in order to say on the back end, oh, wow, that was a great experience. And yes, I did get peace of mind.
Collin 05:39
Yeah, we have to convince them that ahead of time, and that's just hard, right? We are asking a client, somebody to believe what either others say, or trust your word and that you'll deliver the same magic for them as you did for somebody else. That we have to understand that that is a big gulf. There's a big gaping maw in between these two things, of what I say that you're going to get, and then them actually getting it, or what other people said they received, and then them actually, there's, there's always going to be a little bit of skepticism there, of, is that really what it's going to be like? Is that really how I'm going to feel? There's all those questions come into mind, and we have to understand that that's okay. We understand that, but we can put things in place and understand that and talk to people about this to help move them forward.
Meghan 06:29
We can sometimes have that fear of over promising where we may hesitate to lean into the emotional language because it feels cheesy or exaggerated. If you are a logical business owner, it can feel awkward at times to talk about the feelings and emotions behind the visits, but when done authentically, the emotion builds that trust faster than just facts alone. Saying I'm reliable, I'm dependable, I'm open from 6am to 10pm seven days a week, 365 days a year. Okay, well, that's great, but how are you connecting emotionally? What what are the pets feeling? What are the owners feeling? What types of words and language are they saying on the back end that you can use as testimonials to future clients
Collin 07:06
well? And this really boils down to that question of, like, what does all that get me right? I think as a business owner, it is often easier to simply state facts about your business and your services. It just is right. It's easy to say that I'm pet for state and CPR certified. It's easy to say we're fear free certified. It's easy to say what times we're open. It's easy to say my prices. It's easy. That's the easy stuff. But at the end of the day, it's hard to tell somebody what that gets them, what's that emotion that they're going to feel? And we can say, well, but I'm not you, so I don't know. How do I put myself in your shoes to understand that. How do I walk through that process of coming to find you? But that's on us. We have to go through that process. We have to understand those pain points. We have to understand the concerns, the fears, the biases, the previous experiences that people have had before they find us, and how we can give them comfort, and why that gives them comfort. What? What can they walk away from with that? That's really where the power comes in. But that's the hard part. Translating what we are, how we operate, all of the things that we bring to the table, we have to translate that into the client experience and what they get
Meghan 08:19
into a value add. We have to translate that experience that they're going to get on the back end. We have to do that ahead of time, and that that is hard to do. We are going to talk about how to do this, but first, this episode is brought to you by our friends at pet sitters associates. All professionals should have specific pet business insurance. As a pet sitter, you know how much trust goes into caring for someone's furry family member, but who's got your back? For over 25 years, pet sitters Associates has been helping been helping pet care pros like you with affordable, flexible insurance coverage, whether you're walking dogs, pet sitting or just starting out. They make it easy to protect your business. Get a free quote today at pets@llc.com and as a listener, you get $10 off your membership when you use code confessional at checkout. That's pets@llc.com because your peace of mind is part of great pet care. It can be hard to sell something that has to be experienced, but it is crucial to nail this. It's super important because you are not a commodity. You don't want to compete on price. We are not a race to the bottom here. We are excellent at what we do. We want to compete on experience, which means you have to communicate what exactly that experience is,
Collin 09:20
I think, a really great example, at least, from the tech world. Here is how Apple has completely stopped talking about specs to the consumers. They don't really talk about how much RAM something has or the or how much the processor speed is on their iPhones or anything like that. They just say, hey, it's better than last year, and the experience is amazing. And that's all they talk about in their marketing videos, the experience, the emotion, the feeling you get from when, when you get to use it, and showcasing the life that somebody leads when they do that, when you start competing on facts and bullet points, it is all of a sudden, it becomes just a trump card of, hey, I can do this. And then somebody says, Oh, I can beat you at this, or I can beat you at this. And what that leads to is competing over price, because then you have bullet points lined out, and somebody can look at the bottom line and see what the price gets them of this versus this, and they move on versus there's something super secret and special about you, right? It's you. It's how you do things. You can't put that in a bullet point. There's no list of facts and figures that will make that into a reality, because it is, is all encompassing, right? It's a holistic approach. It's a holistic view of you as a business. That's what we're quote, unquote, pricing in here, that we're pricing in, we're talking about the experience they get from working with you and what you can give them. At the commodity level, it's all about the bullet points and all about the bottom line numbers. At the other end, at the experiential level, we're talking much more a holistic view of what people are getting.
Meghan 10:54
It's kind of like a softer way of selling. When you go through your list of bullet points, it feels like a very hard sell, because they're facts, but this is more of an emotional journey that you're taking the client on, where you're still getting from point A to point B, of them not knowing anything about you, to them feeling more warm and comfortable with you because they've learned something. But it's more of a softer approach to it. Yeah. Well,
Collin 11:16
this is fun. This is fundamentally why clients stay for a long period of time they stay because of the feeling they get. They don't stay because of how many updates you send, or the exact time you show up, or all of your qualifications and everything like that. They stay because of the feeling they get from your services. Now the only way we would believe that you can provide those feelings is is through everything that you have, the scaffolding, the structure, the background, the experience that you bring. But you make them feel confident. You make them feel cared for and seen. They trust you, and that's why they stay with you. And
Meghan 11:50
it can still be a very practical reason, because a lot of times the neighbor will flake out, the high schooler won't show up when they say they will. So even sometimes just showing up is excellent pet care in their mind and gives them peace of mind. So it still can be a very brass tax reason that they keep using you, but they still get that emotion of they are dependable. I can walk away from my phone and not have to worry that they're going to be there or not. Well, I
Collin 12:14
think we've talked about before, a client who we woke up to, you know, early in the morning a request sitting in there that they had sent in at like one or 2am and it was just to begin that day. We got them fit in. We did all the visits, and we didn't hear anything from the client, right? It was only till afterwards that we learned that they had to make an emergency trip many, five hours away to go see a family member that was dying. And they did this as they were leaving the door, they asked. They went out the door. They hit submit, and then bolted off and went about their life. That kind of trust and confidence in pet care doesn't come easy, and the only way that she had that was because of all of the previous experiences and everything that all the systems that she trusted that we had in place to make sure that this would get pulled off without a hitch. And so practically, like you're saying, Meghan, there are very practical implications for this, and there's the very logical reasons that people do this, but she felt confident enough to do this whenever she left, and she didn't care about our backup policies, and she didn't care about our scheduling software and the alerts, and she just care about all that. She just knew I hit this button and people show up. That's a feeling that people get. Showcasing
Meghan 13:25
that experience before somebody uses you really shapes your reputation. Think about Disney again. People don't say it's clean and punctual, and I know they're always going to open the gates at 10am they say it was magical. I was able to fulfill all of my princess fantasies because I danced with princesses and I got to wear a crown, and I went on the rides with Mickey, and it was even better than what I had conjured in my mind. Think about what your clients are saying about you. What are the Google reviews that they write you? What are the messages back that they say after the end of your visits? That is your true brand? It's crucial to relay this experiential narrative, because it builds that referral loop. No one raves to a friend about timely feeding or half cup of kibble. They definitely did a half cup and not a full cup. I know that they rave about the little notes or the cute pictures, or the moment the shy cat literally warmed up to someone, or their fearful dog was was finally able to go on that walk because the sitter was able to leash them up.
Collin 14:24
I was reminded by this whenever we were speaking to the owner of a little boutique in our town, and she was a good friend of one of our clients, and the friend that we were talking to, the owner of this boutique raved to us about how her friend, who was our client, would run up to them and show photos of the dogs and show photos of the visit while they were both on vacation together. And that impacted her to see how her friend was receiving the updates and all this. And you know, it wasn't like you said, Meghan, it wasn't, oh, look, they fed them exactly at 333 how wonderful it was. Look at the fun. Look what's happening. See this cute video. Know, look what's going on. It was really the show and tell aspect of what we were bringing that experience that she was having while on vacation, knowing and having that peace of mind about how her pets are being cared for back home.
Meghan 15:12
But that does get a little bit to the word of mouth marketing that we can only do so much with that. I can't force Janice to talk to Joanne about how awesome my services are. I can give a client referral, that's true, but I can't make them talk about me. This episode is also sponsored by dog co launch. If you want
Speaker 1 15:28
to grow your In Home Pet Care business, the dog co launch mastermind is currently open for enrollment. My name is Michelle Klein. I am the founder of dog co launch. Twice a year I bring in a group of companies together to work for a full 12 months to grow and scale your pet care business. We'll work on operations, we'll work on marketing, and we will put everything in place that your business needs to get to the next level. Go to dog co launch.com to learn more.
Meghan 16:00
So how do we market the unbelievable? I know how awesome my services are, but I have to tell people about it. We have to share the stories, not the stats. I conducted 400 visits last month. Okay, that's great, but what does that get the client? They're of course, going to want to celebrate with you. You had your best month ever last month. That's great. And yes, that highlights the credibility of our services that people want to use us, we are in high demand. These are all great things, but we need to be sharing the stories about how Zeus was very timid when we first met him, but after coming over several times and doing some trial walks, we were able to fully get him now on the 60 minute walk three days a week, yeah, highlight
Collin 16:37
the before and after moments. So yeah, Zeus was really timid, and then after some trial visits, we're now doing the 60 Walker. Lucy used to be anxious when her parents left, and now she runs to the door whenever her walker arrives, whatever that is, avoid the generic phrases, like we love pets. Use specific, vivid scenes. Paint the picture for people. Again, we are trying to help them understand what they are getting before they have even reached out to us to become a client. We have to help them envision them and their pet in the same scenario. And that does take being more emotionally, being a little bit more wordy sometimes, to set the scene, explain what's going on and what the emotions and feelings were, because fundamentally, we have to make the intangible tangible to the client. So using tools like software with reports to create a branded experience so they can see what's going on, adding a personal note, thoughtful comment or a theme. You know, today was snifari day, or today was blustery wind day, or today was rainy day. So we did x, y, z, and then this is aspect of once they are a client, but if you are doing this in your business, share these reports. Obviously you have to scrub them from any identifying information or anything like that, but share these out. Let people see, hey, when you're gone, these are reports that you get. See how people get while they're on vacation, sitting on a beach or riding on a train or whatever that is, but share photos or video montages on social media to give a sense of a visit in action, a follow along, a walk behind so they can see the reaction of pets. Because if they're worried, if they're concerned about their pet being fearful or anxious while somebody's over, well, I promise you that the more videos they see of a dog getting excited or a cat running to the door for attention, the more they see those the more relaxed they're going to be, the more open they are going to be to allowing you into their home.
Meghan 18:33
This doesn't just have to be on Facebook and Instagram, though. If you are collecting emails from potential clients who maybe want to use you in the future and you want to soft sell to them. You can use some of these same stories in those emails to highlight the experience that they will get. Make sure that your
Collin 18:48
flyers are geared to this before and after version as well, that they are showcasing photos, high quality versions of what you want to put out there, a story of a particular client, right? Don't be afraid. But I think many times we have a flyer, and we think I have to have a flyer, and it has to be the be all, end all, perfect thing for everybody. And we lose sight of the power of having a specific message, a specific story about a specific pet on that flyer, because when people see that, there's going to be an emotional response. So have a few different versions out there in your community, showcasing and highlighting different scenarios and different things that have happened.
Meghan 19:23
It doesn't have to be super wordy. And I know a lot of times we want to just attract people saying, Oh, I'm a pet sitter or I'm a dog walker, and so that's basically all the information that we put on the flyer that our website, and maybe a QR code. But if we are truly that premium, that exceptional service, we are the best in the area, with the best credentials, we do need something more than just slapping on pets that are on a flyer. If
Collin 19:45
you have a booth, consider having a way to show a video montage of clients and pets that you've been taking care of so people can see that while they're staying there and talking to you. I know sometimes when we have done booths at different events and things, it kind of we feel kind of awkward. Word and like, how do I explain what we do? And I just have these static things, having something moving that people can watch and see. You'll see that rescues do this a lot of kind of before and after photos of here's how we found the dog, here's the rehabilitation they went through. Here's where they are now ready to be with a family, and here's their personality, and here's how they've opened up. We can do the same thing with our services. Here's how I found the dog. Here's how I met the client. Here were their concerns. Here are videos and photos of me working with the dog, and now you can see them now and hear them running to the door with their tail wagging and jumping and doing little happy tap dances on the floor while I get them ready to get leashed up and out. There is also a way to do this through try it, right? Trial offers, as long as we are not discounting ourselves, right? So you may offer a new client an intro walk with a five minute phone debrief after, or a way to connect with them to explain what went on more than just the typical report, really, this is in the scenario where you would think that somebody's needing a little bit more hand holding. They're a little bit more anxious, a little bit more nervous, and you can give your professional opinion to them, a professional assessment of how that went, where your concerns were, and how you want to work with them moving forward and what that progression is going to look like. Right? A lot something that a lot of people still do, are offering free meet and greets to go over the pets routine and answer their questions. You can make the free Meet and Greet virtual, but if somebody wants you to come there and be in person, you could have them pay for that, or whatever way you want to balance that out to make sure that you aren't discounting too much. Again, when we think about offering this, this kind of try it before you buy it thing, we have to watch our time. We have to watch our prices very carefully, especially if we have team members doing this all of these ways, will give a controlled taste of the experience without giving it all away and wasting time, money and resources, because we
Meghan 21:46
definitely don't want to be chasing clients who are just after the discount or just after the free thing, because it's free. So it's a balance between finding those quality clients that are going to be with you long term for multiple pets, maybe a decade or more, while also understanding that what we do, the way that we do it, the exceptional service that we provide, is a little weird, because while anybody can call themselves a pet sitter, the way that we do it, the professional nature is often unexpected and a different experience entirely. So again, focus on those emotional outcomes. Start from how the client feels before hiring. You maybe they're worried or tired or guilty or nervous because they've never hired a company before and have always relied on neighbors, friends and family. Then describe how they feel after they've used you, whether it's relieved or free or confident, do your best to paint that picture in someone's mind. Before, stressful, ah, angry face. Then after, Angel, free, happy, and not just because the pet went from timid to accepting, but the client did as well. If you have employees, train them to deliver this consistently as well, the marketing isn't just on your website, it's also within your team. It's every photo that they send. It's every text, every update, every handoff, every interaction with the client, with the pet, has to be exceptional. A business that sells experience has to deliver experience every single time, and that is the hardest part, is being consistent and excellent no matter what we
Collin 23:10
do. Talk about that a lot, how the little tasks that we do, they're not hard in and of themselves, but what is difficult is the consistency in that is the consistency of high quality photos is the consistency of a well written report, is the consistency of handoff from one team member to the next and next and next, and doing that day after day after day. If we have a team, we have to focus on these things. These fundamentals are the very bedrock of everything that we're talking about here, because it's an experience that people get. The client must be able to expect this from person to person, no matter what, and that if you make a promise to somebody in your marketing, in your messaging, and it's not fulfilled on the back end, well that was a waste, right? And that really damages your reputation in your business. And this
Meghan 23:59
is why it's so crucial to actually have w2 employees, not independent contractors, because you cannot train them. They are running their own businesses, and you can't tell them how to do the job. Selling
Collin 24:09
experiences is made just a little bit easier when we can set expectations through story driven testimonials. Go ahead and ask your existing clients what surprised you most about working with us, or how did you feel on the first day that you got your update? What was it like getting that notification? Those answers are that you get are marketing gold. You can take that and run with those and run campaigns to share about that from the real world perspective. So it's kind of like a guided testimonial. It's not just the open ended review that you can get on Facebook or on Google. This is a I asked a specific question about a specific feeling, emotion or time period in their life, and they're going to give me some verbiage back to that. Use that when describing or just, you know, copy and paste it directly to speak to people so they can see this is a real testimonial. If I signed up, I was on. Sure, but the thing that surprised me most about this was how easy it was and how much better I slept on my vacation than I had had in years prior, or I loved getting that ping on my note on my phone because I was worried beforehand, but then it gave me relief knowing that they were there. That kind of language coming from a third party really helps people feel more at ease before they reach out to you, make
Meghan 25:21
sure you're using that in every touch point that you have with potential clients, or at least as many as you can think of. We know that marketing something that has to be experienced isn't easy. We have struggled with this over the past few years. It is worth it, though, because you're not just offering a service, you are offering relief, joy, trust, yes, even peace of mind that we all say, that we offer that is powerful. Putting that into more than just those one off words, though, is the crucial part. If Disney can sell magic without ever showing the fireworks, then you can sell pet care that changes lives one visit at a time. So think about all the ways that you get your name out there, and how you can incorporate this into each of those. If this episode has helped you rethink how you talk about your services, we'd love to hear from you. You can email us at Pet Sitter confessional@gmail.com, or look us up on Facebook and Instagram at Pet Sitter confessional. Thank you to pet sitters associates, dog coat launch and our executive producers on Patreon for sponsoring today's episode. We are so thankful for you and thank you for listening. We appreciate you taking your time. We will talk with you next time bye. You.
