Acquiring new clients is a priority of every business. To do this, businesses will offer special deals, BOGO items, free item with minimum purchase, etc. These things definitely catch my attention, that is, when we are talking about ketchup or oil changes. When it comes to more important things, I find myself running from these advertised "deals". You see, when I really care about the quality of something, no amount of discount is going to persuade me to use a service or product. I begin to see these offers as a business "begging" me to become their client, because the quality of their work isn't enough to bring me in. 

In our industry, a frequent way to gain new clients is by offering a free evaluation or test​ (whatever you may call it). Initially it sounds like a great idea, I mean who wouldn't want a free service for their dog? You think, once they see how amazing your place is after that first time, surely they'll come back, right? Well....maybe. Below I'll list why I feel it is important to charge for that first visit. ​

And the most important reason to charge.....YOUR TIME and KNOWLEDGE! 

A lot goes into truly evaluating a dog's potential success in daycare. Here's just some of what goes into our evaluations.

• An experience front of house staff to review policies and requirements to the client in a clear, yet customer friendly, way.
• An experience animal caretaker that will be performing the evaluation, considering their training and the time invested that day.
• Goody bag filled with miscellaneous items; dog poop-bag holder, treat, maybe a small toy, etc. 
• Professional folder with reminders for future visits, several coupons, and a VERY detailed breakdown of the behaviors that were seen during the evaluation, including recommendations for future daycare and overnight visits. 
• Thorough explanation of the evaluation from an experience animal caretaker that is knowledgeable about how the day went. 
• The risk of introducing a dog you don't know in with other client dogs.

By the time we add up all that is involved with our evaluations, the amount we charge doesn't cover all that goes into it. Once our clients see the level of professionalism of our evaluations, they never question the cost. If we never see that client again (which is rare), at least we've been compensated a portion of what we put into the dog's evaluation. 

For 15 years we called our first day evaluation a "Temperament Test". It was catchy. Both words started with a "T"; it rolled off your tongue easily. All was fine with this terminology until one day my sister questioned it. We were opening a second location and were saying that dogs that attended daycare at our current location would have to do another temperament test at the new facility. 

It made perfect sense to me, the dogs had never been to that facility before, never met the staff, never met that particular set of dogs. Yep, total sense. My sister however didn't agree. "If I were a client I'd get mad having to do another temperament test. I mean you already know my dogs temperament from the other location. He's not going to change just because he's in a different building." I responded, "Yes, but, he needs to get used to the new place. I don't want to just throw him into a completely different environment and expect him to be fine right off the bat. I want to do the introduction slowly and make sure that he is comfortable with all the dogs there and gets used to the new layout."

"Well," she said, "I get that, but you don't need to test his temperament again." 

Hmm....did my sister have a point? What we were actually doing had nothing to do with his temperament at all. We wanted to see how he responded to our particular environment. Doesn't matter how his temperament is at home, at the park, on a walk, at another doggie daycare. It only matters how he reacts in our playgroups. When I explained it to her, and to many clients previously, I'd say that we were really seeing "if he is compatible with daycare". When we would dismiss a dog we would never say, "His temperament is just horrible. He's aggressive and shouldn't be around other dogs." No. We would say, "He's just not compatible with our daycare environment." What a big difference. If that's really what we were doing then why not call it the correct name? So after 15 years of calling our first day evaluations "Temperament Tests", we changed the name to "Playgroup Compatibility Evaluations". Doesn't roll off the tongue quite as nice but it definitely reflects what we are really doing. 

You can actually purchase the forms we use for our passed evaluations, failed evaluations and dismissals on our products page. They are wonderful tools for staff to assess dogs and to communicate behaviors to clients.

I hate when we have to notify an owner that they dog was injured while in our care. What makes it worse? Not knowing how the injury happened. 

Yes, I know that there are going to be the occasional bumps, bruises, and scratches. I don't like it when it happens but I understand. We are an amazing facility, with extensive training, non-stop supervision, so when an injury happens we can quickly assess what happened, make changes to our groups, dismiss dogs, or even change procedures to prevent it from happening again. BUT when you don't know what happened...you can't do that. 

Example Situation: Staff member was doing health checks before letting the dogs out to play for the day. They had been out only once that morning for a quick potty break as a group, then put back into their rooms. She found an injury. Not a small one, a good size tear (about 1/2" long) on the side of a large short haired dog. What?! He's a laid back dog, hadn't been involved in any altercations, hadn't shown signs of being injured, what in the world happened? 

Our only answer was that he somehow got injured on a piece of equipment. The staff searched every inch of the playroom. A few bolts in the chain link stuck out a bit far. Did he hit the fence in such a way that a bolt tore his skin? We took him to the vet, no stitches, just antibiotics, and covered the bill due to the mysteriousness of the injury. When his dad arrived a few hours later we still didn't have an answer. I assured dad that we wouldn't stop investigating until we found an answer. He could tell by our concern for his dog and our concern about not knowing, that we really cared about what had happened. No excuses, no comments like, "well, you know there are risks associated with letting dogs play together." No. Just simple truth and genuine concern for both the dog and a strong desire to figure out what happened.