Episode 269: You Say You Can Sell Your Services, But Can You Really?

Do you know how to sell your pet sitting services? What if there are many things you actually need to work on that you didn't know about that you thought were helping? And then... What if I told you that when you sell your pet sitting services, the things you feel uncomfortable about are things you should actually be confident in? In this week's Podcast, I'm going to help you work out the fine details for a smooth sales process and teach you why you should be confident in certain things, and stay away from others. Biggest Takeaways This week I am going to teach you how to sell your pet sitting services and how to properly market them. This is a vital part to ensure you bring on the clients you want for your expanding business, helping you ensure everything runs smoothly for this holiday season. How To Identify The Different Between Sales & Marketing Knowing the difference between sales and marketing is vital to getting clients fully signed up for your pet sitting services.  Many of us are great at getting clients in the door, sometimes sealing the deal can be the hardest part. Many of us think we sell our pet sitting services when there could be things we could have done better. How To Sell Your Pet Sitting Services When we sell our pet sitting services it always makes us feel amazing but, none of it matters without a smooth, efficient, & expandable business strategy. One vital portion of running a successful business is knowing what clients to say no to, and which ones to fight for. Show Highlights Marketing vs Sales [13:00] Key Components to great sales [22:30] How to know your sales are working [28:42] Want Some Free Sales Training? I did a 3 part training series with a 20 year veteran sales master and provided you with some training experience that is out of this world! If you enjoyed this podcast and want to continue your sales training, check out this three part series with Aaron Miller. 1st Part: Episode #263: One Secret To Winning Almost Every Sale 2nd Part: Episode #264: The Trick To Be Confident In Closing Sales 3rd Part: Episode #265: How To Leverage Your Competition For More Sales Links Mastermind Better Marketing with Bella Let's Connect Did you enjoy the show? We would love it if you subscribed today and left us a 5-star review! Click this link – Bella In Your Business Click on the ‘Subscribe’ button below the artwork Go to the ‘Ratings and Reviews’ section Click on ‘Write a Review’' Are You New Here? Welcome, I am so glad you are here. If you are a dog walker, dog sitter, cat sitter, doggy daycare, or kennel owner, then you found the right place. Jump Consulting is the one place on the internet to get all the resources you need for your pet care business. Can I give you some freebies to generate sales and increase revenues for your business? Grab your freebies below. Are you starting out? Been in business for less than two years? Get your startup resources here. Do you own an established pet care business and you want to take it to the next level.? Get Your builder resources here. Transcript: This is episode 269 of Bella in Your Business. Hi there, I'm Bella Vasta from Jump Consulting. You might know me from CBS, NBC, Fox, Huffington Post, Entrepreneur, or maybe you've seen me speak on stage or read my book, The Four Dogs That Every Business Owner Needs. In any case, get ready because you're about to get your hashtag Bella Butt Kickin' in this next episode of Bella in Your Business. So what do you say? Let's get ready and jump. Welcome to another episode of Bella in Your Business. My name is Bella Vasta, and today I'm doing something really interesting. I'm actually recording this inside the Jump Mastermind because when I'm done recording this, I want to have a discussion with all the Mastermind members that are going to be listening. But I got something to say this week, and every week I just think about what has really fired me up. This week, it's about sales. It's still about sales. Sales has been something that's been on my mind pretty deep because I think that a lot of us are living in a false sense of reality right now. And I'm here to kind of shake you awake and make you realize that a lot of you say you can sell your services, but can you really? And we're going to talk about that today because I think it's really, really important. Right now, we are coming out of the avalanche. This summer was incredible, right? It was, my gosh, everyone got out of quarantine for the most part. People started traveling a lot—people who weren’t even traveling before. The pets that were adopted were surrendered and then readopted, so there were even more new pet parents. We just had this influx of business, and the biggest problem that a lot of my jumpers have had is, “My gosh, we can’t hire enough.” It had nothing to do with “I need to get more clients.” It was, “I need to hire.” Can you relate to that? Now, a couple of episodes ago, we had Aaron Michael Miller on, and he is a 20-year veteran of sales—really skilled at teaching people how to sell, not just individuals but teams of people for companies. He's taken people who were picking up trash at movie theaters and turned them into people selling thousands of dollars of vacations at Hilton Rentals or at a car dealership. It’s fascinating because it’s not just about you and me knowing how to sell—but for my jumpers scaling their business, that have office managers and employees—whether you realize it or not, they are your salespeople. You need to acknowledge that because if you do, it will get so much easier and more lucrative for your business. If you understand exactly how to sell, you’ll start attracting and collecting the exact kind of clients you want. Then you won’t be coming to me saying, “My God, I have this client who books five walks every week but cancels four of them by Sunday night.” Why is that even a problem? That’s not even someone we want as a client. But what happened this year is that a lot of us were living in survival mode. We were scared, so we said, “You know what, I’ll accept everyone because I’m just so glad my business is back.” But here’s the thing—many of my jumpers already hit their 2019 revenue back in August, September, and October. They killed it. But I wonder—are we killing it the right way? Are we one of those trees that needs pruning? Are we growing in all directions like an overgrown rose bush? You’ve got to cut it back to grow stronger. Inside my free group Jumpstart Your Pet Business, I asked everyone, “On a scale of 1 to 10, how good do you think you are at sales?” Ninety-five percent said they were awesome. They said, “I feel confident telling people how we do things. But if they’re not on board, I’m like, bye, Felicia.” That’s not selling. Telling people what you do is just being a mouthpiece. It’s not solving problems. It’s not figuring out their pain points. It’s just saying, “Hi, I have this and this. Pick one.” Someone else said, “I’m the same way. People needing these services need to do some research.” But I would encourage you to slow down on that thought. Yes, the world does research now. But my question to you is, what are you doing to educate them? What does your Facebook, Instagram, stories, and reels look like? What is your messaging saying? There are two key distinctions here: sales and marketing. Marketing brings people into your house; sales is what you do once they’re inside. Marketing gets their attention and creates an emotional connection, but sales is what turns that connection into an exchange of money. What’s happened lately is that people are getting lazy. They think business is a popularity contest—“My business is booming; I just can’t hire enough staff.” No, your problem is your rates are too low, and you’re accepting everyone. When you do that, your business suffocates you. You’re growing unintentionally instead of strategically. Think about your clients. Which ones are problem children—the ones who take up 80% of your time but only make up 20% of your revenue? Those are the ones to re-evaluate. Everyone says, “We’re the best service in our area.” But how are you showing that? Don’t just say “We’re premier.” That’s fluff. Show it. Maybe your clients say, “I love your team.” Maybe you’re double certified. Maybe you have a no-cancellation guarantee. That’s how you demonstrate value. Stop saying “We’re the best” and start proving it through your website, marketing, and sales conversations. Go back and listen to the three-part series I did on selling with Aaron Michael Miller—it’s gold. Now, let’s talk about growth and the economy. Some of you think, “I don’t need to focus on this because I’m growing.” Don’t fool yourself—it’s going to slow down. The wave is receding. Travel is slowing down. The economy is inflated, and a market correction is coming. When that happens, people get cautious. When I sold Bella’s House and Pet Sitting in 2016, we charged $25 to $35 per visit, and overnights were $125. That was six years ago. If you’re not charging at least $25 now, you’re hurting yourself. If you don’t adjust for inflation and minimum wage increases, you’ll be running a nonprofit soon. And I’ve seen it—strong companies are expanding into multiple states because they built solid foundations. If you’re not profitable, something has to change. Dog walking is where I see a major shift happening. Operationally, it’s smoother. You work 10–2, office 9–3, mornings and evenings off. You need fewer, better clients—not thousands. One of my clients raised rates from $30 to $42 and didn’t lose business. When her flow slowed down, she panicked—until she ran the numbers and realized she was more profitable than ever. This isn’t about popularity. It’s not about landing every client. It’s about landing the right clients for the right price. Another client asked, “How do I replace $10,000 a year in overnight income?