Part 1 of our free 4-webinar series, in our presentation “Dear Dog Trainer: Here’s Why I Didn’t Hire You” we look at some of the most common places dog trainers go wrong when marketing their business or trying to make the sale, including:
- Why your website isn’t converting
- What you need to know about building your service offering
- Perfecting your sales pitch
Dear Dog Trainer: Here’s Why I Didn’t Hire You Recording
Recording Notes & Summary
What are the top things dog trainers do wrong, that prevent them from making the sale?
First, when getting started dog trainers tend to think about starting a business like a check list — you need insurance, a logo, a website, etc. However, trainers often fail to think about how potential clients are going to find those things!
There are only 6 ways for someone to find a website:
- Social
- Search
- Backlinks
- Direct Traffic (ie. someone types in your website name)
- Paid
Dog trainers need to think about which marketing techniques you want to use and then think through what those steps will look like for your clients. How will new clients hear about you first? How will they go from hearing about you to reaching out?
Once you have a potential client on the phone, it’s also essential that you are confident about what they are selling. You should confidently make a recommendation of a program that will work best for this potential client. Wishy-washy recommendations don’t bring in sales.
Trainers also often “un-sell” themselves by talking too much about what they can’t accomplish with a given client and their dog. Talking about what you can’t or won’t do doesn’t ensure the sale.
You should have consistent options you offer, feel confident talking about who they can help and how, and a consistent process to take that client on the call from a prospective client to a confirmed one — including booking them a calendar spot right then!
How can trainers work on their confidence… so they can successfully make the sale?
A big part of being confident is knowing what you have to offer — so make sure you know your service offerings well and which options provide the biggest benefit for which types of clients. It can also help to write out a sales script for you to work from… and to practice it!
Many trainers are also so worried about accidentally promising results that they spend too much time telling clients what they won’t get. You can set realistic expectations while also focusing on the benefits of what you offer. Once the client is working with you and has learned more about training or behavior change, it will be much easier to reiterate realistic expectations.
On a similar note, it’s important not to try and teach them everything they’d need to know to do your job! Just as you don’t want your mechanic to teach you how an engine works when you bring your car into the shop, your clients are hiring you as the expert.
If they have questions about what you’re doing, or why, definitely answer them! But don’t assume they need all the nitty-gritty details about why you make specific training choices, or go too in-depth about the science without them demonstrating that they’re interested. When you confuse a client, you lose them.
We don’t want your clients to feel like they’re back in school — we want them in the mindset that you’re there to ease your pain and solve your problem.
One technique to try is mirroring their language and even their body language! Put those awesome training observation skills to use — when you mirror someone in a conversation you repeat back to them a summary of what you just heard them say. If in person, you can also smile, nod, and imitate their body language or posture.
What if the issue is “feast or famine” situations?
If you find your business is regularly fluctuating between periods where you are incredibly busy and periods where things are slow as molasses… it’s important to recognize that this is most often caused by inconsistent marketing.
Trainers tend to spend a bunch of time and effort on marketing, then they get busy… and then they do way less marketing. Except then once they get through all of the clients on their calendar, things return to being dead. So they repeat the cycle.
Yes, sometimes there are “slow periods” in business (having data from multiple years can help to review and see when things tend to get a little slow) but if anything, knowing that means you should put a bit of extra effort into marketing before those periods; and establish a consistent marketing routine that works for you and stick with it consistently the rest of the time.
Also, when things are slow, don’t be afraid to reach back out to previous clients. Often, these are the easiest people to convince to pay for help — they already know the difference you can make for them! So reach back out to past clients, check in, and offer lessons to refresh their training or tackle something new.
Is there anything else important to keep in mind to bring in sales?
It sounds obvious, but you do actually need to ask for the sale at the end of a sales call. Many trainers get to the end of the call and then sort of let the conversation fade. Instead, practice saying something like:
- “How does all of that sound to you? Are you ready to get started?”
- “Would you like to place a deposit and get that first lesson scheduled?”
- “I can’t wait to help you and Fido. Our schedule often fills up quickly; would you like to book your first lesson now?”
It’s important not to gate keep your help! If you truly believe you can help people, then anything else then asking for the sale is gatekeeping your skills and knowledge… which benefits no one. Instead, tell them how you can help and what they need to do to get started.
This is Part 1 of our 4 Webinar series. Be sure to join us for the others!
- July 2nd, 2025 @ 12pm ET: Don’t Fart in the Waiting Room: Find a Better Way to be Memorable
- July 7th, 2025 @ 12pm ET: Don’t Step In It: 11 Business Mistakes Worse than Sh!t On Your Shoe
- July 17th 2025 @ 1pm ET: No Magic Wands: Build a Business, Not a Fantasy
Fill out the form below to ensure you receive the link to join the live call and the reminder emails! Hope to see you there!
