Economists will tell you that recessions are inevitable and reoccur every seven to 10 years. Smart business owners, however, believe that a recession is an opportunity to grow market share. This is because many weaker business owners stick their heads in the proverbial sand, not working hard to grow their business and leave lots of opportunity for the better business owners to grow - profitably. Regardless of the business you are in, there are really only three strategies to increase your revenue.

These strategies, of course, apply to the pet care industry as well as other businesses. 

First is to increase the number of leads you bring in.

Second is to increase your conversion or closing ratio.

Third is to increase either the frequency that a customer purchases from you or having customers purchase more from you each stay.

Which one of these powerful strategies is most important? All of them! Smart owners know that their job as CEO is to keep their eyes and energy focused on moving each of these critical areas forward - especially during a recession. When all three are moving even a little bit forward - even a little bit at the same time - the compounding effect (and revenue generated) is huge. But how?

1. Increasing Leads

In the pet care industry, increasing leads means increasing the amount of phone calls or web leads (assuming you're a smart business owner who is using the web to increase your inquiries). This is not an easy thing to do in a down economy - but more essential than ever. After all, many facilities in the country are seeing a reduction in pet nights. Some would argue this decrease is due to a decline in overall travel, fuel costs, more pet friendly (human) hotels and pet-sitting services and other strong competition increasing.

The essential step for you to survive or better thrive during a down economy is for you to decide and commit to growing. Next is for you to determine what your competitive superiorities are to other pet care facilities. For example; do you offer outdoor or group play? What about the years of expertise or level of care you deliver? Armed with this information, you can target market to local veterinarians or other referring sources. These are people that have contact with the customers you want. Developing a campaign to get them to refer you is a very smart investment of time and money.

2. Increase your conversation or closing ratio

Increasing your conversion or closing ratio is equally important. You can determine this ratio easily. Out of, let's say, 100 new prospects that call or email you this month with an inquiry (wouldn't that be great), how many out of those 100 prospect actually booked reservations and became customers? If you're previous conversion ratio was 50 percent, then moving that to 70 percent would increase your profits (all things being equal) by 20 percent! That's a huge return just for getting better on the phone.

Your receptionist will be better on the phone when they have a concise, compelling and competitive message to share with your prospects. This will be the same message that you determined above when deciding the competitive superiorities your business offers potential customers.

3. Increasing revenue per customer

An example of this strategy includes convincing each client to book five stays per year with you instead of three or four per year. Another way is for a customer purchasing more services from you each time their pet stays with you (play times, grooming or training). Just by offering additional services consistently and in a compelling manner, you are making an appealing statement to your prospects that you are the type of facility that understands and cares about the needs of pets. Most pet owners are relieved their pets are active and happy while they are away.

Offering a menu of additional activities is a huge competitive advantage over facilities that do not offer such services. When you deliver these services, you are creating happier and healthier pets with increased exercise as well as making a wonderful revenue stream for your business.

Another way to increase revenue per customer is by expanding the services you offer. Many pet care facilities offer pet lodging, daycare and some sort of grooming services. What about training? What about additional services for cats?

Simply stated, smart business owners are always looking for and implementing ways to increase revenue and market share - especially during a down economy.

Source: By Laura Laaman Source: Pet Services Journal January / February 2009