The holiday season is, for many, “the most wonderful time of the year.” It can be an exciting, enjoyable time spent with family and friends, baking cookies, visiting Santa Claus, decorating, shopping – the list goes on. There is ample opportunity in the pet boarding and daycare business to join in on the holiday fun, offering different promotions to create a sense of community with your customers, add value, and an opportunity to bring in new customers as well.

Photos with Santa Claus
Each Saturday in December at Stone Mountain Pet Lodge, you will find Chester, Stone Mountain’s mascot, dressed up in his Santa costume posing for photos with dogs, children, and families. This event has become something people love and look forward to doing every year. Dave Larson, owner of Stone Mountain Pet Lodge, said, “At Stone Mountain Pet Lodge, we like to think about things that are popular – in this case, children getting their picture taken each year with Santa Claus – and apply the idea to pets for a unique yet familiar experience for our customers.” Each customer can choose to have a family photo, kids with pets photo, or pets only photo taken. Photos are printed using a photo printer right away, so customers can go home with their photo in hand.

This unique Santa photo opportunity is available to anyone, and for us, word traveled fast. The photo is free with a purchase of $30 or more or just $10 if the customer wants to purchase only the photo. It is a nice way to get new and returning customers coming through the door and offers an incentive for customers to make a purchase. Our customers enjoy a cup of hot apple cider and a cookie while they wait for their turn with Chester. Every year, they ask whether we will be offering the photo opportunity again. Doing events like this has the potential to increase customer loyalty as well as word-of-mouth advertising.

Daycare Holiday Parties
Have you considered having seasonally themed parties in your doggy daycare program? Throw your daycare dogs a Thanksgiving or Christmas party complete with photos, props, a holiday feast, and a treat bag to take home for an extra special daycare experience that sets you apart from your competition.

Customers love to hear about their dogs’ party day. At Stone Mountain Pet Lodge, the holiday party dates are advertised to daycare customers ahead of time. Customers are not charged extra to have their dog attend the holiday party unless they want to add on the special “feast” meal for lunch. On party days, many of our customers will bring their dog in especially for the party. For example, a two-days-per-week customer might add an extra day so her dog can come to the party to play with his friends.

Doing special events throughout the year communicates to customers that you care about them and their dogs and want to go the extra mile to do something enjoyable for them. People love to feel that they are a part of a community. Being invited to special events like these holiday parties helps our customers feel they are a part of the Stone Mountain Pet Lodge family.

Holiday Retail
Are you one of the many boarding and daycare facilities that offer a limited selection of retail items for sale? Consider adding a few seasonal items to the mix, such as doggy bow ties, Christmas “cookie” treats, or toys. During the holiday season, customers are in shopping mode, and many would like to purchase things for their pets as well.

Celebrating with Customers through Experience
By offering seasonally appropriate activities and creating a seasonal atmosphere, you can join your customers in the deep-seated traditions that are important to many of us. Celebrating with customers helps to connect them to your business on a deeper, more lasting level. It communicates that your facility is different; not only do your customers feel they can trust you with the care of their pet, but they also feel you care about them, their pet, and experiencing together the things they care about, like their dogs, their families, and celebrating holiday traditions. Rather than viewing your business as a transaction, customers can begin to view their interactions with your business as an experience, and an enjoyable one at that.

Part of creating a seasonal atmosphere can also include holiday décor in your space, playing holiday music, and having your staff greet customers with a holiday-specific phrase such as “Happy Holidays” or our personal favorite, “Merry Christmas.” At Stone Mountain Pet Lodge, our staff also wears Santa hats or other seasonal accessories. These are simple and inexpensive ways to put a smile on your customers’ faces and provide a more light-hearted and experiential interaction.

These ideas were written to apply directly to the Thanksgiving and Christmas season, but the ideas can also translate to any time of the year. Valentine’s Day, First Day of Summer, Halloween, birthday parties – almost any day can be a celebration. At Stone Mountain Pet Lodge, we offer a doggy birthday party package. Any of our customers can have us throw a birthday party for their dog and a few of their doggy daycare friends. For $15, the party attendees have a birthday photo shoot with party hats and enjoy a special birthday doggy treat on their special day. Offering this easy-to-execute birthday party adds value for our busy customers who love the idea of allowing their dog a birthday celebration with the friends he or she made in daycare.

What small step can you take to start creating a special experience for your customers?

Stone Mountain Pet Products is a family-run business located in the heart of Minnesota. We have been taking our expertise in the pet care industry and applying it toward building better products for our customers around the country. This all started with Stone Mountain Pet Lodge, located in Blaine, MN. During the building process, Dave Larson, president and CEO, realized he needed better kennel equipment than what there was on the market. Using his existing business, Larson Systems, and his mechanical engineering background, he created several totally new designs, which are still in use at Stone Mountain Pet Lodge today. Our equipment is still holding strong after many years of use with new customers seeing the added benefits of several improvements. Tim Larson is now heading up the sales effort while Rachel Larson is handling our writing. Many other family members and employees are involved in this business, tackling production, quality, IT, and many other aspects of the business. It has been a challenge and pleasure translating real world experience into useful products from which business owners across the country can benefit. If you are interested in learning more about the products Stone Mountain Pet Products offers, visit our website at www.stonemountainpetproducts.com.

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