Setting Healthy Boundaries with Pet Parents
As a dog breeder, it is important to establish healthy boundaries with pet parents (customers) to ensure that both you and the customers have a positive experience.
If you offer Lifetime Breeder Support to your customers after they bring their new puppy home, it is paramount that you maintain a healthy relationship for the life of their new puppy. If you do not, you may lose contact with the pet parent and lose oversight of their puppy.
One of the biggest factors in maintaining a healthy relationship with customers is setting boundaries and managing expectations at the very beginning of your relationship.
Initial Contact
The process of setting healthy boundaries begins with effective communication.
Initial contact is a great time to begin setting boundaries. You can start managing expectations the very first time a potential new pet parent reaches out to you.
The way your very first conversation goes with new potential customers plays a big role in setting boundaries. Here are some factors to consider when it comes to deciding how you would like to communicate with customers:
The best times for you to be available for communication
Your preferred methods of communication (e.g. phone, email, text)
How often you would like to be contacted (e.g. daily, weekly, as needed)
The type of information you are willing to share with customers (e.g. medical information, progress updates)
Your policies for handling urgent or emergency situations
Your expectations for customers to follow your communication guidelines
Business Hours
Dog breeders don’t adhere to typical business hours—we work around the clock! However, when it comes to managing your time (and sanity), setting boundaries on when you are available to your customers is imperative.
Decide when your “business hours” are and plan to adhere to them when it comes to communications. For example, if you want to set your business hours as 8 am-5 pm Mon-Fri, then you should not respond to emails, text messages, or calls outside of those hours.
It is generally not considered good practice for business owners to communicate with customers, or in this case, breeders with customers, outside of normal business hours for several reasons:
Setting business hours can help to ensure that you have time to focus on the care of the puppies and other important tasks without being constantly interrupted by customers.
Communicating outside of normal business hours can lead to misunderstandings or miscommunications, which can negatively impact your pet parent’s experience and the reputation of your program.
Allowing customers to contact you outside of normal business hours can create unrealistic expectations for your availability. This can lead to burnout and decrease the overall quality of your work.
If you allow visitors to your facility or home, it is also important to keep appointments within these business hours to avoid burnout and frustration.
⚠️ When it comes to lead nurturing: We recommend replying to buyers who are inquiring about a purchase as quickly as possible, even if this means responding outside of business hours. At the very least, let them know that you received their message and are eager to speak with them during your regular business hours.
Vacation Responses
If you have a planned vacation or leave of absence, it is important that your customers know that you are gone and not ignoring them.
Using the Gmail vacation responder can be helpful for dog breeders in several ways.
For example, it can:
Let customers know that you are unavailable and when they can expect to hear back from you. This can help to prevent misunderstandings and ensure that customers know when to expect a response to their inquiries.
Automatically respond to pet parent inquiries and other important messages, even when you are not able to check your email. This can help to maintain good customer relations and ensure that your program continues to run smoothly while you are away.
Give you peace of mind while you are away from your email, knowing that important messages will not go unresponded. This can help you to relax and enjoy your time away without worrying about missing important messages.
💡 Here is a brief tutorial on how to use a vacation responder: Click here
Some breeders use the vacation responder all of the time.
In other words, some breeders create a detailed email that provides FAQ’s, links to their website and/or socials, and a message that lets the recipient know that they will respond to them soon. They leave the vacation responder on all of the time so that anyone who sends them a message will receive these communications instantly.
This can be an effective communication strategy as long as you keep this automated email message up to date.
Keep in mind, that some potential customers may not feel that this method provides a personal touch. And similarly, some of your past customers may feel confused when they reach out for support and receive an automated response.
Overall, using the Gmail vacation responder can be a useful tool for dog breeders looking to manage their email communication while they are away. It can help to maintain good customer relations and ensure that your program continues to run smoothly, even when you are not able to check your email.
Keep it Consistent
Consistency in your communications should be applied in when, how, and what you communicate.
Clearly communicating your policies and expectations upfront can avoid conflict and confusion down the road. This could include things like what information you will and will not share about your program with customers, and what your process is for making decisions about the care of the puppies.
Be responsive to questions and concerns, but also firm in your boundaries. If a pet parent is asking for something that goes against your policies or is not in the best interests of your puppies, it is important to communicate this clearly and politely.
Enforce your boundaries consistently. This can help to establish trust and respect with customers and ensure that they understand the importance of following your guidelines.
Choose your preferred method of communication, such as email, text, or phone call, and then do your best not to stray from that commitment. Sending customers messages using different forms of contact can be confusing, and crucial information can be easily missed.
Keep in mind that emailing & text messaging provide written records of communication. While many feel that dog breeders should also be accessible by phone, written forms of communication may feel safer and more practical.
The actual information that you communicate should also be consistent. To save time, you can create various templates of copy-and-paste responses as well as shareable documents to quickly send to customers.
Typing out individual responses to questions that customers ask over and over again can be a drain on one of your most precious resources: time.
Here are some examples of this “copy & paste technique” in action:
The email template feature in Gmail allows you to save email response templates that you create yourself. You can quickly use these templates to respond to frequently asked questions via email.
Use a Google Doc or Canva Doc to create a list of FAQs that can be easily shared with customers.
Use the clipboard feature on your cell phone, or a notetaking app, to save copy & paste responses on your phone that you can easily find and share with customers.
💡 Here is a brief tutorial on how to use templates in Gmail to save frequently used responses: Click here
Tips when using templates & prewritten replies:
Personalize each email: Even though you're using a template, it's a good idea to add a personal touch to each email to make it more genuine.
Organize your templates: If you have multiple templates, give them descriptive names so you can easily find the one you need.
Review regularly: Periodically review and update your templates to ensure they remain relevant and accurate.
You should also feel empowered to create your very own website that features all of your information in one public location.
Puppy Application
You can begin communicating policies and expectations to customers as soon as the Puppy Application!
A puppy application or pet parent questionnaire is a great place to begin communicating policies and expectations in an attempt to set boundaries early on.
There are several benefits to requiring potential customers to complete a puppy application:
The application process can help you get to know potential customers and ensure that they are a good fit for the specific puppy they are interested in.
The application process can also help you screen for potential red flags.
Gathering personal information on each applicant is an important part of any background screening process.
You can supply crucial information about your policies, purchasing process, and expectations in the application and ask potential customers to initial next to these terms.
There are many online platforms that allow you to create digital application forms online for free. A digital application form is a great way to further streamline your puppy application process.
💡 Here is a tutorial on how to create a free digital form using Google Forms: Click here
Supplying crucial information about your policies, purchasing process, and expectations in the puppy application ensures that this information is consistently communicated to customers before they even place a deposit or purchase a puppy.
Lifetime Support
Possibly the most important and simultaneously overlooked area of pet parent communications when it comes to setting boundaries is “Lifetime Breeder Support.”
Lifetime breeder support is a service offered by some breeders that provides support and assistance to the owner of a pet for the animal's entire life. This can include things like advice on training and behavior, help with health and medical issues, and access to professional grooming and boarding services. The goal of lifetime breeder support is to provide pet owners with ongoing support and guidance to help them properly care for and enjoy their pets for many years to come.
Managing clear expectations up front is the key to success when it comes to setting boundaries regarding the level of Lifetime Breeder Support you are willing to offer.
The level of support you offer is up to you. Only you know your program, your puppies, and your customers.
Once you are confident in what level of support you are willing and able to offer, write it down! Record this information in a document or on a webpage so that you and customers can refer back to this information when boundaries are being pushed.
Overall, setting healthy boundaries with customers is an important part of being a successful dog breeder. By being clear and consistent in your communication, you can help to create a positive experience for everyone involved.
