Looking for Clients
Why the most brilliant marketing strategy is also painfully simple and easy
I walked into a brilliant marketing strategy this morning. It was so brilliant I didn’t even realize I there was a sales pitch in play. And yet I bought it without reservation.
Let me set the scene. After a summer of working almost nonstop I’m treating myself to a week off my news writing job. I have a few appointments and tasks to tend to for my business, but for the most part I’m taking a week off to decompress and have a more fluid schedule. Which means more leisure time with the dog.
Our walks are low-stress by design. She’s been getting reactive with dogs on sidewalks since the spring. Soon after reaching full maturity and when lockdowns in Toronto were lifted — meaning so many people and cars on the street. When she was a puppy, she would happily trot up to any dog on the street asking to play. As a full-grown dog, she’s more cautious. Her back hair spikes up and she’ll sometimes leap at the other dog, full growl.
Pearl is the dictionary definition of a pandemic puppy. Her litter was born in February 2020. I started adoption procedures two months later. She arrived in June. I fell in love with this puppy instantly, but I also felt in over my head.
See, puppy training facilities were closed in my area due to lockdown. There were some facilities outside the city holding puppy training, but in my car-free existence these training classes were not accessible to me.
Enter Youtube. There’s no shortage of puppy training videos and advice online. I have watched hours of happy and assertive dog trainers control pups of various behaviour levels in minutes. I learned what I could and have managed to take my dog on regular walks. We manage, but she’s not exactly trained. And she’s super reactive at night, which a few weeks from now will be the default outdoor environment as winter blankets the city.
My dog’s unpredictable behaviour is never far from my thoughts on our walks. So when we visited our neighbourhood park and tried to approach a group of dogs, I was already prepared to catch her mid-air and attempt to calm her down. As I feared, she started to growl at a new dog.
But then something magical happened. The owner of the other dog took control of the situation. His dog was a little reactive too. He approached Pearl with skill and precision. He even got to pat the top of her head, which no stranger, let alone a man, is ever allowed to do.
“This guy knows dogs,” I thought to myself.
We chatted about our dogs, as dog owners do at the park. And I shared my concern that she’s really good off leash and sometimes at the park, but she’s super protective on sidewalks.
Enter the advice. He quickly shared that he’s a dog trainer and this is his specialty. In about 20 minutes I got a free lesson (more a reminder) on how to coach dogs to approach each other without fear.
Consistency is key, and she needs to take her cues from me. It’s my job as her person to make sure she is approaching all dogs, even ones she knows and loves to play with, from a calm and friendly position. There’s no one set of rules for the park, another set of rules for the sidewalk, and a third set of rules for when she’s off leash.
Naturally Pearl lost it on another dog that tried to pass us at the park, and the trainer got to witness how I react to her reactivity.
No surprises, I’ve been doing all the wrong things. Yes, I subdue her, as the videos suggest. But I also use a soothing voice to calm her. Dog’s don’t know language so much as they know tone and repetition. The calming voice only lets her know it’s ok to leap and growl at a new dog. It only reinforces the pattern of leap, restrain, “it’s ok, you’re ok”.
I left the park with the trainer’s contact info in my pocket. I attempted to research his company online, but no luck. Aside from the email address, he has no online presence.
He doesn’t need it. I got everything I needed from the free lesson in the park. It’s one thing to learn and understand dog training from videos and books. It’s another thing to be held accountable and to understand how my actions lead to bad behaviour.
In hindsight, he was clearly looking to drum up business at the dog park. Was that even his dog? I doubt it. Maybe a client’s dog. But that’s beside the point. This park in particular has been an unofficial pandemic puppy meeting place in the neighbourhood. A place for new dog parents to give their dog a little exercise and to share training tips with the other dogs.
He knew where potential clients would be dealing with their problem dogs. And he shared just enough free advice to prove his expertise. This is how you grow a business. It’s not about going viral. It’s not about having a splashy website. It’s about knowing your client: what their problems are and where they’ll be experiencing said problems.
My dog doesn’t need training. I need the training. And I’m willing to pay for stress-free night walks by the time the clocks change.
I booked her first appointment that afternoon.
