How to Choose the Best Dog Walking Software
In today's digital age, technology plays a crucial role in streamlining and enhancing various aspects of business operations.
For dog walking businesses, the right software can make a significant difference in efficiency, client management, and overall success.
With numerous options available to you, selecting the best dog walking software can be daunting. This comprehensive guide aims to simplify the process by outlining key factors to consider when choosing the perfect software solution for your dog walking business.
Understanding Your Business Needs
Before diving into the realm of dog walking software, it's essential to assess your business's specific requirements.
Consider factors such as the size of your operation, the number of walkers or staff members, client volume, scheduling complexity, billing preferences, and communication needs.
Consider what challenges you regularly encounter and what obstacles hinder your daily operations or business growth.
Understanding the needs of your business or your specific 'pain points' will help you narrow down your options and find the best dog walking software with a solution tailored to your requirements.
Scheduling and Calendar Management
Efficient scheduling is vital for any dog walking business. Look for software that offers robust scheduling capabilities, allowing you to manage appointments, assign walks to employees, and easily update schedules as needed.
Pet Sitter Plus makes scheduling easy. Add one off events or save time by creating repeat schedules which allow you to quickly schedule an entire month's work at the click of a button. Clients can request their own services, and automated confirmations are sent as soon as you approve them. Use reminders and task tracking to ensure your staff stay on track, and reports to ensure your business is performing.
Client and Pet Profiles
Comprehensive client and pet profiles are essential for maintaining detailed records and providing personalized service.
Pet Sitter Plus offers your clients their own portal, in which they can request appointments, see their schedule, make payments by card, and update their contact and pet information directly. As it runs in a browser window, there are no device or operating system limitations, so all of your clients can access it easily. Clients regularly feedback how easy it is to use, and how much they like the visibility and ability to manage their bookings.
GPS Tracking
For dog walking businesses, efficient planning is key to maximizing productivity and minimizing travel time. Look for dog walker software that offers GPS tracking features, allowing you to track walker locations in real-time, plan optimal rounds, and monitor walk progress.
Pet Sitter Plus has built in GPS Tracking at no extra cost. Instantly see where your staff are for safeguarding purposes, and send (optional) updates to your clients including GPS location and time stamps. It also enables you to more efficiently schedule work for multiple staff, as you can view at a glance which carer is closest to both new and existing clients to optimise route planning.
Invoicing and Payment Processing
Streamlining invoicing and payment processing can save time and reduce administrative overhead for your business.
Pet Sitter Plus offers powerful invoicing features which are intrinsically linked to scheduling. Which means you can create accurate invoices and generate staff timesheets quickly and easily. It includes all basic accounting procedures, allowing you to product tax reports when required as well as produce accurate financial reporting on your business. With the Pet Sitter Plus Quickbooks Online integration coupled with payment processor integration from Stripe, it has never been easier to schedule, invoice and get paid for the work you do.
Communication Tools
Effective communication is essential for building strong relationships with clients and ensuring smooth operations.
Pet Sitter Plus helps you to stand out from your competitors. Give your clients their own customer portal, where they can request appointments, see their schedule, make card payments and keep their details and pet care plan up to date. With client portal customization, you can ensure that your branding is consistent whilst easily sending professional communications to keep your clients informed.
Your staff can also view their schedules, view and request time off, check in and complete appointments, view updated client care plans and send service reports to your clients, all within their own dashboards. Helping your business to run more smoothly, as everyone is kept up to date.
Customization and Scalability
Every dog walking business is unique, so choose software that offers flexibility and scalability to adapt to your evolving needs.
Pet sitting businesses can often be quite complex, as they expand to offer a full range of services that owners need for their pets. You might only offer dog walking to begin with, but over time you may choose to add home boarding, grooming, cat visits and a whole variety of other services. Consider this at the start, as the pet sitting software you choose should be robust and customizable enough
that it will support the range of services you offer.
Pet Sitter Plus allows you to customize all of your services and pricing, allowing you to offer any pet related service imaginable in one place. It's extremely powerful and offers all of the features you need to make your business a success.
Clear and Simple Pricing
Evaluate the software against the features included and the price you pay. Look for transparent pricing structures that clearly outline the features available for the price. Consider whether the software offers a free trial or demo period, allowing you to test its functionality and determine its value before making a financial commitment. Additionally, be mindful of any hidden fees or additional charges for premium features, add-ons, or user licenses, and factor these into your decision-making process.
Pet Sitter Plus does not do tiered pricing, all plans include our full software and all the features. In addition, we will only bill you for the staff that actually worked. We automatically calculate the active staff members each month, and only bill you for those that had work scheduled and used the system.
Customer Support and Training
Reliable customer support is crucial when implementing new software for your business. Choose a vendor that offers comprehensive customer support services.
Pet Sitter Plus offers unlimited free support for all new and existing clients. All new clients are allocated their own software coach who will guide you through our thorough onboarding process and will be happy to schedule as many virtual training sessions as you feel you need. Additionally, our experienced US, UK and AUS based support team are available around the clock to answer any and all questions you may have. Simply reach out to us at support@petsitterplus.com or call on +44 (0) 845 834 0245 or 888 629 0871 Toll Free USA. We want your business to be a success, and all of our software coaches have extensive experience in pet sitting businesses or business administration. We don't charge for any initial training, data imports or extended support throughout your time with us. Our software coaches are there to help you succeed, so we really do recommend you take full advantage of our free customer support.
Want to See More?
Choosing the best pet sitter software for your business is a critical decision that can significantly impact your efficiency, client satisfaction, and overall success.
Pet Sitter Plus offers you a full demo of our pet sitting software with our free 30 day trial. Sign up today, and we will connect you with your personal software coach, who will take you through our onboarding process and provide you with a detailed overview so you can put Pet Sitter Plus to work for you.
With the right software in place, you can streamline your operations, reduce administration, improve customer service, and focus on what you do best – providing top-notch care for your clients' beloved pets.