Well when it comes to choosing the perfect holiday destination for your pet you might find yourself scratching your head for a second time.

Yes – Dogs and Cats now get their own Pet Resorts, Bed & Breakfasts, Doggie Spas of course traditional Pet Boarding. No matter what you select there are many important considerations when making your decision. So here is a short list of 5 things to look for when selecting the perfect Pet Resort for your pet.

1. Quality & Number of Staff

It is vitally important that Staff at the facility you select are properly trained. Not only in customer service but more importantly that they are well trained and experienced in animal behaviour and animal care. Experienced staff can communicate well with the animals and know how to deal with potential problems before they arise such as recognizing behaviour problems and agression. Depending on the size of the facility there may be senior and junior staff. It is important that the Kennel or Cattery has experienced staff as the Senior members of the team as in any effective business. Another consideration here is the ratio of staff to animals. There is no golden number here for the ratio but there should certainly be enough staff to provide all of the animals with the care they need and deserve. We suggest you visit the Kennel or Cattery and chat to the staff about the culture and training while touring the facility.

2. Cleanliness

A clean home is a happy one and the same applies to Kennels and Catteries. The Pet Resort you select should be noticeably clean and nice smelling. Proper sanitation procedures prevents the spread of contagious diseases and with a quite a few animals in a smaller area this becomes very important. Regular removal of fecal matter from all kennels, suites, private rooms and runs is an important factor here. Again an inspection of the facilities you are considering is the best way to confirm the cleanliness of your chosen Pet Accommodation.

3. Exercise Options

You know it yourself – if you are cooped up in an office all day you just don’t feel your best. Even a short jog or 30 minutes at the gym can change your day. Young animals in particular can be balls of energy and they need an outlet in order to stay happy during this period of time in an environment they may not be accustomed to. Having a good size grassy run for dogs is very important. Most dogs relish the chance to run and socialise with other dogs. Cats are more content with smaller spaces but they still benefit from a good size area to explore. A pet boarding facility with good outdoor areas (and maybe even a pool!) could be a great choice.

3. Location

Would you like the beachfront suite or the garden villa madame? Pet Boarding facilities (and particularly Kennels) are often away from built up areas simply due to the noise created by having numerous animals housed together. Therefore you may find that you have to drive a short way to get to your nearest facility. This is not a bad thing because often times it also means your pet has more room to run in open space and can enjoy clean air and a relaxed environment. Also consider that if you are in a more built up area then there are probably several options within a 10-20km radius. Take a look in google at the surrounding suburbs or maybe your area e.g. North Side Brisbane. You could even choose a resort that is location along the way from your home to the airport. Your pet will simply love the fact that you spent hours finding the perfect holiday accommodation for them!

5. Reviews & Word of Mouth

Nothing makes a pet resort more appealing that a whole bunch of customers waxing lyrical about their pet’s wonderful boarding experience. Throw in a few five star ratings and it looks even better. These ratings could be on the Pet Resort’s website or even better – on Facebook or on their Google Business Page. Well actually, there is one thing that would be more appealing and that is a recommendation from a friend, relative or work colleague. If it is someone you know you can trust and they simply love the a certain resort then you should certainly consider that option.

Well that a wrap. These 5 things to consider are pretty intuitive and you were probably groaning the whole way through. If that is the case then you are certain to find the perfect Pet Resort this holiday season!

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No.

So here it is Pet Resort Managers and Owners – 7 Top Tips for Creating an Awesome Social Media presence on Facebook for your Pet Resort.

Most customers expect you as a Pet Resort to have a Facebook account to allow customer contact and to provide updates on your services and the Pets in your care at the moment. This short guide will provide you with the basics to get you started on the road to a great Facebook Page with a sizeable Facebook following…

1. Create a quality logo and background photo

It may seem small but your logo image is very important.

It not only shows on your page but everywhere you post throughout Facebook. Make sure you use an image that can be read when it is small. The important thing here is that the image must be square in shape to take advantage of the full space available. We suggest you look at www.canva.com if you want a free way to make your logo into the correct shape for Facebook. it is an online program for digital image editing and is very easy to use.

With the background image – again, it is important to get the image in the correct size. What works well here is an image that sums up your business – maybe a photo of your grounds with some dogs playing or possibly a montage of a few images together. Overlay this image with your logo to promote your brand when customers visit your page. To lay this out we recommend you look at Canva Facebook Cover Creator.

2) Build Your Reviews

If you are providing a great service and your customers are happy then give them an easy way to express themselves.

It has been proven in studies that potential customers do take notice when other customers provide positive (or negative) reviews. Reviews show on your business page and provide a star rating which is a very visual representation of the quality of your business. There are several ways to request a review…

1. Go onto Facebook and post a message to your individual regular customers asking if they can leave a review for you on your page.
2. Give your customers a with compliments slip when they check out with details requesting they leave you a review
3. Use an automatic email to send customers a thank you on checkout. In this email, request a review and provide a link to make it simple. Pet Manager Kennel Software and Cattery Software has this functionality built it. The email will be sent automatically and you can just watch your reviews grow.

3) Post Regularly

There is nothing worse than visiting a page an seeing tumbleweeds roll past since the last post over a year ago.

To keep your readers engaged it is important to post to your Facebook page regularly.

By regular posts we mean at least once every couple of days. You will find you will get more comments and likes because you are engaging more with your clients

4) Post Quality Content

Pet resorts really have it lucky in this department. You have a never ending supply of quality content that is ever changing.

What is this content? Why the animals under your care of course. Every day there is a new star of your Facebook page. Beautiful dogs and cats playing and having fun on their holidays. Make the most of this.

Post photos of these pets – close ups are great as are action shots and animals interacting with other animals and with your staff.

5) Post Photo Montages/Collages

Some Pet Resorts already excel at facebook and one of their secrets to an engaging page is photo collage.

They take a group of photos of pets and make them into a single image that is easily viewed on Facebook.

Here are a few Kennels and Catteries that are managing Facebook well and have a good number of followers as a result (disclaimer – we don’t have any affiliation with these resorts):

• The Pet Resort
• Sydney Pet Boarding
• AAA Pet Motel

Collages work great because they show a bunch of emotions in a small space. Often times it is to focus on a particular pet or a couple of pets and shows their day at the pet resort. These never get old so post them often. Below is an example of a collage made in Canva using images that we uploaded into the system.

Another way to get a montage or collage effect is to upload multiple photos at once to facebook. These will go up as a mini album and will show in a group which is a great effect too. In this scenario each image can be viewed large.

6) Respond Quickly When Clients Post to Your Page

Nothing says customer service than a fast and friendly response to posts to the Facebook Page for your Kennel or Cattery.

These posts could be booking enquiries for your Pet Resort. They are also often the owners of pets under your care enquiring for things like; “Has Princess eaten all her chicken today. i am a little worried.” or “Just Checking in to Check that Bronte and Belle have settled in ok?“. A fast response will ensure peace of mind for your clients, will allow them to get on with their holiday and will surely help them recommend your services to their friends.

7) Build Your Likes

There is no point spending time each day posting great photos and content to an empty room.

You certainly need to constantly build your likes. Just like the reviews suggestion above, it is very important to try and get your clients to ‘like’ your page so they become part of your audience. The best way to do this is to use software like Pet Manager – Pet Boarding Software which can include a call to action to ask them to like your page. You could do this on checkin/checkout or even when they book. You could even suggest if they like your page they might see their Pet’s playtime on Facebook!

The way facebook works now, not everyone who likes your page will see everything you post in their feed, but this way there is a bigger pool of people who might see what you write.

Another way to build your likes is to take on some Facebook advertising. This can be highly targeted to just people in the local region that you service. They will see an advert for your business in their feed and are asked to like your page. This is a great way to build an audience initially. If your pages has less than 1,000 likes I would highly suggest this. You can access the Facebook ad manager through the Promote link in the top-right corner. The option you want to use is “Manage your Page Promotion”.

That’s a Wrap (for now)

I hope this has been a useful few tips for your Pet Resort.

Remember Social Media is very important for businesses like yours. You are customer facing and need to keep up with how they connect and communicate. If you can do Social Media well you will find the benefits are very rewarding in terms of customer relations and business growth. If you have any additional tips let us know what has worked for you below!

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