If you read our previous post about your sales process – the path a prospective client takes from first contact to sales call – then you’ll know that planning and prep is the way to success.

And the actual sales call itself is no different. “Fail to prepare; prepare to fail’ is very true in dog training AND business!

Know your services

This might seem like a no-brainer. Of course you know your services – you created them. But knowing you offer Day Training, and being able to answer gnarly questions coherently, while feeling a bit under pressure, are two totally different things.

So, prepare a detailed cheat sheet you can quickly access, either on paper or on your computer. Do one for each service you offer. List everything each program includes, how it works, who it’s for and the price. You don’t want to sound as if you’re having to think hard about your answers to questions.

Programs, not packages

While we’re on the topic of services, I hope you’re selling programs, not packages! Your services should be more than just a number of lessons bundled together. 

The last thing you want is a client trying to work out your hourly rate and then comparing it to other trainers in your area. Why? Because the number of client-facing hours you do is only a part of the hours you work – and you should be paid for all of them.

If you’d like help with moving from packages to programs, Dog Trainer’s Umbrella course, Build a Six-Figure Dog Business, covers that and so much more! 

Prep your questions

Part of the function of a sales call is for you to collect information so you can make a service recommendation. Again, you don’t want to be flying by the seat of your pants for this – good prep is everything.

Three key questions

No matter what type of services you offer, there are three questions you need to ask on a sales call:

1. What made you decide to reach out to a professional trainer for help?

Why? This question is going to tell you the single biggest thing they’re looking for help with. What is the main thing going wrong, that, if nothing else, you need to help resolve? No matter what you think the problem is, if you don’t resolve their main concern, they’re not going to be happy at the end.

2. What are you hoping that training can help you achieve?

Why? You need a question that gives you an idea of what they’re hoping to achieve with their training, because that’s going to give you a sense of how much work is going to be involved – and how realistic their goals are, so that you can address anything that doesn’t make sense.

For example: they’ve got a dog that’s biting people, and they want it to be a therapy dog. That needs a pretty big conversation before you collect their money, so they’re not unhappy with you. 

3. How did you find me? 

This should come near the end of the call, but it’ll give you very useful information. Why? Firstly, because it will give you context that may inform how you choose to work with them.

Let’s say their vet referred them to you. Now you know, or can ask, what information or recommendations the vet has given them, so that you don’t directly counter something they’ve already heard from somebody they trust. 

If they got a referral from a previous client, it gives you an idea of what that conversation might have looked like – based on the previous client’s experience with you – to understand what their expectations might be. 

Secondly, knowing how someone found you tells you how your marketing is working. If everyone tells you they saw your flier in the pet store, but no-one mentions your Instagram posts, you know where to spend more time and effort.

Other questions to include

No doubt you already have a list of questions but here’s a list of the most common ones that dog trainers might want to include in a sales call.

Questions about:

• their daily routine. 
• the breed or mix that they have
• their training background 
• dog vet status – when they were last seen and had their last shots 
• long term hopes with this dog – if we could see five years into the future, what would that look like?
• why they chose this dog – did they get the dog because it was cute? Or did they get the dog because they thought it would fit their household? 

These questions will give you information about what they expect from having a dog, whether those expectations fit with reality, and how much education they need, beyond fixing the immediate issue. 

And finally, most trainers have a whole category of “Has your dog ever…” type questions. These are the most usual ones:

Has your dog ever…

• growled at a person? 
• bitten someone?
• growled at another dog? 
• been in a fight with another dog?

Ensuring you collect enough of the right information will allow you to make confident recommendations later in the call.

Structuring your sales call for success

Ideally you want to have a prepared structure for your sales calls. You don’t want to be jumping around from one thing to another and causing confusion. 

Depending on the types of problems you resolve, the person you’re talking to may be stressed and anxious, so being calm, confident, in control, and guiding the conversation will work wonders.

The call outline

Most calls can follow the same structure:

• Gather the info
• Reassure and empathize
• Make a confident recommendation

We’ve already covered the questions you need to have prepared so let’s look at the second point in more detail.

Reassure and empathize

Once you’ve asked all your questions it’s a good idea to repeat back to the client what they’ve told you. 

It’s often useful to repeat their actual words back to them. Something like “I heard you say, Sophie has growled at your son twice, and that’s really concerning for you. Am I right in understanding that? That is the biggest thing you would really like help with right now?” 

This lets them know you were listening AND ensures you’re both on the same page. They need to know you’ve understood exactly what the biggest issue is – from their perspective, not yours.

Once you’ve clarified your understanding go ahead and show that you empathize with their situation. Reassure them that it’s normal to feel the way they do. 

Don’t be afraid to use emotional words – things like “that sounds incredibly frustrating”. Or “I know how upsetting it can be when your dog does XYZ”. Those types of words are often very helpful in making somebody feel understood and heard, which is your goal at this point in the call. 

The ‘why I’m the right choice’ statement

Now your client knows you understand and empathize with their situation, it’s time to deliver a statement that lets them know you’re the right person to solve their problems. 

To do this, use a phase like “I’m so glad you reached out to us. We regularly work with clients who have XYZ problem”. Or “We’ve worked with several dogs like that recently, and I feel confident we can help you with this issue”.

What you’re doing here is emphasizing your expertise and the fact you have experience solving problems like theirs. No-one wants to feel their trainer is out of their depth and knowing you’ve tackled similar issues will help the client feel in safe hands.

The recommendation

Once you have all the information and have laid any concerns about your suitability to rest, you can move on to making a confident recommendation. Don’t go overboard and suggest a long list of options! Make a main suggestion and then offer a backup option if the first doesn’t suit for some reason.

The format is: “Based on what you’ve shared today, I’m recommending X. But if, for some reason, you can’t do X, we could try Y”.

For example: 

“Based on what you’ve shared today, I recommend we do one-on-one training with our Good Dog Program. This includes two, hourly sessions a week with you and your dog at your home for four weeks, access to our extensive video training library, telephone support for the four weeks, plus ongoing email support for six months after you finish the program. The price is $X, with a deposit of $Y to hold your spot.

However, if you don’t feel confident that you can make time in your schedule to meet with us twice a week for the next four weeks, then we could do our Hybrid Program, which includes both day training and one-on-one training. 

With our Hybrid Program there’ll be sessions where we train the dog and then sessions where we all meet to cover what we’re working on.”

Asking for the YES!

Once you’ve made your recommendation…pause. Take a breath. Let the client process what you’ve said.

They may say something like, “You know, that price is really high”, or “I don’t know if I can pay that today” and that’s fine. But just give them space and time to respond without feeling hurried. 

If they don’t say anything, you can follow it up with “Would you like to pay that now so we can get you on the calendar?” 

Assume a “Yes”, unless the client has said no. If they say, “Yes”, awesome. You just made your sale! If they say “No” or that they need time to think about it, let them know that it’s not a problem. 

Remind them that spots are first come first served, so the sooner they pay that deposit, the sooner they’ll be able to get help. Let them know you’ll be sure to email them a summary of what you discussed and a link to where they can start the process, whatever that process looks like for you. 

Your Follow up process

Unless you’re a sales wizard, some people will not sign up during the sales call or initial consult. In that case, you need to follow up with a few emails.

You can follow up immediately with a booking link (if you have one) or follow up 72 hours or a week later. How long you leave it will depend a lot on how busy you are and how much room you have on your calendar. 

But whatever your situation, it’s best practice to do at least one, if not two, more follow ups. And if you really need the work, three follow ups is not excessive. 

Save yourself time and effort by using pre-prepared email templates that you can personalize before sending.

Smoothing your delivery

If you’re new to sales, sometimes it can help to have some practice sessions to polish your delivery.  Find a willing friend or partner and have them play the role of the client. If they’re a dog trainer, ask them to forget that for a while and be a typical client. 

Do the roleplay thing a few times for different services so you feel confident about what you’re selling and what you’re saying. You may be surprised at the questions they ask that you’d not considered.

Congratulations! You now have all you need for silky smooth sales conversations! Let us know if this guide has helped you close more sales successfully – we’d love to hear from you – so please leave a comment below.