Animal Welfare Professionals

Hello, 

We are currently offering training classes/sessions for members of the public with their animals. The biggest problem is that we have people make appointments, and then no call/no show. I tried having people make the payment ahead of time to secure their spot and the number of people signing up for assistance dropped.

Has anyone else seen this as a challenge? If so, what is the best way to ensure that people show up to appointments? 

Same here! I'd love to see some responses. 

I work as a canine behavior & training professional. In addition, I also offer free behavior and training for the rescue I direct.  I can tell you that through my dog training business, my clients pay in advance, in full,  before they get a booking, and cancellations must be 48 hours in advance.  These clients tend to be very grateful and do good work with their dogs, fill out client satisfaction surveys, give nice testimonials, etc.  Folks who receive free behavior mod/training through the rescue get a ton of help, including middle of the night email/text help at all hours, yet they tend to not check in regularly, nor even fill out the client satisfaction surveys.  This is why most qualified dog trainers insist on being paid what they are worth--because giving discounts and freebies can tend to result in being seen as less valuable.  

This doesn't mean the rescue will stop its public assistance programs. What it does mean is that rescues need to find ways to ensure that those receiving free benefits from these programs must still invest something. Otherwise, what's their motivation to do what they need to do for their dogs, such as the training you are offering them?  Predictions of valued outcome drive behavior.  They need to believe they will be getting something of value. If the training will be free, how can you get them to know that it is of value? What is the investment they will make, when or before they sign up, that convinces them of that?

Or you can simply charge them, since those who don't pay are the ones not showing up anyway, right? 

Hi Zboerboom1,

I think this comes down to investment in marketing of the services you are providing. If people are worried about committing to paying upfront before a training session, that's a sure sign that they are hesitant to giving you their time because they're just not sure it's going to be value-able/worth their time. 

Testimonials can help, a full breakdown of what they will get out of the session could help, or even just a better explanation of what the pet gets out of a training program could help. 

Training sounds like work. No one wants to commit their time to a boring lecture. However, people will put in the effort if the promise is a dog that is better able to communicate in a constantly confusing human world. Training gives dogs and cats a voice. Training brings animals and people closer together. And that's a message any animal lover couldn't resist. 

Good Luck!

Nikki Andrade

Founder, Smooth Adopter

www.SmoothAdopter.com