Hi There! đ
As a dog trainer, you are likely scheduling private appointments, group classes, and/or board and train for your pet parent clients and their furry friends. With PocketSuite, you donât have to worry anymore about all of the back and forth, you will be able to give your clients the ability to self-book time on your calendar with online booking or schedule them yourself easily from your phone or desktop.
If you want clients to pay upfront for one or multiple appointments, you can sell packages and track session usage. So you and your clients will always know how many sessions they have left. If you offer memberships or renewable packages, you can offer subscriptions that will auto-charge your clients a fixed amount on a schedule that you set.
Finally, weâre giving you hours of time back that you typically spend onboarding new clients. Your clients will be able to complete your intake process when they book you with online forms and contracts. Or, if you prefer, you can automatically send them your forms, contracts, and homework assignments after you have done an initial consultation or before their appointment with you.
I know it has been âruffâ đdoing everything manually or in lots of different apps. Now that you are getting setup on PocketSuite, it is going to be all-in-one place and will be a lot easier for you and your clients.
LEVEL 1 - QUICK START
These are the top things that you can do in 15 minutes to get up and running on PocketSuite. When you are through, you will experience firsthand how much easier it is to get everything done for clients on PocketSuite. Oh, and youâll also have your first appointment scheduled and receive your first payment. Woohoo!!!
LEVEL 2 - BASIC SETUP
Wow, you are on a roll! Ready to take it to the next level? When you are done, you will literally have streamlined and simplified 80% of your client onboarding and communications. You will have freed up at least 5 to 10 hours each week. What are you going to do with all that extra time? More time with family and friends? Learn a new language? Get more clients? The sky's the limit!
LEVEL 3 - ADVANCED SETUP
Set it and forget it! There are so many clients that you have been meaning to reach out to or follow up with, but there is never enough time in the day. Use pre-set messaging and marketing campaigns to both personalize and automate those touch points that you always wish you had time for. Setup any of the following Smart Campaign messages to improve your client experience, get more repeat clients, build loyalty, ask for feedback, get 5 Star reviews and referrals, and so much more.
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LEVEL 1 - QUICK START
These are the top things that you can do in 15 minutes to get up and running on PocketSuite. When you are through, you will experience firsthand how much easier it is to get everything done for clients on PocketSuite. Oh, and youâll also have your first appointment scheduled and receive your first payment. Woohoo!!!
See the 7 super quick steps below that all have links. Just tap on the link for any step to get more details on the Why?, Where?, and How? for that step. If you have already completed that step - awesome! - you can skip it and move on to the next step.
Have a lot of services? No problem, weâve got you covered! Weâll import them into your account for you.đŞđž Just send to support@pocketsuite.io your current website address or spreadsheet file (csv, Excel, or GoogleSheet) with your service list and weâll add them to your account in 24 to 36 hours.
- Setup your services
- Add your clients
- Get ready to accept payments
- Set your availability
- Book your 1st appointment
- Process your first payment
- Go LIVE! and tell your clients about your booking app
1. Setup your services
a. Name, price & all that jazz: Go to settings > services > tap the plus sign in the top right. Type the name of your service. Add your price and/or deposit. You can also add a discount and enable sales tax if you choose. Add a description telling your clients about the service. Add a duration (length of time) that the services take to be completed. Choose availability for the service. Before you close that service screen, tap save at the top right hand corner of the screen.
Setup Service Pro Tip #1: Avoid using emoji in your service name, otherwise have fun with your service names.
Setup Service Pro Tip #2: Add a lead time for this service. For example, you may require that clients book this service 24 hours in advance at least.
Setup Service Pro Tip #3: Toggle service to âShow onlineâ if you want clients to be able to book this service from your booking site. If you prefer to self-schedule clients for this service, please toggle off show online. Some dog trainers that work with dogs that have serious aggression and behavioral challenges prefer to do an initial consultation first before opening up access for new clients to book them. So in that case, they show only their initial consultation on their site for new clients and then have a category for existing clients to book. Or just show initial consultation online and then they self schedule clients after that initial consultation or send the direct service booking links via text /email to clients who are a good fit. There are lots of cool ways that you can customize your booking site.
b. Location: Choose whether this service is provided at your business location, no location (via phone or video conference), or another add a customer location for this appointment (maybe you provide dog training classes at a local park to help dogs learn not to get distracted on walks). You can set your location by going to Settings > Location. Unless you have service or class specific locations, all of your items will default to your business location setting under Settings > Location. So donât worry about setting up service specific locations unless they really are different from your business location.
c. Contract: Attach a contract to your Online Booking site, if you would like clients to sign a waiver, release, or agreement when they book you, you can attach a contract by going to Settings > Online Booking > Edit checkout > Requires signature > Tap that field and add one of our default contracts for dog trainers or import your own into the system. Tap here to learn how to create/add a contract or to review one of our default contracts for your industry. Clients who book you will be prompted to sign the contract (only once, unless youâd like them to sign it every time they book you). If youâd rather send the contract manually to clients, you can easily text or email it to them from the app as well.
d. Form: Attach a form to your Online Booking site, if you would like clients to complete an intake form with pet history or training goals or share vet or vaccination records when they book you, you can attach your form by going to Settings > Online Booking > Edit checkout > Requires forms > Tap that field and add one of our default forms for dog trainers or import your own into the system. Tap here to learn how to create a form or to review one of our default contracts for your industry. Clients who book you for anything will be prompted to complete the form (only once, unless youâd like them to complete it every time they book you). If youâd rather send the form manually to clients, you can easily text or email it to them from the app as well.
Setup Service Pro Tip #4: Attach a photo to the service of fur babies getting trained, playing with pet parents, or with other dogs to capture the imagination of your clients and encourage them to book!
Setup Service Pro Tip #5: If you have more than 10 services, consider setting up Categories so that you can organize your services and make it easier for your clients to quickly find and book/buy what they want. To setup Categories, click settings > features > toggle on categories > save. Then click settings > scroll down to categories > tap the plus sign to start creating your first category. Make sure to include every service in a Category so that it shows up on your booking site. Tap here to learn how to create a Category in order to organize your services.
2. Add your clients
You can add each client by tapping + and then add name, contact info (number and email), specify how youâd like them to receive notifications either via email and/or text. If you have other information that you like to collect about clients like how many dogs they have, their birthday, last vaccination date, etc., you can tap the âMore detailsâ field and add it there. If you donât see a field for your details, not to worry, we can add it for you and then youâll be able to add that info to all of your client profiles. Just text us at support@pocketsuite.io with any custom fields that youâd like us to add to your client profiles.
Is all of your client information on your phone? If so, you can import them into the app by just tapping add client > scroll down to the bottom of the page and tap import from address phone book. This will sync contacts on your phone to PocketSuite.
Have a lot of clients in another system? No problem! Weâll import them into your account for you.đŞđž Just send us a csv, GoogleSheet, or excel file with your client list to support@pocketsuite.io and weâll add them to your account in 24 to 36 hours.
3. Get ready to accept payments
You can get payment deposited directly to your bank account through PocketSuite after you complete our verification process so that we know who you are and where to send your money. We have found that clients appreciate being able to easily pay you upfront as part of booking an appointment or add their credit card on file to be charged after the appointment so we highly recommend completing the verification step right from the start. It shouldnât take more than 5 minutes.
4. Set your availability
a. Sync your calendar (Google Calendar, iCal, Outlook): You will be able to directly integrate with your Google Calendar account so that you can avoid double bookings. Get started by tapping on Google Calendar > tap continue to allow PocketSuite to sign in your Google account > select the Google account where your calendar is linked > Allow PocketSuite access > Connected
Once your Google Calendar is connected, you can connect other Google accounts as well. If you have multiple calendars within your Google account and want to further customize your calendar settings, tap the > arrow by the connected calendar. You can also connect other calenders such as iCal, Outlook, and others.
To connect those calendars, first make sure that the calendars are synced to your device calendar. From there, select the calendar you want connected. You can also select if you want PocketSuite appointments shown on those calendars by tapping on "show PocketSuite appointments".
b. Block time out on your calendar: If you have regular lunch breaks or only work certain time blocks each day, feel free to block out your calendar so clients will only see the days and exact times that you are available for booking. See more details here on how to block time on your calendar here.
Block Time Pro Tip: #1 Make sure that you have recurring appointments toggled on under features (Tap settings > features > toggle on repeat appointments) to block out multiple days/times at once.
5. Book your 1st appointment
When you are ready to book your first appointment, you will tap the schedule button on your home screen dashboard. Then you will select the client, service, date and time, and any other appointment preferences.
Book 1st Appointment Pro Tip #1: If you have gone virtual with your dog training business, you can turn on video conference for any service that you have added in Settings > Services > Service Name > Add video conference or turn it on for a specific appointment by toggling on Add video conference.
Book 1st Appointment Pro Tip #2: You can setup how youâd like all clients to receive messages from you by going to Settings > Notifications and selecting text and/or email. However, for any one client you can override that global setting for an appointment or for that client in particular to send their messages a different way. Tap on the appointment > Tap send via and change setting or tap on their client profile in your contact list > tap edit > Tap send via > change setting there.
Book 1st Appointment Pro Tip #3: Book another appointment because itâs sooo easyđ Now you can repeat the same process as above. Another way you can get clients to book with you is to send them your online booking site. They do not even need to download our client app to book with you. Kick back and play with the dogs while the bookings come pouring in and fill up your calendar!
6. Process your first payment đ¸
If a customer wants to pay you in person, you simply use the charge feature located at the top left of your home screen. Charging a client for a standalone payment, service, class, package, product, or any other item is easy when tapping charge from the home screen. From charge, you can select the client, add the amount, or select from a list of items. Once payment is processed, a receipt will be automatically sent to your client.
However, if the client booked an appointment with you and put their credit card on file at the time they booked, you can just tap on that appointment in your âUnpaid bookingsâ dashboard and tap Charge on that appointment to process payment on the day of the appointment.
If you have gratuity turned on, you can also give your client an option to tip you after you tap charge. For all your payments, you can check the Income dashboard to see all the client payments or tap on your Pending Payouts dashboard to see when payments will be deposited into your account. All payments are deposited on the same business day before 12pm PT and next business day after 12pm PT.
7. Go LIVE! and tell your clients about your booking app đđ˝
a. Online Booking on social: Add your Online Booking link to Instagram and Facebook so clients can book you directly from your social media page. You will need to add your online booking link to the website field on your Instagram account. For instructions on how to add your booking site link to Instagram or Facebook, tap here.
b. Online Booking on your website social: Add your Online Booking link to your website or we can do it for you. If you want us to do this for you, please submit your request to support@pocketsuite.io. Please include your login information, where you want the booking link or your service specific links to be added, and the name of your website platform (for example: Wix). Our support team typically completes this setup in 1 to 3 business days. For instructions on how to add your booking site link, tap here.
c. Send an announcement to all of your clients: âMake an Announcementâ to all of your clients using our Smart Campaign feature. To get started, be sure the feature is on in settings > features > smart campaigns > save. You will see the Smart Campaigns button located on your home screen dashboard. Then you will select create campaigns all clients > make an announcement > all clients > Add a label/title > craft your message to include your business phone number, online booking link, and encourage your customers to book and pay you through the app > add a start date > add a promotion/discount > preview > save or launch campaign right away.
d. Send individual messages to specific clients: Text your clients individually directly from the app to let them know about your new booking app. Tap the client icon at the bottom of your home screen > tap chat > send them your message. Also, continue building relationships with your clients and sending them pictures and âlove lettersâ to their pets right in the app!
LEVEL 2 - BASIC SETUP
Wow, you are on a roll! Ready to take it to the next level? Complete at least 3 of the following 7 suggested ways to make your dog training business even more successful. Bonus points: If you complete more! When you are done, you will literally have streamlined and simplified 80% of your client onboarding and communications. You will have freed up at least 5 to 10 hours each week. What are you going to do with all that extra time? More time with family and friends? Learn a new language? Get more clients? The sky's the limit!
Ok, are you ready? Letâs go! Just tap on any link below for more information on these dog trainer business recommendations. Each of these suggestions is based on best practices for your industry. Rest assured, weâre not suggesting anything that hasnât proven to save dog trainers like you time, increase your income, or delight your pet parents. If you have already made any of these updates - awesome! - you can skip it and move on to the next recommendation.
Want to take your business to the next level, but too busy right now? No problem, weâve got you covered! Tap this link to schedule an Onboarding call and weâll take 15 minutes to learn more about your growth goals and then weâll update your account for you so that you can keep focused on doing what you â¤ď¸.
- Turn on appointment reminders
- Create default memos
- Offer group appointments or classes
- Setup your Board & Train sessions
- Sell packages
- Offer memberships or subscriptions
- Setup a cancellation policy
1. Turn on appointment reminders
Everyone is so busy so donât forget to remind your clients about their appointments to reduce last-minute cancellations and no-shows. Hereâs how to set up the reminders and how they work.
Go to settings > notifications > choose to send via text message and/or emails > choose payment reminder frequency > choose appointment reminder frequency > decide to toggle on or off silence your transactions
2. Create default memos
Want to personalize your Appointment Confirmation or Invoice Memos? Your clients will see them whenever they confirm an appointment with you or receive an invoice from you. Cool, hereâs how you do it!
Go to settings > default memos > tap invoice > type your memo > done. Then tap appointment > type your memo > done > save. Same thing for charge, which will show up on all receipts when you charge a client in the app.
For example, you could create a memo that thanks your customers for bringing their dogs to see you and encourages them to book their next appointment on your invoice. In your appointment memo, you can create a memo that tells your clients what to bring like treats, water, and chew toys for the appointment or encourages them to arrive early to ensure their puppy feels comfortable with the environment before the session starts.
3. Offer group appointments or classes
Set up your classes to organize anything from open enrollment, to drop-in, and series classes. From behavioral training classes to puppy socials, PocketSuite has it all.
a. Drop-in: Perfect for pet parents to book and drop-in anytime for a single or multiple classes with their puppy. For example, it could be a class that helps dogs learn how to play and socialize with other dogs.
b. Open-enrollment: Perfect for customers to join a set of classes that repeat every 10 weeks for example. A customer can join during the 6th class and complete the full 10 week series from that point. It doesnât matter where they begin, theyâll complete the full 10 week cycle from there. For example, you may have classes where you are teaching dogs different tricks or potty training techniques.
c. Series: Perfect for customers to join for classes that they need to attend every lesson in the series, in sequence. For example: Four Friday classes that they must start at the beginning of the month and complete by the last week of the month. You may offer a series of obedience classes and itâs actually important for pet parents to take class 1 and then 2 and 3 in sequence. They canât begin in the middle like with Open enrollment classes.
4. Setup your board and train classes
If you offer overnight or multi-day training for pet parents, you are going to love our Reservations feature!
Go to settings > features > toggle on reservations > save. Next go to settings > scroll down to reservations > tap on reservations > complete the reservation setup > save
For example, you may offer board and train services for dogs. You can encourage your customers to take a break from being fur parents for Valentineâs Day weekend or a family vacation. They get to enjoy their break while their dogs get to have a fun, safe, and behavioral education experience with you until they return.
5. Sell packages
Get paid upfront for a group of appointments and track session balance when your clients buy a group of appointments from you. For example, you may offer a bundle of training classes teaching dogs how to bark on command, rollover, fetch, walk on the left side during walks, shake hands, and not eat until a command is given. Whatever it is, your clients will be able to buy a package and commit to a program or group of private appointments and/or classes to accomplish their doggy training goals.
First go to settings > features > toggle on packages > save to make sure the feature is enabled. Next go to settings > packages> tap the plus sign > add name > add price > add a description > choose the number of sessions or hours > choose the services that are eligible to be used for the package > choose the expiration date > add any other package details > save.
Sell Packages Pro Tip #1: You can also attach a contract or form to a package, if you have something special that youâd like clients who buy the package to complete.
6. Offer memberships or subscriptions
Auto-charge your clients the same amount on a set schedule for access to your services or your Facebook group or premium content. For example, you may have clients who need your daycare services every month because they work full time and/or travel alot and can offer them a deal with a monthly subscription.
Go to settings > features > toggle on subscriptions > save to make sure the feature is enabled.
Offer Memberships or Subscriptions Pro Tip #1: Also, turn on the Packages feature in Settings > features > packages > save if you and/or your clients want to limit services that are eligible under this subscription/membership and track usage.
7. Setup a cancellation policy
Your time is valuable! Make sure to require clients to put a credit card on file when they book you and include a cancellation policy to discourage clients from canceling at the last minute or not showing up at all.
For example, you may have some clients who do not always bring their dogs to their appointments or maybe they tend to cancel at the last minute. This will help reduce the chances of this happening and compensate you when it does occur.
Go to settings > cancellations > choose to add a fee > choose to add a deadline beyond which clients will be charged if they cancel (optional) > add your cancellation policy text > save.
Setup Cancellation Policy Pro Tip #1: If you offer packages or subscriptions, you can setup a different cancellation policy for those clients. Tap here for more info on how to setup the different types of cancellation policies.
LEVEL 3 - ADVANCED SETUP
Set it and forget it! There are so many clients that you have been meaning to reach out to or follow up with, but there is never enough time in the day. Use pre-set messaging and marketing campaigns to both personalize and automate those touch points that you always wish you had time for. Setup any of the following Smart Campaign messages to improve your client experience, get more repeat clients, build loyalty, ask for feedback, get 5 Star reviews and referrals, and so much more.
You are a true Pro! Itâs time to automate those routine things that you do every day that youâd rather not do. Letâs get some work off of your plate. Onward! Donât feel pressure to take all of these automation recommendations all at once. Start with just one or two and see what a difference it makes for you and your clients.
Want to do less back office work, but too busy right now? No problem, weâve got you covered! Tap this link to schedule an Onboarding call and weâll take 15 minutes to learn more about what youâd like to take off your plate and then weâll update your account for you so that you can keep focused on doing what you â¤ď¸.
- Create a saved message template for FAQs
- Welcome new clients
- Send prep before appointment
- Request a review
- Request a referral
- Automate rebooking reminders
- Encourage clients to book/buy something else
- Setup a missed call message
- Wish your clients happy birthday
- Remind your clients to update vaccination records
1. Create a saved message template for FAQs
Are there common questions that you get from clients? If so, you can save your responses here and send this message over anytime. It will save you lots of time - instead of retyping it from scratch each time.
For example, you can create a saved message that you send to new clients to help understand which shots and paperwork their dogs need before they can come in for their appointments.
Go to settings > saved messages and create the saved messages. Then, when in a message thread, select the icon with an envelope and a calendar.
To create a template for the saved messages, select settings > saved messages > + to create a new saved message. You'll add a title that clients won't see and then the message you want to send. Inside the message, you can use dynamic fields. The most popular field is {name} which pulls in the name of the client automatically. For more dynamic fields that you can use in Saved messages, tap here.
2. Welcome new clients
Time to get engagement from your clients. You can send an initial welcome message to all of your clients encouraging them to book with you. Not to worry, we have already by default included your online booking site in this message, which will help you track how many clients booked you after getting this message.
Make an Announcement: Send a message to all of your clients at once using our Smart Campaign feature. To get started, be sure the feature is on in settings > features > smart campaigns > save.You will see the Smart Campaigns button located on your home screen. Then you will select create campaigns > select all clients > make an announcement > all clients > Add a label/title > craft your message to include your business phone number, online booking link, and encourage your customers to book and pay you through the app > add a start date > add a promotion/discount > preview > save
3. Send prep before appointment
Need to remind your clients to bring/complete pet paperwork or bring items for their pet before their appointment? This is the perfect way to remind them.
âSend Prep Before Appointment'' message to all of your clients using our Smart Campaign feature. To get started, be sure the feature is on in settings > features > smart campaigns > save. You will see the Smart Campaigns button located on your home screen. Then you will select create campaigns > tap send prep before appointment > Add a label/title > Craft your message to remind clients to bring/complete pet paperwork or bring items for their pet before their appointment > leave apply to items blank if you want to apply this smart campaign to all appointments or select a specific appointment that youâd like to apply it to > choose how many days before the appointment to send the message > preview > save.
4. Request a review
Want to get more feedback about your services to share with other potential clients? This Smart Campaign is a great way to accomplish this goal.
âSend After Appointment'' message to all of your clients using our Smart Campaign feature. To get started, be sure the feature is on in settings > features > smart campaigns > save. You will see the Smart Campaigns button located on your home screen. Then you will select create campaigns > tap send after appointment > Add a label/title > Craft your message to remind clients to leave a review about your training services and include a link to your Google or Yelp review page to make it easier for them > leave apply to items blank if you want to apply this smart campaign to all appointments > choose how many days after the appointment to send the message > preview > save.
5. Request a referral
Want to reach out to your existing customers to get referrals and new client leads? Every client knows someone else who needs your services.
âSend Request for a Referral'' message to all of your clients using our âSend After Appointment'' Smart Campaign type. To get started, be sure the feature is on in settings > features > smart campaigns > save. You will see the Smart Campaigns button located on your home screen. Then you will select create campaigns > tap send prep after appointment > Add a label/title > Craft your message to ask clients about other pet owners to get in his/her personal network who may need training services > leave apply to items blank if you want to apply this smart campaign to all appointments or choose a specific service for it to trigger > choose how many days after the appointment to send the message > preview > save.
6. Automate rebooking reminders
Want to help remind clients to book another appointment with you? This smart campaign is ideal for that.
âSend A Rebooking Reminder'' message to all of your clients using our âReach out to past clientsâ Smart Campaign feature. To get started, be sure the feature is on in settings > features > smart campaigns > save. You will see the Smart Campaigns button located on your home screen. Then you will select create campaigns > tap reach out to past clients > Add a label/title > Craft your message to encourage clients to book with you again > add a promotion discount as an incentive > leave apply to items blank if you want to apply this smart campaign to all appointments or specific a specific service type > choose how many days after the last appointment to send the message > preview > save.
7. Encourage clients to book/buy something else
Do you want to offer special promotions to clients and upsell them on other services/products? You can send discounts to these clients to encourage them to buy more services from you.
a. âSend Encouraging Messages To Get Specific Customers To Buy More Items'' message to all of your clients using our Smart Campaign feature. To get started, be sure the feature is on in settings > features > smart campaigns > save. You will see the Smart Campaigns button located on your home screen. Then you will select create campaigns > Make an announcement > select client bought {item} or spent more than {amount} or bought {item} more than once > choose a service or amount > craft your message to buy more of your services > add a start date > add a promotion/discount > preview > save.
b. âSend Purchase Follow up Messages To Customers Who Bought Items'' message to all of your clients using our Smart Campaign feature. To get started, be sure the feature is on in settings > features > smart campaigns > save. You will see the Smart Campaigns button located on your home screen. Then you will select create campaigns > Purchase Follow up > craft your message to thank your customer for purchasing your items and offer them a discount off of their next purchase > Leave apply only to item blank if you want this to apply to all purchases or choose only certain items for it to apply> choose how many days off the purchase for this to trigger > preview > save.
8. Setup a missed call message
Have you ever missed a clientâs phone calls because you were working with other clients? This smart campaign is very useful for guiding clients to your booking site or letting them know that you will return their calls.
âSend out a Missed Callâ' message to all of your clients using our Smart Campaign feature. To get started, be sure the feature is on in settings > features > smart campaigns > save. You will see the Smart Campaigns button located on your home screen. Then you will select create campaigns > respond to a missed call > add a label/title > craft your message to apologize for missing their call and direct them to your online booking site > add a promotion/discount to apologize for not answering their call (optional) > preview > save.
9. Wish your clients happy birthday
Building genuine relationships with your clients is a recipe for long term success. You can use smart campaigns to send them annual messages with discounts to show your appreciation for their support.
âSend out a Happy Birthday or Happy Anniversaryâ' message to all of your clients using our Smart Campaign feature. To get started, be sure the feature is on in settings > features > smart campaigns > save.You will see the Smart Campaigns button located on your home screen. Then you will select to create campaigns > Wish happy anniversary > add a label/title > Craft your message to ask your clients for their dogâs birthday > add a special promotional discount as an incentive > Use the anniversary field to select the relevant date (e.g. dogâs birthday, pet parentâs birthday, or another important date) > preview > save.
10. Remind your clients to update vaccination records
You can use Client Fields to collect documents and images, including vaccination records, from clients. You can set up document expiration tracking to set expiration dates for each document (or let clients set it for you) to ensure you always have the latest records on hand. When a record expires, clients will be prompted to upload the latest record during various workflows such as booking and confirmation, depending on how you set up the field. You can also remind them at any time and view the submitted documents from all clients from the Documents dashboard.