Customer Care Guide
What is Customer Care
Customer care is all about loving the pets and their people enough to make sure they are thriving.
Read that again! If the relationship between you and your customer ends with the transaction of the first sale, then it was just a sale. Customer care says you want a lifetime relationship to help their pets thrive - not just a one-time paycheck for their order.
We'll cover a variety of tips and success guides for all stages of caring conversations.
Jump ahead to various topics as needed here:
Caring Conversations
Keep Nurturing the Relationships
It was a series of conversations that connected you to each customer and it’s ongoing conversations that will nurture that relationship.
These ongoing conversations are called ‘caring’ conversations. It’s not about selling, but showing that you genuinely care that they are getting the best that pawTree has to offer and that their pets are experiencing the best life on pawTree products.
These caring conversations are what make you stand out from a typical online shopping experience. You guided them to the answers they were seeking, invited them to give them a try, and now you continue the conversations by showing you care for them and their pets, not just the sale.
There are 4 phases of caring conversations that will help you nurture a customer for life:
- Initial conversation - specific to customers who will be transitioning from current kibble to pawTree kibble or freeze-dried raw food.
- 7-10 days after their first order has shipped - this is a critical conversation that establishes trust in the customer's mindset.
- About 30 days after their first order has shipped - this is when you begin nurturing the customer for life relationship.
- Every 2-3 Months - this is how you maintain the relationship for a lifetime of caring conversations between you and the customer.
This page walks you through each of these caring conversations with tips, helpful insights, and suggested words to say.
You can also download the Caring Conversations Cheat Sheet for a quick look at suggested words to say for each phase.
The First Caring Conversation
This first conversation is specifically for a new customer who has purchased food for their pet(s). It's important that the pet avoid tummy upset that can happen when pets transition from one kibble to another.
By having this conversation with your customer, it reinforces how much you care about the pet and reminds the customer that this isn't just a transaction but a relationship.
If your new customer did not have food on their order, you can skip this caring conversation and start with the next one listed below. NOTE: If they purchase pawTree food in the future, be sure to have this caring conversation at that time.
1-3 days after initial order:
- Reach out via text, email, or messenger platform to remind them of the need to transition their pets from their current food to pawTree food to avoid upset tummies.
- Send them the ‘Transition Tips’ document.
Examples of Words to Say
This is an example of words to use when reaching out for the caring conversation. Take the context and make it your own!
“Hi [customer name]. Your pawTree order should be arriving soon, so I wanted to follow up and make sure you’re prepared to follow a few transitioning steps to avoid any tummy upset with [pet name]. This will only take about a week but it’s not complicated. Mainly need to be sure you have a little of your current food to use during those few days. I’m attaching a simple to follow guide to make it easy.
I’d love to hear from you when your food arrives - so feel free to message me at that time or reach out anytime you have questions regarding the transition process. I’m here to help!”
Second Caring Conversation
If your new customer did not have pet food on their first order, then this is technically your first caring conversation. Either way, this is a critical conversation - one not to skip or avoid!
7-10 days after their first order has shipped
This is when the customer begins to realize you were truly interested in them and their pet's experience with pawTree. If they had any doubt before about this just being another sale for you, this conversation clears that up.
This caring conversation says...
- You care.
- You are here to help.
- They are not just another customer.
- Their pet is important to you.
FACT vs MYTH:
The most often used reason a petPro does not proactively initiate this caring conversation is fear. Fear that everything isn't 100% perfect with the product or delivery. Fear is a liar!
FACT - The truth is, when you proactively initiate this call, you are saying to the customer - I've got you!
FACT - The truth is, if the customer has any issue at all with their product, pawTree backs you and them up with the 100% satisfaction guarantee! This means you get to be the customer's hero with a caring conversation about making them satisfied and happy.
That conversation might sound like this:
"[Customer name] - I am so glad I called! Let's get this resolved right away. Remember that 100% satisfaction guarantee? Let's get you 100% satisfied. Here's what we can do..."
Then you go into hero action - identify if this is a replacement issue, a different product issue, or a refund issue. All you have to do is help connect them to Customer Support and pawTree will take it from there.
So approach this caring conversation with boldness! It is a critical step in building trust in the relationship.
Key Steps for This Caring Conversation:
- Call / Text / Message -
- Calling is best for this conversation - but we know some people simply prefer a text or message over a phone conversation.
- Use good judgment! A good practice with new customers is to ask them their preferred form of communication. Let them know you like to check in from time to time to be sure they and their pets are fully satisfied and thriving with pawTree.
- Use this conversation time to:
- Check-in to make sure all is going well.
- Help them with a 100% satisfaction guarantee if needed.
- Answer any questions or let them know you’ll find the answers they need.
- EZ Ship follow up:
- If their order was set up on EZ Ship - remind them you are here to help with managing upcoming shipments if needed.
- If they did not set up their order on EZ Ship, remind them that you can help them get the product they’ll need more of on an EZ Ship schedule when they're ready. Remind them that this gives them discounted or free shipping and reward points for free product.
Third Caring Conversation
Decision time! About 30 days after receiving their first order with pawTree, a customer is making a decision: "Will I commit to this product or just find something similar at the store or another online shop?"
This caring conversation reminds them that you value the relationship - not just the sale.
About 30 days after their first order has shipped
This conversation is when many customers decide to commit to setting up their order on EZ Ship or not. If they set it up initially as one, this is when they typically decide to keep it or cancel it.
This caring conversation says...
- You care if they have what they need when they need it—before they run out.
- You are still here to help - you are a person of your word.
- Their pet continues to be important to you.
- This is a relationship, not a transaction.
The key is to intentionally schedule time for this conversation. You can batch it with other customers in the same date range of initial orders. It does not need to be exactly 30 days from their first shipment.
TIP: Set a day of the month on your calendar that you will reserve for monthly customer care conversations, like the 3rd Wednesday of each month (or whatever works for you). Block 30-60 minutes and reach out to all customers who received an order 20-30 days prior to that day.
Key Steps for This Caring Conversation:
- Call / Text / Message -
- Use the communications platform they prefer.
- Avoid email as it often gets overlooked.
- Use this conversation time to:
- Check-in to see if they are about to run out of a pet’s new favorite product.
- Ask about any products or solutions they had an interest in but didn’t try with their first order.
- Help them with a 100% satisfaction guarantee if needed now that they’ve had a full 30 days of using the product.
- EZ Ship follow up:
- If their order was set up on EZ Ship, look at your reports to see when their next shipment is scheduled and ask if they want to make any adjustments.
- If they did not set up their order on EZ Ship, remind them that you can help them set the product they’ll need more of on an EZ Ship schedule when they're ready. Remind them that this gives them discounted or free shipping.
- Customer referrals:
- When a customer experiences the care of a petPro along with the satisfaction of the product, they are inclined to share their experience with friends.
- When you're having care conversations, naturally ask if they know anyone who might benefit from pawTree the way they have.
Continue with Caring Conversations
Relationships grow cold when communication disappears. This is true with any relationship and is especially true with your customer relationships. Keep in touch with your customers and nurture the customer-for-life relationship.
Every 2-3 Months
Ongoing care doesn't have to be time intensive. Think of it as occasional check-in times, like you would with a friend that you don't see often but want to maintain the friendship.
Key Steps for These Caring Conversations:
- For customers on an EZ Ship Cycle:
- Watch your monthly reports to see which EZ Ship customers need a check-in text to be sure they know their order is shipping soon and ask if they need help with any adjustments.
- If there are products that they’ve expressed interest in or recently launched, ask if this is a good time to add them to their upcoming shipment.
- For customers who prefer to reorder as they need it:
- Check in about every 2-3 months as a courtesy.
- Ask if they need to restock any favorite products.
- Let them know of any new products they may want to try.
- For customers who needed help with their last order:
- Repeat the 2nd and 3rd caring conversation processes until they are established as happy customers.
- When happy and established:
- If they are on EZ Ship, follow EZ Ship cycle.
- If they are single-order customers, follow the 2-3 month check-in cycle.
Don't Forget to Ask for Referrals
When a customer experiences the care of a petPro along with the satisfaction of the product, they are inclined to share their experience with friends. During these check-in conversations, ask:
"I'm always looking for pets that need what your pets have experienced with pawTree. Are you open to sharing me with people you know?"
When they say yes - ask if they would mind making an introduction via text or messenger or if they'd be open to posting something on their social media.
Create Caring Habits
Nurturing relationships with your customers requires intentional habit development. If it's something you desire to do but don't dedicate time to do it, it will inevitably become the thing that never gets done. Dedication of time is not all-consuming time, it's intentional habit-building.
Caring Conversations Success Tips
- Make these conversations a priority.
- Block time on your calendar each month to dedicate time for caring conversations.
- Come to that blocked time with a plan:
- First - who needs a first shipment check-in or a follow-up conversation after resolving an issue?
- Next - check in with your 30 day customers
- Last - reach out to your customers who haven’t heard from you in 2-3 months and/or who have enrollment anniversaries this month (the date of their first order with you).
- Daily / Weekly / Monthly?
- For customers who purchase food for the first time, use a timer or calendar alert to remind yourself to send the transition information over between 1-3 days after the initial order.
- For other caring conversations, usually once a month works well.
- Use good judgment. As your customer base grows, you will need to add time to your calendar to properly nurture customers for a lifetime.
- Schedule enough time.
- At first, your customer care list will be small, so 30 minutes a month may be plenty.
- As your customer care list grows, 60-minute care time power hours would be helpful.
- 15 minute list!
- Caring conversations can be a great use of 15 minute time blocks that pop up as you're between commitments or find yourself waiting.
- To be successful - create a customer check-in list that you can have with you at all times (electronic/app/paper). Make sure the list has contact information and details about what caring conversation is needed.
- Caring conversations can be a great use of 15 minute time blocks that pop up as you're between commitments or find yourself waiting.
Ongoing Conversation Topics:
Use these conversation topics to make ongoing care simple and duplicatable.
- EZ Ship support or set up
- Conversations about solutions they've shared but not addressed yet. Invite them to try the suggested solution.
- Satisfaction check in chats. Things happen, and things can change in the life of a pet; what worked originally may need to be tweaked or stop working. Satisfaction is important to maintaining a customer for life.
- Life cycle updates. As pets age, their needs change. Regular caring conversations keep you connected to the life stages of their pets.
- Referrals! Regularly ask if they'd be open to sharing you with people they know.
Home Office Caring Support
Home office partners with you, the petPro, to provide ongoing care conversations. These are typically in the form of email campaigns but also include conversations your customers have with the home office support team.
The layers of customer care conversations provided by home office are not intended to replace caring conversations, but to enhance them. Remember - any online store can put a customer into an email drip that customers often ignore or delete. The pawTree difference is YOU reaching out with the caring human touch!
The best way to get the greatest benefit out of home office communications to your customers is to know what is being emailed to them and layer your care conversation accordingly.
Top Tips from the Home Office Marketing Team
Each month, the home office marketing team delivers training with these goals in mind:
- To inform you of specific emails that will be sent to your customers that month.
- To inform you of educational blog posts that will be published for customer reading that month.
- To guide you with tips on how to take those 2 bits of information and layer them into caring conversations you have with your customers.
Ongoing Customer Care Email Campaigns from Home Office
We never want you to be surprised by the information your customers receive from home office, so we work hard to keep you informed. Below are the ongoing email campaigns we deliver to customers on your behalf.
Caring Conversation Income
Caring conversations not only build relationships, they build long term income opportunities.
One of the income perks of the pawTree commission structure is the opportunity to build a customer base of satisfied and happy customers who want their pets to enjoy their favorite products for a lifetime. While caring conversations can never guarantee this outcome, they definitely help.
When customers return to purchase more products, you continue to earn commissions as long as they remain your customers. Ongoing conversations that show your care for their pets and their happiness with the products help keep them connected to you.
The pawTree EZ Ship system is the best way for them to never miss out on what their pets want and need and for you to stay connected to them as their petPro.
Monthly Sales Benefits
The pawTree compensation plan has a bonus perk called Retail Power Bonus [RPB]. You can learn all about the compensation structure here, but the short version is this:
When you reach specific sales volumes each month, you qualify* for additional commissions on all sales for that month. This is on top of the base commission of 15%. The bonus tiers look like this:
- When total Qualified* Sales for the month = $500–$999.99, you receive an additional 5% commission on all sales.
- When total Qualified* Sales for the month = $1,000–$1999.99, you receive an additional 10% commission on all sales.
- When total Qualified* Sales for the month = $2,000 or more, you receive an additional 15% commission on all sales.
*Qualification includes a requirement of no less than $100 in NEW sales that month.
Learn More about Compensation Structure
EZ Ship Guidance Conversation Topics:
Use these conversation topics to help customers learn to trust the EZ Ship system and see the value of setting it up.
- It's not a monthly subscription that locks you into a recurring order. It's a custom setup that is never locked in.
- Change the delivery dates as often as you need to.
- Change, skip, or remove the products as often as you need to.
- Get FREE SHIPPING for each qualified shipment
- When there are 3 non-food items in the EZ Ship order, everything in the order ships for free, including heavy bags of food!
- Receive discounted shipping on any order that does not meet free shipping requirements.
- Even if you just want a couple of things, why ship it at full price? With EZ Ship, enjoy a 25% discount on shipping costs.
- Earn Paw Points to redeem later for free products.
- Use accumulated points to treat your pet to a new toy or treat.
- Use accumulated points to try a new supplement or a newly launched product.
- Use accumulated points to make dinner on us now and then (points used to buy food from time to time).
Caring conversations give you opportunities to build trust with the customers so you can guide them to the best things that pawTree has to offer!
Disclaimer: pawTree makes no promises or guarantees regarding earning additional income or any other earnings opportunity. The success or failure of each petPro, like any other business opportunity, depends on your own skills and personal effort. The financial results of all petPros for the preceding year under the existing compensation plan are contained in the pawTree Income Disclosure.
Income Disclosure PDF