How to market your pet business

Everyone who has pets knows you have to feed them.  With the exception of the pet rock from the 70's, those animals have to eat.

Which is where a pet or feed store comes into play...

I mean, sure, you can buy food from a grocery store, but most of the time they only sell garbage.  You know the old saying "garbage in, garbage out?"  Well, if you've ever cleaned up dog poo from your back yard, you know the concept all too well.

I sell good quality food to pet stores, feed stores, and some chain accounts.  THIS is where you should go to buy food.  Not the grocery store, not the big red bullseye, not Wallyworld.   Why?  Because that is where you buy better food for a good price.

But, sometimes it's not a pleasant experience to go into these stores...

Some stores are clean, organized, and well-run.  You are greeted when you enter the door.  All of your questions are thoughtfully and completely answered.  They are there to help you in any way imaginable.  These are the stores I love, because they have a passion for what they do.

Try doing into the big W and asking someone in the pet section the difference between crap A and crap B.  "Well this bag is $15.99, and this one is $17.99..."  That's about all they can offer.

A good store will tell you which food is ideal for your animal, your budget, and your lifestyle.  They will be able to educate, inform, and (if done right) keep you as a customer for life.

But there are stores that don't quite get the message.  Their store is cluttered, and smells like ass.  They're not helpful.  They sell a limited amount of styles, so it's their way or the highway.

So far after 3 days, we have visited mostly good stores.  People know what they're doing in Idaho.  There was one store in my hometown that wasn't on the company's customer list, so I wanted to visit...

I mean, hey... first week and I can sign up a new customer?  Sounds fun.  Let's do this.

We walk into the store, and immediately we are overpowered by the smell of old dirty balls.  This store smells awful.  We were in and out in 30 seconds, because the owner only sells "high premium, high margin items" to his customers....  funny, we sell those items too... and your shelves look pretty empty.

It made me wonder how he stayed in business.  There was only one customer in the store, and she walked out empty-handed.  The building was run down, hasn't been cleaned up in ages, and it smells like geriatric man-berries.

Oh well.  He had a competitor down the street who was much more receptive.  His loss.