The sausage trick your clients are using on you

Ever watched a dog do the puppy dog eyes thing?

You know the one. The head tilt. The big wet stare. The little whimper that says you are the cruellest human alive for eating a sausage in front of them.

And you cave in.

Every single time.

Here is the crazy part..

..They can't talk, have no leverage, and they're not even trying that hard.

Yet, every single time, they walk away with the sausage, and you walk away feeling like you should have cooked more.

Turns out this is an evolutionary masterpiece. Dogs literally evolved those eyebrow muscles to manipulate us. Wolves don't have them, they'd just take it, but dog grew them because we kept handing over the food.

Now here's the point of this email.

Your problem clients are doing the exact same thing.

And you know exactly who they are.

The one who asks for a cheeky discount, or can I pay next week. The one who wants a weekend slot for the same money, even though you don't work weekends. The one who sighs about your prices like you have personally done something terrible to them!

They, maybe without you realising it, are tilting their head, and giving you the puppy look.

And a lot of dog business owners cave in.

You drop the price, squeeze in the extra walk, or charge the same price for a dog that takes an extra hour to groom.

And you walk away feeling like you had no choice.

That is the trap.

You are letting clients give you the puppy dog eyes, and it is quietly killing your margins.

Here's the one thing to take away today.

You don't fix this by getting tougher in the moment. You fix it before they ever enquire.

It is called premium positioning.

When you price and present yourself as the obvious top choice, which you should. The discount hunters self select out, and they go and pester the cheap operator down the road.

That's how they work.

What you're left with, eventually, is clients who respect your value, pay without flinching, and treat you like the professional you are.

Which leads to a happy you and a profitable business.

Remember, the dog gets the sausage because you trained yourself to give it up.

Your clients get the discount for the same reason.

I'll et you decide.

Keep feeding the puppy dog eyes, or change who shows up at your door in the first place.

Tomorrow I'll show you the one line on your website that tells discount hunters they are welcome, even when you think it does the opposite.

Hit reply and tell me: what is the worst puppy dog eyes moment a client has pulled on you? I would genuinely love to know.

Speak soon,

Colin