Earlier this year I had the pleasure of meeting two world class marketers at a mastermind event in Florida, and they reminded me of something the very best premium businesses do differently: they overdeliver.

 

Before I get into the lessons, I must give props to the mastermind process itself.

I've been attending mastermind events since late 2016, so almost ten years now. In a world where there are a lot of snake-oil marketers (con artists coaches who promise the world but often deliver nothing of value), I've been very lucky to connect with some amazing, knowledgeable, and generous mentors.

 

These are people with scars, stories, and real-world experience, who share my values and actually know their shit.

There are lots of different kinds of masterminds, but I've always been a fan of, and always made the biggest personal and business breakthroughs, when attending in person mastermind events.

 

You know, the kind you have to get on a plane, train or car and travel to.

 

Often this travel can be very inconvenient, and it's not been uncommon for me (or my clients) to set aside four days or more, just to attend a two-day mastermind. For sure it can be a ball-ache to leave your business and your family. But, over time I've come to appreciate that time spent travelling is not time wasted at all. Instead, it becomes time you spend thinking about, and working on not in, your business.

 

Once you are in the mastermind room, the connections you make and the insights you get from sharing your own challenges, and hearing how your fellow mastermind members are working through their business journey are, quite simply, invaluable.

 

And there's the people you meet and the opportunities that come from meeting up with fellow go-getters. I've made friends for life, and even started another business with a fellow mastermind member.

That kind of opportunity simply wouldn't have happened without me being in the room where it happens.

The mastermind I'm currently in meets four times a year in the USA. It is run by my good friend Vance "Disney Guy" Morris, and it was at his recent meeting in Orlando where I had the pleasure to meet two special guests Vance had invited: Brian Kurtz and Barry Jacobson.

If you haven't heard of either of those guys, don't worry, I'm going to briefly big them up now.

Brian Kurtz is one of the true legends of the direct marketing world. He spent over 30 years at Boardroom Inc., one of the biggest newsletter and direct response publishing companies in America. There, he worked alongside and learned from some of the greatest marketers and copywriters of the last century. He's also the author of the brilliant book Overdeliver, which has become one of my most re-read marketing books over the last few years.

Now, I must confess I hadn't heard of Barry Jacobson before I was introduced to him, but I had heard of Club 33, Golden Oak, and Jerry Jones. Well, Barry spent 37 years with Disney helping create luxury, VIP, and members-only experiences for some of the wealthiest and most influential people in the world, before later working with the Dallas Cowboys organisation too.

 

In short, these chaps know a thing or two about premium experiences and overdelivering for their clients.

I must confess I had a bit of a fan-boy moment when I realised Brian was there. His book Overdeliver is perpetually at the top of my reading list on my Kindle. A lot of things I teach my clients are things I've learned from this book, like RFM.

 

RFM has been huge for me when it comes to helping dog daycare owners identify their very best clients, uncover hidden money inside their existing customer base, and create premium services that the right people are far more likely to buy. Here's a brief explanation of how it works:

     - Recency: This says a prospect or customer who interacted with you more recently will be far more responsive and valuable than someone who responded less recently.
     - Frequency: These are the people who buy frequently from you. When you look at your customer list and combine recency and frequency, you can quickly identify those who will likely be your best customers for new product or service offerings.
     - Monetary Value: This is about identifying the clients who have spent the most money with you. When you combine the big spenders with recency and frequency, you've essentially segmented your customer base and found your best clients.

See, not all clients are equal.

 

Yes, every client should be valued and respected, but some clients have demonstrated greater loyalty, commitment, and value to your business over time. A pet parent who spends a ton of money with you, frequently and recently, deserves the best experience possible and more care and attention from you.

 

Not only that, but you should also invest more in them to reward them for their loyalty. You should be building new services around their needs and desires.

 

Which brings me nicely to Barry Jacobson, because this is exactly the kind of thing he spent years helping Disney create with premium experiences like Club 33 and Golden Oak.

Club 33 is Disney's ultra-exclusive private members club hidden inside the parks, while Golden Oak is a luxury residential community built around personalised concierge-style Disney service for affluent families.

Barry spent years helping Disney create elevated, highly personalised experiences for some of their most valuable and loyal customers, and he shared lots of examples of how Disney delivered on this promise.

It's not my place to share those stories here, but listening to Barry talk, one thing became very obvious to me: premium service has very little to do with piling on more "stuff" for clients and far more to do with making people feel understood, reassured, and genuinely looked after.

See, lots of dog daycare owners think being premium is about being $2 more expensive than their crappy competitors down the street. Or they worry they can't "go premium" unless they invest in expensive epoxy flooring, a marbled reception area, or throw money at a bright, shiny website upgrade every two years.

Those things may be important, but they aren't what luxury services deliver. What luxury services really deliver (and honestly, this was my big takeaway from meeting Barry) is that luxury is the absence of worry.

 

Most dog daycare owners think they are selling daycare, supervision, socialisation, and somewhere for the dog to burn off energy while mum and dad are at work. But the best pet businesses understand they are really selling something much deeper than that.

They are selling peace of mind. Relief. Freedom. Emotional certainty that they are doing the best for their dog, even when they aren't with their dog.

For many dog owners, there is a constant worry running in the background all day long:

 

So, are you creating a culture and getting every employee aligned to understand that when a client drops their dog off with you each morning, they are handing over one of the most precious things in their life?

 

We need to do everything we can to ensure they don't walk away still feeling a knot in their stomach.

The best dog daycares are way more than just fenced-in yards with rubber flooring and a "We LOVE dogs!" promise on their website. They become what I'd call a fortress of trust.

This is somewhere the staff know the dogs intimately, communication is proactive, and the canine experience feels organised, structured, and fun. This leads to the owner feeling understood and confident that their dog is learning and thriving while they are busy at work.

Instead of spending the day worrying while they sit in meetings or commute, they feel certain their dog is somewhere safe, enriching, and fulfilling. Is your daycare offering that?

I think many dog daycare owners are terrified of introducing premium tiers, luxury memberships, or exclusive levels. They shy away from exclusivity because they are scared they'll alienate their existing client base.

In my experience, that fear is largely unfounded. Most clients don't resent better experiences being available; they gradually move up the value ladder themselves and happily invest in higher-priced services once they understand the value behind them.

This is where the pet industry is heading. Smart operators are already transitioning away from the old warehouse-style, "pile-em-high" daycare model. They are moving towards a more personalised, experience-led business built around trust, enrichment, convenience, and emotional connection.

Wayne Gretzky famously said he always skated to where the puck was going, not where it had already been.

 

That's exactly what the smartest dog daycare owners are doing right now, too.

It is definitely something for you to think about this week.

I must finish this week's dispatch with a shoutout to Vance Morris for bringing all of us Alliance members together and exposing us to cool people at his one-of-a-kind mastermind.

Bringing people together to share ideas and exposing them to new learning experiences is exactly what we do inside the Dog Daycare Success Academy (DDSA) Immersion events. This is my quarterly mastermind for ambitious dog daycare and pet resort owners, and we have two amazing experiences lined up to take us into the summer:
     - June (County Durham, UK): We'll be meeting at Lumley Castle. The theme is "Content that Connects and Converts" (content in a castle!), and Stephen Inla-Reedy will be our special guest.
     - August (Annapolis, USA): We'll be heading to Annapolis for a very special event focused on World-Class Customer Service, Experience Design, and how to become known as a pet service that overdelivers. Our special guest is none other than Vance Morris himself.

 

If the content of this dispatch has piqued your interest, I suggest you add your name to the DDSA waitlist so you can enrol in time to attend these events.

Have a great week.

Keep it unreal,

Dom

Every Sunday, I deliver the unfiltered marketing and operational blueprints I've used to help 2,500+ frustrated dog daycare owners, to stop running a low-margin facility and start building the most expensive (and most wanted) pet destination in town.