IBPSA interview with PetExec President, Paula Mosteller with IBPSA Team

Recently IBPSA conducted an interview with PetExec President, Paula Mosteller. PetExec has been a Vendor Member with IBPSA since 2016, and will be an Exhibitor at the Flow Business Conference in September.

IBPSA: What is the most common advice that your clients ask for, or what is the most needed service that they do not realize they need? Paula: I have to think about it for a minute because everybody asks for different things. I think the most important thing that people ask for, is advice on how to set up their system to be efficient and easy to use, for both the staff and the pet parent. I would say the most common questions I get are, "How should we set our pricing? What should we include in a contract?" And other important things like, "Should we use packages? Should we discount our services and by how much? How should we advertise?" These are all important questions that people need to know when they are starting out. Without the right answers or the right resources, it could land them in trouble quickly. I do my best to lead them to the associations or vendors who I trust in tandem with the right software system. IBPSA: It seems that their first questions are all about business systems. and not really software. Paula: Yes, that’s correct. There are many factors to consider in order to run a pet business well. At PetExec, we have a lot of associations with like-minded vendors. We like to share knowledge to prevent pet professionals from making costly rookie mistakes. We conduct live events on Facebook or use other various ways to connect with people who have the knowledge and can answer questions about pricing, profitability and other other important topics in our unique business. While those questions are being answered, we can address the additional information that people should know before choosing the right software system. One of the most important pieces of advice I give to pet businesses to get them on the right track fast is to make sure pet parents are able to help you wit your daily tasks. I think it’s very important to have an easy, fun, and addicting way for the pet parents to utilize technology. For instance, PetExec’s mobile app or owner portal can be setup in a variety of ways to appeal to the pet parent. It allows the customer to schedule or request services, sign contracts, view past messages and transactions, display current announcements and many other tasks. Pet parents enjoy the flexibility of performing tasks at their convenience. This pet owner input can revolutionize the entire business practice. IBPSA: It sounds like using technology such as app type program helps meet the needs of the customer as well as the business owner. Paula: Apps are the future. We use them all the time in our everyday lives. No matter what age or technical ability, nearly everyone has a smart phone. People love the ease and convenience of apps so they become addicting. There seems to be an app for just about everything! Here at PetExec we say that we didn’t create the addiction, but we feed it by having a really nice app. Much of the burden of what facility owners did in the past is now passed on to the customer via technology. This creates less work for staff as the customer uses technology. App technology is a win, win for everybody. IBPSA: How did technology change during COVID? What was something different that maybe the customer had asked for that you think you will either expand on or continue to do? Paula: We learned a lot during COVID. We didn’t expect certain services like grooming and training to be so impactful. These services did not lose money during the pandemic. In fact, quite the opposite, they actually gained in popularity. As people adopted dogs the need for trainers and groomers grew. This caused us to be more focused on our app to be sure we

were meeting our clients’ needs. The biggest impact that I didn't expect to see is how many people brought their new pets to board-and-train or just training, and grooming. The service numbers for training and grooming increased when other services such as standard boarding dropped. Many people that were focusing their business solely on boarding were in big trouble unless they switched gears. If they pivoted to board-and-train they had a much better chance to thrive. Businesses that offered board-and-train were busier than ever during the Covid pandemic. That was an eye-opener for me. I always knew board-and-train was a great service, but I had no idea how it could outlast a pandemic and take such a lead over other services. IBPSA: Was there any other way that business changed during COVID where you really saw an app work for customers and owners? Paula: Yes! When people were calling in sick because they didn't know if they had COVID or not, some businesses were reduced to skeleton crews. It really helped to have the app or the owner portal because pet parents were using curbside pickup and drop off instead of coming inside the facilities. When businesses were down to a smaller number of staff, the ability to have pet parents use curbside as well as schedule and request appointments online and other tasks was a lifesaver. Business owners were already stressed out dealing with the impacts of COVID. It was like a wrecking ball to a small business. But the people in the pet industry are a scrappy bunch. They powered through the worst of times and survived. They looked ahead instead of focusing on the disruptions. We were in this together and we were going to come out of this stronger. At PetExec, our development and support remained full steam ahead as if nothing was happening. All of our employees stayed working with no fear of losing their jobs. We are here to help our Packmate clients and nothing was ging to stop us from fighting for them. We survived a rough patch and are looking ahead to a very bright future. My biggest takeaway from going through Covid was that if we work together and keep our eyes looking forward, nothing can stop us. We are more motivated and resilient than ever. Bring on the future! IBPSA: Thank you Paula! You are right, the pet care service industry is full of scrappy people. IBPSA is thrilled that the industry found a way to not only survive but thrive in 2021.

1