The Benefits of Effective Communication
At Scout, we believe that good communication is one of the most important aspects of managing a business. To illustrate this point we have a wonderful graphic at the top of this article and our website. For over 10 years Towers Watson has been studying the link between communication and higher profits. Their research shows, when companies are effective at communicating and managing changes, they are 3.5 times more likely to outperform their peers. Scout uses push notifications to help dog walking and pet sitting companies effectively manage and communicate scheduling changes.
Managing the schedule for a dog walking company is complicated. In addition to managing staff schedules, your managing the schedules of dozens up to hundreds of clients. Modern people have complicated lives, plans change, duty calls, and pet sitters need to be flexible. Scout uses a number of notifications to help keep everyone on the same page.
Schedule Change Alerts
Keeping staff members up to date on scheduling changes is really important. Scout provides three unique push notifications for changes made to appointments taking place within 24 hours.
- New appointments
- Time changes
- Cancelations
Scout includes an alert (siren) icon in the push notification if an affected appointment occurs within 12 hours.
In-service Progress Alerts
In addition to alerting pet sitters to schedule changes, Scout provides a 10 minute and end-of-service alert to help keep track of time. When I'm out walking dogs, I don't have a care in the world, I could wander around all day. However, I do have to make sure I get to all my clients in a timely fashion. This means I can't lose track of time when I'm enjoying a stroll with a fuzzy buddy.
Late Notification Alert
The late notification alert is optional for business owners and fully customizable. Business owners can toggle the notification on or off. When enabled, an administrator can set a threshold to alert both managers (via email) and staff using a push notification. When this notification is received, it's time to open a line of communication. As the owner of a dog walking business, it lets me know something may be wrong and I'd better get on it. It is invaluable to me to ensure I'm providing the highest possible level of customer service. In my capacity as a dog walker, it lets me know I need to call or text my client and let them know I've been delayed.
Scout values effective communication because it's proven to improve both staff retention and customer service leading to increased profit. In addition, to push notifications, Scout has a number of other communication tools. Do you want to check out Scout for yourself? Visit our website and sign up today!
Do you have ideas for how Scout can help you improve communication? Leave us a comment!