We have covered both the promotional and pricing aspects of the 5 P’s of Pet Licensing. Today, we are looking at whether or not, the fee you are charging is worthwhile to a pet owner based on the product or service they receive. In order to determine the fee of a pet license, you need to ensure that the customer is receiving something valuable in exchange.
When analyzing the top preferred features pet owners want to receive upon licensing their pet, we have found 4 main functions that contribute to an overall more valuable pet license.
- Online & Community Connection: Pet owners want the ability to report lost and found pets online. Having a strong online reporting tool allows pet licensing administrators to immediately connect with local shelters, humane societies, animal control offices, city officials and most importantly the pet owner in the event of a lost or found pet. This modern and instantaneous system delivers the peace of mind that pet owners are looking for and brings the animal welfare community together to do so. Our HomeSafeTM program is cited as one of the most beneficial components of a DocuPet membership by pet owners in our partnered communities, you can watch a brief video explaining our HomeSafeTM program in depth below.
- Up-to-Date and Reliable System: Related to having an online community, in order to make these connections as valuable as possible you need to have a fast and convenient way to update licensing information. Keeping your licensing system up-to-date and reliable means that pet and pet owner records are always accurate and therefore useful when reuniting pets with their owners. Offering online licensing allows records to remain in a digital space rather than cumbersome manual record-keeping and gives users the opportunity to update their address, phone number, and/or pet information in real-time.
- Incentives: Another great way to increase the value of a pet license is to consider additional incentives that the pet owner may find attractive. Some of the most common we have seen through our extensive research have been free ride home programs, reduced shelter fees, or the introduction of coupons to local pet-related businesses. These sorts of incentives add great value once a strong community connection and an up-to-date and reliable system is in place. However, if these two basic components are missing, it is unlikely that any incentive will truly increase the value of a license as it is not yet performing it’s most basic functions.
- The Tag Itself: Although the functional aspects of a pet license are still prevalent today as mentioned above, pet owners are taking more ownership and control over the accessories and products they purchase for their pets. Through most of the 20th-century, a pet owner’s main purchase concerns were food and the occasional veterinary visit. More recently, the pet market has seen an explosion in the range of products offered including; insurance, clothing, toys and accessories. It’s important that pet licensing keep up with these societal changes and develop tags that people actually want.That’s why we allow licensees to choose a standard license tag or something special from our collections of designer tags as shown below. We even provide personalized etching of each tag with the pet’s name and phone number to make the return of lost pets that much easier. All DocuPet tags are attractive and offered in two sizes to meet the needs of all pets. Our high-quality tags are etched with a unique alphanumeric code on the back, which is associated with the online record for the pet. These records can be accessed by county administrators and approved information is made public when a pet is reported as missing or found.
At DocuPet we believe strongly in providing tags worth wearing to its pet and pet owner community, so we make sure that we’re doing everything we can to keep pets safe and happy and that the tags we offer pet owners are going to end up becoming their pet’s new favorite accessory. It’s important to consider your pet owner market and ask yourself every once in a while, “what do you offer?” in exchange for a pet license.