Archive for August, 2008

Pet First Aid Course Online

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

Online Pet First Aid Course

We’ve just added an Online Pet First Aid Course to the website. The course costs $65 AUD / $79 NZD. If the course is paid for at the time of joining / renewing membership ($50 AUD / $65 NZD) then the combined membership+course price is $99 AUD / $125 (a saving of $16AUD / $19 NZD).

Through detailed instruction and videos, pet owners / carers, will learn how to:

1) Recognize emergencies
2) Provide emergency life support
3) Handle sudden illness
4) Care for wounds, bleeding and burns
5) Treat physical injuries
6) Handle poisoning and environmental emergencies
7) Prepare for disasters

Course participants will better understand normal pet behaviour and how to recognize behavioural changes. There are opportunities to check your understanding of the content throughout the course.

For anzpetsit members who complete the course, we will add the following logo to their listings:

Pet First Aid  Pet First Aid course completed

Customer Service Tips: Conveying a professional image

Thursday, August 21st, 2008

A couple of months ago, we read a good article in a Professional Pet Sitting Magazine about great customer service. Amongst the many tips the article covered, one was on the need to project a professional image. One of the suggestions was to get a business phone line and to have a professional sounding voicemail message – Potential customers won’t get the right impression from a muffled message or one that says “You have reached John, Jane, Susie and Jimmy smith, as well as ABC Pet Sitting Service”. Your message should be clear, well-spoken and to the point. Convey who you are, what you do, the best time to reach you, and of course, make sure you include your mission statement.

We must confess that our own voicemail message was perhaps not the best, and reading the article prompted us to get our own message recorded. Our message was recorded by a voiceover artist and only cost in the region of $35 which we believe was money well spent as we were very happy with the result. You can hear the message by clicking here

How do I obtain a Police Record Check?

Tuesday, August 19th, 2008

We’ve just added a new page on the website with details of how to obtain a National Criminal History Record Check. Many of the states have pdf application forms which you can now download from our website and send to the relevant authorities to obtain your record check. 

Further checks on prospective members

Monday, August 18th, 2008

In a move designed to further reassure prospective pet sitting clients that any members on the website are insured / police record checked, we have decided to request that members send (via fax or scan&email) copies of their insurance and police record check douments. Once this has been done and we have viewed/validated the documents, then this will be reflected on member listings by displaying the following:

Insurance & police documents validated by anzpetsit