John Wade (aka Ask The Dog Guy) didn’t become a dog trainer only because he loves dogs. His career choice stemmed from a deeper interest in behaviour modification of higher-order social species like dogs, wolves, apes and humans from the perspectives of ethology, evolutionary biology and psychology. John noticed flaws in the two main approaches to dog training. All Positive, Force-Free, Treat Motivated training was fine for tricks, but not for life skills.
The opposite of that, Might is Right, Alpha, Pack Leader, Dominant (Yank and Crank) was also not how higher-order social species helped their youngsters develop life skills. John’s first mentor was experienced in training police dogs, which gave him a unique opportunity to develop his interest in the dog training world, while gathering the research and experience he needed to develop a more evolved method of training.
John Wade, aka “Ask the Dog Guy”, developed the “Fully Balanced Dog”, a unique method of training that has helped thousands of dogs and dog owners be the best they can be.
A Renowned Dog Trainer
Over the past 30+ years, John has crafted the Fully Balanced Dog Training technique, which has helped thousands of dogs and dog owners be the best they can be. In addition to training dogs for movies and television, he conducts seminars and has written books about dog training. John also runs the website AsktheDogGuy.com and hosts his own “pawdcast” on Youtube, called “Ask the Dog Guy”.
As a proficient dog trainer, besides an extensive knowledge in canine training, John also needs to remember every little detail about his clients and their dogs and follow through with his commitments. Daylite, the Mac-based CRM and productivity app had the ideal features to enable him to build stronger relationships and trust with his clients.
To remember every detail about his clients and their dogs, John Wade relies on Daylite to help him follow through with his commitments and become a reference in the dog training world.
The main value of Daylite is that it helps small businesses manage more clients, close more deals, and finish more projects. Daylite helps teams share information, next steps, and details to keep everyone in the loop. This means instead of information silos, your teams can collaborate and get the context they need to respond and push deals, projects, or next steps with clients forward without wasted time or interruptions.
Daylite Drives Referral Businesses
Daylite plays a fundamental role in John’s business from the first contact he has with a client, to when they leave him a 5-star review and refer his services to friends and family.
“I’m the most referred trainer by past clients and veterinarians in my region. It may be impolitic to say, but one of the most common things I hear when someone contacts me about training is how few trainers return calls and how poor the follow-up process was that they ended up booking the training elsewhere. I have found that what other trainers find very difficult to organize is pretty close to effortless because I’ve incorporated Daylite into creating responses to inquiries and post-appointment follow-ups.”
John credits Daylite for helping him easily keep track of his clients communication, tasks and appointments. For example, when a dog owner gets in touch to schedule an appointment, he looks at his Daylite Calendar to confirm availability. To ensure nothing slips through the cracks, each morning he goes to Daylite to knock off his daily To-Do’s that are set up in his worklist, such as checking his Youtube channel, website, and other social media to see if comments need to be approved or replied to.
An example of the Daylite Home screen to stay on track with daily and upcoming tasks and appointments and make sure nothing slips through the cracks.
Daylite Is a Time Saver
“I love the way Daylite integrates with Apple Mail. It’s very easy to review a client’s history,” said John. Daylite Mail Assistant integrates seamlessly with Apple Mail, allowing John to take inquiries and record all the client’s details in just a few clicks. He first replies to inquiries with an informative email that also reduces time on the phone and to screen/qualify clients. If they reply, he creates a record by adding them to Daylite through Daylite Mail Assistant. He then creates a 24-hour follow-up Activity Set in Daylite, which he credits for a large increase in bookings.
Daylite Mail Assistant allows you to take action from emails right from the inbox.
“When clients book with me, they do so online using a calendar service I subscribe to (another enormous time saver). I even automated this service using Zapier, which automatically exports all of the client’s necessary information into Daylite. Then, it sends me a notice that a new booking has occurred.” After that, John implements another Activity Set for all of his post-booking/pre-appointment tasks.
Since most of John’s work is done virtually, he spends part of his time reviewing progress videos that clients send him. “Before watching the client’s video(s) and creating a response tutorial, I have to review all correspondence sent by email and text. All the emails have been snatched by Daylite mail and added to the client’s record. This saves me a ton of time. I review that information as it often has additional questions and comments that need addressing in the response tutorial.”
Before preparing a training tutorial or client response, John Wade checks the client’s record and communications, such as emails, notes and mail attachments in Daylite.
No Client Is Left Behind Thanks to Daylite’s Activity Sets
“The Activity Sets are another godsend,” said John. “When a client books a meeting, I trigger the Activity Set as a to-do list before the appointment. I export their information and their dog’s details to my Ninox database, so that I have everything to refer to post-appointment.”
Daylite integrates with Zoom through a plug-in by iOSXpert, which lets John know which virtual client sessions are scheduled, and provides the client’s email and text information so he can send them the Zoom link.
Daylite also provides post-appointment follow-up guidance. Each client has 1-week/2-week/3-week/4-week follow-up emails that need to be sent. All of these appear in the Activity Sets. “One of the Activity Sets adds immediate tasks right after the appointment, and another is for the following day. I split up the immediate follow-up, so the client is less overwhelmed. It also includes reminding me to send the invoice.”
In addition to ensuring the client is satisfied, there are also reminders to ask for a Google Review. This has helped John amass over a hundred five-star reviews.
An example of how Daylite Activity Sets automatically create periodic follow-ups with clients and leads.
Daylite Empowers Growth for Over 30 Years in Dog Training
John praises Daylite’s user-friendly and easy-to-use application that allows him to sustain his dog training and lecture business for over 30 years. “I think the surface benefits don’t require the most sophisticated users, and most would find those very beneficial. The more in-depth features are more a matter of discovering rather than being difficult to implement. Daylite has a ton of resources for people to explore those features.”
John’s goal is to reach as many people as possible and convey to them that there are better, more natural approaches to training companion dogs that don’t involve treats or the aforementioned polar opposite dominance techniques. He has a five-year plan to accomplish this goal and has the tools and know-how to do it.
Watch the video to discover how Daylite has helped John Wade in his journey toward becoming a true reference in the dog-training world, his favourite Daylite features and much more:
About the author: Tucky Wong is Marketcircle’s Senior Marketing Manager. With a wealth of Marketing experience that spans nearly two decades, her expertise has become an invaluable asset in the world of small business empowerment as she’s the great mind behind impactful content and strategies. Tucky’s commitment to empowering small businesses ensures that every strategy and piece of content resonates with the spirit of growth and achievement.
