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Have you heard the latest internet mystery of the year—and do you hear “Yanny” or “Laurel?”

While there are ongoing debates between Team Laurel and Team Yanny and various explanations to how the pitch of the recording may change what we hear in the video, one thing’s for certain: We’re all listening to the same thing but not hearing the same thing.

That takeaway offers an important reminder for pet-care business owners. While you may know exactly what you said (or what you think you heard), someone else can hear something entirely different—and that’s why business communications can be so tricky.

Making sure both you and your pet-sitting clients (or you and your staff sitters) are on the same page is vital to your business success—and your sanity. PSI offers these tips to help prevent miscommunications in your pet-sitting business.

3 ways to prevent miscommunications with clients and staff:

Decide the best way to communicate in each situation.

Verbal or written? While verbal communication can seem much more personal and is often necessary, verbal communications can be more easily misunderstood. This is particularly true in situations when there are distractions or when emotions may be running high.

If you receive a complaint from a disgruntled pet-sitting client who has just returned home from vacation and feels the house has been damaged, the pet has received subpar care or has other issues, a prompt reply—and most likely a verbal one either by phone or in person—is necessary. Remember that communication is a two-way street and involves both talking and active listening. With a complaining client, you will want to listen closely to his or her complaint (without interrupting) but then also repeat back what you’ve heard (i.e. “What I hear you saying is…”).

When communicating with staff verbally—whether giving assignment instructions or discussing performance issues—make sure you are not distracted and also ensure it’s a good time for your staff sitter to speak with you (and that he or she isn’t distracted). Instead of simply asking if he or she understood what you had to say (which will most likely garner a quick “yes”), ask a more open-ended question, such as “Based on the instructions the client provided, what do you plan to do first?” or “With the performance concerns I just discussed, which parts do you agree with, not agree with or have questions about?”

Always follow up verbal communications with a written statement.

Even when following the best practices above, verbal communications can be misunderstood or easily forgotten. It’s always important to have what was discussed in writing. For example, with pet-sitting clients, you will discuss their pet-care needs, including dates needed, at the initial consultation—but these pet-care requests should always be documented in writing on the pet-sitting services agreement. You can leave the pet owner a copy of the agreement (if you use carbon-copy paper for your contracts) or scan a copy that you can email to them after the initial consultation.

Written follow up is also important for repeat clients who call you to make future assignment requests. Even if you speak with the client by phone, always follow up with email (or text, if you prefer) to confirm dates and service requests. Many pet sitters also use a telephone reservation record form (included with PSI’s Pet Sitting Service Contract) to document service requests made by phone.

Follow-up is also important for communications with staff sitters. Make sure any instructions for pet-sitting visits that are discussed by phone or in person are also repeated in email or through your pet-sitter software, if applicable. The same is true for any meetings to discuss personnel issues or changes to your company’s policies. Even if an in-person staff meeting has taken place, always follow up to recap the discussion via email. This provides you with a “paper trail”/documentation of any correspondence.

Decide who can communicate with whom if you have staff sitters.

If you use staff sitters, do all client requests need to come directly through you—or can clients contact staff sitters directly? If clients contact staff sitters directly, what is your process for ensuring that you have all pet-sitting requests recorded on your company’s schedule? As the business owner you can make the decision that best works for you, but most pet-sitting business owners choose to have all pet-sitting requests come directly through them, their “main office” or online reservations system/software and advise clients of this policy. This ensures that you (as the business owner) are aware of all pet-sitting assignments for your company, know where your staff sitters are and can ensure that all visits are completed.  The same decision must also be made for other sitter-to-client communications. Do you prefer to let staff sitters send clients updates and photos from their personal cellphones, or do you prefer the communications to be sent through your pet-sitter software or some other means to ensure that all communications are stored in a central hub and can be viewed by you if needed? If you are the business owner, you can decide how you prefer to handle communications and assignment requests between clients and staff sitters. However, it’s essential that you make sure both your clients and staff sitters know your policy (tell them verbally and in writing) to avoid any communications issues.

Pet sitters, have you found any practices helpful for preventing miscommunications with clients and staff sitters? Share in the comments below.