Show Transcript
Speaker 1:
Welcome back to the Make Your Dog Epic Tulsa Dog Training podcast where we talk about all things related to dog training. On today’s edition of the show, I want to interview a Tulsa dog training expert by the name of JT Lawson. JT, welcome onto the show. How are you, sir?
JT Lawson:
I’m doing phenomenal, doing really good.
Speaker 1:
I want you to mentally travel back to one of your recent interactions with a dog training customer, and I want to just walk us through the mechanics of what that first lesson looks like. Where do you meet the potential customer when you do the first lesson for 50 cents? How does that interaction look? How long does it take? Just walk us through that first initial consultation with a new potential Tulsa dog training customer.
JT Lawson:
Basically, how it works, I’ll just take you through the process of what I recently did in Tulsa. What it is you come, you go out to their house and you meet the dog. You’re figuring out what they’re struggling with their dog. You figure out what they would like to fix because what’s important to me isn’t always necessarily important to them. My biggest thing come has to be their command come needs to be proofed, but some people don’t care. They’re like, “Hey, I just need my dog to stop barking,” so whatever your biggest goals are, that’ll be ours. Then we sat down, we talked about it, then I told them a little bit more about Make Your Dog Epic Tulsa Dog Training. Then we went out and I worked with their dog a little bit. I told them that way I could walk them through our different types of training, and then I showed them my dog, what a finished dog looks like, well, a dog looks like when they’re done with training. Then we went back and I talked to them about the specific package that I thought would work best with them, and then we worked with their budget and got it done. It typically takes about 45 minutes to an hour.
Speaker 1:
Now, people who are online, they type in Tulsa dog training, and I think people think there’s probably one trainer or two. Well, if you do a Google search for Tulsa dog training, you’re going to discover. I mean, there are many incredible websites. I mean, many clients, many different options there for wonderful clients like yourself, and I think it can be a little bit overwhelming. I want to go through some of the websites, not specifically, but I want to talk about, get your thoughts on some of the claims they make and maybe if you could get your reaction to this. One of the search results, they talk about offering a free phone consultation. What are your thoughts on dog trainers in Tulsa that offer a free phone consultation?
JT Lawson:
Yeah, I think a phone consultation is a super lazy way to do a first consultation and you’re not actually going to see the dog, so I need to be there and actually meet your dog. That way, I can see from my perspective what it looks like. Clay, you own multiple businesses. How you see a business is different than how the normal person sees a business. How when I see a dog barking or growling at people, I see it differently than how other people see it because I’ve been trained in that and I understand why they’re doing it and what type of growl? Are they being serious or are they bluffing? We need to actually see them in person, and so we’ll come out to your house or we’ll meet you at a park, but we will not just do a phone consultation.
Speaker 1:
Now, another dog training solution that comes up in the search results, again, I’m not going to mention names, but their whole niche appears to be focused on their award-winning, and so it says Award-winning. I look at the awards and it appears as though the awards that they’ve won seem to be missing in action. They claim to be an award-winning Tulsa dog trainer, but I don’t know what awards they’ve actually won. Do you hear this a lot in the Tulsa dog training industry?
JT Lawson:
Yeah, you do. It’s kind of like where you go somewhere and they have the world’s best coffee or the world’s best pumpkin pie. Who said that? They did. They just awarded themselves that prestigious award and then posted on the website or they paid the most, or they went to the most sponsored events to get in with the award places around Tulsa so that they’ll do it, or they went through the right revenues or they had friends and family members vote on them on a website where it had different businesses and stuff. Everyone just kind of awards themselves is what I found with the Tulsa dog training.
Speaker 1:
Now also, I’m finding a lot of these websites offer kind of a chat bot that you go to the website and all of a sudden this program asks you to, if you want to text in, do you want to text in and chat in? It just seems to be a steering the customer towards doing a chat bot or communicating via text. What are your thoughts on that?
JT Lawson:
Yeah, maybe it’s I’m just more old school, but I really feel like you need to talk to somebody on the phone and then see them in person. I feel like a lot of these trainers, they’re trying to find the cheapest and easiest way to get people’s money, and they think that a chat bot will work in doing that, but the only people who chat bots are the businesses, the customers never like chat bots. I’ve never, ever used a chat bot online and after I’ve been like, “Oh, I’m really glad they had that, and I’m glad I didn’t talk to somebody on the phone.” It’s just so much easier to talk to somebody on the phone and then see them in person.
Speaker 1:
Now, there’s a lot of these dog training academies where it’s an academy of some kind. It’s like you as the owner of the dog, you go to an academy with the dog and then you’re spending a lot of your time training, being trained on how to train your dog. It seems like you and the dog are going together to an academy. How is that different from the board and train dog training systems that you offer?
JT Lawson:
Yeah, so the board and train that we offer is you don’t have to do any homework, so you don’t have to be there. The dog training academies is basically they’re training you on how to train dogs. It’s a very long process. There’s same thing with the academies or the dog training schools. There’s no governing body over it. Anyone could have a dog training school and be teaching anything, and there’s no governing body over it to make sure they’re teaching things that actually work. The academies, they’re more for if you want to learn how to be a dog trainer, and it’s very long and it takes a lot of your personal time where our boarding schools is completely different, where it doesn’t take really any of your time, ’cause we’re doing all the work for you.
Speaker 1:
Now, the idea of dog training in Tulsa, a lot of people live in Broken Arrow or Coweta or Bixby or the surrounding areas. They’re wanting to know how far of an area do you train? Do you train dogs just in Tulsa? Do you train dogs all over Oklahoma? What’s the area that you like to stay within if you’re training dogs?
JT Lawson:
Yeah, so we have about a 30 to 45 minute drive range, but we can always meet you on that range and we can meet you at a park or something and get your dog trained for that 50 cent first lesson. We’ve trained dogs out of state. We’ve trained dogs all the way in Oklahoma City or Enid, or we’ve had people drive in because they trusted us more than any other dog trainer, and they read our reviews and testimonials and they thought, “Well, we’ll drive in for the 50 cent first lesson, and if it works, we’ll do a boarding school training. That way we don’t have to keep driving back and forth for lessons,” and they’ll drop their dog off and we’ll bring them back a trained dog.
Speaker 1:
Now the first lesson is just 50 cents with a Make Your Dog Epic Tulsa Dog Training. Walk us through that. Why is the first Tulsa dog training lesson just 50 cents?
JT Lawson:
Because we want you to be able to try it before you buy it. We’re not going to be like, Hey, first lesson is a thousand bucks and then the rest are 50 or whatever. We’re not doing any weird sales thing like that. We just want to make sure that you get a chance to see how our operation works and how our training methods work and make sure we’re the right fit for you. That’s really why we do it, so you can try it before you buy it.
Speaker 1:
Now, I want to ask you this, and don’t BS me, but don’t name who you’re talking about. I just want to know, because you’ve been in the dog training business for a long time. You’ve seen a lot of dog training sales moves. What’s the dirtiest dog training sales moves that you’ve actually heard be taught or trained? There’s dog trainers everywhere. They’re out there trying to sell their dog training sales system. What are just the dirtiest, grossest, you want to take a shower and burn your clothes after discovering these sales moves?
JT Lawson:
Yeah. Yeah, so there’s one specifically that comes to mind. They were teaching basically this guy was basically what happened was they went to the sales and the customer was like, “Hey, I really just feel like I really want to do this, however, I just can’t afford it at the moment, but if we can wait a month or two, then I’ll be able to afford it and we’ll for sure sign up for training.” Instead of offering scholarship or price matching or just letting them wait, they’re taught that they can’t leave until they have a for sure yes or no. That’s not a for sure yes or no, that’s a maybe. They have to keep staying there. And then they were taught that if somebody has a price objection like that, that they’re supposed to say, “Well, I know the package is worth around is about $4,000. Is your dog not worth $4,000?”
Then you’re supposed to lower your cadence. You’re supposed to sound really empathetic, and then you’re basically supposed to guilt trip them into, “Hey, if you don’t get your dog trained with us, your dog’s probably not going to listen to you and it’s going to run out and get hit by a car. If you don’t spend your $4,000, your dog’s probably going to die.” They’ll word it however they want to word it, but that’s basically the gist of it. What they’re doing is they’re guilt tripping you into, “If you don’t pay this, then obviously you don’t care about your dog as much.”
Speaker 1:
Oh, come on. That doesn’t happen. Does it?
JT Lawson:
It does happen, and it’s super gross, and we just can’t … It would be like somebody trying to sell you a car seat for your child and then you’re like, “Wow, this car seat’s 10 grand?” They’re like, “Wow, is your child not worth 10 grand to you if you wreck? If it’s not in this car seat. It’s going to die.”
Speaker 1:
Now, let’s contrast that to walk us through your closing process. I mean, if you’re out there, you’re meeting with a prospect who’s thinking about hiring you to train their dog, and you do that first lesson for 50 cents, walk us through, tell the listeners what are you going to say to them? Tell us your secret sauce. Tell us what you’re going to say so our listeners can get psychologically prepared for your sales process there at Make Your dog Epic Tulsa.
JT Lawson:
Yeah. Well, for us, I mean, truly the whole goal is that you’re going to be so wowed by the end of it that you don’t really have to think about it, and I don’t have to sell you at the end. We’re just going to find a package that works right for you and we’re going to fit it into your budget. Before then, we’re going to show you the client testimonials, the reviews on us. We’re going to show you our personal dog that we can kind of see what a finished dog looks like. We’re going to train your dog in front of you, and then at the end, if you have a price objection or you just feel like it’s a little bit out of your budget, one, we price match. Then also, we have scholarship options to help families in need because we don’t want anyone to miss out with dog training because our whole goal is that we fix 98% of behavioral issues in one to three weeks. One of the main reasons dogs get put down or re-homed or euthanized is because of behavioral issues. We want to help stop that one dog at a time.
Speaker 1:
You’re a gentleman and a scholar. We really do appreciate you. I’ll give you the final word, sir.
JT Lawson:
Yeah. If you’re thinking about it or you’re borderline, what I’d say, there’s really no, it’s a no brainer. It’s 50 cents. We want to come out. I guarantee you, by the end of the first lesson, your mind will be blown and you’ll be like, “I should have done this years ago, even though I’ve only had the puppy for four months.” We’ll be super excited to help you and train your dog and we’ll get it done. We’re super excited to work with you.
Speaker 1:
Well, like we always say here at the Make Your Dog Epic Tulsa podcast, we’ll talk to you in five minutes.
Speaker 3:
Is your dog and furry friend holding you hostage?
Speaker 4:
Will your dog not stop pulling on its leash and eating your sausage? Who wrote that?
Speaker 3:
Well, I don’t mean to brag, but I actually wrote it and …
Speaker 4:
Wow.
Speaker 3:
… It rhymes. People dig it like a dog. You get it?
Speaker 4:
Okay, so I’m just going to keep reading. Will your dog not stop jumping on you or pooping in your house like you’re on the set of Jumanji or living in a zoo?
Speaker 3:
It only took me two weeks to write that line while sitting at the base of a waterfall. Well, gazing upon my epic dog. The dog that once held me hostage was now my best friend.
Speaker 4:
It’s so good.
Speaker 3:
The dog that would never listen was now all ears.
Speaker 4:
It’s so good. I just want to cry.
Speaker 3:
Pull yourself together, man. If you too want to transform your dog from a furry terrorist into your best friend, what you need to do is schedule your first lesson at Makeyourdogepic.com. Where your first lesson is always just 50 cents. With those savings, you can use that to pay the rent. Again, your first lesson is always just 50 cents to makeyourdogepic.com.
Speaker 4:
Wow.
Speaker 3:
Stop the endless barking. Reduce the aggressive behaviors. Prevent dog jumping. Stop your dog from chasing the elderly UPS driver as he attempts to deliver a package. Stop your dog from biting Pam, your yoga pants-wearing neighbor as she just attempts to speed walk in peace. Stop your dog from eating your wife’s wedding dress and peeing in your closet on top of your Christmas gifts. Stop the madness at makeyourdogepic.com.
Experience the revolutionary focus-based positive reinforcement training and methodology. Outgoing is dog obedience, but never at the expense of dog personality. It’s the same dog, but now it’s all ears.
Speaker 4:
Wow. Mancar. You are a talented vocal artist.
Speaker 3:
Well, well, I just-
Speaker 4:
You can sense your, I can feel the passion. It’s contagious.
Speaker 3:
Well, my friend, I am passionate about the product. I once went 60 days without sleeping.
Speaker 4:
Really?
Speaker 3:
My wife’s wedding dress got eaten and my neighbor Pam was bitten by my dog.
Speaker 4:
Oh man.
Speaker 3:
My quality of life was at all time low. I actually didn’t have, I didn’t invite people over to my home for months because of the new dog. I always smelled like urine.
Speaker 4:
You do still smell a little bit like dog urine.
Speaker 3:
Well, I made my dog epic. I was hostage. That’s where the passion comes from. You’ve got to believe in your product, and you’ve got to project from the diaphragm.
Speaker 4:
The diaphragm.
Speaker 3:
To bend your knees.
Speaker 4:
Bend the knees, bend the knees.
Speaker 3:
Drink ginger.
Speaker 4:
Drink the ginger.
Speaker 3:
You’ve got to ingest apple cider vinegar.
Speaker 4:
Apple cider.
Speaker 3:
I can do that with a dog bone. You want to chew on the dog bone before the …
Speaker 4:
Hard pass.
Speaker 3:
… Recording so that you can emulate the dog, and you should listen to a atomic dog.
Speaker 4:
I can do that.
Speaker 3:
But you’re not a dog, but you want to just chew on the bone, the oversized bone, not the regular sized bone.
Speaker 4:
Hard pass. Not going to chew on the bone.