The client is planning on a month long stay in the near future for her dog while she goes out of the country. She is a wonderful client & has not even hinted that she would like a discount. I just want to do what the most appropriate & business like thing is. What do you guys usually do for long stays?
I give a $5/day discount for stays of over 7 days. I do this because it's guaranteeing that I will have income for those days and the dog and I will have become adjusted to each other, so (hopefully) not as many behavior problems. Also, I have found it's an incentive for clients to book with me again for shorter stays as well.
It sounds like this is a regular client. It would be a nice gesture to offer to discount part of the month stay. I would offer the discount for 2 weeks of the 4 weeks. She might be the kind to turn it down, but if it were me, I would appreciate the thought.
This dilemma has been brought up before, and there seem to be two opinions. One opinion is that an extended stay guarantees that you will have work for a long period of time, and from this standpoint it would seem appropriate to offer a discount if you desired. Another opinion is that extended stays block your calendar and make you unavailable to potential new clients, and so are seen as detrimental. Personally, I think it would be very kind to offer a discount (perhaps 10% off) if you are wanting to do so. I do not offer discounts myself, as I am strictly a traveling sitter and so I have to account for gas/mileage/drive time, which can be extensive for long reservations.