I understand the importance of a meet and greet when it involves an overnight, but I'm finding that customers want a free meet and greet for a one-time dog walk. How are you handling these requests?
M&G's are very important as Jean replied and they should always be free - it's called business development
Doing a meet and greet is always worth it. Plenty of dogs will not allow you to come in the house, much less get a leash on their collar, unless they know you. You will waste a ton of time just trying to get the dog to calm down when you come in to walk them.
Also, keep in mind that people are not going to want to pay you for "nothing," especially when other sitters are not charging for the same "service" (aka meet & greet). Plus, while it may seem like a one-time dog walk, that "one-time" walk is a trail run to see if the client will rebook you and become a repeat client, in which case it's not a meet and greet for a one-time service. It's a meet and greet in preparation for potential ongoing services.
Side note: I don't think there's anything in the Rover terms of service that disallows you from charging for a meet and greet, but you may want to email them and double check.
Ok makes sense
Maybe if you are the leading sitter in your area but even then I'd still say no. The reason being nobody really does that, it's like asking a company to pay you for coming in for a job interview. Both parties are paying with their time for a mutual relationship that is hopefully profitable to you.
Ok, makes sense. Really was just curious what people were doing as I'm ew to Rover.