How trying to find a dog sitter for Jojo and Noir revealed one of the most important marketing lessons for small businesses.

Finding a dog sitter should be simple. Open the app, browse some profiles, send a few messages, job done.
Except, as anyone who has tried arranging pet care during Christmas knows, it never quite plays out that neatly.

Recently, I spent hours trawling through dog-sitting sites trying to find someone to look after Jojo and Noir while we’re away. I scanned profiles, checked prices, looked at photos, and weighed up location. But the real differentiation didn’t show up until after I hit “Send Message”.

Within a few hours, replies trickled in. And the contrast between them was... enlightening.

One sitter didn’t mention the dogs at all. Just a flat “OK.”
Two others were friendly enough, but their responses read like quick transactions.
And then there was the standout.

She didn’t lead with price.
She led with care.

She asked about the dogs’ personalities, routines, quirks, and needs.
She suggested a meet-and-greet.
She talked like someone who actually wanted the job not just the money.

That was it. Decision made.

A couple of days later, the last sitter, the one who’d replied with the lonely “OK.”  messaged again, offering a lower price.

But here’s the thing:
It was never about the price.
It was always about the care factor.

You can feel when someone is just trying to fill a gig versus when someone genuinely wants to help. It shows in their language, the questions they ask, their responsiveness, their personal touch. And no discount can compensate for a lack of genuine interest in pets or in people.

The Business Lesson Hiding in a Dog-Sitting App

This experience is a mirror for small businesses everywhere.

Plenty of companies compete on price.
Very few compete on care.

Care sounds soft, but it is one of the hardest-working commercial assets a business can build. It shows up as:

? Responsiveness, replying quickly and meaningfully
? Personalisation, showing you understand the customer’s actual need
? Curiosity,  asking smart questions before jumping to solutions
? Reassurance, demonstrating experience, credibility, and trustworthiness
? Proactivity, suggesting next steps, like a meet-and-greet
? Humanness, sounding like you care about the outcome, not just the invoice

These behaviours remove friction, build trust, and lift perceived value, which makes price less relevant.

Should I “educate” the young sitter?

I actually wrestled with whether to message the young sitter back with some feedback. She clearly has potential; she’s young, willing, and looking for work. But she’s missing the one insight that transforms a gig worker into someone people rebook:
The relationship matters more than the rate.

Would feedback help her? Probably.
Will she take it on board? Hard to say.

But this micro-moment is something every business owner should reflect on:
Your communication is your marketing.
Every interaction signals something.
Customers pick up on care, or the absence of it — instantly.

For small businesses, the care factor is your competitive advantage

In a world of comparison sites, AI tools, and endless choice, small businesses can’t rely on being the cheapest or the biggest. But they can absolutely be the most caring, the most human, and the most invested in the customer’s success.

It’s the reason one dog sitter got the booking.
It’s the reason customers return.
It’s the reason word-of-mouth still beats advertising.

Care is not fluffy.
Care converts.

And it will always outweigh a discount.