Wouldn’t you love to have people ready and waiting to buy your rabbits? I mean who wouldn’t? That is like having people waiting to give you money.
Have you ever had someone ask you if you had any rabbits available and you had to say no? Why not offer to put them on your waiting list and contact them when you do have something?
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A Waiting List Puts You In Control
It keeps you from having to rely on THEIR memory to call you back. Life gets busy and they forget. But, when you have their contact information the ball is in your court to make the move and reach out when something available.
With a waiting list in place, you will have a much better idea of who is serious about buying and who is not.
A Waiting List Gives Your Rabbitry Scarcity
When you create scarcity on something it keeps people from continually pushing it off and not buying. If they have no reason to buy now they won’t. But if they don’t think they will be able to get it later it gives them a slight case of FOMO (fear of missing out) and they are more likely to save their spot.
When you have an online waiting list that they can “save their seat” if you will. It gives that scarcity to your rabbits by telling them that they might not get one if they don’t get on the waiting list.
Its not sleazy to have this in place if it is the truth. There are only so many babies you can “make” or have ready and the people on that list get first priority.
Waiting Lists Keep Your Rabbitry Organized
It helps you know how much business you have in reserve. You don’t have to wonder where that next sale is coming from. When you sell livestock you know how many offspring you need to meet your customer’s needs. With that info, you can make a better estimate of how many animals need to be bred.
Related Post: planning your breeding season.)
For handmade products like supplements, wool, yarn, or crochet items you know how many hours of work it takes you to make those items. If you have a lot of people on your list you can decide to stop taking pre-orders till you are able to catch up.
Or you can just inform your customers how far out you are booked.
A Waiting List Develops Loyalty
When people know that they are on your waiting list they are far less likely to buy from someone else when they are scrolling the pages of Craigs List or looking in the Facebook sales groups. When they have a spot on your list they (for the most part) are more respectful of your time and effort.
Pro-Tip
To keep from losing people when your waiting list is long, do an occasional check-in with them.
I have had some people on my waiting list for over a year because they wanted something specific. This helps them know that you have not forgotten about them.
I like to send an email when the breedings are done that they could possibly get a baby from. Then again when the babies are born to keep the anticipation going.
It also keeps you from getting in over your head and have more customers then you can handle.
How To Make Your Own Waiting List
There are so many options you can do and it depends on how many waiting list submissions you will have. The key is having a way to keep it all organized AND in order of who came in first. I have had to look at my messages down to the minute before deciding who gets the rabbit.
If paper is your go-to then type a sheet of paper that you can use to print out and write the person’s info down on.
If digital is your thing then you might like trello.
You can get a free trello account here.
If you like sticky notes you will like
If you have a website and want people to be able to get on it at any time then you need Typeform. With typeforem you can add up to 10 questions for free in the form. So things like email, name, address, and product-specific questions if you have them.
This is a great way to make sure people are serious and are not just saying they want a rabbit but are not serious.
A Free Typeform Account.
With the free account, you will get 100 form submissions for free PER MONTH as well. So unless your business is crazy busy with lots of people to help make products this will be totally fine.
Waiting lists will do wonders for your rabbitry business and help you to maintain a steady stream of customers. Be patient and listen to the questions you hear people ask you when they come to pick up a rabbit. That will tell you where you need to be more informative on your website.
