Looking for a KennelBooker Alternative? Why Pet Manager Might Be Your Perfect Fit

Looking for a KennelBooker Alternative? Why Pet Manager Might Be Your Perfect Fit

Choosing the management software for your pet care business is a bit like choosing the right lead for a dog that’s a notorious puller. Make the wrong choice, and you’ll find yourself being dragged in directions you never intended to go, wrestling with tangled messes and feeling a constant strain. Make the right one, and you’ll feel in control, confident, and ready for a pleasant journey.

KennelBooker is a well-known name in the industry, and for many, it’s been a reliable tool. But what happens when your business starts to grow, diversify, or simply needs a different set of features to truly flourish? What happens when you feel that little tug of frustration, that thought of, “I wish it could just do this”?

That’s when you start looking for an alternative. And that’s where we’d like to introduce ourselves. Hello, we’re Pet Manager.

If you’re currently using KennelBooker or have it on your shortlist, we invite you to take a walk with us and explore how a different approach to pet business management might be the perfect fit for you.

The Quest for the “Perfect” Software

Let’s be honest, the “perfect” software is a myth. The right software, however, is very real. It’s the one that aligns with your specific workflows, your business goals, and your vision for customer experience.

The global pet care market is booming, expected to grow from USD $246 billion in 2023 to over USD $368 billion by 2030. With that growth comes increased competition and higher customer expectations. The days of pen-and-paper systems or clunky, one-size-fits-all software are behind us. Modern pet businesses need a robust, intuitive, and integrated command centre.

Perhaps you’re looking for a KennelBooker alternative because:

• You’re expanding your services beyond boarding into daycare, grooming, training, or walking and need a single system that handles it all seamlessly.
• You crave deeper financial insights and a more robust integration with your accounting software.
• You want to offer your clients a more polished, branded, and feature-rich online portal.
• You need more powerful and flexible pricing automation that can handle complex rules for seasons, packages, and customer types.

If any of these resonate, then you’re in the right place.

A Tale of Two Platforms: A Feature Exploration

Let’s not just talk in hypotheticals. Let’s dig into some of the core areas of your business and see how a platform like Pet Manager might offer a different perspective.

Customer & Pet Management: Beyond the Basics

Your data is your gold. How your software manages it can be the difference between chaos and clarity.

Pet Manager is built around a comprehensive Customer Relationship Management (CRM) core. We believe you can never have too much information (as long as it’s organised!).

• Deep Customer Profiles: Beyond the basics, you can add secondary contacts (like a spouse or partner), an emergency contact, and their preferred vet. You can also track how they found you with Lead Source tracking and create custom Customer Types, like ‘VIP’ or ‘Pensioner’, to apply special pricing or offers.
• Detailed Pet Records: It’s not just about name and breed. You can record behavioural traits, diet and medical notes, insurance details, and even their Instagram handle! Plus, our system allows you to create custom questions to gather specific information you need directly from the client during booking.
• Vaccination & Document Hub: Track vaccination expiry dates with automated reminders and alerts. Clients can even upload the certificates themselves through the portal. You can also upload other documents, like signed agreements or training certificates, directly to the customer or pet profile.

KennelBooker also provides solid customer and pet management, allowing you to store key details and track vaccinations. The key difference often lies in the depth of customisation and the interconnectedness of that data with other modules like pricing and reporting.

Booking & Scheduling: Powerfully Flexible

Bookings are the lifeblood of your business. Your scheduler shouldn’t be a puzzle; it should be a powerful tool that gives you a clear view of your operations at a glance.

Pet Manager offers a suite of schedulers and calendars designed for the complexities of a multi-service pet business.

• Dedicated Schedulers: We provide separate, purpose-built schedulers for every area of your business: boarding, daycare, grooming, training, and more. This keeps things clean and prevents clutter.
• Drag-and-Drop Simplicity: See a better spot for a guest? Just drag and drop their booking to a new pen or room. You can also easily manage Split Bookings for pets who are moving between enclosures during their stay.
• The Price is Right, Automatically: This is a big one. Pet Manager has an incredibly powerful and rules-based pricing calculator. You can set up complex pricing that automatically applies based on any combination of factors: seasons (like school holidays or Christmas), length of stay, the number of pets, pet size, breed, customer type, and more. This automates what is often a manual, error-prone task.
• Service-Specific Functionality: For services like grooming or training, you can manage staff rosters, define specific service types (e.g., a ‘Puppy Clip’ vs. a ‘Full Groom’), and manage multi-session training courses with ease.

KennelBooker features a well-regarded visual calendar that allows for online bookings and managing different boarding types. Where businesses sometimes look for an alternative is when their pricing structures become more complex or when they operate multiple, distinct service types under one roof and desire a more specialised interface for each.

The Customer Portal: Your Digital Front Door

In 2024, a clunky, non-branded customer portal is a missed opportunity. Your online booking experience should feel like an extension of your brand.

Pet Manager’s customer portal is designed to be your portal, not ours.

• Seamless Integration: You can embed the portal directly into your own website, so the customer never feels like they are leaving your domain.
• Brand Customisation: You can change the theme colours to perfectly match your company’s branding, creating a professional and trustworthy experience for your clients.
• A True Self-Service Hub: Customers can do more than just book. They can register, update their own details, add new pets, upload vaccination documents, view their booking history, manage their invoices, and make secure online payments via our Stripe integration. Many of our users have told us how much this empowers their clients and frees up admin time.

This level of deep branding and self-service functionality is a key area where businesses seek to upgrade their digital presence.

It’s Not Just About Features, It’s About Partnership

Software is more than just a collection of functions. It’s about the team behind it and the ecosystem it creates.

With Pet Manager, you’re not just buying software; you’re gaining a partner. Our Google reviews often highlight the responsiveness and helpfulness of our support team. We offer an online user guide, help videos, and an in-app ticketing system for when you need a hand.

Furthermore, we believe the best ideas come from the people on the front lines. That’s why we have a built-in feature request system where our customers can suggest new features and vote on the suggestions of others. We build our development roadmap based on what you, our users, tell us you need.

So, Is Pet Manager Your Perfect KennelBooker Alternative?

Only you can answer that. Choosing software is a personal decision based on your unique operational DNA.

KennelBooker is a solid platform that serves many businesses well. But if you’re reading this, chances are you’re looking for something more.

If you’re looking for:

• A true all-in-one platform for boarding, daycare, grooming, training, and more.
• Incredibly powerful and automated pricing that saves you time and increases accuracy.
• Deep integration with leading tools like Xero and Mailchimp.
• A fully brandable, feature-rich customer portal that impresses your clients.
• A dedicated, responsive support team and a voice in the future of the product.

Then Pet Manager might just be the perfect fit you’ve been looking for.

Don’t just take our word for it. We encourage you to explore our features at www.petmanager.com.au and see for yourself. The right software should make your tail wag, and we’re here to help you find that feeling.