In an ideal world, our customers would bring us sweet, wriggling puppies and allow us to groom their pets until they die at an advanced age. The dog would be used to us and how we handle it for grooming, and we would be used to the dog and its behavior. Customers would appreciate how we make their pet look and smell and never forget to tip. But it's not an ideal world, and the above scenario is not the norm.
Using courtesy in your business is a way of showing respect to your customers or potential customers. In a post-Covid world, many people have experienced less courtesy than we remember having in the past. In the grooming industry, there are some simple steps to ensure you are offering the people who reach out to you the kind of courtesy that will make them feel good about you and your business practices.
Do you prefer that your customers contact you via telephone, text, or a messaging platform? Increasingly, groomers are giving up the standard phone call in preference for messaging. The benefits are as follows:
When we bought our current home twenty years ago, I visited the local hardware store the first week to stock up on various little things I needed after moving cross-country. I struck up a conversation with the guy at the checkout counter. He introduced himself as the store owner and asked my name. A week later, I popped in to buy something else, and as soon as I walked in the door, he called out, "Hi, Daryl!" I was shocked and delighted that he remembered me. From that day on, if I had a choice between shopping at the local big box hardware store or where they knew my name, guess which place I chose? Following, you will find five simple ways to make your customers feel appreciated.
The winter holiday season is upon us, and that means most groomers will have busy days planned. It’s not too late to ensure you have what you need to get through this time gracefully. Here is a checklist that may help you prepare for a successful season.
It's the phone call or message no groomer ever wants to get. It usually goes something like this, "After my dog got groomed, ____ happened." The blank might be, "He became really itchy," "He got an ear infection," or "He began to limp." The possibilities are endless. Sometimes, the problem is something we can work with. If the dog is itchy after grooming, we can note that and try using different products the next time it is in. But, other times, we are at a loss as to what to do.
When potential customers contact you, their first interaction with your business will set the tone for how they perceive you. This perception will be built upon with every point of contact they experience. Let’s look at a typical customer/groomer experience.
Finding new customers to come to your business can be an effort as well as a bit of a gamble. Each new dog presents its own challenges, which are unknown until you complete a grooming. Itmakes good sense to take steps to keep the customers you already have. Returning customers offer the following benefits to a small business
Picture this: you are scrolling through your favorite social media site and see a post where a groomer claims that she can dry a standard poodle in twenty minutes. There's a picture of said dog, and it has lots of long coat and looks nicely prepared. You know it would take you longer than twenty minutes to achieve that level of dry fluffiness, and you begin to wonder what you are doing wrong.
Groomers are creative artists who work in the fur medium. Like other artists, we can (and arguably should) create a portfolio of our work. A portfolio can be a physical or digital collection representing your work, qualifications, experience, and any accolades or certifications you may have acquired. Assembling a portfolio will help you build your brand, and it can be used to attract new customers or gain new employment. It also can show a remarkable timeline of how your skills have grown and progressed throughout your working time.
