As the temperature drops, the days get shorter, and the autumn leaves hit the ground, mycustomers frequently ask me, "Why is my dog shedding so much? Isn't it the wrong season?" If your customers are wondering the same thing, consider this an excellent opportunity to educate pet owners.
The kind woman who trained me to groom taught me to count the toes out loud on each foot when I was learning to master claw care. "Look for at least five toes on every foot." Decades later, I still mutter "1,2,3,4…5?" under my breath when I lift every paw and check every leg to trim those claws. Beyond the four obvious claws on the toes, I always search for a dewclaw on every leg
Several dog breeds have tipped ears as part of their breed profile grooms. Yorkshire, West Highland White, and Cairn Terriers are some of the more common ones. Tipping the ears on fluffy mixed breeds that have pricked or semi-pricked ears can be a fun style, too.
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.
If you take a moment to look at pet grooming from the dog's viewpoint, it becomes clear that some of the things we do during a typical grooming session are things that no one else ever does to them and that the dog very probably does not enjoy. We get them wet, use loud, sometimes buzzy tools, and touch every part of their body. We lift them, turn them, and mess with their sensitive faces, feet, and everything in between.
Successful groomers will tell you the basis of a great groom is in the “prep work.” This means that no matter how beautifully you clip, scissor, and sculpt, the dog you groom will not look its best if the coat is improperly prepared.
My sister loves dogs. She has only owned two in her lifetime, so I feel it is safe to say she is a reasonably typical pet owner. Recently, she and I watched a large boat move from its trailer into a harbor. The boat owner had his dog on the trailer as the boat was slowly transported. My sister said, “Oh! That poor dog is so scared!” I said, “Look at his body language.
It’s a mundane Monday. You are grooming your average lineup of poodle mixes, maybe a Shih Tzu or two and a chubby spaniel. The phone rings, and a potential new customer calls to make an appointment for a breed you have never groomed. A thrill of excitement tingles down your spine, but that delightful feeling immediately dissipates in a wash of self-doubt. You’d love the experience of grooming an unknown breed, but you don’t trust yourself. Now what?
