A new photography app on the market is a massive hit with pet groomers. It is called PhotoRoom. You can take it for a test drive for free for a week; after that, it costs around one hundred dollars a year. This app enables groomers to snap a photo of a freshly groomed dog on their table or wherever convenient. The app then removes all the background clutter, including the grooming post and loop, the brush and piles of fur you forgot to remove from the table, your cup of coffee and half-eaten donut from the shelf behind your workstation. From there you can choose from an enormous variety of backdrops.
If you work in a grooming business with other people, chances are that there will be some conflict between coworkers at some point. Conflict situations can affect people's productivity in the workplace and, if left unresolved, can cause permanent ill-will that may make one or more employees leave the business. It is difficult to find accomplished pet care professionals, so keeping harmony in the workplace is important.
There are a limited number of pets hardworking groomers can style in one day, but by selling a few retail items to your existing customers, you can quickly increase your income without adding a single pet to your busy schedule.
When a new customer calls you for the first time, what happens next sets the tone for how they perceive your business. In an ideal world, they will reach out to you during business hours, and you will be free to answer the phone and help them personally.
Pet stylists often work in confined spaces. The nature of our work means the humidity level is high (I’m looking at you dogs that shake the bathwater everywhere!), and our jobs are strenuous. These three things can add to an uncomfortable work environment when the temperatures soar.
Good customer service can be defined as consistently meeting or exceeding your customer’s expectations. In the pet grooming industry, we have a little added complication because people are so profoundly attached to their pets they sometimes react on a deeper emotional level if things fall short of what they expect. Keeping a few basic concepts in mind can help pet grooming professionals to offer the kind of customer service that earns them customer loyalty and referrals. If a customer has a complaint or concern, enlist these concepts to help navigate the situation.
If you have been grooming pets for more than five minutes, chances are that you have had some unusual requests. Sometimes it is as simple as “Please don’t trim the eyelashes,” and you look to see the dog in question has lashes that are so long they hang halfway down his face and must make blinking a challenge. Or it may be something a bit… more.
When marketing your grooming business, there are ways to get the word out without breaking the bank. The first thing to do is focus on “thinking local.” You want to pitch the information about your grooming to a targeted audience. In our industry, your best investment is to focus on potential customers close to where you operate.
It’s always been important to know how much consumable supplies cost a business. Not only does it keep a good record of expenses, but to be sure the profit margin is where it should be. These days with price increases on shampoo and other goods it’s time to look at a different aspect of consumable costs – in exactly what way should we be passing this cost on to customers?
