“It’s All About the Money.”
Just as the styles for grooming pets has changed over the years, the way we get paid to groom has changed as well. Card readers that allow you to charge customers with a swipe through your cell phone or tablet, chip card technology to reduce theft, Paypal… it can all be a little confusing.
The Northwest Grooming Show separates itself from other shows in many ways. The groomers that attend are some of the most social and helpful that you will find anywhere. It doesn’t take long to feel comfortable with new groomers that you meet.
I was driving somewhere with my kids who, at the time, were five, four, and two years old. They were playing a game in the back seat identifying other vehicles on the road. My four year–old very excitably pointed out the soda truck. My five year–old promptly corrected her. “That’s not a soda truck, that’s a Coke truck.”
With a Winning Attitude
Sally S. began grooming at a young age. She honed her craft, saved her money, and found a mentor in the grooming business. After a time, Sally opened her own grooming salon, Sally’s Soggy Dog. Business ran great for a while with just a few novice mistakes; a missed tax filing here, a disgruntled customer there, but Sally learned and Sally’s Soggy Dog prospered.
The catch phrase of the seventies, “Let your fingers do the walking,” has been replaced by social media sites like Yelp, which claims to be “the best way to find local businesses.” The Twenty-first Century has ushered in a different kind of advertising for the pet industry. Because I wanted to use the same marketing techniques that my clients use when they are looking for pet services, my focus has shifted from the Yellow Pages to Yelp.
I was sitting at a client’s kitchen table after I finished grooming Misty. I was talking to Mrs. about something funny Misty did when Mr. handed me the customer survey I had given him when I first arrived. He told me that the reason they followed me from the shop I worked at was because I had the best customer service they had ever received from a groomer.
Take a moment to be brutally honest with yourself. Are you being compensated fairly for your work? Pet grooming is a task that requires a great many skills. Groomers must be endlessly patient, able to work with sharp tools and moving animals, have a strong artistic leaning in order to make pets look their best, have talent with time management to make all the magic happen on schedule, and have the business sense to bring home a decent income at the end of the week.
It takes more than great service to retain clients in today’s competitive pet grooming industry. More than ever, it’s important to build credibility and trust with your own client base so they know that not only are you a grooming expert, but that you care about your customers, too. Email Marketing Campaigns are the easiest ways to keep your business in front of your customers and ensure they continue to use your services rather than a competitor’s.
Defining Best Practices For Your Salon
Best Practices for your salon are defined as a set of guidelines that you practice to complete your services in the highest manner for your clients and their pets. For many groomers, they are already in place yet not written or defined. You may have a certain way you greet your client, a particular way you like to complete a nail trim, or even a preferred style for your pet Bichon heads.
“We recently had a few episodes of inclement weather, flooding followed by snow and ice storms. As a salon owner, how do you choose whether to stay open or not during these events?”
– Judy B.
I set my free security plug-in to alert me whenever someone tried to hack into my website. I would get the occasional notice so it wasn’t annoying, until one night there was over 30 alerts. My phone dinged all night long. The free plug-in I installed would lock out a user after 20 failed attempts. That means there were over 600 attempts at logging on to my website.
Groomer pay is a polarizing and well-debated subject in the pet service industry. Visit any social media outlet frequented by groomers and you will find the industry seems polarized. Groomers, shop owners, and even tax advisers are at odds with one another meanwhile the clients are unaware of the looming controversy behind the scenes.