Your Dog Grooming Business
From Your Customers View

What better way to consider how your customer is likely to view your dog grooming business than to look at it from their point of view?  You have spent your time and money on training for the skills needed on a dog grooming training course, you'll want to maximise the return from your investment - and that means gaining regular and satisfied customers.  If you are going to attract their business, then you should have a good idea of what points they consider when choosing a dog groomer.  Selecting a good, professional and friendly dog groomer is an important part of the decision-making process when trusting the pet that they love into someone else’s hands.  They need to know that you will treat their dog well, notify any problems as well as knowing how to care for and groom their particular breed of dog.  If you have taken the time and trouble to go through this process with your customer initially, you have the foundations for a long, happy and trusting relationship throughout the dog’s life.

There are several ways that a customer will find a professional dog groomer, one of the most obvious is by talking to other dog owners that they meet.  Dog owners tend to be willing to pass on information about their dogs, give recommendations as well as warnings about groomers they have used – so your reputation depends on each and every one of the dogs you groom!  If someone sees a dog groomed to a good standard, in a style that they want for their dog, you can rest assured that they would enquire about the groomer from that dog’s owner.

Some dog groomers specialise in certain types of dogs, such as toy, medium or large breeds.  Others may have become specialists in the styles for a particular breed or breeds of dogs – if you are this type of groomer be sure to project yourself to your customers, and potential customers, as a ‘specialist’.  Specialist grooming techniques will enhance your reputation and can be healthy for your fees. Some dog grooming schools will offer additional training for specific breeds of dogs or advanced grooming and styling techniques for those who wish to offer specialist dog grooming facilities.

You have spent a great deal of time, effort and money on your dog training course, to a level that will have gained you a qualification in dog grooming.  Don’t be shy with your credentials, display your diplomas and certificates at your place of business and include a reference to your professional qualifications in your promotional activity.  Don’t be offended if a customer enquires about your training and qualifications, use this as an opportunity to promote your own professional dog grooming skills and to discuss their specific requirements for their own dog. 

The pet owner will be concerned to know that their dog is going to be housed, treated and groomed with the utmost care and attention.  Many will not be too happy to let their pet go somewhere that they haven’t seen or are unaware of the facilities on site.  So a good way to build on the trust between your customer and yourself is to invite them along to see your premises and see how their dog will be accommodated and processed from arrival to departure on it's grooming appointment.  If they know that you care about their dog throughout the whole time that it is with you, they will have far greater confidence to leave the dog with you at grooming time.  This is also a great advertising opportunity for your dog grooming business - throw an 'open day' and invite local pet owners to come along and view your professional dog grooming salon.

Some dog groomers have an affiliation with certain breeds or with breed organisations.  If so, then ensure that anyone breeding the dogs that you have a more in-depth grooming knowledge of has your details to pass on to new puppy owners.  A breeder’s recommendation will be good for your business and is already one step along the path to a trusting relationship with a new dog owner.  (You may wish to consider offering the puppy's first grooming appointment free as a way of attracting them to utilise your grooming service.)  

As a professional dog groomer, don’t be afraid to advise and assist with selecting the right cut and style for a dog.  Obviously different circumstances will apply in each case, taking into consideration the time that the owner can spend on grooming between visits to the salon, the breed of dog, if a ‘show ring’ cut is required, its exercise routine, etc. etc. 

If you are unsure about show ring grooming cuts required for a particular breed, ask the owner to supply you with pictures of exactly what is required.  Additionally, some research on the internet can be invaluable, and there is every reason to seek advice from prominent breeders and exhibitors in order to get it right.  The majority of exhibitors in any breed are friendly and approachable and will be only too pleased to give you sound advice in the correct show-dog grooming of their breed  - these people are specialists in their own right, they will be gushing with helpful advice on most occasions (providing you haven’t interrupted them on their way to the show-ring at a dog show!).

In addition to washing and grooming the coat, you provide a service for conditioning the dog’s coat, nail clipping, ear cleaning, anal gland emptying and a general health check up.  These are all essential services to the majority of pet owners, so make sure you include the details of these standard services with any information that you give about your dog grooming service.  This also gives owners the opportunity to tell you if they don’t want their dog to receive any of these services.

Owners know their dogs intimately, so if the dog is prone to being nervous, timid, or even aggressive, take the opportunity to discuss their temperament prior to the first appointment.  You have to make your own judgment in respect of dogs that tend to be aggressive, most grooming salons prefer to take this temperament of dog either as the first (early) appointment or very late in the day, to avoid any conflict with other clients in the salon at the same time.  Similar applies with dogs that have had a poor experience in the past with dog groomers and tend to snap or bite whilst being groomed. 

Enquire about any allergies or skin conditions that the dog has, or has suffered from in the past.  If the dog is prone to skin rashes, ‘hot spots’, or dry skin conditions - you need to know this information before you start to groom them.  If the dog needs specialised products then its important to ensure that you have these to hand when the dog arrives for the grooming appointment.  If your salon only uses eco-friendly products and / or hypoallergenic products, promote this as a benefit to all of your customers – we all like to ensure that we do our bit for the planet in these eco-friendly times.

By taking the time and trouble to discuss all the details of the dog and it’s grooming requirements you will build a relationship of trust between your customer and yourself.  This will form the basis of a long, respectful and mutually beneficial relationship between your customer and yourself.  Keep record details of each of the dogs that you groom, and ensure that the details discussed above are entered into it  - this is a good memory jogger for future visits to the grooming salon, and will be impressive to your customer when you have ‘remembered’ that their dog has some specific grooming requirements.