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Don’t Let Your Salon Become a Doggie Day Care (for Free, Anyway)

A salon owner recently asked me how I would handle a situation we all face.

What do you do when pet owners drop their dogs off for grooming that should only take 2 to 3 hours and expect you to keep them all day – at no additional cost?

Here’s what you do…

CHARGE FOR IT!!

Let’s face it – you’re never going to get away from this problem, so flip it into a positive.

Add a policy on pet pickup to your service menu: “We pride ourselves in getting your pet back to you as quickly as possible.“ Then briefly explain what your typical timeframe is for most grooming services. It might be something like, “Most grooming services take 1-3 hours depending on the size, condition, and the type of service.” Add something pleasant along the lines that you appreciate prompt pickup upon completion of the groom.

Next, add half-day daycare for select clients. Be bold! Proudly display this in your service menu. Place tasteful signs around your reception area announcing this new service – for “their convenience.” Set a price that establishes the excellent value of this service. Be strong. Be positive. If you’re feeling hesitant about this tactic, remember that this is something you’re doing to help them – you’re giving them the gift of time! They can now be pet free for a little while so they can get their shopping done, clean the house, or just take a little quiet time to themselves (because after all, don’t they deserve it?). You just also happen to earn back some cash for the time and effort you used to spend caring for their pet – for free. If you’re going to end up doing this for them anyway, why not charge fairly for it -because after all, don’t you deserve it?

If you don’t mind acting as canine daycare service – make it a reasonable rate. If you don’t want to do it or basically want to discourage it, set the price at a point that very much makes it WORTH your effort.

Maybe you charge $10 for it… or $25… or MORE. Whatever you choose, make sure people understand it’s by the half-day. If people have been abusing you in this area, you have to be strong. Be pleasant but do not let the clients walk all over you. Remember that this is a mutually beneficial thing you’re doing – you have the upper hand. Be consistent and follow through.

To enhance that positive spin, I would make it sound appealing on the service menu. Make it fun. Tell the client that their pet will be offered water, a mid-day snack, a potty break, and a cozy place to stay.

Then there’s another area we definitely need to talk about: the fine print on your service menu. This is where you state “your rules.” You don’t have to go overboard but you certainly need to set some boundaries for your clients.

One of the rules I would certainly encourage would be a late pickup policy. For example, if the pet is not picked up within an hour of its completed groom, you reserve the right to charge $XX per 15 minutes the pet is left in your care. You get the idea. You need to have something written and posted along those lines to help them remember. And you must follow through. The guests that take advantage of you will need consistent enforcement if you are to make any headway with them.

A late fee is different from a daycare expense. The Paragon School of Pet Grooming doesn’t charge for “daycare.” As a school, Paragon has the space to keep the pets – a luxury you may not have. Because we need high pet volume for our students, we don’t charge clients extra if they need to leave their pet all day due to work situations – we need the dogs more than we need the space!!

However, there are a few clients who just can’t seem to get there by closing time. We found that charging the late pick-up fee to clients that don’t respect our closing time works well to help re-train their thinking about lateness.

Basically, the client is charged $15 for each 15 minutes that they are late. Remember, it’s not just a late pick up – while this might seem a minor inconvenience from the client’s perspective, the staff member has likely made repeated phone calls, has delayed all closing activities (counting the register, closing out credit cards, etc.), and has sacrificed personal time. If you pay your staff by the hour, this may also result in paying out overtime, which adds to YOUR bottom line.

The staff member will wait up to half an hour. After that, the dog is taken out to go potty and is bedded down for the night. A note is left on the door and a message is left on their phone that lets the client know their pet is safe, it’s been made as comfortable as possible, and that it can be picked it up at opening time the following morning. Luckily we’ve never had anyone leave their pet on a Friday night! We let whoever waited for the client collect every penny of the late pickup fee. I just feel that is fair.

All of our front desk team is salaried. If they need to stay late, they don’t get paid extra for it. It’s totally their call whether they charge the fee or waive it, depending on the situation.

Needless to say, people don’t forget their dogs very often. And if somebody has had a true emergency – we’ve totally waived the fee.

Every shop is a little bit different. Find a solution that works for you. You don’t have to be ugly about it. You don’t even have to get frustrated about it. Put a positive spin on it and turn it into a newfound revenue generator! And make sure you smile when you’re talking to your customers about your new service!

Happy Trimming,

~Melissa

The Jennifer Hecker Story

It was May, 1996. Star pupil Jennifer Hecker was three days away from graduating from grooming school and I was still very much a hands-on Director of The Paragon School of Pet Grooming.

I remember walking into the lobby during check-in. The front staff was just greeting a new client with a very large Bouvier des Flandres. I looked at the dog and immediately sensed something was off. The dog came in willingly enough, but its body language and eyes were telling me to be very, very careful with this dog.

Once the owner was gone, I told the front staff to attach the dog to a wall tether. I sensed we could have a real problem if we tried to place that dog in a kennel. Being out on the practical skills floor where we could closely observe this dog without the housing restriction was much safer. I suggested that the instructors place a muzzle on the dog before they attempted to do any grooming, just in case.

Because we didn’t see that many Bouvier’s at the Paragon Training Center, it was assigned to Jennifer, one of our most advanced students. At that time, Jennifer had shown Giant Schnauzers and had advanced one of them through the highest levels of French Ring Sport. She was not intimidated by the size or the potential attitude of this dog.

Not 15 minutes into the class, someone raced into my office and told me I’d better get out to the practical skills floor – fast. Someone had been hurt. Seconds later, I was on the practical skills floor. The first thing I noticed was how empty and quiet the room was.

The second was the blood trail.

It led diagonally across the space towards the bathing room. There was a crowd of people around a small prep sink. One person in particular was obviously in great distress – Jennifer.

Our general manager was holding her hand under cold water and asking her series of questions. One of the questions still haunts me today…

“Can you feel your fingers?”

I got a glimpse of Jennifer’s hand. Place a quarter on the meatiest part of the heel of your hand. Now imagine that area… gone.

The Bouvier had done exactly what I had feared. The instructor and Jennifer had done what I had requested. They had muzzled the dog before team-lifting it onto the table. That’s when it struck. Unbelievably, it bit Jennifer through a muzzle. It was a nylon muzzle that was open at the end of the mouth so the dog could breathe freely. This type of muzzle can be effective as long as it fits snugly. In this case, they had selected a muzzle that was slightly too large. Even though the dog was muzzled, it could still open its mouth just enough to grab the heel of her hand to chew through her flesh…

…and it did.

We raced Jennifer to the medical treatment center. The local med-station felt that they could handle this wound despite the fact that she had lost sensation in her little finger – or maybe the pain was so great – she couldn’t be sure. They stitched her up, bandaged her, pumped her up with antibiotics, and sent her home.

The following day she was she was back at the doctor, but this time to see a hand specialist. They ripped out all the stitches from the night before and started over. Jennifer was looking at a long recovery period.

Jennifer had such a great attitude towards this whole thing – it was hard to believe. Even though she missed the last three days of class, she still graduated with very high grades. However, finding a grooming job was certainly out of the question for her – at least for a while. We ended up hiring Jennifer for our front office at Paragon while she healed.

As Jennifer’s medical bills mounted, we collected everything and turned them into our insurance company. However, our carrier did not feel the situation warranted a payout on their behalf.

What??

That’s when we learned that in the state of Michigan a pet owner is ultimately responsible for their dog – even if they are not with it. The insurance company went after the pet owner. They were able to collect from their homeowner’s policy. That was news to me and served as a lesson to all of us.

As the story unfolded, we got more information that was unnerving. My initial gut reaction was well-founded. This was the third reported bite case for this dog – and the third owner. Of course the owner never bothered to share that information with us upon check-in. The dog was destroyed after this third incident with Jennifer.

We learned 5 lessons through this unfortunate event.

Trust your gut. Never do a dog that you feel is dangerous to you, your team, or itself.
Use muzzles when necessary and make sure they fit properly (we changed to full basket-style muzzles).
The pet owner is ultimately responsible for their pet regardless of whether they are with them or not.
In the state of Michigan, if the dog creates an insurance situation, the pet owner’s homeowner’s policy will be responsible for paying any damages or claims.
Love and passion for dogs can still shine through despite severe injuries inflicted by them and long recovery periods.

Jennifer has been grooming with us for over 18 years. I’m fortunate that she is still on my team. She has become one of our most talented and productive pet stylists. She grooms every day at our luxury kennel, Whiskers Resort & Pet Spa. Plus, Jennifer has been one of our talented Training Partners on Learn2GroomDogs.com since the beginning.

We just filmed her for Learn2GroomDogs.com. We had been looking for someone to do a traditional style grooming lesson on a Bouvier des Flandres for a very long time. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever expect Jennifer Hecker to step up to the grooming table for this lesson! I’m so glad she did. Her love and compassion for all dogs is clearly evident – even for the Bouvier des Flandres.

Happy trimming,

Melissa

The Need for Speed

Time is the most common concern for professionals in this industry. New groomers worry that they’ll never be able to do more than 4 dogs a day. Salon owners need employees who can hit the ground running. They need people who can groom 6-8 dogs per day. Or you’ve been at the table for a while but still struggle to get beyond 5 dogs per day.

Seasoned pros are knocking out 8… 10… 12… 14 or more pets every day.

So what are you doing wrong? What are the common areas that seem to be the sticky spots? What areas in your day are robbing you of precious minutes?

Top 10 Areas Where Pet Pros Can Improve

1. Always start with the end result etched firmly in your mind

The better you know where you are headed – the easier it will be to get there. Know what a high-quality trim looks like – even if it’s a shave off or a close body trim. Know what balance and style is. Know what a beautifully brushed out dog looks and feels like. If you’re working on a purebred, know what a beautiful specimen should look like.

2. Don’t start with elbow grease – always let products and tools do the work first

In the past 30 years, there have been great developments in products and tools that make our jobs easier. Go to trade shows and test them for yourself. Ask others on social media outlets what they like to use. Find out what products and tools the top pros use at their grooming tables. They likely have a very solid reason why they use what they do. They did not get to be top stylists by using inferior products and tools!

3. If water can penetrate the coat, wash the pet first

Don’t waste time pre-clipping a dog that comes then every six weeks or less. Get it straight to the tub. You’re wasting time clipping off that small amount of coat. The same thing goes with a dog that is matted or is shedding. If the water can penetrate the coat, get them right into the tub. A clean coat is going to be more pleasant to work on. Plus, a large majority of mats and tangles are held together by dirt. Remove the dirt and the job just got easier.

4. A powerful high velocity dryer is the professional stylist’s greatest asset in time management

In my opinion, the development of the high velocity dryer is one of the greatest advancements the grooming industry has ever seen! Put simply, (if used correctly) this tool produces the fastest results with the highest quality on any given coat type.

it dries the coat with lightning speed
it can straighten the coat for a beautiful fluff dry
when used prior to the bath it will loosening dirt next to the skin
it effectively removes most mats or tangles
it is extremely efficient with the removal of shedding fur

5. Towel Dry – Towel Dry – Towel Dry

It never ceases to amaze me how many people miss this step. Incomplete towel drying costs precious minutes in the drying process. Multiply that by six or eight dogs and you’ve lost 30 to 60 minutes out of your day. Here’s my goal: towel dry thoroughly enough so that spray does not come off the dog once I start working with a high velocity dryer.

6. Three clipper passes or less!

If your dog is bathed and blown out properly, the goal is to make three clipper passes – or less – to get it absolutely smooth. The first pass knocks out the longest coat (at this point I’m not going for smoothness). The second pass smooth’s it out. The third pass eliminates high spots that I’ve missed. Three times around the dog with the clippers – period. If you can get done quicker than that – bonus!

7. Create a routine for everything you do

This is a bit like the waitress listing off the salad dressing choices at a restaurant. She has a routine that she follows. If you stop her mid-list, she often has to start all over again. She never misses a choice because she sticks to her routine. You should have a routine for every dog that comes into your salon. Stick to your routine so you never miss a step.

8. Cheat like crazy with attach on combs

If there was ever a cheat tool in your toolbox, this is it! For many pet stylists, attach on guard combs have replaced a lot of the hand scissoring work. They come in a wide array of sizes. They let you establish a depth of coat just by following the dog’s body. For most people, this is much simpler than to master exquisite hand scissoring. It allows you to mold and sculpt the fur quickly and efficiently. With knowledge of proper canine structure and creative use of your guard combs, you can create a highly stylized trim in no time.

9. Never, ever work on a pet that you feel is dangerous to itself or to you

With so many cooperative pets to work on, there is no reason for you to tackle a highly aggressive dog. Your hands are your livelihood. You need to protect them at all costs. No one needs the aggravation, frustration, or anxiety of having to deal with a dangerous dog. I’d rather have a client who is upset with me for refusing to do their dog than have a groom result in injury. Or to be bitten. It’s just not worth it.

10. Love What You Do

Being a professional pet groomer or stylist has huge rewards. For many, it’s one of the most gratifying and creative jobs they have ever held. However, it has is down sides, too. It’s a far cry from playing with puppies all day. If you’ve crossed that line and grooming pets is no longer enjoyable, do yourself and your clients a favor – step away from the grooming table. Love your career or leave it.

In order to be a valuable member of a pet grooming team, you need to have to have a burning desire – the need for speed. The more pets you can get through safely, without sacrificing compassion and quality, the more valuable you are to your salon.

Do Your Clients Sleep with Their Pets?

There is no doubt about it, Americans love their pets! In 2013, American pet lovers spent $ 55.72 billion on their animals. That’s BILLION with a capital B! They spent $4.73 billion just on grooming and boarding services. The pet industry is definitely on a major growth trend. The growth started in 1994 and shows no sign of slowing down. That’s a fabulous trend for professional pet groomers and service care providers!

In this day and age, many owners treat their pets like children. They share their homes. They buy special clothes and gifts for their dogs and cats. Our best clients have a very close and personal bond with their pets. They share their lives, and even their beds with them.

So let me ask you something. Do you know how many of your clients sleep with their pet? There’s a great sales tactic buried in this – innocent – but loaded question.

Fellow groomers, we all know a clean pet is much more enjoyable than one that isn’t routinely groomed. The standard time frame between haircuts for most pets is about 4 to 6 weeks. Regular grooming appointments keep the coat manageable and the dog relatively well groomed.

Check this out. Joelle, one of our managers came up with this brilliant idea.

With a little strategic questioning, you can boost that frequency level tremendously. Gone are the harsh products that might do a good job cleaning but they leave the skin and coat dry and damaged. Today there is a wide variety of fabulous products to wash, condition, and style our furry friends.

When you’re doing a client consultation, you need to learn about the pet and the family. One of the key questions you need answered is to learn about the lifestyle of the pet. If you’re dealing with an outdoor farm dog, this tactic will not work. However, if this is a pampered pooch that shares the owners home, life and even their bed – this approach works great.

Here is the money question. Do they allow their pet to sleep with them or their children?

If the answer is yes, you have a perfect scenario to suggest weekly or biweekly bathing. It’s easy. Simply suggest the dog be washed as frequently as they change their sheets. For most people that’s weekly or biweekly.

This could be a two-way win. The client might opt to do it themselves. That’s okay. You can counsel them on the best products to use – and of course you have them on your shelves to sell. Or maybe the client doesn’t want to be bothered. You can offer a steeply discounted rate for in between haircut maintenance baths.

Of course, there are some special perks that go along with this weekly or biweekly bathing schedule when they bring the pet to you. You could do just the bath and blowout for your client. But what if you knock it up a few notches? Bathe the pet in a special shampoo and conditioning rinse. Toss in a complementary nail filing. Offer minor trimming around the eye, feet, and rear for FREE. And don’t forget to add fresh bows or bandanna.

Let’s look a little math on how this works out;

$50 full groom every 6 weeks = 9 groomings annually = $450
$20 maintenance bath every 2 weeks = 26 baths annually = $520
$15 maintenance bath every week = 52 baths annually = $780

Now keep in mind, the client would maintain their regular six-week $50 haircut. That price is higher than the maintenance bath. So instead of getting $520 annually you’d actually be getting $790. Or if you’re looking at the weekly maintenance it would work out to $1,095.

I love this scenario because it’s a win for the salon. It’s a win for the client. And it’s a win for the pet. If you have clients who sleep with their pets, you have the perfect opportunity to help the client keep their pet clean and fresh while enhancing your bottom line.

Charting Your Progress

I love the saying, “What gets measure gets managed.” If you are not tracking what is getting done, you do not have a record to monitor your progress.

Recently we worked with Jennifer, one of our leading stylists at one of my companies. Jennifer works full-time at Whiskers Resort & Pet Spa. We were filming a Learn2GroomDogs.com video lesson with her. Jennifer arrived on set beaming. She couldn’t wait to tell us she just beat her personal best in grooming sales for one week.

It wasn’t official — yet — but she was pretty confident she broken her old record of $4,056 in weekly sales. I followed up a few days later with my manager. She was correct. She had beaten her old record!! Jennifer’s previous personal best was set during the holiday season of 2011. She had come close a few times but had not been able to break the barrier until now. Her new benchmark was now set at $4,468! Wow. I was impressed.

I was impressed for three reasons.

She was grinning from ear to ear. Jennifer was extremely excited about her accomplishment – as well she should be. Her positive attitude was contagious.
She always tracks her weekly sales. She always knows her targets along the way. If Jennifer is off her mark, she knows it immediately. She knows if she on top of her game. If she sees opportunities to push herself – she knows instantly when they appear and how hard to push. No one has to tell her – she pushes herself.
She helped the entire company reach its sales and growth marks by being so proactive with her own personal success.

If you are a professional groomer or salon business owner, tracking your progress is a great way to grow and learn. Plotting your course and tracking your results can be very rewarding. And fun too! Targets can be set for an individual, a small team of people, or for the entire company.

In order to set a goal in the first place, you need to know where you stand. That’s the advantage of benchmarking. Benchmarking is defined as setting a baseline or standard for your work. It’s the ‘pace car’ for future activities. Once a standard is set, you can measure performance over time, set goals, discover areas targeted for improvement and be proactive when change is needed.

Tracking your progress does not have to be hard. There are four areas that can simplify the process;

Make charting your results fast and easy .
Record progress on a regular basis.
Keep your eye on the target by reviewing results frequently.
Provide positive feedback when results are achieve.

Tracking and charting results provides a gauge on how well your efforts are doing. They paint a clearer picture when it comes to hitting the targets. If a target is fuzzy or does not exist, it’s extremely difficult to hit a bull’s-eye. It’s critical you know what you are aiming for!

It’s also amazing what people will aim for. The reward does not have to be large. Sometimes just knowing is enough to see results. Other times it’s as simple as adding a star or smile face to the chart. If the results are larger with clear cut objectives, larger recognition prizes might be attached to the end goal. Get creative. Build enthusiasm. Have fun rewarding yourself and your team.

We all want progress to be positive. That’s the exciting part. However, the best time to make changes in what you are doing is BEFORE you get too far off track. Before you get into trouble. By monitoring changes, you will clearly see when you need to alter your course. When an area is stagnate and needs adjustment or when you are exceeding performance standards.

Measuring your successes and failures is one of the most important things you can do to enhance your career or business. No matter what you are doing, if you are looking to improve, remember this phase. “What gets measure gets managed.”

Happy Trimming!

~Melissa

Groomers for Hire – What to Look For in Job Candidates

Hiring pet bathers, groomers and stylists is one of the most challenging responsibilities a pet salon owner must face. But rest assured you’ll eventually find them. Even if you are desperate, don’t hire just anybody. In the long run — it will hurt you way more than it will help you. Trust me on that one!

Even though they are difficult to locate – they can be found. Ideally, you would be looking for someone experienced in dogs – and better yet – grooming dogs. All shapes and sizes.

But that’s just the starting point. You’re also looking for someone who is reliable, punctual, compassionate, honest, and a team player. Ideally you are looking for someone who enjoys both people and pets. Plus, they have to have a personality that will help your salon attract more clients.

With a very specific job market that has few candidates, it makes the hunt even more difficult. It would be wonderful if you had an entire file of resumes of experienced groomers to choose from. However, in our field, it just doesn’t happen very often. Most likely you’re going to fill the position with someone who will need training. You will need to teach them and mold them into your ideal employee.

So what do you look for? Here are four things I look for when seeking a new pet grooming enthusiast to join the team.

#1. Compassion & Passion – No matter how talented a person may be, without compassion and passion, they she won’t be much of an asset for your salon. Look for someone who can easily identify with your business goals and its mission.

#2. Commitment – Seek out a pet enthusiast who is eager to learn more about the grooming industry. Do you see the potential in that person to be dedicated and committed to his job? This is a field where learning can be never ending. Are they receptive to increasing their skill level?

#3. Problem Solver – All businesses face problems every day. Your grooming salon is definitely not an exception. Hire someone who can be relied on to analyze, address and solve problems effectively.

#4. Professionalism – Do they present an image of professionalism in their personal appearance, their mannerisms and their speech?

Here are a few items that always impressed me when I’m interviewing prospective groomers.

They are punctual. They show up five minutes prior to the interview.

They present a well pulled together look. It doesn’t need to be fancy but it does need to be well thought out.

They smile and shake my hand firmly as we introduce ourselves.

They supply a full resume of their experience including references.

They have brought a photo portfolio of their work. Is it well presented?

If they’re a recent graduate, they supply copies of their certificate, report card, and attendance records from grooming school.

They have a proven track record of applying themselves.

They are prepared to discuss their abilities and goals at the interview instead of just reciting it from the resume.

In most cases you’ll have to do a three-step process when interviewing candidates. If a candidate does not meet your expectations at any point during the interview process, do not move on to the next step.

The first step is generally a telephone interview focusing on basic topics about the person.
The next phase would include a personal in-depth interview.
The final phase would be a practical demonstration of basic skills including; handling, prepping, bathing, drying, and executing a simple haircut on a small to medium-sized dog.

Hiring is never easy. It takes time and effort to find the right candidate for your team.

As you’re going through the hiring process always remember this. Here is most important element to look for when hiring. Look for someone who is compassionate and passionate. No matter how talented a person may be, without compassion and passion, he or she will not be much of an asset to your grooming business.

Happy Trimming!

~Melissa

Updating Logos

How many of you have been in business for more than 10 years? How about 20? When is the last time you took a good hard look at your company’s logo? Is it out of date? Tired? Could it use an update? Logos can become dated just like fashion trends or hairstyles. Sometimes you just need to go through your closet and clean house….

My logos were certainly dated. I was guilty of every one of those questions for my educational companies. I have four companies that fall under that heading.

The Paragon School of Pet Grooming
Melissa Verplank.com
White Dog Enterprises
Learn2GroomDogs.com

Not only were my logos dated, but I had an identity crisis as well. Whenever we would register for a trade show booth, I never knew who we were. When we filled out the paperwork for trade shows, the show promoter would always ask. “What company was the booth going to be registered as?” I was always a stumbling block for me… “What company do I choose?” Out of the four educational companies, there is no right or wrong answer but I had to choose one.

On a personal level, I’m very much a creature of habit. I don’t like change. (My husband is rolling his eyes with this one and nodding his head in agreement!) When it was suggested that I hire an outside party to help us re-brand the companies, I was less than enthusiastic. However, I knew it was a necessary process. It was time.

When our graphic designer asked me, “When was the last time I had updated one of the logos, I sheepishly hung my head?” The Paragon School of Pet Grooming logo had not been changed in over 23 years! The White Dog Enterprises logo was over 10 years old and never had a facelift. L2GD was still relatively new but the logo itself was very busy. And Melissa Verplank.com never had a logo.

A nutshell, here are eight key items that you need to think about whether you’re creating a new logo or revising old one.

Is it easy to identify
Is the font style easy to read
Is the design balanced
What order of the design is your eye drawn to 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd
How is the logo going to be utilized
Is the design versatile for multiple applications
What is the color palette
Does it convey in an instant what you represent

Julie, our graphic designer, did a great job leading us through the process — at times it was far from easy! We’ve never worked with her before. She had to gather quite a bit of information before the process was complete. The more information she was able to gather, the closer she got to creating fresh logos that truly represented each company.

To compound our identity issue, Julie had to come up with multiple logo designs that all worked in harmony with one another — or they could stand on their own solo. Not an easy feat.

At the Atlanta Pet Fair 2014, we will be at the show with our new identity — and a new booth! As difficult as the process was, I’m really pleased with the outcome. If you’re at APF, please stop by the booth and check our new look.

Here are samples of the before and after logos. We think Julie hit the nail on the head. The revised logos don’t lose the essence of what they were in the past. Yet they are fresh and bold. And they all play nicely in one sandbox together! Bonus!! What do you think?

Happy Trimming!

~ Melissa

Melissa’s Top 4 Tips for Getting Through Your Holidays with Ease

flower If you live in the United States, you have just gone through the first phase of the grooming marathon for the holiday season: Thanksgiving.

How did it go? Smooth as silk? Or would you like to make improvements as you move into Phase 2 – Christmas and Hanukkah?

Most of us are involved with the pet industry are here because the passion. We simply love working with the pets. However, even the most passionate groomer can feel the pressures of the holidays.

If you are one of those professionals who felt the pressures of the Thanksgiving crunch, take heart. It’s time to review what you did right and focus on the areas that could use some improvement. For many of us, that’s time management in the grooming salon.

Here are My Top 4 Tips for Getting Through Your Day with Ease

Mental Control

Stay focused. Pay close attention to what you are doing at all times. You’re working with live animals and sharp instruments. Chatter between your coworkers and pets breaks your focus. You lose time and you make mistakes when you don’t stay focused on the pet.

Always practice the three C’s; stay calm, stay cool, and stay collected. When you’re working with a pet, you want to be friendly but aloof. You want to correct any undesirable action before it becomes a major problem. Frustration and anger have no place in a professional salon setting. If you feel yourself getting frustrated, take a break. Breathe. Step back to the grooming table when you have regained your composure.

Work methodically with all pets. Don’t get flustered. Set an even and steady pace when it comes to handling, bathing, drying, brushing, clipping, and scissoring. Set time goals for every step of the grooming process and strive to achieve them.

Invest in Yourself and Your Equipment

What is the condition of your equipment? Are you working with top-quality equipment?

It’s amazing how much time you can save when your equipment is in top condition. Or when you splurge on that new pair of blenders that cut like butter. Or you have a high velocity dryer that has plenty of punch. Oh, and when all of your shears and blades have sharp edges on them, right? There’s nothing more frustrating than working with dull and ineffective equipment when crunch time is on. And right now you’re in crunch time.

Organization in the Salon

Do you have a smooth process for client check-in and checkout? If you’re computerized, is it easy to pull up client records in a flash? If you’re still working with a card file, are all the records pulled for the pets that are scheduled for that day?

Most stylists in a salon setting find working a minimum of three or four-hour blocks of time can be highly advantageous to time management. The more you stop to check in or check out clients, the more you lose your focus on the pet that is on the table. By working in blocks of time, you can check multiple pets in and out in tight time windows.

Do you have a method to track all the collars and leads that accompany the pets? This is no time to be looking for that lost collar or lead! Do you have a bright assortment of pre-made bows? Do you have festive bandannas cut and ready to go on the dog?

Mental & Nutritional Stamina

When the rush is on, you need to be at your peak — mentally, physically, and nutritionally.

You’re not going to be at your peak if you’re not getting enough sleep. I know, I know – with all the demands between work, family, and holiday festivities, slumber can be hard to come by. Normally, a professional groomer is so physically exhausted that when your head does hit the pillow — sleep comes easily. Just make sure you’re getting enough hours each night so you can perform at high levels the next day.

With the holidays upon us, most salons find themselves overrun with holiday treats from their clients. Be careful with this one. Personally, I learned the hard way you are not going to feel your best if you consume those goodies all day long!

I learned in my early 20’s to pack healthy food options to keep me nourished all day long. I was mobile, so in between every client my reward was to eat. If I had healthy options at my fingertips, it was easy to keep my energy level in high gear. In a salon setting, this might be a little bit more challenging. Still, eating healthy on a regular basis is the best way to keep you both mentally and physically fit.

Pack a nutritional lunch plus snacks. Or do a potluck with your staff. We’ve done this for years at the Paragon School of Pet Grooming with great success. The rule is: healthy, quick food options, only. No sweets. No desserts. Our clients do a great job with that. The potluck is set up so everybody can grab a bite in between dogs quickly and easily.

If you’re not a cook – have a stack of local takeout menus available. If they deliver – BONUS!

The holidays are a great time to really test your skills. You’ll find out quickly just how successful you are. If you have a full book and are struggling to fit just one more pet into each day, you know you have arrived. Be thankful for creating a service that your customers desire. If you take care of them well — they’ll take care of you. That’s what successful customer service is all about!

Happy trimming and happy Thanksgiving!

~Melissa

If you need a brush up on any time management lessons, here are a few titles from Learn2GroomDogs.com that could help you.

Video Title
Building a Grooming Code – the Card Game (Melissa Verplank)

Preparing for the Holiday Rush (Melissa Verplank)

Speed & Efficiency — Monster Sized Dog in 76 Minutes (Lisa Leady)

Speed & Efficiency — Daisy Dog in Less Than 45 Minutes (Suesan Watson)

Speed & Efficiency – Shih Tzu in 45 Minutes (Suesan Watson)

Anything from the ‘queen’ of Gettin’ er Done (Judy Hudson)

Melissa’s Best Time Saving Tips (Melissa Verplank)

Tails from Holidays Past (Suesan Watson, Lisa Leady, Marc Lafleur, Melissa Verplank)

What I Know for Sure – this one will just make you feel good! – (Judy Hudson)

Are You Prepared?

We were headed out of Michigan on our three week annual fall ride with our horses last week. Our big horse trailer and truck were packed to the limit. (Horses have LOTS of stuff!) Our passion is to horse camp and explore trails around the Tennessee area. We’ve made this trek every fall for the past 12 years. We love it.

So we’re cruising down I-75. We’re somewhere near the border of Kentucky and Tennessee. It’s getting mountainous. The sun is shining. The truck is humming along like a champ. Our book on CD is getting to a really good spot. My hubby and I are really starting to relax even before we’ve hit our destination.

Then we hear it… it sounded like an explosion behind us. Crap. We’d just blown a tire on the horse trailer. On I-75. In the mountains. On a hill. This wasn’t good.

We get the rig as far off the expressway as possible and hit the flashers. We go back to verify what we fear. Yep. Blown tire. Marc, my hubby, was a Boy Scout. He goes to work. This man lives by the Boy Scout motto: Be prepared. Out of that monster silver box in the bed of the truck come the tools we need. Flashing warning triangles, trailer lift wedge, hydraulic jack, tire iron… whatever he needed, he had it. In less than 40 minutes, we were back on the road.

I’ve changed my share of flat tires over the years. But I was thankful. Marc was NOT going to let me deal with this one. Believe me – I was totally OK with that! Instead I had the opportunity to watch and worry about the traffic that was zooming by at a very high speed. I stood in admiration with each snafu he ran into yet had a solution. I thought back to the last time I had to change a tire and was I as prepared as he was??

During my mobile grooming days, I changed a lot of tires. With a fleet of six units, flat tires just happened. So do water pumps, electrical issues, broken clippers, high velocity dryers and a whole host of other items. If it’s mechanical or a piece of equipment, at some time it’s going to stop working correctly for you.

In our field, time is money. Do you have the tools, replacement items and knowledge to correct the problem on the fly?

At one point in my life, I didn’t. The way I fixed problems was to call a repair company. After a couple of times of doing that – I learned quickly if I was going to stay on time and keep my appointments for the day, calling a repairman for basic problems wasn’t the best answer. I needed to live by that Boy Scout motto: Be prepared.

It doesn’t matter if you are in a mobile grooming unit or in a high end salon. Stuff breaks. Are you prepared? Can you finish your day with barely missing a beat? Here is a short list to get you thinking about some of the basic items that can cease working for you at the most inappropriate time. If they are not working – you are not working:

Clippers: If you don’t have spare pair with you at all times, you are dead in the water if your primary pair give out on you.

Shears & Blades: They go dull and stop cutting at the most untimely opportunity. Or worse yet, they fall to the floor and are rendered useless until they go to the sharpener. You need a full back up collection of most of your sharp tools.

High Velocity Dryers: What would happen if yours stopped working in the middle of an eight dog day – and one of those dogs is a Newfoundland? Do you have a back-up HV dryer that can be put into service?

Basic Electrical Knowledge: I’m not talking full-fledged electrical issues – I’m talking the basics. Stuff you could find in any home repair book. Like how to replace a cord? Or a plug? Or how much power each electrical items draws when in use. What your breakers are rated for? You can’t plug a powerful dryer into a 15 amp plug. You are going to blow the breaker every time.

Mobile Groomers – you have a whole host of added items. You have to consider all the above, plus:

Water Pumps: There can only be a couple things wrong if your water stops flowing. Every water pump that I’ve seen comes with a great troubleshooting guide. Memorize it. Carry a spare pump. My first water pump took me over two hours to change out and a lot of tears of frustration. However, before too long I could instantly identify pump problems at a glance (or a listen) and know the solution – including flipping out non-working pump for a new one in less than 10 minutes (and no tears!).

Generators: Maintenance – maintenance – maintenance. If your generator goes out, have a back-up plan. Normally that would be a landline power source that plugs into your van. When all else fails – carry a long power cord. Run it from the client’s house to your van. At least then you can power the key items you need to groom the dog by plugging is directly to the extension cord. (A power strip in the van is also very helpful) It may not be ideal, but you can get the dog(s) done while you seek professional help on your generator.

Mechanic: Again, maintenance – maintenance – maintenance. Personally I LOVED having a mobile mechanic. I only had to have vans towed to a service center a few times for big stuff. Everything else was fixed at the base or roadside by a mobile mechanic service.

Jumper Cables: It’s inevitable – at some point your battery is going to be dead. It’s a lot easier to get a jump if you have cables with you and/or a battery charger to keep a tired battery going until you can get a replacement.

Tires: If you drive a vehicle – it’s going to happen to you. Flat tires come with the territory. #1: do you KNOW how to change a flat tire? #2: Do you have all the times you NEED to change a flat tire? #3: Do you have the safety gear to put out in the event your flat tire happens in a high traffic area to warn other drivers you are stopped?

Anyone that has been in the grooming business for any amount of time knows the value of being prepared. Time is money. Dull, broken or non-functioning equipment cost us not only time – but money.

If you abide by the Boy Scouts motto, you’ll be back at the grooming table in no time – just like we were last week on I-75 with our flat tire and horse trailer!

Happy Trimming!

~Melissa

Are You Working Your Rear Off But ‘Just Getting By’?

I was having lunch the other day with a couple of groomers. One of them was complaining about how hard she was working yet she barely made enough money to scrape by. Does this sound like you?

I was puzzled by this. She has a Standard Poodle that she shows in confirmation. She’s been in the competition pet styling ring and won. She was a talented stylist. Her clients loved her. She had a full roster of pets every week. She was totally immersed in grooming.

Then I asked her a key question,” How much do you charge for a Standard Poodle?” She told me, “Somewhere between $70 and $80.” I cocked my head and asked, “Is that for a shave off for something more stylish with hand scissoring?” She very proudly responded, “Oh no, that’s a full and scissor job.” I then asked her how long it took to groom the Standard Poodle on average. She told me she normally works on them for about 3 to 3 ½ hours. I thought to myself, “Wow, her clients are getting a great deal.”

I then went on to ask her how much you charge to groom an average Shih Tzu in her salon. Her response was, about $45. OK… I then asked, “How long does it take you to groom an average Shih Tzu?” She responded with, “About an hour.”

Hmm… I saw the problem. She loved the Standard Poodles so much, she simply enjoyed grooming them – and she did a knockout job with them. The word spread. She had no shortage of Standard Poodles in her clientele. However, her pricing was way too low for Standard Poodles. She could easily groom three Shih Tzus in the time it took her to do one Standard Poodle. Yet she charged between $70 and $80 for Standard Poodle while she got about $45 for the little Shih Tzu. Her math wasn’t working.

For that same block of time, she would earn about $135 for three Shih Tzus to one Standard Poodle at $80. No wonder she was barely making ends meet! Her eyes grew huge as the light bulb went off in her own head. When presented in this manner, the problem was crystal clear — even to her. Her prices were way too low for a Standard Poodle! And considering she did at least one Standard Poodle a day, she was losing a considerable amount of money each week. No wonder she was working her rear off and just getting by. Sound familiar?

What I suggested to her was not to charge by the hour but to look at her work overall. Have an idea of how long it takes to groom each dog in an ideal setting without interruptions. Set a pricing structure that parallels that ideal time. She knew the Shih Tzus took about an hour to groom and she earned $45 for each of them. If she were to carry that same pricing structure through to her larger dogs like Standard Poodles and Doodles, she should be getting approximately $135 for each one of those dogs.

Most proficient pet groomers and stylists can turn a small and medium-size dog in about an hour or less when working solo. That’s bath, dry and haircut. Standard Poodles take between 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours to complete.

Your rates might be different but you get the idea of how the system works. If you’re one of those professional groomers that has a full roster of pets every week (25-30 pets) yet barely making enough to pay your bills — I strongly suggest you look at your pricing structure. My guess is that it needs some tweaking to make it fair to both the client and to you. If you can’t groom a pet profitably, why groom them at all? There is nothing wrong with getting a fair wage in exchange for your skills!

Happy Trimming!

– Melissa

If you’d like more information about price setting, check out the full video called Establishing Pricing and Times for Grooming at Learn2GroomDogs.com. For just $42 a month, you’ll have full access to the video library of over 350 lessons for the professional pet groomer. All videos stream directly to your computer or mobile device.

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Melissa’s Top 4 Tips for Getting Through Your Holidays with Ease

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Are You Prepared?

Are You Working Your Rear Off But ‘Just Getting By’?

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